Jason Newsted Wants You to Put Your Damn Phone Away
Jason Newsted spent 15 years holding down the low end in Metallica, playing bass for the band from 1986 through 2001. That era included records like …And Justice For All and Metallica—AKA The Black Album—plus the iconic S&M live album with the San Francisco Symphony.
But that was just the beginning for Newsted, an artistic polymath who has since pursued a life of balance and creative freedom. On this episode of Wong Notes, he opens up to Cory Wong about why he left Metallica, and details the “Olympian” physicality and discipline that hard international touring requires. Newsted needed a break; the band wanted to keep going. “You gotta sometimes give it a minute,” he says.
Newsted shares his thoughts on Dave Mustaine and his predecessor Cliff Burton, and goes deep on the issue of cellphone usage at concerts. (Spoiler alert: He doesn’t like it very much, and he’s got good reasons for his disdain.) But Newsted isn’t just a performer. He talks about his painting and the way that practice differs from music-making, plus his private artistic journeys with theremin, mandolin, and sequencers and loopers—rabbit holes he might not have gone down if he stayed in Metallica. “I don’t say no to any medium,” he says.
Maybe leaving Metallica created the need to explore. “I did not get to fulfill that journey,” he says, “so I’m making up for it.”
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Produced by Jason Shadrick and Cory Wong
Additional Editing by Shawn Persinger
Presented by DistroKid
2024-10-15
83 min
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Corey Wong 00:01:19 What's happening? Corey Wong 00:01:19 Welcome to Wong Notes podcast. Corey Wong 00:01:21 I'm your host, Corey Wong. Corey Wong 00:01:23 I'm so thrilled today. Corey Wong 00:01:24 I am so thrilled today to have this episode out because today on the podcast we have Jason Newsted. Corey Wong 00:01:31 Are you kidding me? Corey Wong 00:01:33 If you would have told twelve year old Corey that I'd be here today to have this podcast out where I get to sit down with one of my heroes, twelve year old Corey would be laughing. Corey Wong 00:01:44 No way. Corey Wong 00:01:45 No way. Corey Wong 00:01:46 So you know what? Corey Wong 00:01:46 When I was younger, still, still to this day, also, by the way, bands must have a dope bass player. Corey Wong 00:01:53 I knew this from the start, okay? Corey Wong 00:01:56 I was hooked on bands like the Chili Peppers, Primus and Metallica. Corey Wong 00:02:02 I think a lot of cats don't really realize the technical prowess that goes into the bass playing on metallica tunes and just like metal in general. Corey Wong 00:02:12 And Jason Newsted, the technical facility, the speed, the stamina and the accuracy that is required to play some of that music. Corey Wong 00:02:22 Dude, you gotta be kidding me. Corey Wong 00:02:24 Jason Newsted is so great at the instrument. Corey Wong 00:02:27 And after this conversation, really realize how deep of an artist this cat is and just how much of a deep understanding of music and life this guy has. Corey Wong 00:02:39 I mean, he's been through a lot. Corey Wong 00:02:40 He's gone through it. Corey Wong 00:02:41 We've all heard the stories, we've all heard all kinds of things. Corey Wong 00:02:44 But you sit and talk with Jason now and you understand the depth that this guy has. Corey Wong 00:02:52 And he's such a great person, such a nice dude. Corey Wong 00:02:55 So excited to have this interview coming out today. Corey Wong 00:02:59 I couldn't be more thrilled. Corey Wong 00:03:01 Couldn't be more thrilled. Corey Wong 00:03:02 Also, you want to know what else I'm excited about? Corey Wong 00:03:04 I'm about to go on tour doing a little midwest east coast tour. Corey Wong 00:03:08 If I'm coming to your city, come hang out, come say hi. Corey Wong 00:03:12 Corey Wong on tour. Corey Wong 00:03:14 Corey Wong the band again. Corey Wong 00:03:16 I do this sometimes. Corey Wong 00:03:17 I have to separate myself as a person from the band. Corey Wong 00:03:20 Corey Wong. Corey Wong 00:03:21 Because it just, it just helps the whole mental health thing, you know, the ups and the downs. Corey Wong 00:03:26 Anyways, I'm about to go on tour. Corey Wong 00:03:28 It's gonna be great. Corey Wong 00:03:29 Ten piece band. Corey Wong 00:03:30 Mark Lettieri is joining me in the band for the whole tour. Corey Wong 00:03:34 I have the band couch opening up all of the shows. Corey Wong 00:03:37 It's gonna be fantastic. Corey Wong 00:03:38 Lots of special guests coming out, different shows. Corey Wong 00:03:42 Theo Katzman's coming out for one of my shows at the Ryman in Nashville. Corey Wong 00:03:47 I'm playing two shows at the Ryman October 30 and 31 the 31st. Corey Wong 00:03:51 We're doing a big special Halloween party. Corey Wong 00:03:54 I just ordered a ton of costumes and some set pieces for the party that we're gonna be throwing. Corey Wong 00:04:00 It's a surprise. Corey Wong 00:04:02 So come hang, have some fun. Corey Wong 00:04:04 It's gonna be special. Corey Wong 00:04:05 Anyways, hope to see you there. Corey Wong 00:04:07 Hope to say hi, grab one of the vip ticks. Corey Wong 00:04:10 We're doing a little acoustic performance, a little private performance. Corey Wong 00:04:14 You get some merchandise. Corey Wong 00:04:16 We get to hang out, a little Q and A. Corey Wong 00:04:17 It's going to be a great time. Corey Wong 00:04:19 I'm just thrilled, stoked. Corey Wong 00:04:23 All right, enough of that. Corey Wong 00:04:25 Let's get to the podcast. Corey Wong 00:04:26 Jason Newstead, you guys know about Distrokid yet? Corey Wong 00:04:33 If you are an artist, musician, somebody who's trying to get your music on, Spotify, apple music, all of those things. Corey Wong 00:04:41 Distrokid is a digital distributor that can get your music on all of those platforms. Corey Wong 00:04:45 It's the easiest, fastest way to do so with accounts even just starting at $19.99 a year per artist. Corey Wong 00:04:51 So for me, I have several albums out. Corey Wong 00:04:54 I just pay one amount for the year. Corey Wong 00:04:56 For all the Corey Wong albums, I just pay one amount. Corey Wong 00:04:59 And distrokid takes 0% royalty, 100% of the royalties come straight to me. Corey Wong 00:05:06 Or you use their teams feature where you can dedicate a certain percentage to one member of your band, a certain percentage to the other or one of your collaborators. Corey Wong 00:05:15 I do this sort of thing. Corey Wong 00:05:16 It works amazing. Corey Wong 00:05:18 Distrokid is who I use for my album, and it has worked great for me. Corey Wong 00:05:21 The stuff gets up there fast. Corey Wong 00:05:23 They have a smart ISRC thing. Corey Wong 00:05:25 I don't have to worry about coming up with my own codes, registering a lot of the stuff. Corey Wong 00:05:29 They just have that. Corey Wong 00:05:31 And they also have these really cool design tools. Corey Wong 00:05:33 If you are not very design savvy, they'll help you come up with assets for social media and other things to help promote your album. Corey Wong 00:05:40 And if you want to use them, you can use my vip code. Corey Wong 00:05:43 Just go distrokid.com vip, Corey Wong. Corey Wong 00:05:49 And you get 30% off. Corey Wong 00:05:51 How about that? Corey Wong 00:05:52 Check them out. Corey Wong 00:05:52 Distrokid. Corey Wong 00:05:53 All right, let's hit this episode. Jason Newsted 00:05:56 Wait a minute. Jason Newsted 00:05:57 How's what's left of my hair doing? Jason Newsted 00:05:58 Good. Jason Newsted 00:05:59 All right. Corey Wong 00:05:59 Hey, it's looking great, bro. Jason Newsted 00:06:01 Hi, Corey. Jason Newsted 00:06:01 How are you today? Corey Wong 00:06:02 Great, man. Corey Wong 00:06:02 How you doing, Jason? Jason Newsted 00:06:03 Good. Jason Newsted 00:06:03 You can hear me okay? Corey Wong 00:06:04 Hear you perfect. Corey Wong 00:06:05 Well, my name's Corey. Corey Wong 00:06:06 I play guitar. Corey Wong 00:06:07 I have a band called. Corey Wong 00:06:09 We are big fans of what you do, man. Jason Newsted 00:06:14 You know, I came across you guys a couple of years ago. Jason Newsted 00:06:17 At first, it was rehearsal, might have been at a gig, but it might have been your own practice room. Jason Newsted 00:06:23 But it was before a gig. Jason Newsted 00:06:24 So I'm assuming it was at the arena or something. Jason Newsted 00:06:27 Might even have been a Madison Square garden where you were in dressing room going over some shit. Jason Newsted 00:06:32 That's the first time I saw you play guitar. Jason Newsted 00:06:34 I didn't know even the name of the band. Jason Newsted 00:06:36 I just saw these guys play something. Jason Newsted 00:06:38 Just gave it, like 15 seconds. Jason Newsted 00:06:41 You know, algorithms send you all that stuff when you're trying to keep learning and keep your feelers out for new music, you know, searching for new, younger heroes and all that stuff. Jason Newsted 00:06:48 And I was really taking. Jason Newsted 00:06:49 Of course, I gravitate to the bass thing. Jason Newsted 00:06:52 And then when you started playing super clean and really, man, beautiful human syncopation without any kind of false syncopation, I really fucking dug it. Jason Newsted 00:07:05 So from. Jason Newsted 00:07:05 From then on, I looked to some live stuff, maybe some european something or other. Jason Newsted 00:07:11 I can't remember what gig it was. Jason Newsted 00:07:12 But anyway, there was some real wild. Jason Newsted 00:07:14 The juice, you know, man. Jason Newsted 00:07:16 Like, the juice was real pure, you know? Jason Newsted 00:07:20 And I. Jason Newsted 00:07:20 Yeah. Jason Newsted 00:07:21 And I really. Jason Newsted 00:07:21 And I dug the simpatico of the. Jason Newsted 00:07:26 Of the unit. Jason Newsted 00:07:27 Like, all you guys are bad motherfuckers by yourself. Jason Newsted 00:07:30 But as all of us know, when you're a part of an entity that's greater than yourself, you know, you play your role, and everybody understands their role. Jason Newsted 00:07:38 Every other player understands their role, too. Jason Newsted 00:07:41 So that shit becomes this gigantic thing you couldn't have imagined when everybody's paying attention to each other. Jason Newsted 00:07:47 And that's really what I got off of you guys yet really paying attention to each other. Jason Newsted 00:07:51 The action, reaction, counterpoint, fire. Jason Newsted 00:07:54 Fucking awesome. Jason Newsted 00:07:55 So that's how I found out about you. Jason Newsted 00:07:58 And that's why I said yes. Jason Newsted 00:08:00 Because I get asked to do this stuff a lot, and I do it very rarely. Jason Newsted 00:08:04 So I appreciate you. Jason Newsted 00:08:05 I appreciate what you're doing, man. Corey Wong 00:08:07 Well, thank you so much, man. Corey Wong 00:08:08 That's very flattering. Corey Wong 00:08:10 It's a high honor to be seen by you on the Internet, because I've been watching you since I was a kid, man. Corey Wong 00:08:16 I've been such a huge man. Corey Wong 00:08:17 I love what you do. Corey Wong 00:08:19 And you've got such an incredible approach to artistry and music and. Corey Wong 00:08:23 And actually, I also really loved and appreciate the way that you play bass. Corey Wong 00:08:27 Cause you're a pick bass guy. Corey Wong 00:08:29 So many people hate on pick bass. Corey Wong 00:08:31 I love the pick bass, dude. Jason Newsted 00:08:34 We should have this brief conversation, and I'll make sure everybody is recalibrated. Jason Newsted 00:08:39 Okay. Jason Newsted 00:08:39 So the way that the world measures things, not the rules that you and I made. Jason Newsted 00:08:45 Okay. Jason Newsted 00:08:46 But the way that the world measures things, no matter what language you speak or dialect, or what they call your money. Jason Newsted 00:08:52 Anytime that you're introduced, if it's Corey, it's this advance, this. Jason Newsted 00:08:58 This cv played with these cats. Jason Newsted 00:09:02 Corey Wong, it says. Jason Newsted 00:09:05 I'm just saying this, that once again, okay, disclaimer. Jason Newsted 00:09:08 They made this up. Jason Newsted 00:09:10 I'm just going along with it. Jason Newsted 00:09:12 So it says, rock and Roll hall of Famer, six time Grammy winner, fucking you. Jason Newsted 00:09:16 Fuck Jason Newstead. Jason Newsted 00:09:18 Right? Jason Newsted 00:09:18 That's how. Jason Newsted 00:09:19 That's how I'm introduced. Jason Newsted 00:09:21 No matter what happens, there's certain things that you have to just get your head around when they decide to say these things. Corey Wong 00:09:30 Sure. Jason Newsted 00:09:30 So also in our world, in our specific little niche of a world, in our little guitar me world, these cats are the baddest motherfuckers. Jason Newsted 00:09:36 This is the guy, the legend. Jason Newsted 00:09:38 This is a legend bass player. Jason Newsted 00:09:39 This is West Montgomery. Jason Newsted 00:09:40 This is, you know, whatever, man. Jason Newsted 00:09:42 The cream of the crop are these motherfuckers right here. Jason Newsted 00:09:45 And they eagles sold that many records. Jason Newsted 00:09:48 Michael Jackson sold that many records. Jason Newsted 00:09:50 Tom Petty sold that many records. Jason Newsted 00:09:52 Bob Marley, legend, sold Pink Floyd, Dyke side of the moon. Jason Newsted 00:09:54 All right? Jason Newsted 00:09:55 That's how they measure shit through and through and through. Jason Newsted 00:09:57 Yes. Jason Newsted 00:09:58 Right? Corey Wong 00:09:58 Yeah. Jason Newsted 00:09:59 Okay. Jason Newsted 00:10:00 All right. Jason Newsted 00:10:00 So if we look at the bass players of rock music, all right, across. Jason Newsted 00:10:07 We'll call it 60 years. Jason Newsted 00:10:09 60 years. Jason Newsted 00:10:10 I'm 61. Jason Newsted 00:10:11 61 this year. Jason Newsted 00:10:12 So we'll call it 60 years. Jason Newsted 00:10:14 The guys that are at the top four and five and maybe six and maybe eight