When We Started Talking Again It Was a Rush
Jess Phillips
Primus plays Ruth Eckerd Hall in Clearwater, Florida on November 11, 2017.
It's an admirable goal in music to be true to yourself, and Primus has consistently done that over a nigh four-decade run. The band's sound is difficult to characterize but like shooting fish in a barrel to recognize.
Formed in the San Francisco area in the mid-'80s, Primus coalesced around oddball bassist and frontman Les Claypool to deliver a exciting mix of funk, metal and prog. As a result of its varied influences, the trio's hard-to-pigeonhole sound has allowed it to straddle multiple scenes and genres.
That includes not just the alt-stone scene—Primus grabbed the headlining spot on Lollapalooza 1993—but also prog and metal tours. The ring has opened for anyone from Anthrax to Tool to Public Enemy. Claypool has also collaborated with members of the jamband scene, nigh notably Phish's Trey Anastasio, with whom he formed the supergroup Oysterhead.
Each member of Primus brings his own set of musical influences to the political party, and they don't overlap much, save one band: Rush. So, it makes sense that the group—which toured with the Canadian ability trio in the early on '90s—is currently performing A Adieu to Kings in its entirety. The A Tribute to Kings tour includes not simply Rush'south classic 1977 album in its entirety but also a full set of Primus originals. Information technology stops at St. Petersburg'due south Mahaffey Theatre on Wednesday, May four with Battles in the opening slot.
We caught upwardly with Les Claypool on Zoom to talk virtually the tour, Primus' history and his love of all things Blitz.
What'south the hardest song from Farewell To Kings to pull off live?
It's hard to say, considering it's Rush—it's all difficult. One of the hardest ones is "Madrigal," because information technology'due south non very Rush-similar. You have to kind of switch gears. Information technology's this pretty trivial song. I have the big volume they put out a couple of years ago with all the tours and setlists. There's no "Madrigal" on whatsoever of the setlists. So, I asked [Rush bassist] Geddy [Lee], "Did you guys ever play that song?" and he goes "I don't recollect nosotros ever did." So, I don't retrieve they ever played that song live. That being said, the toughest one—purely from an athletic standpoint, and logistics—is "Xanadu." I accept to article of clothing that giant-ass double-neck. And I have to go between that and keyboards and guitar. It's a juggler. The matter near all these songs is fifty-fifty though it was a lot of work prepping for it, more rehearsal than Primus has always done ever, in the history of our band, it was a great bonding thing for us, considering nosotros haven't done that since we were kids. It was "allow's write some songs, record 'em, learn 'em, let'due south go on tour." Whereas this, we had to assemble a lot. And hang out a lot. And play a lot, not just jam and become go some steaks and wine. And then, it was a great bonding thing. And we're gonna practise it once more next week because we oasis't played it since final tour, so we gotta assemble and knock the tarnish off. So, I don't know which is harder, but information technology's really been a great thing for us.
The non-Blitz function of the setlist varies from night to night. What goes into choosing the Primus songs you're gonna play? Or perhaps you'll throw in an Oysterhead song? A little of "Polka Dot Rose." I call back that's something I snuck in [equally a tease]. The guys didn't realize. They won't go for me putting in no Oysterhead songs (laughs). It's not their ring. What the hell? They don't want to practise that. They're gonna exist like, "What? Are we gonna play some Laundry tunes?" But it'due south been like that for years. However we're feeling. Information technology depends on the vibe of the day. What the weather's like. What the crowd's like. Is it an indoor gig? Is it an outdoor gig? How hungover we are. It'south sorta just every solar day. That dictates the vibe. I think it'south only a natural reflection of being a man. If you're going into a room total of people, what kind of conversation you're gonna accept depends on the mood of the 24-hour interval.
If you guys—in some bizarro alternating universe—were contractually obligated to do a second Rush bout and you had to choose an album mail-Moving Pictures, what would you practise?
Well, get-go of all, we are living in an alternate reality. I don't know if you're watching the fucking news. Somebody has scripted this shit the past 3 years. It was written by Ray Bradbury or something. Only I would choice Signals. It was kind of the concluding Rush record for me before I went off and discovered the rest of the globe of music. Considering I was such a devoted Rush fan that they absorbed my listening time quite a bit. But after that I got into Public Image Ltd. and quondam Peter Gabriel and Fred Frith and a lot of the former-schoolhouse funk and soul. That was all from blossoming out of that era. Signals may accept been the concluding Rush concert I paid for. I saw a lot of Ringlet the Bones shows.
During the '90s, Primus cut across a wide swath of the culture. There was Lollapalooza, then fast forward a few years, and you're doing jamband shows with Grateful Dead bassist Phil Lesh. Yous're sitting in with Phish. Not to mention yous've got the Anthrax and Public Enemy tour in there. What was it about your music that made it possible to leap back and along?
