Devin Townsend, then-Metallica bassist Jason Newsted, and Exodus drummer Tom Hunting had a very short-lived project called IR8 in 1994. The band recorded one demo that eventually got put out in 2002 as part of the IR8 vs. Sexoturica compilation, and that was that. In an interview with Ultimate Guitar, Townsend talked a little about his relationship with Newsted at the time and the pitfalls of being insanely famous.
Long story short, Townsend thought Newsted was a great dude, but that keeping up with the fame of being in Metallica ultimately shaped him beyond what he wanted to be.
"I love Jason, man. He was a really kind guy to me. Didn't take long for us to realize that we were very different, though. And I think that, at that point, we ran out of things that we needed to say together.
"But when we met at a crossroads in our life, we were the right people for each other for a couple of years there. And it was nice, he was a very kind guy, man. He was really a sweetheart.
"But he was going through all that rockstar shit too with Metallica and all that stuff. There was an era where that existed, and I struggle with it, because it seems like a weird, psychological affliction, to have that level of success.
"You're ostracized by that success to the point where your personality becomes very much determined by all of that stuff. And I don't wish that level of success on anybody, man. And the people that I've known that have had that level of success all sort of share a similar group of personality traits that, I think, make it difficult to be friends, like really close friends."
And if you'e never heard the IR8 demo, check it out below.