earning spots of basis over all those years, all the top ones are pick players of the top earning bassist of all time in rock music. Jason Newsted 00:10:31 Tell me those guys. Jason Newsted 00:10:32 Base the pick players. Jason Newsted 00:10:33 Tell me the top. Jason Newsted 00:10:34 Who's number one. Jason Newsted 00:10:35 Who's the. Jason Newsted 00:10:36 What's the biggest, biggest band of all time in rock music? Corey Wong 00:10:40 Yeah. Corey Wong 00:10:40 McCartney. Jason Newsted 00:10:41 Thank you. Jason Newsted 00:10:41 Okay. Jason Newsted 00:10:42 Does he play with a pick? Corey Wong 00:10:43 Yeah. Jason Newsted 00:10:43 Okay. Jason Newsted 00:10:44 And then there's a band called Kiss. Jason Newsted 00:10:45 You ever heard of them? Jason Newsted 00:10:47 Kiss? Corey Wong 00:10:47 Sure have. Corey Wong 00:10:48 Yeah. Jason Newsted 00:10:48 Yeah. Jason Newsted 00:10:49 Okay. Jason Newsted 00:10:49 Their bass player is. Jason Newsted 00:10:51 What's that guy's name? Corey Wong 00:10:52 Gene Simmons, baby. Jason Newsted 00:10:54 Yeah. Jason Newsted 00:10:54 Does he play with a pick? Corey Wong 00:10:55 Yeah. Jason Newsted 00:10:56 Uh huh. Jason Newsted 00:10:56 I thought so. Jason Newsted 00:10:57 There's a guy called Chris Novoselic. Corey Wong 00:11:00 Nirvana, baby. Jason Newsted 00:11:01 You heard of him? Corey Wong 00:11:02 Yeah. Jason Newsted 00:11:04 Does he play with a pick? Corey Wong 00:11:06 Yes, he does. Jason Newsted 00:11:07 Okay. Jason Newsted 00:11:08 There is a guy named Sting who does a thumb and a pick. Corey Wong 00:11:12 Yeah. Jason Newsted 00:11:13 But he doesn't do that. Jason Newsted 00:11:13 But he doesn't do this. Corey Wong 00:11:15 Correct. Jason Newsted 00:11:16 Okay. Jason Newsted 00:11:17 There's a guy named Jason Newstead. Jason Newsted 00:11:18 He's a man called Metallica. Jason Newsted 00:11:20 He played with a pick. Corey Wong 00:11:21 Yeah. Jason Newsted 00:11:22 Okay. Jason Newsted 00:11:22 That's that. Jason Newsted 00:11:23 That's the way the world measures it. Jason Newsted 00:11:25 All right? Jason Newsted 00:11:26 So now we're calibrated now, let's look at the cool factor. Jason Newsted 00:11:30 The factor. Jason Newsted 00:11:32 The coolest bass player that ever was his name, Lemmy Kilmeister. Jason Newsted 00:11:36 And he's from a bank called Motorhead, right? Jason Newsted 00:11:38 The coolest one played with a pick. Corey Wong 00:11:41 I think, you know, I think you settled any dispute right there. Jason Newsted 00:11:47 We love Getty Lee is our God, and Steve Harris and Stanley Clark and Larry Graham and I go on and on and on, man. Jason Newsted 00:11:57 Of course, finger players. Jason Newsted 00:11:58 Fuck, yeah. Jason Newsted 00:11:59 I love the flesh, and it's all good. Jason Newsted 00:12:01 I'm actually a better finger player on guitar than I am on bass, so it's kind of a weird thing for people to look at in that way. Jason Newsted 00:12:09 Actually, I play more with my fingers on guitar. Corey Wong 00:12:12 I love the way you put that. Corey Wong 00:12:13 I mean, and also, it's like there's a certain drive to it. Corey Wong 00:12:17 You know, I was actually just. Corey Wong 00:12:18 I was talking to Dave Navarro, and they had Flea playing with him for a while. Corey Wong 00:12:24 And it's like Eric, in Jane's addiction was such a pick player, and I associate so much of that music with pick bass. Corey Wong 00:12:32 And it's interesting to hear the way that Flea approached it with fingers. Corey Wong 00:12:35 It's like. Corey Wong 00:12:36 It's not like it was wrong, but it was just different. Corey Wong 00:12:38 And I think Navarro was even saying, like, man, flea was having a hard time getting it right because it's pick based music. Jason Newsted 00:12:47 As I let my brain run with that a little bit. Jason Newsted 00:12:50 The most recorded bassist in history is Carole Kay. Jason Newsted 00:12:55 She played with a pic. Jason Newsted 00:12:56 Yeah. Jason Newsted 00:12:57 And then the second most record is probably Leland Sklar or someone like that. Jason Newsted 00:13:01 It wouldn't be James Jamerson or Bobbitt or any of those guys because they didn't have as many records under their belt. Jason Newsted 00:13:06 And there might be a couple of the cats that I'm missing. Jason Newsted 00:13:08 But if the most recorded bassist of all time played with a pick also. Corey Wong 00:13:12 Well, even just hearing you talk about all these different people and listening to other things of you with your brother's record collections and stuff, listening to earth, wind and fire, listening to Queen, Hendrix, kiss, all these things, it's interesting to hear. Corey Wong 00:13:28 I think a lot of people that know your music wouldn't think, oh, yeah, Newstead grew up listening to some EWF, you know, or even that you're aware of some of these other people. Corey Wong 00:13:37 It's like, of course, this dude knows all these musicians and all this stuff, and it shows in the depth of your playing. Corey Wong 00:13:44 But I'm wondering, bands like Earth, Wind and Fire, what did you take from them and their bass players that you applied to, the way you play music or approach. Jason Newsted 00:13:54 Right? Jason Newsted 00:13:54 So earth, Wind and Fire has only ever had only one bass player in Verdean White. Jason Newsted 00:13:59 And he is, I think, the last member. Jason Newsted 00:14:02 I think, the last original. Jason Newsted 00:14:03 I know that Philip Bailey has been there for a lot of decades, but he was not original original. Jason Newsted 00:14:08 So Verdean is the only bassist they've ever had. Jason Newsted 00:14:12 Let's think about the grand picture of things. Jason Newsted 00:14:15 I was nine years old in 1972, all right? Jason Newsted 00:14:19 Ten years old, 73. Jason Newsted 00:14:20 Just let your mind go with it there. Jason Newsted 00:14:22 What's on the radio, what's popular coming out of the Motown thing up through the folk explosion. Jason Newsted 00:14:27 Then there becomes, like, kind of slabby rock music. Jason Newsted 00:14:30 Hendrix at the end of the sixties. Jason Newsted 00:14:32 That develops into that kind of thing. Jason Newsted 00:14:33 And what was starting to be played on the radio was all. Jason Newsted 00:14:37 I mean, always all the way from, like, mid sixties Motown music. Jason Newsted 00:14:41 And I'm sure in Minnesota, it reached over far enough in Chicago, Detroit. Jason Newsted 00:14:45 And I was with Kalamazoo, halfway in between those two. Jason Newsted 00:14:48 So there's always that wls and things playing Motown, rhythm and blues, those things. Jason Newsted 00:14:53 It developed into getting away with Ohio players. Jason Newsted 00:14:58 Because it's Ohio, and it says it in the name. Jason Newsted 00:15:00 So it's going to be played on that midwestern radio. Jason Newsted 00:15:02 And they get away with a few things. Jason Newsted 00:15:03 They can get away with love, roller coaster and fire and these things. Jason Newsted 00:15:06 So everybody's already got a little bit of it. Jason Newsted 00:15:08 It's okay for the white folks to groove to it, you know. Jason Newsted 00:15:11 And so that became a thing. Jason Newsted 00:15:13 And then that developed into disco. Jason Newsted 00:15:15 And that was really a wide reaching type of thing. Jason Newsted 00:15:20 Because popularity and the power of the radio at the time. Jason Newsted 00:15:23 So that was kind of inundated with that music. Jason Newsted 00:15:27 Because that's what was being played. Jason Newsted 00:15:28 Not just in my brother's record collections, but also in the discotheque itself and that kind of thing. Jason Newsted 00:15:33 So always gravitated to the bass dominant music, which it was all the funk music. Jason Newsted 00:15:38 All. Jason Newsted 00:15:39 Everybody riding on the concrete, man. Jason Newsted 00:15:41 Everybody riding on that funk from the. Jason Newsted 00:15:42 From the bait, from the thumb. Jason Newsted 00:15:44 So that was just automatically all of us, even if we're just am radio listeners, normally know how to do. Jason Newsted 00:15:50 That's all the technology we got, is turning it up. Jason Newsted 00:15:52 You know, automatically you're kind of infected with that thing wanting to tap your foot. Jason Newsted 00:15:58 Because the space in between the bass notes and stuff, you know. Jason Newsted 00:16:01 So I think I gravitated to that naturally. Jason Newsted 00:16:03 And then once kiss showed up that I wanted to play bass. Jason Newsted 00:16:07 But I didn't play too funky for a long, long time. Jason Newsted 00:16:10 Didn't play funky until much. Jason Newsted 00:16:12 Didn't play funky till much later. Corey Wong 00:16:13 Well, the other thing that's interesting, hearing you talk about that and listening to the radio and being a heavy metal bass player and musician, singer songwriter, I think you were tapped into something. Corey Wong 00:16:26 When I listen back and I think about all the bands that you've been a part of, you guys were able to have a general public appeal that many of your peers in the heavy metal realm didn't have. Corey Wong 00:16:41 Is there something in particular that you were paying attention to or that you guys were aiming for that others weren't? Jason Newsted 00:16:49 I think the target was the same, but the. Jason Newsted 00:16:54 What was in the quiver would be different for each outfit. Jason Newsted 00:16:59 Metallica. Jason Newsted 00:17:01 Metallica was blessed with two very gifted natural talent players. Jason Newsted 00:17:09 And Cliff Burton and James Hetfield and mustaine before that. Jason Newsted 00:17:12 Mustaine is a motherfucker, man, from the. Jason Newsted 00:17:14 From the go. Jason Newsted 00:17:16 He just is. Jason Newsted 00:17:17 Always has been what? Jason Newsted 00:17:18 Idiosyncrasies of personalities, man, whatever, and give a shit. Jason Newsted 00:17:23 He's always had a gift. Jason Newsted 00:17:27 Always. Jason Newsted 00:17:27 Still to this day he does. Jason Newsted 00:17:29 And how he fought back to keep playing fucking. Jason Newsted 00:17:31 Hey, dude, that's nothing but respect, you know? Jason Newsted 00:17:33 And so those guys having James and Cliff in it, when that. Jason Newsted 00:17:36 When the chips are down, the red lights on, and people are paying attention, you know, that having those two gifted guys automatically Lars grasp of it all already a very worldly young man, you know, at 19, he already been around the world five or seven times, you know, with his dad. Jason Newsted 00:17:54 Right? Jason Newsted 00:17:54 He already been around the world probably one time by the time he was five and shit. Jason Newsted 00:17:58 So just that kind of worldliness and the grasp of the. Jason Newsted 00:18:00 Of the. Jason Newsted 00:18:01 Now we all look at a global reach, Mandy. Jason Newsted 00:18:04 You look at the global reach from your pocket. Jason Newsted 00:18:05 You expect every show, bro. Jason Newsted 00:18:07 If you're paying for nine people in the kitchen somewhere, it's still a global gig. Jason Newsted 00:18:11 It's going to be a Vietnam four minutes from now. Jason Newsted 00:18:13 You better not fuck up, and you better be dressed nice. Jason Newsted 00:18:16 You know, that's. Jason Newsted 00:18:16 It wasn't like that before. Jason Newsted 00:18:18 It was one fan at a time and all that thing they felt. Jason Newsted 00:18:20 But those fans were won over by the actual construction of those tracks. Jason Newsted 00:18:27 They were, they were. Jason Newsted 00:18:28 They were always head and shoulders above the other guys that were going for the same target. Jason Newsted 00:18:33 If we're talking about anthrax and Slayer and different cats that start, man, oh, guys that started the same time having the same intentions. Jason Newsted 00:18:41 Right? Jason Newsted 00:18:41 They got some attention from the. Jason Newsted 00:18:43 Got same intentions, different amount of attention because of the appeal of their songs to people. Jason Newsted 00:18:51 Like things that people could sink their teeth into. Jason Newsted 00:18:54 Yeah, anthrax had a couple songs like that. Jason Newsted 00:18:56 You could sing along to about a second chorus. Jason Newsted 00:18:58 You sing it along a little bit, you know, but Metallica had stuff that you can get in, and by the time the second or at least third chorus came in, you're singing along with it, you know, that's just like this certain hooky shit. Jason Newsted 00:19:09 Even though it had the slabs and it had all the fuzz on it, you know, it still was super, super appealing in that way. Jason Newsted 00:19:16 Combine that with always the right place, the right time, and who you know and when you know them. Corey Wong 00:19:21 Sure. Jason Newsted 00:19:22 That Michael Elago saw them at the time that he did in New York playing brought them to the attention of Cliff Bernstein. Jason Newsted 00:19:31 And from that day in 1984 that they were set up for success if they wanted it all, all of the bands that we speaking of and the ones we already mentioned on the tier and the tier, you know, that kind of people are still trying to do the same thing, playing the same amount of shows basically to the same audiences in each town as the metal movement grew. Jason Newsted 00:19:55 Yeah. Jason Newsted 00:19:56 But because the management had so much already, so many miles under their feet with AC DC and Nugent Leopard, I mean, all legendary shit that they already knew where they were going. Jason Newsted 00:20:08 They saw the commitment and conviction of this band and of Metallica and the appeal that James had as a frontman and that thing and the actual dexterity, bro. Jason Newsted 00:20:22 Agility and dexterity, something you're very familiar with like that. Jason Newsted 00:20:26 He just had that shit above everybody else. Jason Newsted 00:20:28 I play with some bad motherfuckers, man. Jason Newsted 00:20:30 Those guys in flotsam are no slouches, man, ever. Jason Newsted 