Former Metallica bassist Jason Newsted auditioning Staind guitarist Mike Mushok for his ‘Newsted’ band was discussed by Mushok in a new Ultimate-Guitar interview.
“No, I hadn’t met Jason. Aaron [Lewis, Staind frontman] and I had done that ‘MTV Icon: Metallica’ thing, but Jason wasn’t in the band at the time. It was right before [2003’s] ‘St. Anger’ that they did that.
“That came about because I was around, and I was trying to figure out what I wanted to do while Aaron was pursuing his country career. Our manager at the time was also managing Jason and said he was looking for a guitar player and they asked me if I wanted to audition. I said sure, of course.
“They sent me some music; I learned the songs. I went out there and we hit it off, it went really well. I auditioned for Jason on, like, a Sunday and then I went out to film some instructional video in Colorado and I was scheduled to fly home.
“He called me up and asked when I could come back. I told him I had to be there for three days, and he asked me if I could fly back out when it was done.
“So I had to call my wife and tell her I wasn’t coming home. It was a lot of time away from home – it was a lot of work – we got a lot done very quickly. It was very intense. Jason is a super hard worker and he’s very meticulous. But it was fun. He’s a super talented guy and just a great guy, for sure.”
