Q&A: Primus

Primus are (left to right): guitarist Ler LaLonde, drummer Jay Lane and lead singer/bassist Les Claypool (Credit: Tod Brilliant)

Les Claypool said all through the ‘90s that Primus would remain operational until it wasn't fun anymore. By the late part of the decade—following an unlikely beaver-themed MTV smash and two disappointing CDs—it wasn't.

But now, 12 years later, the enigmatic frontman/bassist/winemaker/filmmaker says the joy is back, thanks in large part to the long-delayed return of drummer Jay Lane. A member during the group's embryonic years, Lane ("Jayski" to his friends/bandleaders) left to pursue a band with more promising label relations just one month before Primus recorded their debut album, “Suck on This,” in 1989.

Lane's energy (and Claypool’s funk underpinnings, and well-marinated freakery from guitarist Larry “Ler” LaLonde) helps power Primus' seventh album, "Green Naugahyde," the band's first since 1999's "Antipop" and an almost-instant return to form for fans of appealingly oddball art-funk with titles like "Last Salmon Man," "Moron TV" and "Jilly's on Smack."

Claypool has re-circled the Primus wagons twice before, in 2003 and in 2006, but both were considered nostalgia tours. (He's also kept plenty active in the interim with his myriad side projects, including Oysterhead, with Trey Anastasio and Stewart Copeland, and his Fearless Flying Frog Brigade). And while Primus have spent the first half of 2011 touring the east and co-headlining shows with the exceedingly well-matched Flaming Lips (doing their now-legendary take on Pink Floyd's "Dark Side of the Moon"), this fall marks the band's first tour behind new material in quite a while—something Claypool welcomes with open arms.

How did it go with the Lips?
It was spectacular. As a fan of the Lips, watching them do the Pink Floyd thing was unbelievable. I think the combination of the two bands made for a pretty special night; it sold out way in advance so hopefully we didn't let anybody down.

Did you perform “regular” Primus sets, or do the full-album sets?
We didn't do a full album—we did that years ago in 2003 with "Seas of Cheese" and "Frizzle Fry." In 2000, 2001 I took the Frog Brigade out and we did Pink Floyd’s "Animals" in its entirety and it was amazing. We looked at those records like "The Wall" and "Animals" and "Dark Side of the Moon" as inspiration for what we were doing with "Frizzle Fry" and "Seas of Cheese"—they had a continuity to them. I always told my son when he was younger and wanted to listen to "The Wall," "Well, you have to set aside time; you can't just watch a few scenes from a movie."

Is that how you approached "Green Naugahyde?"
Well, when we started making the record I was thinking, "We should do something different” and I started thinking, "Maybe it should be a concept album." I've always wanted to do something like that. But once you start thinking like that you put parameters on yourself, and I find it hampers the creative process more than it helps. So I kind of abandoned that notion. But as we moved through it I did start to see the threads and tried to string things together, similar to what we did with "Frizzle Fry" and "Seas of Cheese" back in the day, some musical themes that were repeated throughout, tying it all in (in this case) with the Salmon Men. I'm a driving/listening guy—that's when I listen to most of my music—so if I'm going on a long trip I pop in those records that have that thread so that I'm experiencing a full piece. I tend to like to do that with my projects.

Once Jay was back in the fold, did things proceed quickly?
We sort of took our time with it. The recording took us about three months, which is a long time for Primus. We used to blast these things out like they were nothin'.

What was the vibe like in the studio?
Well, Ler had never played with Jayski. I'd played with Jayski for many, many years—obviously he was one of the original Primus guys, and he was in Sausage, did the Holy Mackerel record and was in Frog Brigade—so Jay and I have a very intuitive relationship musically. So I kept telling Ler, "Wait till you play with this guy." And we were playing "Pudding Time” and looked at each other and we were grinning like bastards. Jayski has this feel that no one else has. I've played with some phenomenal contemporary musicians over the past 10 years, and you know when there's chemistry right away.

But the main thing…Jay is a very positive guy, but he felt one of his big mistakes in life was missing the Primus boat. He quit the band one month before we made our first record. I said, "Look, we're getting pretty popular, I need a commitment"—because he was in this other band that had a deal, and we didn't. And Jayski's not too good at the ol' multitasking. So he chose the other band, which was logical at the time—they had a deal with Warner Bros. Unfortunately it just didn't happen for them, and of course we went on to do the things that we did and he had to sit there and watch on the sidelines going, "Well…” So as soon as he heard about the opportunity he was very excited. It's the Cinderella story.

All he had to do was wait 25 years!
[Laughs] Never give up.

Can you talk a bit about the tour?
It'll be two Primus sets, no opening band. Obviously we want to play the new material—because it's fresh and exciting—and of course people want to hear the old material, and obscure material. And since we're playing different sets and we get people who follow us around it makes sense. We don't play all the same songs every night, so sometimes they get "Jerry" and sometimes they get "Mud." So we want to go back to all these places and really play a plethora of Primus. More Primus than you would ever want to hear. [Laughs]

So, right now, Primus is your primary project?
This is the pot that's on the front-burner right now.