00:20:33 You know, even they were ahead of their time, too, Mikey when he was 16, you know what I mean? Jason Newsted 00:20:38 So I was used to those kind of play, but not at that caliber like these cats. Jason Newsted 00:20:42 I know. Jason Newsted 00:20:42 I don't know if, you know, I don't know if you are one of them or that, you know, some of them, but I would have to practice, like, 5 hours to get to where Hetfield gets out of bed and plays cold, you know what I'm saying? Jason Newsted 00:20:56 These people that have this certain give, fucking pick it up and go fucking hey, ba ba da. Jason Newsted 00:21:00 You know, the accuracy and the precision, it's just there. Jason Newsted 00:21:04 And really, actually, no matter how many beers and stuff at that time, somehow it still was able to fire like that, you know? Jason Newsted 00:21:11 So, I mean, long answer to the question, but it comes down to a bunch of different elements. Corey Wong 00:21:16 Mm hmm. Jason Newsted 00:21:16 The band had the songs. Jason Newsted 00:21:18 The band had the personnel. Jason Newsted 00:21:21 The band had the conviction as a unit. Jason Newsted 00:21:24 The management set them up for these shows. Jason Newsted 00:21:27 Those who was venom in Europe. Jason Newsted 00:21:29 They become big in Europe first, start catching on. Jason Newsted 00:21:32 Second album is a gigantic leap from the first one. Jason Newsted 00:21:35 As far as the appeal that you're speaking of. Jason Newsted 00:21:36 The listen ability. Jason Newsted 00:21:38 Yeah. Jason Newsted 00:21:38 That. Jason Newsted 00:21:39 The sonic awesomeness, you know, so appealing to so many people that were ready for it. Jason Newsted 00:21:45 Okay, here's the last element, the demographics. Jason Newsted 00:21:48 So if there's how many hundred thousand white males, twelve to 18 years old, that are down with the devil and they want to hear that thing. Jason Newsted 00:21:58 Okay, there was that many people on the. Jason Newsted 00:22:00 On our planet, in our country at that time for them to catch on in America. Jason Newsted 00:22:07 A whole bunch of bands catch on in Europe and never catch on in America. Jason Newsted 00:22:11 It happens. Jason Newsted 00:22:12 But they did it. Jason Newsted 00:22:13 They were able to do because they were set up for success by the management, gave them a chance to go and hit the ball. Jason Newsted 00:22:20 They hit it out of the park most of the time. Jason Newsted 00:22:23 So they got asked back to that city the next time in the bigger venue and then the bigger venue, and then the biggest venue in the same town. Jason Newsted 00:22:33 But because, but because of all those same elements, continued perpetually. Jason Newsted 00:22:40 Band retained conviction, players retained talent. Jason Newsted 00:22:45 Managers kept. Jason Newsted 00:22:47 Kept the nose to the stone. Jason Newsted 00:22:49 People were there to buy the tickets and the album and pay for them, and the band could take the money and reinvest it in themselves and make something happen and go to the next five countries that we couldn't last time. Jason Newsted 00:23:02 This type of stuff, we were selling tangible product back then to make the world go round. Jason Newsted 00:23:07 That has been removed. Jason Newsted 00:23:09 That has been removed from the equation. Jason Newsted 00:23:11 Right. Jason Newsted 00:23:12 So that, yeah, we have to talk about that later or whatever, but that's why Metallica hit, because those things all kind of came. Jason Newsted 00:23:18 The planets aligned with those elements. Corey Wong 00:23:21 Yeah, I'd love to get into the current stage of the industry in a little bit, but there's something you said that a lot of people don't really realize as musicians, even those that are right in it, but especially a lot of people that just watch their favorite band play and it's like, wow, these guys have a lot of technical facility. Jason Newsted 00:23:40 Cool. Corey Wong 00:23:41 Some people think, oh, it's just a thing, but at the end of the day, you're an athlete, especially at the level that you've been playing at. Corey Wong 00:23:48 And that many of us have to maintain is there's a real physical and athletic element in taking care of your body, taking care of your chops, and, you know, maintaining that. Corey Wong 00:23:59 I'm curious for you, when you were really coming up and, and over the years, what has that physical demand been like for you and how did you get to that level? Jason Newsted 00:24:10 I always kept myself pretty much the same. Jason Newsted 00:24:14 And I rode a lot of bicycle. Jason Newsted 00:24:15 I still do. Jason Newsted 00:24:16 There's still just a certain. Jason Newsted 00:24:18 Certain things that are innate in the beginning when you're all young and rubbery and shit and you can bounce off a bunch of things and things can bounce off of you. Jason Newsted 00:24:28 You can have that vodka that night, get back up and still do the show with that thing. Jason Newsted 00:24:33 One really important part, just mentioning that part of it. Jason Newsted 00:24:39 I didn't ever drink any alcohol or just. Jason Newsted 00:24:43 We would maybe we'd sometimes share community beer and everybody takes a hit and then we go on like that. Jason Newsted 00:24:48 But I didn't. Jason Newsted 00:24:48 I didn't imbibe in anything like that for any performances in my life. Jason Newsted 00:24:53 You know, afterwards. Jason Newsted 00:24:55 Afterwards have a cold sapporo and do the thing and all that. Jason Newsted 00:24:58 But I never went too far with any product, any. Jason Newsted 00:25:02 Any of the inebriation stuff. Jason Newsted 00:25:04 I still, like, have a little herb in the thing, but I never went too far with any of those things. Jason Newsted 00:25:09 Fortunately for us, for me in particular, I was still so green, still so wet behind the years, you know, they already had a couple tours under their belt. Jason Newsted 00:25:18 They had those three albums that were the blueprints for all the shit, you know? Jason Newsted 00:25:21 And I was stepping into that. Jason Newsted 00:25:22 They were. Jason Newsted 00:25:23 They were full fucking locomotive going, how many are a mile an hour? Jason Newsted 00:25:25 I just got to jump down. Jason Newsted 00:25:26 Trying to hang on. Jason Newsted 00:25:27 I didn't. Jason Newsted 00:25:27 I haven't been through what they've been through, you know? Jason Newsted 00:25:30 What the fuck, man? Jason Newsted 00:25:31 Trying to catch up with all of that thing and say, I was in this mode. Jason Newsted 00:25:34 Fuck. Jason Newsted 00:25:35 Trying to catch up the whole time and being expected to just step in and be where they are, even though they already did all that. Jason Newsted 00:25:42 And I've just been playing at clubs in Phoenix and I supposed to be. Jason Newsted 00:25:45 Here we. Jason Newsted 00:25:46 Oh, fuck. Jason Newsted 00:25:47 Yeah, I got that. Jason Newsted 00:25:47 You know, dude. Jason Newsted 00:25:48 Whoa. Jason Newsted 00:25:49 The. Jason Newsted 00:25:50 Thrown into the blue flames. Jason Newsted 00:25:52 Trying to get ahold of it all by the time 1988 came around and a couple years in. Jason Newsted 00:25:58 So we played 20 or 25 countries by that time and started to get my stride a little bit, find my role. Jason Newsted 00:26:03 Find my role in the band and how to play it. Jason Newsted 00:26:06 I know I wasn't going to be the main songwriter or the leader anymore, like in Flotsam or this or this or this. Jason Newsted 00:26:10 I was going to be the base guy and the live guy. Jason Newsted 00:26:14 I was going to show him what's up with the juice. Jason Newsted 00:26:16 And that's what you're talking about. Jason Newsted 00:26:17 So the physicality of it all, when you're younger, you can go through a lot more and bounce back quicker as time went on and the demand became greater physically and mentally. Jason Newsted 00:26:28 Okay. Jason Newsted 00:26:29 At the beginning when you're jamming with your band and you're just doing the gigs where you're in control, you're your own manager and all that stuff, you wearing all the hats in the early days, yeah, your plate is filled up with 85 or 90% of the music and the jam and making the flyers and writing the songs and being cool and developing all your stuff. Jason Newsted 00:26:47 And then that 10% is like, going, talking to people a little bit, making sure to let somebody know where you're playing, sell some tickets, and this business part of it, promotion part of it, as the time goes on and the demand of popularity goes up and demand on your time and youre attention and the plate begins to fill up with other things that have really nothing to do with the physicality of the music and the flesh on the strings that starts being removed a little bit, and you got video, photo shoot, award show, longer tour, less days in between, all this thing starts adding up and the plate gets filled up with all the kind of apparatus of it. Jason Newsted 00:27:29 You know, you still got 100 people out on tour with you that need to get a check for their kids that week, all that shit. Jason Newsted 00:27:34 So you got that. Jason Newsted 00:27:35 You know, there's always something coming. Jason Newsted 00:27:37 There's always something two weeks away, three weeks away, eight weeks away, four days away. Jason Newsted 00:27:41 There's always something coming at you like that. Jason Newsted 00:27:45 So the mental part of it, I think, is actually more difficult than the physical part. Jason Newsted 00:27:50 You can go and lose some weights and ride your bike and keep yourself stretched and hydrated and stuff. Jason Newsted 00:27:54 What you learn to do as the demand becomes greater and you get a little more money, you get a dude out on the road that does your diet and does your thing so you can be the athlete, you know, you're not just going to get up and run the fucking marathon the next day. Jason Newsted 00:28:09 You got to work up to that shit, you know what I'm saying? Jason Newsted 00:28:12 Six weeks before the tour, you're on your bike sweating every day, making sure the thing chops, vocal stuff, all that before you hit the first day, you got to be ready. Jason Newsted 00:28:22 Like an athlete, like a boxer, like an olympian. Jason Newsted 00:28:24 It is, it is like that. Jason Newsted 00:28:26 So, but the, but the. Jason Newsted 00:28:29 A lot of people can jump high and run fast and all that, that's, that's that thing. Jason Newsted 00:28:32 Okay? Jason Newsted 00:28:33 But when you tie it to the middle and always have to know what's coming next from here, whether it's on your instrument or in the interview question or in this thing, it presented that way representing the entire outfit. Jason Newsted 00:28:44 When you're on your own, when there's nobody else in the band or the entity there with you, you're just there dressed up, and you're there to represent the make a wish foundation for the band and all that name, all that shit. Jason Newsted 00:28:59 That's when it starts, you know, being a little more challenging, in my opinion. Corey Wong 00:29:06 Sure. Jason Newsted 00:29:06 You don't so many people. Jason Newsted 00:29:08 It affects so many people. Jason Newsted 00:29:10 You don't know where you're going to reach, man. Jason Newsted 00:29:12 You don't know how far you're going to reach. Jason Newsted 00:29:14 My mom shows me this picture inside of National Geographic. Jason Newsted 00:29:16 For all I know, the guy's got. Jason Newsted 00:29:18 He's in the middle of a rice paddy in some Malaysia somewhere, up to his knees, you know, in mud with a metallica shirt on. Jason Newsted 00:29:25 Like, dude, what the what? Jason Newsted 00:29:27 How do I. Jason Newsted 00:29:28 How do we know? Jason Newsted 00:29:29 How do you know where your music's gonna go? Jason Newsted 00:29:32 Who's gonna watch your Madison Square garden video today? Jason Newsted 00:29:35 You don't fucking know. Jason Newsted 00:29:36 It could be guy Tim Buck, too, man. Jason Newsted 00:29:38 You don't know. Jason Newsted 00:29:39 You don't know where you're gonna reach. Jason Newsted 00:29:40 Yeah, yeah. Jason Newsted 00:29:41 So people that come and see the shows, and they get really emotional. Jason Newsted 00:29:46 They're so tied to it, they see that they're part of something bigger themselves, too. Jason Newsted 00:29:50 All singing the songs together become like a community, like an army, you know, there's. Jason Newsted 00:29:59 It's not that you don't care about what goes on with the people and all the things, but you can't be responsible for everybody, you know? Jason Newsted 00:30:08 And so this kind of challenge, like, you want to represent the bandaid and yourself the best that you can consistently, because you could have 300 shows that were just, holy fuck. Jason Newsted 00:30:19 And then one where you wiped out or your had, you know, bronchitis and you couldn't sing, right. Jason Newsted 00:30:26 That's the one that. Jason Newsted 00:30:28 And especially today with the global thing we're talking about, you know? Jason Newsted 00:30:32 So answering your question, the physicality. Jason Newsted 00:30:34 Physicality. Jason Newsted 00:30:35 If you eat right and keep your hydration and do your thing, then that could be maintained for quite a while. Jason Newsted 00:30:40 But this guy right here, you gotta sometimes give it a minute. Jason Newsted 00:30:44 And that's kind of what came down. Jason Newsted 00:30:46 That's what came down for me in that entity. Jason Newsted 00:30:49 I just. Jason Newsted 00:30:49 Sure, I need it. Jason Newsted 00:30:51 I needed a minute. Jason Newsted 00:30:52 I just fucking needed a minute. Jason Newsted 00:30:53 That's all. Jason Newsted 00:30:54 You know? Jason Newsted 00:30:54 But they'll know, man. Jason Newsted 00:30:55 We got to keep fucking going. Jason Newsted 00:30:56 I'm okay. Jason Newsted 00:30:57 Well, you got to go without me, dude, because I want to be alive next