“I can still see them shaking their heads. I knew I’d lost the gig right there”: Pepper Keenan recalls the moment he knew he’d failed his audition to be Metallica’s bassist

Pepper Keenan has looked back on his failed Metallica audition, which took place when he tried out to become Jason Newsted’s replacement back in the early 2000s.

The Corrosion of Conformity guitarist was famously up for the Metallica bass guitar gig, after Newsted left in 2001 following a 14-year stint with the metal legends. He was one of many players in the running, auditioning alongside the likes of Scott Reeder, Eric Avery, Danny Lohner, Jeordie White and more.

It was a rather exposing audition process – Keenan’s jam with the band was filmed and included in the Some Kind of Monster documentary, which charted Metallica’s turbulent period between ’01 and ’03.

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Speaking in a new interview with Guitar World, Keenan says he can pinpoint the moment he’d lost the gig – and it happened while they were jamming a new song.

When asked what Metallica would’ve sounded like had he joined the band, Keenan reflects, “I think James Hetfield knows the answer to this, because he would have heard it himself when I was playing with them.

“There was one part in the movie where they made me play bass on a new song,” he continues. “I guess they were trying to stump me with something I’d never heard before… St. Anger or some shit like that. It was a drop-tuned song and I hit the blower knob on my bass and just blasted through.

“They were like ‘What the fuck are you doing?’ It sounded as heavy as lead to me, totally ripping from all the overdrive on my short-scale SG bass set to the front pickup.

“It was some Cream-sounding shit… actually, it sounded more like Fudge Tunnel. I can still see them shaking their heads. I knew I’d lost the gig right there. [laughs]”

He might not have got the bass player spot, but he did get to jam with Metallica – an experience that was filled with plenty of highlights.

Keenan remembers, “Sad But True was fun as shit. I loved Nothing Else Matters as well, plus the older shit like Master of Puppets. But who doesn’t want to play that massive mid-tempo riff from Sad But True? Man, that was right up my alley!”

The Keenan/Metallica link-up had potential. Hetfield knew they were bringing in a guy who, at least on paper, could fit the bill. It just didn’t quite work out.

“[Pepper]’s a good player and a solid guy,” Hetfield once told Kerrang! magazine (via Blabbermouth). “I had such high hopes for him. But when it came to jamming with the band, I knew that it wasn’t going to work. It just didn’t feel right.”

Keenan and Hetfield remained close after the audition, having been friends long before. In fact, Keenan once told Guitar World that it was Hetfield who convinced him to switch from Gibson SGs to ESPs.

Matt is the GuitarWorld.com News Editor, and has been writing and editing for the site for five years. He has a Masters in the guitar, a degree in history, and has spent the last 19 years playing everything from blues and jazz to indie and pop. During his GW career, he’s interviewed Peter Frampton, Zakk Wylde, Tosin Abasi, Matteo Mancuso and more, and has profiled the CEOs of Guitar Center and Fender.

When he’s not combining his passion for writing and music during his day job, Matt performs with indie rock duo Esme Emerson, and has previously opened for the likes of Ed Sheeran, Keane, Japanese House and Good Neighbours.