We're still jumping all over the place. Information technology'southward similar anything else. It'southward the nature of your influences. Whether it's literature or motion-picture show or scuba diving. You reverberate what you lot come across and what you lot experience. And if you're just—I detest to employ the word bigoted—but if yous're focused on one genre or one perspective, you're gonna reverberate that. For us, we were always the oddball band in the '80s, playing around the Bay Area. We were very fortunate. This guy, Michael Bailey, who for years has run the Fillmore, used to run a petty independent club called Berkeley Square, where we recorded our start record. He used to believe in us and book us all the fourth dimension. He didn't know who to put us with. Nosotros've opened for the Swans and the Pop-O-Pies and nobody knew what to do with us. We were this odd band effectually Berkeley, and and so Fishbone started showing up. And the Chili Peppers. And nosotros started having bands that we could play with. And and so Faith No More than. Nosotros've ever been this sort of cross-pollination of things. And then, as Primus was kind of falling apart in the end of the '90s, that whole thing with Oysterhead came about. Side by side thing you know, this whole jam world opened upwardly to me. I was like, "Holy shit! I like this, this is a comfortable shoe." So, I started Frog Brigade and started doing all these things. And then, obviously, working with all these different artists. ... I just like going where the fun is.
You sat in with Phish in Vegas in 1996. You did the Phish original "Harpua," then you did "Wildwood Weed," and there were multiple Elvis impersonators onstage. How did that come about? You already said things were a blur sometimes…
I remember that one! They had tigers backstage that they were gonna bring out. I don't know if they ever did. I knew those guys [in Phish]. We had a mutual friend and we had met somewhere. Nosotros hung out. Ler and [Phish drummer Jon] Fishman were talking Zappa. I merely kind of kept in bear upon with [Phish guitarist] Trey [Anastasio] a fleck, and my band Sausage opened for Phish down at Laguna Seca years agone. And they invited us to this Vegas bear witness. I had seen 'em at the Warfield, and I had no clue that they were fifty-fifty slightly big. So, we go downward and played the Aladdin, and there'southward this whole crazy scene. I was like, "What the hell?" Trey says, "Can you lot sit in on this vocal?" It goes humma-humma whatever, I don't know the vocal. I still don't know the song. He goes, "You lot gotta dirge this affair. You can't merely chant 'apathetic blah blah blah.'" I was like, "I'yard never gonna call up that. I fume a lot of weed. There'due south no way I'chiliad gonna remember that. Let me simply do my thing. I'll practice 'Wildwood Weed.'" And he's similar, "OK." And then, I just started doing "Wildwood Weed" considering I remember it equally a kid. And I remember after the evidence Folio [McConnell, Phish's keyboardist], came up to me and said, "Wow, that really went on for a long time. I wasn't expecting that." But we had a blast. That was a cracking weekend.
What kind of plans do you have for the "South Park" 25th ceremony show with Ween at Ruby-red Rocks?
These are all surprise things, so I can't speak of it. It'due south gonna be over-the-acme, I think.
You've got a new three-song EP coming out that includes a xiii-minute song, "Conspiranoia." Reportedly, your son said the lyrics were a trivial preachy and you lot did some revisions. What practise y'all want listeners to get out of the song?
The whole notion was: "We want to get in the studio." We just built this new studio. We're having fun with it. I said, "We don't want to exercise a whole album. We don't accept time. No one wants us to throw a whole new album on them at the show." You know, when yous go see a ring, you want to maybe hear one or two new songs, merely you don't want to hear a fuckin' anthology'due south worth. You desire to hear the old-timey ones plus nosotros're playing the Rush stuff. So, I said, "Let's do i big-donkey song." And then, I wrote "Conspiranoia" and we recorded it, and it's 13 minutes long. At that place'southward a single, only we demand a B-side. It'south 13 minutes long, then nosotros need two B-sides 'cause that's a lot of plastic. And then, we recorded "Conspiranoia," and so we recorded "Follows The Fool." And then I said, "Hey, Ler [LaLonde], y'all got anything?" And he's like, "Yes," and he played this riff and we jammed it, and it was awesome. Information technology might exist the all-time of the three. And information technology's called "Erring on the Side of Caution." The proper noun of the EP is Conspiranoid, and it's reflective of the times.
Only my son is doing the Primus documentary correct now, Jason Momoa is producing, Jimmy Hayward is producing, and my son is directing it. He's gone through 700-and-some-odd videotapes that we've collected over the years and digitized them. He's down in LA interviewing all these different people. He'due south been a skilful sounding board for me of tardily. He's only a good creative guy. And then, I played him the song and he'due south like, "You know, Dad, the one affair I've learned doing this documentary most you guys is that Primus has this world. You lot guys accept created this world that people identify with, with all these unlike characters. And I'm listening to the song and it kinda sounds like you're only preaching a fleck, and at that place'southward none of these characters that you're and then well-known for." I was like "OK," and I went back and re-wrote the lyrics from the perspective of characters.
Kids are like that. They're non going to be impressed past your accomplishments.
My kids are more than happy to tell the emperor he has no apparel on.
This postal service first appeared at our sibling paper San Antonio Current.
Source: https://www.cltampa.com/music/interview-before-st-pete-show-primus-les-claypool-talks-rush-his-bands-identity-and-more-13315495
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