year. Jason Newsted 00:31:01 And right now it says 20 whatever years later. Jason Newsted 00:31:03 And I'm here smiling at you, buddy, you know? Jason Newsted 00:31:06 Yeah, but it's mentally, physically, I think. Corey Wong 00:31:10 Yeah, I think we're in an interesting era with that because we're at a point where all that stuff is so immediate. Corey Wong 00:31:19 It's not just, we had one bad show and there was a few write ups about it, and then the write ups got shared around and blah, blah, blah. Corey Wong 00:31:27 People were on the phone talking about it. Corey Wong 00:31:28 It's like, it is immediate. Corey Wong 00:31:30 Somebody posts a video from that gig, and everywhere in the world now everybody else can see some random cats video of you wiping out or whatever. Corey Wong 00:31:39 And it is a lot more mentally taxing on us and our availability that we have with social media and kind of the need for it. Corey Wong 00:31:48 And honestly, I enjoy the fact that I can be somebody who can connect with the fans on a personal level, and hopefully it maintains a healthy balance and a healthy barrier in certain cases. Corey Wong 00:32:03 But I think with the immediacy of where we're at in society, we're noticing a lot more need. Corey Wong 00:32:10 And just like, a call to, like, yo, we all got to look out for each other, and we have to have a little bit of. Corey Wong 00:32:17 A little more awareness of our mental health, maybe more. Corey Wong 00:32:21 So maybe we're talking about it a little more now, I don't know, than what it was in the nineties or. Corey Wong 00:32:27 But it's definitely a huge conversation that's been going on. Jason Newsted 00:32:33 I have a question for you. Corey Wong 00:32:35 Yeah. Jason Newsted 00:32:36 So. Jason Newsted 00:32:37 And it's the thing that really, it gets in my craw the most. Jason Newsted 00:32:43 It gets under my skin the most these days. Jason Newsted 00:32:47 How have you been able to manage or get along with or accept the screen between you and. Jason Newsted 00:32:56 And your audience? Jason Newsted 00:32:58 Like, I'm right fucking here. Jason Newsted 00:33:01 Why do you have to have this in between us? Jason Newsted 00:33:04 I am out here trying to share with you. Jason Newsted 00:33:07 I didn't. Jason Newsted 00:33:08 You came here for me, right? Jason Newsted 00:33:09 I did come here for you, but you came here for me. Jason Newsted 00:33:12 You paid to come to see this. Jason Newsted 00:33:14 Yeah. Jason Newsted 00:33:15 And I came out because I like doing it. Jason Newsted 00:33:17 But if the respect is not there and you're not paying attention, I ain't fucking come right. Corey Wong 00:33:22 Yeah. Jason Newsted 00:33:22 I'm just not. Jason Newsted 00:33:23 I'm not doing anymore because I was. Jason Newsted 00:33:24 I came up a few minutes ago. Jason Newsted 00:33:26 We're talking about visceral man. Jason Newsted 00:33:29 Fucking sweat and blood and broken bones and the beginnings of what became mosh pits, the origins, you know, and the real fucking thing. Jason Newsted 00:33:40 And so as I got out of the big act just in time before everyone had a camera in their pocket. Corey Wong 00:33:49 Yeah. Jason Newsted 00:33:50 You know, it used to be that when you wanted, man, take a photo. Jason Newsted 00:33:53 Yeah. Jason Newsted 00:33:53 They pull out their instamatic and we do a picture. Jason Newsted 00:33:55 That's what I knew. Corey Wong 00:33:57 Yeah. Jason Newsted 00:33:57 So I'm asking you from my. Jason Newsted 00:33:59 From my era, or what do you want to call it to your era now? Jason Newsted 00:34:05 I want to know the pros and the beauty somehow. Jason Newsted 00:34:09 Like, I get the connectivity. Jason Newsted 00:34:10 I think harness, like, you're speaking of harnessing it to their advantage and yours. Jason Newsted 00:34:15 So it could be a blossom, like every. Jason Newsted 00:34:16 Like it's supposed to be. Jason Newsted 00:34:17 What I'm talking about is the hindrance of why you're there, the connection that is the most important thing and why we do this, why we keep going back to it. Jason Newsted 00:34:27 Why do I keep going back to it? Jason Newsted 00:34:29 Because of the feeling that we feel when we end the song together and it goes, fuck. Jason Newsted 00:34:32 And we go, fuck. Jason Newsted 00:34:34 Like, that strength, that beauty and the juice and the adrenaline and all the thing that comes from it. Jason Newsted 00:34:40 We know it. Jason Newsted 00:34:41 We've tasted it frequently. Jason Newsted 00:34:43 We want to keep tasting it. Jason Newsted 00:34:45 When it's good, it's so sweet. Jason Newsted 00:34:47 When it's bad, it's fucking sour. Jason Newsted 00:34:50 So that connection being removed, is it removing the connection or enhancing the connection? Corey Wong 00:34:58 I think it's both, honestly, and I think it's the listener or the audience members intent. Corey Wong 00:35:05 A lot of times. Corey Wong 00:35:07 I mean, this has been part of. Corey Wong 00:35:10 Every time I've done a gig that quote unquote mattered, it's been in the phone era. Corey Wong 00:35:17 It's been in the social media era. Corey Wong 00:35:18 So, yes, I do think that the presence and being present is so important, and it has such a deeper thing. Corey Wong 00:35:29 I remember years ago going to. Corey Wong 00:35:32 To prince shows here in Minneapolis at Paisley park, where it's just like you're putting your phone in a little bag, and we're locking it, and all of a sudden, it's like, yeah, we're waiting around for 2 hours for prince to come out, but guess what's happening? Corey Wong 00:35:47 There's a dj playing, and people are talking to each other in a different way. Corey Wong 00:35:51 There's a community thing that all of a sudden, it felt more special. Corey Wong 00:35:56 So, yes, I long for that. Corey Wong 00:35:59 But I am also aware that, you know, we're just in a time where we're all. Corey Wong 00:36:03 I mean, I'm guilty of it sometimes, tied to our phones and certain things. Corey Wong 00:36:07 And sometimes, you know, like I said, the intention of somebody. Corey Wong 00:36:10 A lot of times, people go to a concert, and it might be the cool thing to go to that concert. Corey Wong 00:36:16 So they want to take videos, and they want to let all of their followers and people know I'm the kind of person that does cool things, like go to Coachella or whatever. Corey Wong 00:36:27 And I'm the kind of person that's into cool, young, hip bands. Corey Wong 00:36:30 So I'm going to post a video of the band so people know that I'm cool. Corey Wong 00:36:34 You know, I think that sort of thing, it's like, oh, come on. Corey Wong 00:36:37 Like, all right, whatever. Corey Wong 00:36:39 But there is also some people that they just. Corey Wong 00:36:43 In their mind, they're like, I have to have some way to remember this thing. Corey Wong 00:36:47 And the only way that I know how to capture what I can remember is through my phone, rather than just like, you know, my dad telling stories about seeing Hendrix for 750 in the front row. Corey Wong 00:37:00 You know, he has that memory so locked in. Corey Wong 00:37:02 Cause he was so present. Corey Wong 00:37:04 And I think many of us have a hard time being present enough and having the practice of being present enough. Jason Newsted 00:37:15 Yep. Jason Newsted 00:37:16 And you got it because it's the generation. Jason Newsted 00:37:19 It's what they came up with. Jason Newsted 00:37:20 You guys didn't have phones on the wall or hooked to the, you know, to the house and stuff. Jason Newsted 00:37:25 It's just a different thing. Jason Newsted 00:37:26 So it's. Jason Newsted 00:37:27 It's just normal. Jason Newsted 00:37:28 It's just normal. Jason Newsted 00:37:29 But. Jason Newsted 00:37:30 But I've been part of the change, or those from my era have been, you know, through all of the change of technology in that way. Jason Newsted 00:37:37 And it's really. Jason Newsted 00:37:39 It's different than, you know, hey, there's radio, then there's screen. Jason Newsted 00:37:43 The silver screen, then there's television, then there's, you know, it's not like that. Jason Newsted 00:37:47 I don't think. Jason Newsted 00:37:47 I think it's way more. Jason Newsted 00:37:49 Way more distracting and kind of forms the person. Jason Newsted 00:37:53 And I want to speak to what you said there. Jason Newsted 00:37:56 There's maybe a little percentage of people that are doing it for, you know, posterity and that they're gonna have. Jason Newsted 00:38:02 That. Jason Newsted 00:38:02 They have a collection. Jason Newsted 00:38:02 They want to get that. Jason Newsted 00:38:03 That's their own thing, and they're keeping it for themselves. Jason Newsted 00:38:05 That's. Jason Newsted 00:38:05 That's minor. Jason Newsted 00:38:07 And then the people that. Jason Newsted 00:38:08 Unless. Jason Newsted 00:38:09 Unless I have a picture of it over a video of it showing me doing it, nobody believes I did it, and maybe I don't either. Jason Newsted 00:38:16 You know, that. Jason Newsted 00:38:17 That. Jason Newsted 00:38:17 That's. Jason Newsted 00:38:18 That's a little fucked up, and it's real shallow. Jason Newsted 00:38:21 And speaking to the last thing you said, you know, I wrote in a. Jason Newsted 00:38:25 It was a song for a Newstead band about tiny trains of thought, right? Jason Newsted 00:38:30 And when you read a book or you. Jason Newsted 00:38:32 Or you take, you know, a lesson like this, not. Jason Newsted 00:38:34 Not from somebody showing you on the Internet. Jason Newsted 00:38:36 No. Jason Newsted 00:38:36 Goes like that, but actually, like, used to learn off the lp and fuck till you got it, you know, that type of stuff. Jason Newsted 00:38:42 The stuff that I learned from Sabbath and Russia and everything when I was 15. Jason Newsted 00:38:45 I could whip up for you right now for the stuff that I looked at and learned from Jason Isabel or John Prine or something. Jason Newsted 00:38:51 Just cheating on the chords. Jason Newsted 00:38:53 I couldn't really play unless I looked at some notes. Jason Newsted 00:38:56 You know what I'm saying? Jason Newsted 00:38:57 So that the tiny trains of thought and the shallow depths that are created from just having this instant gratification thing there. Jason Newsted 00:39:08 And the thought that I am not worth anything unless I can prove to somebody I was taking part in something else and being around someone famous. Jason Newsted 00:39:16 So that therefore, I am somehow precipitously famous as well. Jason Newsted 00:39:21 You know, this kind of thing, it's like in different places that you go where there's a lot of stellar athletes and musicians camp out down in Florida, kind of where we hang with golfers and baseball players. Jason Newsted 00:39:32 And all the people kind of converge in those places. Jason Newsted 00:39:35 There's a thing, and I wish I could tell you the terminology. Jason Newsted 00:39:37 I can't remember the term for it, but it is a term where people, you know, to rub elbows with those persons that have achieved something in the spotlight, then that gives them their own spotlight somehow. Jason Newsted 00:39:49 This is an inference or a little tributary of this type of shit. Corey Wong 00:39:56 Yeah. Corey Wong 00:39:57 One. Corey Wong 00:39:58 I mean, it's a. Corey Wong 00:39:59 Some people get tensed up talking about this. Corey Wong 00:40:02 Or some people even are like, oh, well, this is a guy who's just kind of got this old curmudgeonly approach to it. Corey Wong 00:40:08 But. Corey Wong 00:40:08 But. Corey Wong 00:40:09 And there is that. Corey Wong 00:40:10 Yes, there is some people. Corey Wong 00:40:12 But honestly, I really appreciate the way that you're talking about it, because the. Corey Wong 00:40:17 When I hear you talk about it, it feels like it's coming from a posture of, I care so much about the art. Corey Wong 00:40:24 I care so much about what I'm doing. Corey Wong 00:40:27 I place so much value on this. Corey Wong 00:40:30 I really just wish that you would pay attention to this. Corey Wong 00:40:34 Don't just go to the museum and take a picture of the Van Gogh and then move on. Corey Wong 00:40:39 Like, go there, take a look at it and absorb it. Corey Wong 00:40:43 Take a look at the tone, colors, the intention. Corey Wong 00:40:47 Why did this painting happen in the first place? Corey Wong 00:40:49 What decisions were made for this painting to exist? Corey Wong 00:40:54 What was this person going through in their life? Corey Wong 00:40:56 So, for me, when I hear you talk about this, it actually does not at all come across as, man, I wish it was back in the old days. Corey Wong 00:41:04 It comes from a place of, like, you know what? Corey Wong 00:41:06 Back in the day, we had this. Corey Wong 00:41:08 Here's what I'm noticing now. Corey Wong 00:41:10 Oh, man. Corey Wong 00:41:10 I feel like some of these people are missing out. Corey Wong 00:41:13 You know, I almost feel like you come from an empathy stance rather than an anger. Jason Newsted 00:41:22 So the thing I spend most of my time doing now, if I am to play music, I choose four to six shows a year, and they're all benefits, and they usually go to kids art programs and music programs. Jason Newsted 00:41:35 And we did a veterans benefit just a couple nights ago, and this kind of stuff, whatever I put my name on my logo with the chop house band next to. Jason Newsted 00:41:42 It's got to be something. Jason Newsted 00:41:43 It's got to be something that's up to snuff. Jason Newsted 00:41:45 It's got to be something that's sound. Jason Newsted 00:41:47 And so the feeling that we were speaking about a little while ago that you and I feel all the time when we play, and the reward that comes from it, whether you recorded something that you had in your mind and you're able to develop the structure and the arrangement and make it all cool like you want or as sparse as you want or whatever, being able to do that and feel the