Jason Newsted

Jason Curtis Newsted, (born March 4, 1963 in Battle Creek, Michigan) is an American bassist, best known as a former bassist of Metallica. Newsted joined the band in 1986, after Cliff Burton's death, and he left the band in early 2001. He was also a member of Voivod, following his departure from the former group. Newsted went by the pseudonym, Jasonic, which served as both his alias within Voivod at the time, and the name of his music publishing company. His current project is the self-titled band, Newsted, in which he provides both bass and vocals.

Early Life

Jason Newsted was born into a family of musicians. His mother taught piano, and one of his brothers played the trumpet. He was exposed to music as a child, being able to listen to the record collections his older brothers. Newsted's first instrument was a guitar, which he began learning at the age of 9. Though at the age of 14 he moved onto the bass, after being inspired by Gene Simmons of Kiss. His major influence however is cited as Geezer Butler of Black Sabbath. He lists multiple other musicians as other high influences. The people named were:

• Lemmy Kilmster of Motörhead.
• Steve Harris of Iron Maiden.
• Peter Baltes of Accept.
• Geddy Lee of Rush.
• Rob Grange of Ted Nugent.
• Bill Church of Montrose and Sammy Hagar solo.

Career

Flotsam & Jetsam

The early days of Newsted's music career had him as the bassist for Flotsam and Jetsam, on their 1986 album, Doomsday for the Deciever. He is credited for writing a majority of the album also.

Metallica

Main Article: Metallica

Following the death of former bassist, Cliff Burton in the September of 1986, Metallica set out on a search for a replacement. Newsted auditioned for the part, alongside roughly 30 other musicians. He later won the role, and performed with Metallica for the first time in Reseda, California. Although his journey into the role was riddled with difficulties, which most relayed to the grieving band.

He debuted on the group's fourth studio album, …And Justice for All, which was subject to controversy and criticism for its poor production - namely its lack of identifiable bass. Newsted claims this was further hazing on the part of Lars Ulrich and James Hetfield, although both Ulrich and Hetfield claim they were also disappointed with the production of the album. In addition, they claim that most/all of Newsted's bass lines closely followed the rhythm guitar melodies to the point of being indiscernible from each other. The album nevertheless reached No. 6 on the Billboard Charts and projected the group to higher success.

In 1991, Metallica released their self-titled album, better known as The Black Album, which would launch Metallica into their greatest level of stardom. After much touring, the group took a long-needed vacation and, when they returned, surprised fans with a new sound in 1996's Load. This was followed by ReLoad, Garage Inc., S&M, and the popular single, "I Disappear." In 1998 Jason contributed to the album Psyence Fiction by the UK dance outift UNKLE.

In 2000, Newsted co-founded a side project known as Echobrain. They entered a studio in May to rerecord their demos with help from several musicians including Newsted's then-colleague and Metallica guitarist Kirk Hammett, and former Faith No More guitarist Jim Martin. The project was funded by Newsted which he later claimed he lost a great deal of money in. The fact that Newsted began to focus his efforts on a side project created tension within Metallica.

Departure from Metallica

As plans were being made to enter the recording studio, Newsted left Metallica on January 17, 2001. His statement revealed his departure was based on "private and personal reasons and the physical damage I have done to myself over the years while playing the music that I love." During a Playboy interview with Metallica, Newsted revealed intentions he wanted to release an album with Echobrain. Hetfield was against the idea and said, "When someone does a side project, it takes away from the strength of Metallica." Newsted countered his statement by citing Hetfield's contributions to other musical outlets. Hetfield replied, "My name isn't on those records. And I'm not out trying to sell them," and pondered questions such as, "Where would it end? Does he start touring with it? Does he sell shirts? Is it his band?".

Voivod

The last incarnation of Voivod featured three of the four founding members: Denis Bélanger (aka Snake, vocals), Denis D'Amour (Piggy, guitars), and Michel Langevin (Away, drums) along with Jason Newsted (Jasonic) on bass guitar. Guitarist Denis D'Amour died at the age of 45 on August 26, 2005 due to complications from colon cancer. Their most recent record is Katorz (which is an "alternative" way of writing "quatorze", fourteen in French), released in July 2006. The album is based around riffs found on the laptop of guitarist Denis D'Amour. Just prior to his death, he left instructions for his fellow bandmates on how to use them.

Ozzy Osbourne Band

Newsted joined Canadian thrash metal band Voivod in 2002. Coincidentally, he was also Robert Trujillo's (Trujillo being Newsted's replacement in Metallica) replacement in Osbourne's band during Ozzfest 2003, which included Voivod as a Second Stage act. During an MTV interview, both Osbourne and Newsted showed extreme enthusiasm in writing a new album together, with Osbourne comparing Newsted to "a young Geezer Butler." However, this would not come to fruition as Newsted left Osbourne upon finishing tour duties in late 2003. He would soon be replaced by Rob Zombie bassist Rob "Blasko" Nicholson.

