Ex-Metallica Bassist Jason Newsted Debuts EchoBrain

SAN FRANCISCO (AP) - Former Metallica bassist Jason Newsted made his first live appearance with his new band, EchoBrain, on Sunday, playing an hour-long set of heavy yet melodic rock to close out Nadine's Wild Weekend, a showcase of Bay Area bands.

Newsted left Metallica in January, partly due to a strict policy barring side projects (see), and he had an air of rebirth about him at the posh Bimbo's 365 Club.
"Playing other types of music with other people always enabled me to play better for Metallica," Newsted said before the show. "It really kept me fresh to hit that loud stuff, my forte. I was always on my game, and I did my thing for that part of it, for that 15 years, and now I'm moving on to the next bit of it. And I am able to let myself go a little bit more because I don't have to be on call 25 hours a day for Metallica."

Newsted is busy with numerous projects (he's getting ready to produce Texas aggro-rockers Speedealer's upcoming record) but for now, EchoBrain is the main thing on the veteran bassist's mind.

After Newsted met teenage drummer Brian Sagrafena, now 23, at a Super Bowl party six years ago, the two jammed together regularly, eventually including singer/guitarist Dylan Donkin, now 24. The trio recorded an album, EchoBrain, at Newsted's home studio between the bassist's commitments with Metallica.
"It'd be whenever he had time," Donkin said. "He's kind of a busy guy."
"Yeah, he was so busy with his other band," Sagrafena joked.

With most of Newsted's former other band � guitarist Kirk Hammett (who shows up on EchoBrain) and drummer Lars Ulrich � in the audience, along with producer Bob Rock, EchoBrain took the stage as a trio for "Say the Word," a quick tune with a thumping, swing bassline and a punk-rock breakdown.