feeling of the completion, the anticipation of it being done, that reward and all kind of thing like that. Jason Newsted 00:42:12 So anticipation is probably top three most valuable things a human can have. Jason Newsted 00:42:18 And feeling the feeling of hitting those chords together, remembering a three minute song, even if it's just Mary had a little lamb, or this land is your land or something, where you remember the structure of it to that place and you feel good about doing. Jason Newsted 00:42:34 That relationship that you have with your instrument is something no one can take from you. Jason Newsted 00:42:39 No matter how many people are in the symphony or in the ensemble or whatever, you got your own thing, so it's your own voice and your. Jason Newsted 00:42:46 And your own guitar, then nobody could take that from you, man, no matter what happens. Jason Newsted 00:42:50 So developing that relationship with an instrument, no matter which one you choose, man, whichever one you gravitate towards, go for it. Jason Newsted 00:42:58 Just because your dad played violin don't mean you can't play bassoon or whatever the fuck. Jason Newsted 00:43:01 It's up to you what you gravitate towards if you feel like doing music. Jason Newsted 00:43:05 But if you go that way, I want kids to feel that feeling that I still chase every day, you know, and that. Jason Newsted 00:43:12 And it is at its highest high, its highest conclusion, you know, of success when the connection is made with the other human. Jason Newsted 00:43:23 Right. Jason Newsted 00:43:24 When we hear somebody really good, Adele or someone sing a capella, we get wiped out, man. Jason Newsted 00:43:30 Our bodies are covered with bumps, and we didn't try. Jason Newsted 00:43:32 We didn't try. Jason Newsted 00:43:33 There was no effort involved. Jason Newsted 00:43:35 It just fucking happened. Jason Newsted 00:43:37 The music just floats through the air, man. Jason Newsted 00:43:40 It just floats through the air. Jason Newsted 00:43:42 So if you can attract somebody like that and make a kid feel that way. Jason Newsted 00:43:46 I want as many people as possible to feel that feeling. Jason Newsted 00:43:51 So the highest feeling that you can feel is that way is without a fucking interrupter in between. Jason Newsted 00:43:57 Whatever generation does whatever they do, peace. Jason Newsted 00:43:59 I'm not telling you what you can and can't do. Jason Newsted 00:44:01 That's not what I'm doing at all. Jason Newsted 00:44:02 I'm just trying to say all the software in the world, all the greatest holy fancy shit that they even showed anybody yet is never going to outdo our receptors that we're already born with. Jason Newsted 00:44:16 To feel the female fucking base pull the sternum out of your chest, you know, like the vacuum of the fucking power and that kind of thing. Jason Newsted 00:44:25 Let allow yourself to take it in and get crushed by it, get enveloped by it, get enlightened by it. Jason Newsted 00:44:32 This is only hindering your enlightenment. Jason Newsted 00:44:36 And it's like, it fucks with me, man. Jason Newsted 00:44:38 I thought, everybody's going to do whatever they do, man. Jason Newsted 00:44:41 And it helps promote people and get that, and they see the show, and if it's a good show, it helps you suck. Jason Newsted 00:44:45 Peace, man. Jason Newsted 00:44:46 Peace. Jason Newsted 00:44:47 I just one time would like to look across the crowd and see not all those cameras come up and just everybody going, instead of that, putting their pocket going, fuck, yeah. Jason Newsted 00:44:57 You know? Jason Newsted 00:44:58 Feel the feeling, man. Jason Newsted 00:44:59 That's what I want. Jason Newsted 00:45:00 That's all I want. Jason Newsted 00:45:01 Yeah. Corey Wong 00:45:01 Honestly, hearing you talk about this stuff now in a lot of ways answers an earlier question about what are you paying attention to? Corey Wong 00:45:09 And so much of. Corey Wong 00:45:12 So much of the way that I'm hearing you talk about this and just looking at. Corey Wong 00:45:15 At the things that you've done through your career, show me that you're a real artiste. Corey Wong 00:45:21 I mean. Corey Wong 00:45:21 I mean that in a lot of ways, and you approach things in a way that's so respectful to the art. Corey Wong 00:45:28 I know that I've watched a lot of. Corey Wong 00:45:30 There's two examples that I really lat latched onto preparing for this interview. Corey Wong 00:45:36 One was hearing some of your solo bass performances in concerts where it's like, I've heard a lot of people do stuff where it's just the bass guitar, and it's either, you know, there's a lot of ways to approach it, but I felt like you did it in a way that showed technical mastery only for the sake of, this is what the song is that I want to play, and technical mastery is just part of what needs to happen to get this thing across. Corey Wong 00:46:07 And then also, when hearing about you having some injuries, you didn't just say, I'm hanging up the spikes I got nothing left to say. Corey Wong 00:46:16 You say, I am still a person who has something to express. Corey Wong 00:46:20 There's a certain part of myself to express, and then looking at some of your paintings, it's like there's depth in there. Corey Wong 00:46:27 There's so much that I can tell that you're wanting to express, and there's a real, like you're saying a human connection that you're wanting to make a real self expression with that self expression. Corey Wong 00:46:39 I'm curious, when it comes to painting, is there something you're able to express in your artistry that you're not able to express in your music? Jason Newsted 00:46:51 Yes, because it's best, usually, Corey, when the instruments in tune, you know, and with the paint, very few rules for me, you know, there doesn't have to be in tune, and sometimes I really don't want it to be in tune at all. Jason Newsted 00:47:11 Yeah. Jason Newsted 00:47:12 So it's the opportunity and the boundaries are pretty much non existent, so I don't say no to any medium. Jason Newsted 00:47:23 Mix whatever I need to with whatever I need to to make the thing for that day, whatever it happens. Jason Newsted 00:47:28 So it's really a lot broader chance to express and a lot freer. Jason Newsted 00:47:33 There's. Jason Newsted 00:47:34 I don't have things to answer up to and stuff, you know, I. Jason Newsted 00:47:37 I made a full record with chop. Jason Newsted 00:47:39 I spent a couple years back to the full thing, all the dough. Jason Newsted 00:47:41 Real studios hired people to play all the shit, man, and it came out pretty good. Jason Newsted 00:47:46 Let's do it again for the first time in months yesterday. Jason Newsted 00:47:49 But I didn't share with anybody other than just like, q prime here and stuff. Jason Newsted 00:47:55 It wasn't like that for me, you know, if I eventually let people hear that and everything, it's cool, but it's the thing that I went all the way. Jason Newsted 00:48:02 I'm relating it to the canvas. Jason Newsted 00:48:04 So it's the only time that I've been able to do that kind of what we're just speaking over the canvas. Jason Newsted 00:48:11 I have a lot less limitations. Jason Newsted 00:48:13 So, of course it's going to have this bass thing and it's going to have this. Jason Newsted 00:48:17 It's going to have this, but the other stuff and the female vocal and army's a vocal and cellos and french horns and whatever it is to make the textures of these songs that cover all the way from the softest kind of mandolini stuff all the way to full fucking tomb down slabs, all within an hour and hours worth of music. Jason Newsted 00:48:40 But I was able for the first time to do that. Jason Newsted 00:48:43 All the stuff that I actually heard when I first wrote the song, like if it had this and this and this and this towering shit and, oh, all that, first time I got to do it. Jason Newsted 00:48:53 The reason I brought it up, I guess, is because I hold myself back from doing anything too big of a step, because I am so conscious of protecting the legacy. Jason Newsted 00:49:07 And I think that I've hindered myself sometimes. Jason Newsted 00:49:10 I'm not maybe just releasing everything. Jason Newsted 00:49:12 I've recorded everything that if I would say 92 or 94% of everything I've ever played with anybody in the chop house since probably 1989. Jason Newsted 00:49:24 And so we did three or 4 hours or 5 hours on the GoPro last week. Jason Newsted 00:49:28 It's just, I got all of it on video, audio, whatever. Jason Newsted 00:49:31 Actually, whatever was the medium of the day, the mode of the day. Jason Newsted 00:49:35 So I have the big tape and I have that other real tape and I got dats and all the shit through all the years of the different formats. Jason Newsted 00:49:43 Yeah. Jason Newsted 00:49:44 But everything is recorded. Jason Newsted 00:49:45 So someday is my nephew's son going to go through that shit and find something magical? Jason Newsted 00:49:52 Yeah. Jason Newsted 00:49:53 Yep. Jason Newsted 00:49:53 Yeah, there's cool shit. Jason Newsted 00:49:55 There's incredible shit in there. Jason Newsted 00:49:56 And I think probably if I played you a couple things, you'd go, okay, you know, because it's. Jason Newsted 00:50:01 It's beautiful, man. Jason Newsted 00:50:02 It's fucking beautiful. Jason Newsted 00:50:03 But it's not. Jason Newsted 00:50:05 I don't necessarily want to put it out there as that foot. Jason Newsted 00:50:07 I. Jason Newsted 00:50:07 People want to come and see the band play and hear the songs, or I share a couple with somebody, wherever. Jason Newsted 00:50:12 That's that. Jason Newsted 00:50:13 It's no longer a goal to compete or do these things like that. Corey Wong 00:50:18 Sure. Corey Wong 00:50:20 I think that's beautiful. Corey Wong 00:50:21 I mean, honestly, I love your awareness in all of it and your never ending desire to just keep creating and keep exploring. Corey Wong 00:50:36 I mean, I watched a video, sorry, yesterday, of the chop house bandaid, and I was like, oh, Jason's playing an acoustasonic fender guitar and singing. Corey Wong 00:50:50 And I was listening to you play all these songs that I thought, wow, I would not have. Corey Wong 00:50:58 This isn't necessarily what I expected, but it's so dope and it just has, it has a thing to it that's really cool. Corey Wong 00:51:05 And hearing your voice and your tone and the way that you approach. Corey Wong 00:51:10 And then that's where I realized I was like, oh, I didn't know. Corey Wong 00:51:14 The pick thing, it's like, oh, yeah, the pick thing just comes so natural. Corey Wong 00:51:18 And then seeing you play some finger style on guitar, like you're saying, it's really interesting to see that side of your artistry, but it also is, I can understand why you might be a little bit conflicted on how it is a part of your legacy or something of how people know who you are? Jason Newsted 00:51:37 Yeah. Jason Newsted 00:51:37 Yeah. Jason Newsted 00:51:39 I think enough time. Jason Newsted 00:51:40 I'm really getting to the point. Jason Newsted 00:51:40 I think enough time has passed because my really. Jason Newsted 00:51:42 My peak was probably, I guess, what, 31, 30 or 31 years ago, black album, second year of the black album tour. Jason Newsted 00:51:49 That's probably a peaky peak, you know, so that's a while ago. Jason Newsted 00:51:52 That's a few generations for people to remember or whatever. Jason Newsted 00:51:54 So I get away with just about anything now, if I wanted to release some stuff, and it's. Jason Newsted 00:51:58 I'm not gonna say never, you know, on any of that, but something just came across my mind when you said that. Jason Newsted 00:52:03 I think it's fantastic. Jason Newsted 00:52:04 And that's why. Jason Newsted 00:52:05 That's why, when I do say yes to these things, this is what I expect, because you've got, you know, depth and everything, and it just. Jason Newsted 00:52:12 I love it. Jason Newsted 00:52:13 I really do. Jason Newsted 00:52:14 What I just realized, if. Jason Newsted 00:52:18 If I wouldn't have made the move that I did out of the big ban, would I still have this hunger now? Jason Newsted 00:52:29 Would I still want to learn mandolin and theremin and guitar and every other fucking thing that I've tried to come up and play with sequencers and all the shit that I'm still messing with all the time. Jason Newsted 00:52:43 I was doing loop stuff before any of those cats even knew what a fucking loop was, dude. Jason Newsted 00:52:48 I mean, way back when, the. Jason Newsted 00:52:51 When the. Jason Newsted 00:52:52 Probably by DD four or DD five had that little looper guy on it for 30 seconds worth or something. Jason Newsted 00:52:57 Yeah, I fucked that up all the way from back then, dude, always. Jason Newsted 00:53:01 And I had my rig where it had the Roland VG eight, and so I would take the VG eight synthesizer guy and put it on the P bass setting, 59 p bass setting, and then just run that through my SVT. Jason Newsted 00:53:14 And then I would have the guitar, regular pickup with the EMG, the 81, and the whatever. Jason Newsted 00:53:19 Metallica setup going through my old basement and that shit going, right. Jason Newsted 00:53:25 So it was a one voice thing like royal blood. Jason Newsted 00:53:29 I was doing royal blood in 1989, you know, playing guitar and bass at the same time and through separate rig and all that shit all the way back then. Jason Newsted 00:53:36 So I'd been experimenting, but would I have gone to the place of collecting songs still on a pretty much on a weekly basis? Jason Newsted 00:53:45 Finding heroes, like I talked about earlier, finding younger heroes. Jason Newsted 00:53:51 You know, we're always going to be able to go to whichever. Jason Newsted 00:53:54 You go to Picasso and the thing and the thing, or you can go to Eric Clapton. Jason Newsted 00:53:57 What do you want to. Jason Newsted 00:53:57 There's always going to be the people that