Robert Trujillo’s 17-year-old son performs alongside Suicidal Tendencies at Blue Ridge Rock Festival

Suicidal Tendencies took to the stage for an appearance at the Blue Ridge Rock Festival in Danville, Virginia, last Saturday (September 11) – minus regular bass guitar player Ra Diaz, who is currently busying himself with Korn on tour.

As such, the hardcore punk band were forced to draft in a suitable replacement for the show – Robert Trujillo’s 17-year-old, bass-wielding son, Tye. A fitting appointment, given the Metallica man played for Suicidal Tendencies at the start of his career.

No stranger to coping with the limelight of big shows – he toured South America with Korn at the age of 12 as a temporary Fieldy fill-in, after all – Trujillo looked totally at home on stage, flexing his impressive, ahead-of-his-age slap chops and monstrous low-end tone.

Lining up alongside the rest of the band – which features Mike Muir, Dean Pleasants, Dave Lombardo and Dillinger Escape Plan's Ben Weinman – Trujillo effortlessly and energetically made his way through a number of the band’s tracks, including You Can’t Bring Me Down, Subliminal and Freedumb.

It’s not the first time he’s played with Suicidal Tendencies either, having previously jammed with the band in 2017 before officially performing with them later in 2019.

When asked by DJ Delz of The Delz Show YouTube channel how it felt to play alongside the band, Trujillo responded, “It feels good. It felt good to let out the steam, you know what I mean?

“I’m just trying to keep up. That’s what I’m trying to do. I’m just trying to work on my bass skills.”

Trujillo then went on to discuss his relationship with music, saying he initially picked up the bass after being surrounded by his dad’s music and experiencing tour life with the Metallica member.

“I’ve been playing the bass for about 10 years,” he recalled. “I picked up the bass from seeing my dad around the house and I wanted to get into it. I would go on tour a few times, and it was fun seeing the band play, and I’ve always been around music so I’ve always wanted to play.”