When Korn announced that bassist Fieldy wouldn't be making their South American tour, and the band would be joined by Tye Trujillo, the 12-year-old son of Metallica bassist Robert Trujillo, my immediate question was how the hell did that happen?
We now know the answer to this question, after NME spoke to Korn guitarist James "Munky" Shaffer
“There was a moment when a couple of the guys from Metallica and Jonathan [Davis, Korn vocalist] and Fieldy kinda bumped into each other in some airline lounge, and Robert was like, ‘Hey, have you checked out my son playing bass?!’ They were watching some videos and Jonathan and Fieldy were like, ‘Woah, he’s so good!’ When we found out Fieldy wasn’t gonna be able to come on this trip with us, he suggested Tye. It’s not just some replacement – this is the DNA of Robert Trujillo, one of the greatest bass players on the planet! You can see it – it’s crazy how much you see his dad in him.”
In the footage that has already surfaced, I can see what Munky is taking about about seeing some of Tye's dad in his playing. Munky had glowing reviews for Tye's participation in the band saying:
"[Tye] knows like 17, 18 Korn songs, and he knows them really well – it’s crazy. All the stops, and the breaks… it’s crazy to see somebody that young so talented. He’s gonna be a professional musician, and to know that at that early of an age is just inspiring.”
Tye has his own band, The Helmets, and they are working on some new music. When asked by NME, if Korn could see themselves inviting The Helmets to open for them, Munky noted "that would be really sweet, actually."
We're sure it'd be pretty sweet for papa Trujillo too, who couldn't be prouder of his son.