came before you, that made it possible for you that you call your heroes, be an author, an athlete, a musician, a lawyer, whatever the hell. Jason Newsted 00:54:06 But then when the younger people, like yourself, Jason, is. Jason Newsted 00:54:09 Well, we've been friends for some years now, you know, this kind of thing. Jason Newsted 00:54:13 Trying to get my foot in the door with a little americana vibe, hoping I can get a little osmosis, just kind of hang out a little bit, you know? Jason Newsted 00:54:21 But taking that all in and taking on younger heroes, and it's so healthy. Jason Newsted 00:54:26 And I'm not sure if my spoiled, arrogant ass wouldn't have gravitated toward. Jason Newsted 00:54:32 If I stayed in the big band and only played bass, would I stayed in that tunnel vision? Jason Newsted 00:54:36 Would I have just worried about collecting only bases? Jason Newsted 00:54:39 And would I only done that and try to be a better bass player? Jason Newsted 00:54:41 Or would I gone on to learn as much acoustic or really want to be a songwriter? Jason Newsted 00:54:47 Would I have ever done that more than just writing on bass? Jason Newsted 00:54:50 I don't know. Jason Newsted 00:54:50 I don't know. Jason Newsted 00:54:51 There's not. Jason Newsted 00:54:51 You know, all I know is it happened, and they're still going, and I'm still going. Jason Newsted 00:54:54 And Buck, I don't know. Jason Newsted 00:54:56 But I'm not sure if the hunger would be the same if I. Jason Newsted 00:54:58 I didn't get to fulfill that thing. Jason Newsted 00:55:00 That's simple as fuck. Jason Newsted 00:55:02 I did not get to fulfill that journey that got cut short for me. Jason Newsted 00:55:06 So I'm making up for it. Jason Newsted 00:55:07 There's something that Brian Sagafino, the drummer of Echo Brain, we've been playing since he was, like, 16 years old, and he's, I don't know, 40 something now. Jason Newsted 00:55:15 But back then, we were making the first Echo brain album, and he said, jay, what are you gonna do now? Jason Newsted 00:55:19 I'm like, what do you mean? Jason Newsted 00:55:21 And he goes, well, you already climbed the tallest mountain. Jason Newsted 00:55:24 I mean, what are you gonna do? Jason Newsted 00:55:26 Everything else from now on? Jason Newsted 00:55:28 The rest of your life is gonna pale in comparison. Jason Newsted 00:55:30 There's nothing you're ever gonna do that's gonna reach this. Jason Newsted 00:55:33 And I didn't really take too seriously at the time, but now that a couple decades have gone past since the Echo brain tour, I'm like, fuck it. Jason Newsted 00:55:41 Hey, man, that kid had it back then. Jason Newsted 00:55:42 He knew when he was 19 exactly what it was so plain to see that a young person could see it. Jason Newsted 00:55:47 But I was so I just. Jason Newsted 00:55:48 I just came down last year, you know, I've been still floating from all that shit for 20 fucking years. Jason Newsted 00:55:53 I'm just now coming down and getting my feet on the earth and like, oh, this is what normalcy is. Jason Newsted 00:55:58 It took a long time. Corey Wong 00:56:01 Well, there's a huge difference between success and fulfillment, and obviously, you've achieved an objective amount of success. Corey Wong 00:56:12 Like you've said, you know, as one of the top bass players in the world, one of the top bands in the world, and so many other projects that. Corey Wong 00:56:21 That have, you know, brought so much meaning and success as well for you. Corey Wong 00:56:26 Now, what are you. Corey Wong 00:56:30 What are you doing to define fulfillment or success in your life? Jason Newsted 00:56:37 Yeah. Jason Newsted 00:56:38 As I contemplated Brian's statement, I thought about, you know, that way, what we talked about, maybe part of our theme of conversation about how. Jason Newsted 00:56:49 How the world measures it or how public measures it or fandom measures it. Jason Newsted 00:56:57 Voivod is a far more challenging outfit to perform in and record with than Metallica, ever. Jason Newsted 00:57:05 Washington. Corey Wong 00:57:06 Yeah. Jason Newsted 00:57:06 Okay. Jason Newsted 00:57:07 So people looking at, like, that, okay, you did that. Jason Newsted 00:57:10 And that's the thing. Jason Newsted 00:57:11 Everybody looks at the awards and the sales and the thing. Jason Newsted 00:57:14 The challenge as a musician, the only way that I could not only either go straight across and just stay at that, you know what I mean? Jason Newsted 00:57:21 Or I could go up a different mountain that was equally as challenging. Jason Newsted 00:57:26 It might not be as tall, but it's harder to climb. Jason Newsted 00:57:31 So you come and play with piggy. Jason Newsted 00:57:33 Okay. Jason Newsted 00:57:34 This is a different universe, bro. Jason Newsted 00:57:36 Right. Jason Newsted 00:57:37 His tune. Jason Newsted 00:57:37 He always did his. Jason Newsted 00:57:38 I can't even matter. Jason Newsted 00:57:39 Like, in. Jason Newsted 00:57:40 Is there a thing such as tenths? Jason Newsted 00:57:42 Like, he could tune in tenths? Corey Wong 00:57:45 Yeah. Jason Newsted 00:57:45 Is that a thing? Jason Newsted 00:57:46 Yeah. Jason Newsted 00:57:47 Okay, so I remember specifically, we told this story a few times, and I think Michelle probably has, too, but his kids in a. Jason Newsted 00:57:55 It was in the guitar premier. Jason Newsted 00:57:56 Not premier guitar, but one of the, you know, guitar magazines from back in the day. Jason Newsted 00:58:01 And they were. Jason Newsted 00:58:01 It was from maybe around the nothing face turn in the nineties, where they were getting a lot more attention. Jason Newsted 00:58:06 Like, Soundgarden opened for him that year, that type of shit. Jason Newsted 00:58:09 You know, they were. Jason Newsted 00:58:10 They were finally getting somewhere, and so they had some tablature of Piggy's parts on a certain song in the magazine. Corey Wong 00:58:17 Yeah. Jason Newsted 00:58:17 And it showed this. Jason Newsted 00:58:18 It showed the thing. Jason Newsted 00:58:19 And fucking, you know, you need another finger coming out over here to do it, you know? Jason Newsted 00:58:23 And he goes, no, this. Jason Newsted 00:58:25 This is wrong. Jason Newsted 00:58:26 This is wrong. Jason Newsted 00:58:27 See? Jason Newsted 00:58:27 It's wrong. Jason Newsted 00:58:27 And he goes, like, then they put one finger across. Jason Newsted 00:58:30 Like, I was sh. Jason Newsted 00:58:32 All fucking sideways dissonant thing, you know, he goes, say, that's so stupid. Jason Newsted 00:58:39 Like, he outsmarted the guitar somehow. Corey Wong 00:58:42 Yeah. Jason Newsted 00:58:42 You know, he would only. Jason Newsted 00:58:43 I can use one finger when they needed nine something. Jason Newsted 00:58:47 Yeah. Jason Newsted 00:58:48 So there was just. Jason Newsted 00:58:49 And French as their dominant language or their first language. Jason Newsted 00:58:53 And I didn't know anything other than greeting and ordering a cheese sandwich or whatever goes on. Jason Newsted 00:58:58 And so he's donating me fuss a lottie, and I may be CDFG. Jason Newsted 00:59:02 And so when he said, doll feed. Jason Newsted 00:59:04 Yeah, like this. Jason Newsted 00:59:05 And I'm going, what the fuck, man? Jason Newsted 00:59:08 Right? Jason Newsted 00:59:08 So I just have to watch it. Jason Newsted 00:59:10 Like, if you were. Jason Newsted 00:59:11 If we were jamming, right? Jason Newsted 00:59:13 And you said, jay, follow this thing. Jason Newsted 00:59:14 And you go, not too complicated, you know, just for me. Jason Newsted 00:59:17 Right. Jason Newsted 00:59:18 So just do, like a little thing there. Jason Newsted 00:59:20 Three or four chord structure there. Jason Newsted 00:59:21 And, uh. Jason Newsted 00:59:22 And I go, okay, watch your hand. Jason Newsted 00:59:24 And I watch your hand. Jason Newsted 00:59:24 I see it, and then I go, boom, here we go. Jason Newsted 00:59:27 Right? Jason Newsted 00:59:28 Okay. Jason Newsted 00:59:28 But. Jason Newsted 00:59:29 Because I can. Jason Newsted 00:59:29 I can see it. Jason Newsted 00:59:31 But when you did it, it was. Jason Newsted 00:59:32 It's not. Jason Newsted 00:59:33 That's not a fucking d and that's not a g. Jason Newsted 00:59:37 That's like. Jason Newsted 00:59:37 That's a q. Jason Newsted 00:59:38 Flatulent, demented something or other. Jason Newsted 00:59:40 And that's a. Jason Newsted 00:59:40 Whatever this is, dude. Jason Newsted 00:59:41 I don't fucking know. Corey Wong 00:59:45 Ah, that's good. Jason Newsted 00:59:49 That's what I'm saying. Jason Newsted 00:59:50 I tried to find a different angle to climb as tough of a mountain, and so playing with those guys, that totally lit my head up. Jason Newsted 00:59:57 Talk about having to be on your toes, dude. Jason Newsted 00:59:59 I mean, it's so much different than anything I really ever played. Jason Newsted 01:00:02 We got how many other songs I play with the metallic? Jason Newsted 01:00:05 110 or something, and 90% of them is e minor. Jason Newsted 01:00:10 E flat. Jason Newsted 01:00:11 You know, minor. Jason Newsted 01:00:12 It's a yemenite. Jason Newsted 01:00:12 That's not, I don't know, living on that big string. Jason Newsted 01:00:15 I could have just had four of the big strings on the base, you know, and I just kept snapping them off, and it wouldn't have mattered. Corey Wong 01:00:23 You might be selling yourself short on that. Jason Newsted 01:00:25 You have some. Jason Newsted 01:00:25 You know what I'm saying? Corey Wong 01:00:27 Yeah, I know. Corey Wong 01:00:30 Yeah. Corey Wong 01:00:31 Well, I mean, you've seen, like, you're saying you're paying attention. Corey Wong 01:00:34 You are. Corey Wong 01:00:35 It's cool to me hearing you say, oh, I want to find some younger heroes. Corey Wong 01:00:39 So, clearly, you're on the Internet. Corey Wong 01:00:41 You're looking. Corey Wong 01:00:43 You're basically doing the equivalent of crate digging, but on the Internet, which is cool when you see a lot of artists that are younger, that are wanting to get to that place where they're known, and they might not be known. Corey Wong 01:00:58 They can't quite put a finger on why I'm good at my instrument, but why don't people care? Corey Wong 01:01:05 Do you have any advice for those folks, or do you have some just kind of general. Corey Wong 01:01:10 The things from your experience? Jason Newsted 01:01:14 I think that the competition is so much greater, and the one thing that I would say specifically about that is I got it from somebody else and they said that the Internet was the killer of creativity or whatever, because you or seeing some 900 other people that can play faster than you or whatever, there's always somebody that can play faster. Jason Newsted 01:01:35 But now you're aware of it right there. Corey Wong 01:01:37 Sure. Jason Newsted 01:01:38 I remember in Scottsdale, Arizona, where we were working on flotsam in the early years, and it was probably. Jason Newsted 01:01:48 I worked two jobs, bro. Jason Newsted 01:01:49 I really worked hard to get to keep the van going and stuff like that. Jason Newsted 01:01:53 And I was looking out over, over Scottsdale. Jason Newsted 01:01:57 It was pretty, pretty small place in 1982. Jason Newsted 01:01:59 It wasn't like it is now. Jason Newsted 01:02:00 Fucking psycho. Jason Newsted 01:02:02 But. Jason Newsted 01:02:02 But it was just nice little village almost. Jason Newsted 01:02:06 It was two or three in the morning, and I got my bass, and I played very, a lot more without an amp than I did with an amp because there wasn't little compact shits or anything, a little headphone set up or anything back then. Jason Newsted 01:02:18 So it's kind of what got me where I got to because I beat the piss out of it with a really heavy pick and the heaviest gauge bass string. Jason Newsted 01:02:26 And so I just would be this fucking ticket. Jason Newsted 01:02:29 Even when there's not plugged in, you could hear what I was playing. Jason Newsted 01:02:32 And so when that got plugged in, it went, because I still played with the same intensity like I'd always practice without an amp. Jason Newsted 01:02:38 So it kind of came in that play. Jason Newsted 01:02:40 So I'm doing that, doing that thing, and I look it over Scottsdale, I'm like, you know, 230 in the morning. Jason Newsted 01:02:45 There's a few lights on out there. Jason Newsted 01:02:47 I know for a fact that I am the only person right now doing this. Jason Newsted 01:02:55 I am the only one, as far as I can see, up at 230, beating the piss out of a base. Jason Newsted 01:03:00 I know it. Jason Newsted 01:03:02 And whether it was true or not, I believed it all the way through. Jason Newsted 01:03:05 I didn't have any screen or any kind of other connection from the fucking globe to tell me that I wasn't the only one doing that. Jason Newsted 01:03:12 So my confidence and my self esteem and all that shit top this motherfucker. Jason Newsted 01:03:16 Because there wasn't anybody. Jason Newsted 01:03:17 I didn't see any competition, didn't view that, didn't view the world like that at all. Jason Newsted 01:03:22 We were going to crush. Jason Newsted 01:03:24 That's it. Jason Newsted 01:03:25 There wasn't. Jason Newsted 01:03:25 I wasn't any. Jason Newsted 01:03:26 Any option at all. Jason Newsted 01:03:27 We were only going to win. Jason Newsted 01:03:29 And that was my take on it. Jason Newsted 01:03:30 All that, all that time. Jason Newsted 01:03:31 So now if you can keep a little bit of that, how much ever you can keep present in your balance, something I want to talk to you about earlier when you're saying a few things. Jason Newsted 01:03:39 If you. Jason Newsted 01:03:40 How much you have your music or your art or these things that make up your balance. Jason Newsted 01:03:43 If you got your circle of 13 or 15 or 17 people are your closest people. Jason Newsted 01:03:48 And what makes up your balance is your love of your children, your yoga, your guitar, your