Dean Delray caught  up with Jason Newsted to talk all things metal, covering everything from his early days in Metallica to igniting the Newsted band again. Check out the interview below.

Newsted was with Metallica from 1986 until 2001, having replaced Cliff Burton after his death. Newsted was replaced in 2003 by Metallica's current bassist, Robert Trujillo.

At one point in the interview, Newsted defends Metallica drummer Lars Ulrich, who is trashed regularly online for his musical abilities.

Newsted: "Do not talk shit about that guy. He's way ahead of you in most things, I promise you that. If we wouldn't have had him and his ability to anticipate, to predict, to know geography, to understand what country and what city and what did what at what time and all this stuff, no way Metallica would be what they were. There's way more to it than just being able to hit a snare drum. The demand back when Jimi Hendrix was playing and Black Sabbath started touring or whatever, the band came out, smoked some hash, played the songs, got paid a little bit, had some beers, chased a girl, went on their way. That filled their whole plate. Now, or even twentysomething years ago, or 30 perhaps, that much of the plate right there would be filled with the things we just spoke of: you learned your instrument, you played in tune, you tried to sing, you remember what's coming next and memorize your shit. And then this chunk is the videos, and then this chunk is the interviews, and then that chunk is that thing, then that chunk is that thing, that chunk is meetings, that chunk is lawyers, that chunk is depositions. And then you've got that time for your wife. That's what's real. So if anybody wants to talk about, 'Oh, yeah, I got this. I could do that. Could you? Could you, really? I don't think so, man."

Newsted, the band, are back for an exclusive North American appearance. The band's first show in the US in nearly a decade is scheduled for Saturday, May 20 at Revolution Live in Fort Lauderdale, Florida.

Alongside singer/bassist Jason Newsted, the show will feature original members Jesus Mendez Jr. (drums) and Jessie Farnsworth  (guitar), and new guitarist, Humberto Perez.

Tickets for the concert are on sale now here.

Back in February, Consequence reported that Jason Newsted revealed that he’s working on two new “heavy” projects.

Speaking with Gator 98.7 FM’s “Gator Garage”, Newsted opened up about his latest musical endeavours and his return to heavy music. After re-tooling his long-running bluegrass-based group The Chophouse Band to feature elements of metal, Newsted is now going full-on heavy with two new as-yet-unnamed projects.

“I’m kind of stepping back into the heavy now,” Newsted said. “So the last couple of weeks I’ve been auditioning guitar players for a heavy project. I’m back on bass and singing with a metal drummer - double bass - you know, getting loud again. So I’ve got a couple of irons in the fire. I’m putting two new projects together right now - but loud.”

Read more at Consequence, and stay tuned for updates from Newsted.