Newsted then focused solely on Voivod where, much like Echobrain, the group was funded entirely through him. They recorded two albums before Newsted's participation in Rock Star Supernova, a supergroup created through the reality television series, Rock Star: Supernova, in 2006.

Rock Star Supernova

Supernova formed the basis of the second season of the Rock Star television program on CBS in the quest to find a lead singer. The show began online on the Rock Star web site on MSN on Monday, July 3 with an Internet exclusive weekly episode and premiered on CBS on July 5, 2006. Votes were cast via the Rock Star website. On September 13, 2006, Lukas Rossi was crowned the winner.

Injury

On October 23, 2006, Jason Newsted was injured while attempting to catch a falling bass amp head. The accident resulted in a torn anterior labrum in his left shoulder and a rotator cuff and biceps tear in the right. He was scheduled for immediate surgery, and underwent a lengthy rehab process. Jason played with Metallica when they were inducted into The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2009.

Equipment

Bass guitars

• Aria Pro II SB1000-CB (originally owned by Cliff Burton, used on the "Master Of Puppets" tour
• Fender 1958 Precision Bass (recording/studio bass)
• Sadowsky - Black Vintage with Ash body
• Sadowsky - Black Vintage (x2)
• Sadowsky - PJ - Cherry Sunburst and Caramel Sunburst
• Sadowsky - Vintage - Lake Placid Blue (4 string and 5 strings)
• Sadowsky - Vintage - Cherry Sunburst
• Sadowsky - Black Vintage - 24 Fret (x2)
• Alembic - Elan - Black (5 strings)
• Alembic - Europa - Black (4, 5 and 6 strings)
• Alembic - Spoiler - Black (4 strings) (x2)
• Alembic - Spoiler - Natural colored
• ESP Bass - Red
• ESP B-1 - Black
• Spector/Stuart Spector Designs (1981 NS-2 studio/recording bass, NS and SD model 4, 5 and 6 strings, rare JN-4 & JN-5 Signature Model - modified SD body shape, black oil finish, piezo pickup option, fiber optic side markers)
• Guild acoustic bass
• Wal PRO II - Black w. Gold hardware (4 & 5 strings)
• Warwick 12-string bass
• Zon Legacy Elite fretless 5-string & Sonus Special 5-String

Effects

• Boss Flanger BF-2
• MXR Phase 100
• Mu-Tron III Bass Pedal
• Tech 21 SansAmp Bass Driver DI
• Korg G-5 Bass Synth Processor
• Electro Harmonix Big Muff
• Alesis Mediverb II
• BBE Sonic Maximizer
• Morley Power Wah Boost

Amplifiers

• Mesa/Boogie 1x15 combo
• Mesa/Boogie with SWR Heads
• Gibson Skylark Guitar amp
• Fender Folded Horn 1x18
• Ampeg 1974 SVT head
• Ampeg SVT cabinets
• Ampeg SVT III (x4)
• Ampeg SVT Vintage
• Ampeg SVT 8"x10" pro speaker cabinets
• Ampeg ISO Vent 10"x15" speaker cabinets
• Ampeg B-15 combo amp

Discography

Echobrain

• Echobrain (2002)
• Glean (2004) (Newsted did not perform on this album, but he is listed as an Executive Producer)

Flotsam and Jetsam

• Metal Shock - demo
• Doomsday for the Deceiver (1986)

Gov't Mule

• The Deep End, Volume 2 (2002)

IR8/Sexoturica

• IR8 vs. Sexoturica (2002)

Metallica

• Garage Days Re-Revisited (1987)
• ...And Justice for All (1988)
• Metallica (1991)
• Live Shit: Binge & Purge (1993)
• Load (1996)
• Reload (1997)
• Garage, Inc. (1998)
• S&M (1999)
• I Disappear (2000)

Moss Brothers

• Electricitation (2001)

Papa Wheelie

• Unipsycho (2002)
• Live Lycanthropy (2003)

Rock Star Supernova

• Rock Star Supernova (2006)

Sepultura

• Against (1998) (featuring artist)

Voivod

• Voivod (2003)
• Katorz (2006)

DVD & Video

• Metallica
  • 1989 2 of One
  • 1992 For Those About to Rock
  • 1992 A Year and a Half in the Life of Metallica
  • 1993 The Freddie Mercury Tribute Concert
  • 1993 Live Shit: Binge & Purge
  • 1998 Cunning Stunts
  • 1999 S&M
  • 2001 Classic Albums: Metallica
  • 2004 Some Kind of Monster
  • 2006 The Videos: 1989-2004

• Gov't Mule
  • 2003 The Deepest End, Live In Concert

References

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