production, your touring, your wife, your. Jason Newsted 01:03:54 Whatever these things, church, whatever the people, whatever people do, you start taking one of those major pieces out of that balance, you start going all fucking wobbly. Jason Newsted 01:04:03 Any of those. Jason Newsted 01:04:04 But especially the music. Jason Newsted 01:04:06 You take the music away because of how it is all encompassing, right? Jason Newsted 01:04:09 It can throw you off so severely. Jason Newsted 01:04:12 And that's really what I am afraid for people like, you know, if you don't give up on yourself, if you really like it, man, if you like feeling the feeling, okay, there's only. Jason Newsted 01:04:25 There's only this many bands that have lasted 40 years with close to the same members, and there's only this many with the original members for 40 years, you know? Jason Newsted 01:04:36 And so there's always going to be that. Jason Newsted 01:04:38 You're not going to the upper echelon. Jason Newsted 01:04:40 The thing, the prince, Madonna, Metallica thing. Jason Newsted 01:04:43 That's just. Jason Newsted 01:04:43 That's fucking Netherland. Jason Newsted 01:04:45 That's so nearly impossible. Jason Newsted 01:04:48 Especially today. Jason Newsted 01:04:49 Especially today with a whole band, not just one person that they push up the charts. Jason Newsted 01:04:54 And the girl is cute this week and put her up there and do that thing and pump the shit out of it and formulaic pro tools shit and all that false shit. Jason Newsted 01:05:01 It's not that. Jason Newsted 01:05:02 It's four or five males getting along without any diffuser within it for 40 years and helping each other reach each other's dreams and stuff. Jason Newsted 01:05:14 Individual and collective, you know, that's a fucking big ask. Jason Newsted 01:05:19 So just be realistic about your expectations. Jason Newsted 01:05:22 Be realistic about your expectations. Jason Newsted 01:05:24 Be realistic about your expectations. Jason Newsted 01:05:28 You know, don't fool yourself about you're better than you're not or whatever. Jason Newsted 01:05:32 But if you feel that feeling and you create that relationship with the instrument that we spoke of, don't let anybody take that from you. Jason Newsted 01:05:39 Try as hard as you can when it feels good, if it's not right, you'll know it, okay? Jason Newsted 01:05:44 And most people are going to fall off. Jason Newsted 01:05:47 Most people are. Jason Newsted 01:05:49 But if you really mean it and you really love that feeling, to keep chasing it, that's all I can say. Jason Newsted 01:05:52 That's my words. Jason Newsted 01:05:53 Just keep chasing it. Jason Newsted 01:05:55 That's it. Corey Wong 01:05:56 I love that. Corey Wong 01:05:58 I love that. Corey Wong 01:05:59 Well, man, you are so well spoken and it's so fun to chat with you and understand how deep you go. Corey Wong 01:06:08 I mean, I could go for hours, but I want to respect your time, and we try to keep these things around an hour. Corey Wong 01:06:14 So I really appreciate you being with us today and sharing your wisdom, sharing your knowledge, and just the depth that you have. Corey Wong 01:06:23 I really am excited to continue to follow your journey, and I hope everybody else listening continues to just be excited about the stuff that you're making, the songs that you're writing, the americana and folk and explorative things that you're doing. Corey Wong 01:06:43 I'm here just stoked, man. Corey Wong 01:06:44 I'm here for it all. Jason Newsted 01:06:45 Cool. Jason Newsted 01:06:46 Cool. Jason Newsted 01:06:47 Yeah. Jason Newsted 01:06:48 Everybody just keep your. Jason Newsted 01:06:50 Keep your ears open, you know, keep taking on the influences you're speaking of earlier. Jason Newsted 01:06:55 I don't spend a whole lot of time on the Internet or that, but a lot of people send me stuff, and my friends or whatever from different parts of the world was the. Jason Newsted 01:07:02 Jay, have you seen this yet? Jason Newsted 01:07:03 Jay, you seen this yet? Jason Newsted 01:07:04 This is a band from our local and thing like that. Jason Newsted 01:07:07 And every once in a while, one of them will catch me, and I'm like, holy shit. Jason Newsted 01:07:10 Thank you. Jason Newsted 01:07:11 So, this is the kind of stuff that I encourage people to do. Jason Newsted 01:07:14 Don't get overloaded by the distraction of this thing. Jason Newsted 01:07:17 Please. Jason Newsted 01:07:18 Skin your knees and chip your teeth and break your bones. Jason Newsted 01:07:22 For real. Jason Newsted 01:07:23 Not like this, okay? Jason Newsted 01:07:24 Please just get it. Jason Newsted 01:07:25 Get an instrument in your hands. Jason Newsted 01:07:27 Make it loud. Jason Newsted 01:07:28 Do all the things. Jason Newsted 01:07:29 Splatter some paint. Jason Newsted 01:07:30 Feel alive. Jason Newsted 01:07:31 Do something each day that shows you were here, that kind of shit. Jason Newsted 01:07:34 Time is the most valuable thing that you have. Jason Newsted 01:07:36 You can only make withdrawals. Jason Newsted 01:07:38 You can't make deposits from that account. Jason Newsted 01:07:40 So just live each moment that you can. Jason Newsted 01:07:42 The best, and try to. Jason Newsted 01:07:44 Like we were speaking of before. Jason Newsted 01:07:45 If you're going to make the time to go see a band, then be respectful to the band when you're there. Jason Newsted 01:07:50 If it's the metal show, get loud as fuck. Jason Newsted 01:07:52 But if it's the Americana show and Isbel's playing or somebody like that, show respect to the player. Jason Newsted 01:07:57 Let's hear the notes of the guitar, that kind of thing. Jason Newsted 01:08:00 You can have your phone out and all that, but don't be yelling, screaming in my ear when I'm trying to enjoy the show. Jason Newsted 01:08:05 Yeah, but also, I. Jason Newsted 01:08:08 I just want to talk a little bit about what you pour into the funnel, and then whatever comes out at the bottom of the funnel. Jason Newsted 01:08:14 That's you, right? Jason Newsted 01:08:16 That's you. Jason Newsted 01:08:16 And then you get to go, and then somebody else will pick it up, and then they'll go on with it and put in their funnel. Jason Newsted 01:08:21 So you've already done that for a bunch of people, in your own way. Jason Newsted 01:08:24 But I saw Larry and Les and Tim a couple weeks ago. Jason Newsted 01:08:29 They played like a mile from my wife's mom's house down out in the middle of fucking nowhere in New York here. Jason Newsted 01:08:34 And I hadn't seen, we've been friends since, you know, 87 or something. Jason Newsted 01:08:37 And so I hadn't seen him in a long time. Jason Newsted 01:08:40 And it was so cool. Jason Newsted 01:08:41 And the bass tone. Jason Newsted 01:08:42 Jesus Christ, dude. Jason Newsted 01:08:45 What the fuck? Jason Newsted 01:08:47 I mean, I hadn't been her up on the stage with live music for, like, at that volume for a couple years. Jason Newsted 01:08:52 But the actual, they're, they're so specific in their tones. Jason Newsted 01:08:57 Like, Larry's got the next to the biggest pedal set up other than Frusciante. Jason Newsted 01:09:01 And then less has got all that crazy shit going on over here. Jason Newsted 01:09:05 And it has its own, it's always got that almost Tom Waitzian push pull clock. Jason Newsted 01:09:12 Just barely making it around the thing and, you know, like this kind of shit. Jason Newsted 01:09:16 So it's fucking beautiful. Jason Newsted 01:09:20 So unique and respectable. Jason Newsted 01:09:24 And they've been doing it for 40 years, right? Jason Newsted 01:09:28 They were 82, 82, 84 for Primus, I think. Jason Newsted 01:09:31 And same with Chili's. Jason Newsted 01:09:32 And they're still out there doing it. Jason Newsted 01:09:34 I mean, they flee both those guys. Jason Newsted 01:09:36 Base tone, but especially less this last time. Jason Newsted 01:09:39 I was, I was fucking floored, man. Jason Newsted 01:09:41 Just floored by it all. Jason Newsted 01:09:43 And I think that for me right now, I think Larry. Jason Newsted 01:09:49 Well, Larry's always been one of the very best of ever, ever, ever. Jason Newsted 01:09:54 As far as a soundscape guitarist. Jason Newsted 01:09:56 Oh, yeah. Jason Newsted 01:09:57 I. Jason Newsted 01:09:57 How did, how do you find a place to fit in when the bass covers everything, when the bass already plays the whole fucking song for you? Jason Newsted 01:10:06 You know, where do you find, you know, how do you find that place? Jason Newsted 01:10:12 You know, like Mark Rebo and Tom waits fan or Joe Gore, all these cats that. Jason Newsted 01:10:17 Just the most sideways possible approach. Jason Newsted 01:10:20 And it sounds so perfect. Corey Wong 01:10:22 Yeah. Jason Newsted 01:10:22 You know, the application is so unique. Jason Newsted 01:10:25 So like him, Joe Bonamasa, I think even Corey Wong. Jason Newsted 01:10:30 These kind of cats that are right now firing that way, though, that's what I want the kids to pour in their funnel. Corey Wong 01:10:40 Oh, man, that means a lot. Corey Wong 01:10:43 That means a lot. Jason Newsted 01:10:44 There you go. Corey Wong 01:10:45 Well, thank you, man. Jason Newsted 01:10:45 So now you're gonna. Jason Newsted 01:10:46 Now you tell me what you're doing, and you tell me just a little bit about your bass player and a couple other things about Volf pet, because I need to know. Corey Wong 01:10:52 Well, yeah, we have been doing our thing for a while. Corey Wong 01:10:56 Kind of took a little bit of a break for a couple years with the whole thing that happened. Corey Wong 01:11:01 And then you know, the global thing. Corey Wong 01:11:03 And then now we're back at it and we're going to be recording an album live on stage in front of an audience, which will be fun. Jason Newsted 01:11:12 Balls. Jason Newsted 01:11:13 Balls. Corey Wong 01:11:14 Yeah. Corey Wong 01:11:15 Yeah. Corey Wong 01:11:15 Bass player Joe Dart. Corey Wong 01:11:17 I mean, he's incredible. Jason Newsted 01:11:18 He's. Jason Newsted 01:11:18 That's a Joe Darren. Corey Wong 01:11:20 He's a finger and slap cat, but just like me, he grew up listening to flea and Primus and Jamerson and all the rock stuff. Corey Wong 01:11:31 I mean, we were kids of the nineties watching MTV, so everything that was on there, we watched all that stuff, listened to all that. Corey Wong 01:11:40 But then also we're deep into jazz and deep into the fusion thing and deep into Jaco and. Corey Wong 01:11:49 Yeah, so, you know, Joe's got an incredible thing happening. Corey Wong 01:11:52 He's. Corey Wong 01:11:53 He's kind of a rocko Jaco type approach. Jason Newsted 01:11:56 Yeah. Corey Wong 01:11:56 When I hear him play. Jason Newsted 01:11:57 Yeah, he's tough. Jason Newsted 01:11:58 He's tough as fuck. Corey Wong 01:11:59 He plays high action. Corey Wong 01:12:01 He plays really hard on the strings and it's. Corey Wong 01:12:04 It's cool, man. Corey Wong 01:12:05 His articulation is sick. Jason Newsted 01:12:07 That's why he has his own stage on the stage. Corey Wong 01:12:12 Yeah, he's incredible. Jason Newsted 01:12:14 That's super cool, man. Jason Newsted 01:12:15 It really is. Jason Newsted 01:12:16 Well, yeah, I think the complexity of your stuff, it's just really kind of. Jason Newsted 01:12:21 It's way beyond me, so I appreciate it, man. Jason Newsted 01:12:23 It's fucking amazing how you remember all that. Jason Newsted 01:12:25 I'll never know. Jason Newsted 01:12:26 I'll never know how you keep track of all that shit. Corey Wong 01:12:29 Well, we'll have to sit down and jam together sometime, man. Jason Newsted 01:12:32 I would. Jason Newsted 01:12:33 I would really like that. Jason Newsted 01:12:34 And I also. Jason Newsted 01:12:35 I think we should maybe just nerd out for 2 seconds on the guitar stuff. Jason Newsted 01:12:41 I think that your attention. Jason Newsted 01:12:42 Your attention was brought maybe to this one. Jason Newsted 01:12:44 I put the instruments up on the reverb a few weeks ago and I wanted to speak about like getting instrument kind of what we talked about before with the kids, with the little kids rock and music wheel and these different foundations that put guitars and kids hands over the time. Jason Newsted 01:12:58 And being able to go around the world a few times and collect for 30 years as we went around, picked up cool shit, you know, the collection was actually collected. Jason Newsted 01:13:10 Right. Jason Newsted 01:13:10 I went to. Jason Newsted 01:13:11 To the pawnshop in Timbuktu and pulled that guitar out and shipped it home. Jason Newsted 01:13:15 And this stuff, I collected it one by one or seven by seven or whatever. Jason Newsted 01:13:20 There would always be. Jason Newsted 01:13:23 There would be cats that would come in. Jason Newsted 01:13:25 The reason I say that is in the tuning room where the amplifiers and little jump set, you know, warm up room. Jason Newsted 01:13:33 In those years through, just as we were starting to get people's attention issue 91 four. Jason Newsted 01:13:40 There would always be guys that came from whichever guitar shop or play was, you know, 60, 70, 90 miles radius of the vintage place. Jason Newsted 01:13:50 When we walked into the room, there would be all these cases, you know, opened up like, oh, is that what I think it is? Jason Newsted 01:13:57 You know, this kind of shit. Jason Newsted 01:13:59 57 strat, you know, all this shit. Jason Newsted 01:14:02 These guys got money coming out of their ass. Jason Newsted 01:14:04 They're gonna bought this stuff, and we're looking at, like, you know, even in that day, we're still playing high performance instruments. Jason Newsted 01:14:10 We had. Jason Newsted 01:14:10 It wasn't about cool vintage shit. Jason Newsted 01:14:13 That's. Jason Newsted 01:14:13 You don't bring that on the road, man. Jason Newsted 01:14:15 You crazy. Jason Newsted 01:14:16 So. Jason Newsted 01:14:16 But that's how we did it, though. Jason Newsted 01:14:18 The guy would come and say, here, these are these ones. Jason Newsted 01:14:20 And at the beginning of the night, 06:00 when dinner was he, there was tags on him, you know, 15,000 and blah, blah, blah, blah. Jason Newsted 01:14:29 All this. Jason Newsted 01:14:29 We're looking like a whatever, dude. Jason Newsted 01:14:31 Because back then, that was not it. Jason Newsted 01:14:32 And so we talked to the tour manager, say, I want that one, that one, that one, that one. Jason Newsted 01:14:37 And just wait and leave the cases there and not let the guy go back in the room. Jason Newsted 01:14:40 And they wait till everything is done. Jason Newsted 01:14:43 They're rolling out the road, cases and shit. Jason Newsted 01:14:45 The crew is wrapping everything up for the big fucking show, and the guys. Jason Newsted 01:14:49 And nobody said anything to about no money. Jason Newsted 01:14:51 And the tour manager goes, we'll take those seven for next to nothing. Jason Newsted 01:14:55 And he'll go, well, okay. Jason Newsted 01:14:57 Because he's got a pile of money in his hand like that. Jason Newsted 01:15:00 I'll give you this for those. Jason Newsted 01:15:01 And they're like, okay. Jason Newsted 01:15:02 And so we. Jason Newsted 01:15:03 We get the ones for much less than he was asking. Jason Newsted 01:15:07 But that's how we would accumulate that many at a time, that people, they would bring them to us that way. Jason Newsted 01:15:13 So it was kind of the combination of those two things. Jason Newsted 01:15:16 You end up accumulating way more than you ever need. Jason Newsted 01:15:19 It's neat because once you get bit by it, it's hard to get on bit right now, right, exactly. Jason Newsted 01:15:25 I know you do. Jason Newsted 01:15:26 So now I got to this place where over time, you know, like you're saying about, you could tell a guitar with, if you're blindfolded, you could tell it this strat from the same strat and the serial numbers only two digits off or whatever. Jason Newsted 01:15:38 But that. Jason Newsted 01:15:39 That's how it is. Jason Newsted 01:15:39 You know, that's how it is. Jason Newsted 01:15:41 Some of them have a bunch of fucking songs in it. Jason Newsted 01:15:43 Some have a couple songs. Jason Newsted 01:15:45 Some are great to look at and all that shit, but that's not going to stay in the collection ain't got no songs in it. Jason Newsted 01:15:50 It just got no songs in it. Jason Newsted 01:15:52 So get to that place where those were just sitting in the case for 20 or 30 years. Jason Newsted 01:15:56 Just in the case. Jason Newsted 01:15:58 That's not fucking cool at all. Jason Newsted 01:16:01 You just have somebody out to a young hero that maybe can get a hold of that thing that I couldn't get a hold of and make something out of it. Jason Newsted 01:16:07 I mean, you guys, now that. Jason Newsted 01:16:08 Who's the kid? Jason Newsted 01:16:09 The tattoos all up his neck, that. Jason Newsted 01:16:11 All that fucking crazy shit. Jason Newsted 01:16:13 You got the neck to same width all the way down. Corey Wong 01:16:15 Yeah, yeah, Tim. Jason Newsted 01:16:16 What the fuck? Jason Newsted 01:16:16 What the fuck? Jason Newsted 01:16:18 So let's have. Jason Newsted 01:16:20 Give me. Jason Newsted 01:16:21 Take that ten string, a lebbic and do some shit with that thing. Jason Newsted 01:16:23 Take that three string Tony Levin bass and play bass. Jason Newsted 01:16:27 Slide on it or some psycho shitter. Jason Newsted 01:16:30 Do something inventive. Jason Newsted 01:16:31 You young people, you know, that's what I see, that there comes a time we're, like, hoarding all this stuff. Jason Newsted 01:16:37 And I got all these guitars and they come to the spot like, you know, it's really fucking pretty asinine that you only got two hands and you already picked the ones you like. Jason Newsted 01:16:47 Those are the ones that are all beat up and shit. Jason Newsted 01:16:48 It's already obvious which ones are which. Jason Newsted 01:16:50 You know, you don't have to know. Jason Newsted 01:16:52 Eventually go back after the two and look at one's got the most wear. Jason Newsted 01:16:54 That's the one you're keeping. Jason Newsted 01:16:56 Right. Jason Newsted 01:16:56 So I try to just kind of purging a bit and hopefully get some of those out there for the people that know better to make some noise with them. Jason Newsted 01:17:03 You know, there's a lot more people. Jason Newsted 01:17:04 We're talking about competition and bands and all the things. Jason Newsted 01:17:07 There's a lot more people out there to enjoy the instruments. Jason Newsted 01:17:09 So I hope that can happen. Corey Wong 01:17:11 That's great. Jason Newsted 01:17:13 I'm going to say it's. Jason Newsted 01:17:14 I was going to say that it's more about giving people opportunity to play the thing that is about anything else. Jason Newsted 01:17:18 There's no kind of thing, you know, you don't. Jason Newsted 01:17:20 It's just try to. Jason Newsted 01:17:22 Try to make sense of it and have them sitting there rotten instead of being. Jason Newsted 01:17:26 Instead of creating something. Jason Newsted 01:17:28 Makes no sense. Jason Newsted 01:17:29 I just want to ask one more question about the. Jason Newsted 01:17:32 You. Jason Newsted 01:17:32 You don't use a full amp rig. Jason Newsted 01:17:35 You use some kind of emulator, something or other. Jason Newsted 01:17:39 You like. Jason Newsted 01:17:39 You have your own custom made. Corey Wong 01:17:41 Yeah. Corey Wong 01:17:42 I worked with neural DSP on a plugin called the archetype. Corey Wong 01:17:46 Corey Wong plugin. Corey Wong 01:17:47 I'll send it to you. Corey Wong 01:17:49 And it's a plugin where we basically modeled a bunch of amps that I really like. Corey Wong 01:17:55 And we dove deep. Corey Wong 01:17:57 I mean, I put them through the wringer, if I'm going to be honest. Corey Wong 01:17:59 They were like, oh, this is an exact replica of this. Jason Newsted 01:18:01 This, this. Corey Wong 01:18:02 It should be perfect. Corey Wong 01:18:03 I'm like, maybe on paper and, like, the graphs say it's perfect, but, like, it doesn't feel right, you know? Corey Wong 01:18:08 So we went back and forth a ton and found something that works great for my clean tone and for what I do. Corey Wong 01:18:16 So we've been working on putting that in the quad cortex unit, which is their floor unit. Corey Wong 01:18:23 And now when I play live, I just use, I use that. Jason Newsted 01:18:26 Okay, so that's what I'm asking about. Jason Newsted 01:18:28 So, yeah, the plug in. Jason Newsted 01:18:29 The plugin can be put on before, after or otherwise when you do stuff. Jason Newsted 01:18:33 Right. Jason Newsted 01:18:33 That can be this, whatever. Jason Newsted 01:18:34 Yes. Corey Wong 01:18:34 Yeah. Jason Newsted 01:18:34 Okay, so, but the actual physicality, the actual physic. Jason Newsted 01:18:38 Physical one that I know when I plug it into. Jason Newsted 01:18:40 In and plug it out, out and go to the right amp, then I. Jason Newsted 01:18:42 Yeah, they have everything to work with. Jason Newsted 01:18:44 Yeah. Jason Newsted 01:18:44 So they're gonna make that. Jason Newsted 01:18:46 Okay, that's what I was wondering. Jason Newsted 01:18:47 That's what I was wondering. Jason Newsted 01:18:48 Because a lot of you cats do, like, fly dates or you don't carry really big amplifiers anymore, stuff like that. Jason Newsted 01:18:55 Right? Corey Wong 01:18:56 Yeah. Corey Wong 01:18:56 I mean, I still backline kind of any really clean amp. Corey Wong 01:19:01 But really what I do is the outputs one and two on my quad cortex are what goes to front of house. Corey Wong 01:19:08 And then output three. Corey Wong 01:19:10 I just put it into kind of any clean amp or an FRFR speaker. Corey Wong 01:19:17 Just to have a little bit of air pushing at the back of my legs. Jason Newsted 01:19:20 All right. Jason Newsted 01:19:20 So they set you up with just whatever fender or decent something or other in the back. Corey Wong 01:19:27 Give me a twin. Corey Wong 01:19:28 Give me whatever, and I'll make. Corey Wong 01:19:30 I mean, it's not the exact tone I want out of the amp, but it doesn't really matter because it's just for a little bit of stage volume and for some air. Corey Wong 01:19:37 But what's coming out of the monitors and what's coming out of front of house is straight from the Unitex. Corey Wong 01:19:42 Yeah. Jason Newsted 01:19:42 Okay. Jason Newsted 01:19:43 And, but your, but your base guy carries around proper cabinets and stuff. Corey Wong 01:19:48 He always has a backline amp rig or sometimes his own rig. Corey Wong 01:19:53 810 market base rig. Jason Newsted 01:19:55 I just wonder about how things have been minimized over time for efficiency. Jason Newsted 01:20:00 But you can still get the big sound out of it. Jason Newsted 01:20:02 I'm fascinated by that. Corey Wong 01:20:03 Yeah. Corey Wong 01:20:04 I mean, it's a constant battle with it. Corey Wong 01:20:06 But I mean, you know, we're using in ear monitors now and it kind of helps so it's not so blasting at us. Jason Newsted 01:20:12 God damn, that's such a different world. Corey Wong 01:20:14 Imagine, dude, I couldn't imagine. Corey Wong 01:20:16 I mean, I saw you play in the nineties and I remember thinking, how loud must it be on that frickin stage, dude? Corey Wong 01:20:23 Cause out here it is screaming. Jason Newsted 01:20:25 Yeah. Jason Newsted 01:20:25 The Mesa boogie built me special wedges. Jason Newsted 01:20:31 So the wedges in front of me were the one for the vocal and all the rest were coming from my bass rig blowing back at me. Jason Newsted 01:20:38 So I had the SVT's and the four by twelve boogies in between. Jason Newsted 01:20:43 I have my four by twelve boogies with Marshall Hunter Watt heads and then SVT is on either side, right. Jason Newsted 01:20:48 And then powering all that with the old mesa boogie up front. Jason Newsted 01:20:51 So all that pushing back were base cabinets in the front. Jason Newsted 01:20:55 So I was, and I never. Jason Newsted 01:20:57 That's why like the in ear, I always wore earplugs, but the in ear stuff really fucked with me. Jason Newsted 01:21:04 It was very new when I was asked to use it, you know, it's just coming into it, just a little bit of kind of precision. Jason Newsted 01:21:11 When we did this, the symphony gig started out with one SVT on the cabinet, one SVT cabinet on the stage, I mean, and even that could fly. Jason Newsted 01:21:22 It was all the old wooden instruments from the 17 hundreds just going, fuck, you know, they couldn't get any. Jason Newsted 01:21:28 When they played, when they played a note, they played a note. Jason Newsted 01:21:31 My shit would just negate. Jason Newsted 01:21:32 It didn't matter if they were fucking. Jason Newsted 01:21:34 Yeah, it didn't matter. Jason Newsted 01:21:35 So eventually had to buy by necessity. Jason Newsted 01:21:40 I had to learn that moment. Jason Newsted 01:21:43 I never had done it before. Jason Newsted 01:21:44 So before that, 3 hours before we recorded the symphony performance. Jason Newsted 01:21:49 Wow. Jason Newsted 01:21:50 Was my first, was my first time within years. Jason Newsted 01:21:52 And playing bass is way different within ears, I would assume, than having drums in the higher frequencies because it's all about the physicality of the feeling of it. Jason Newsted 01:22:03 And so that was pretty weird, I got to tell you. Jason Newsted 01:22:05 That was pretty fucking weird. Jason Newsted 01:22:06 So I still go back, I'm still full punk rock and still have the stuff blasted back at me. Jason Newsted 01:22:10 Even to this day. Jason Newsted 01:22:11 I just, I don't know. Jason Newsted 01:22:13 Can't get away from it. Jason Newsted 01:22:14 I don't want to. Corey Wong 01:22:15 Yeah, it feels better. Corey Wong 01:22:16 It does feel better. Jason Newsted 01:22:18 Yeah. Jason Newsted 01:22:19 But the precision of being able to hear yourself sing and hear the actual thing, I'm sure that over time that becomes really quite a wonderful thing. Jason Newsted 01:22:26 I bet. Jason Newsted 01:22:26 Yeah. Jason Newsted 01:22:26 Okay, well, thank you for answering that. Jason Newsted 01:22:28 I was, I was wondering about that. Jason Newsted 01:22:29 Like to get one of those someday and see what's all about. Corey Wong 01:22:31 Yeah, I'll talk to Nerl. Corey Wong 01:22:33 I'll have them send you one. Jason Newsted 01:22:35 Yeah. Jason Newsted 01:22:35 Whenever you guys put that together. Corey Wong 01:22:36 Yeah. Corey Wong 01:22:37 I'll connect with you and we'll get one sent over to you. Corey Wong 01:22:40 I'm sure you'll love it. Jason Newsted 01:22:41 Yep. Jason Newsted 01:22:41 We could go on forever, so. Jason Newsted 01:22:43 God bless you. Jason Newsted 01:22:43 Yeah. Corey Wong 01:22:44 Well, thank you so much, man. Corey Wong 01:22:47 There you have it. Corey Wong 01:22:49 Jason Newstead. Corey Wong 01:22:51 Dude, what did I tell you at the beginning? Corey Wong 01:22:53 I said this cat was deep. Corey Wong 01:22:55 I said this cat was an artiste. Corey Wong 01:22:57 All right? Corey Wong 01:22:57 Now you get it. Corey Wong 01:22:58 If you didn't get it before, now you do. Corey Wong 01:23:01 I love the way he talks about what gigs he wants to do now and just the meaning behind things and the exploration that's still just deep within him. Corey Wong 01:23:14 The curiosity and just the. Corey Wong 01:23:17 The eagerness to. Corey Wong 01:23:18 To grow and learn more as a musician. Corey Wong 01:23:21 Even after having how many platinum records, how many millions of tickets sold across the world? Corey Wong 01:23:29 Incredible. Corey Wong 01:23:30 Inspiring. Corey Wong 01:23:31 I hope you had as much fun listening to this as I had interviewing Jason. Corey Wong 01:23:36 And I hope to see you again sometime soon. Corey Wong 01:23:38 Stay safe out there. Jason Newsted 01:23:40 Peace.
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