Leslie Edward Claypool (born September 29, 1963) is an American musician, best known as the founder, lead singer, bassist, and primary songwriter of Primus. Ranked as one of the greatest bassists of all time by Rolling Stone, his unique playing style mixes tapping, flamenco-like strumming, whammy bar bends, and slapping and popping.
Claypool has been involved in a number of non-Primus projects, including supergroups such as Oysterhead (with Trey Anastasio and Stewart Copeland) and Colonel Claypool's Bucket of Bernie Brains (with Buckethead, Bryan Mantia, and Bernie Worrell) and duos such as Duo de Twang (with Bryan Kehoe) and The Claypool Lennon Delirium (with Sean Lennon). He also fronts the experimental rock projects Colonel Les Claypool's Fearless Flying Frog Brigade and Les Claypool's Fancy Band. He has produced and engineered several of his own releases from Rancho Relaxo, which is his studio in California.
Claypool appears in the opening titles of the animated comedy series South Park, for which Primus has performed the theme song since its debut in 1997. In 2006, he made his debut as both a filmmaker and author when he wrote and directed the mockumentary Electric Apricot: Quest For Festeroo and released the novel South of the Pumphouse.
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Early life
Leslie Edward Claypool was born into a working-class family of car mechanics in Richmond, California, on September 29, 1963. He was raised in El Sobrante, California. He learned to play the bass guitar at age 14, but did not begin a career in music until much later. He attended De Anza High School in Richmond, where he was friends with Kirk Hammett, and worked as a carpenter for several years after graduating from high school.
Career
Early career
After the death of Metallica bassist Cliff Burton in 1986, Metallica guitarist Kirk Hammett reconnected with his high school friend Claypool and asked him to audition as Burton's replacement. In Metallica's episode of the documentary series Behind the Music, Claypool said that he jokingly asked the members of Metallica if they wanted to "jam on some Isley Brothers tunes" during the audition, a reference to his lack of experience with Metallica's thrash metal style. He later recalled Hammett giving him a copy of Metallica's 1984 album Ride the Lightning, which he enjoyed, but also stressed he "wasn't a big metal guy" and did not realize how popular Metallica had become until he arrived at the audition. He also did not realize at the time that the intro riff of "For Whom the Bell Tolls" was performed on bass, and thus did not play it during the audition. Metallica frontman James Hetfield said that Claypool was not offered the job because "he was too good" and "should do his own thing". Claypool responded by admitting that he "wasn't the right guy" for the band due to being a self-proclaimed "weirdo" and said that Hetfield was just "being nice" with his comments.
Primus
Primus began as "Primate" in the mid-1980s. The band featured Claypool on bass, Todd Huth on guitar, and various drummers (most notably Jay Lane); however, Huth and Lane left shortly thereafter to pursue other projects. Claypool replaced them with guitarist Larry LaLonde and drummer Tim Alexander.
Claypool is considered to be the leader of the band, as well as the driving force behind its blending of funk with other genres. He frequently utilizes the slap-bass technique prominent in funk music, and is the only member of Primus who comes from a funk background. However, Claypool often rejects the "slap bass" label commonly applied to his style, preferring instead the phrase "thumpin' and pluckin'", a term he borrowed from funk bassist Larry Graham. Because of Claypool's strong funk influence, Primus is often described as "thrash-funk" or funk metal, although Claypool dislikes the labels. He said, "We've been lumped in with the funk metal thing just about everywhere. I guess people just have to categorize you.
From 1989 to 2000, Primus gained significant mainstream airplay, headlining Lollapalooza in 1993 and appearing on Late Show with David Letterman and Late Night with Conan O'Brien in 1995. They also appeared at Woodstock '94, where they performed their Pork Soda hit "My Name Is Mud" and were pelted with mud by the audience, much to the band's displeasure. It drove Claypool to stop playing telling the audience "the song's called My Name is Mud, but keep the mud to yourself you son of a bitch". In 1991, the band was featured in the movie Bill & Ted's Bogus Journey performing their song "Tommy the Cat" live. Claypool and Tom Waits first recorded on each other's records in 1991 and have continued to do so since. In 1997, Primus was asked to play and record the theme song for the animated television show South Park. In 1999, Claypool allowed Activision's use of the song "Jerry Was a Race Car Driver" in the popular video game Tony Hawk's Pro Skater. Primus went on hiatus in 2000.
In mid-2003, Claypool reunited with former Primus drummer Tim Alexander and guitarist Larry LaLonde to record a DVD/EP called Animals Should Not Try to Act Like People. In October of the same year, the band embarked on a two-month tour in which two sets were performed per show, the second set consisting of their 1991 release Sailing the Seas of Cheese being performed in its entirety. Primus continued touring into 2004, performing their 1990 release Frizzle Fry as their second set, as documented on the DVD Hallucino-Genetics: Live 2004.
Solo work
In 1993 Claypool began a short-lived alternative/funk rock band featuring Todd Huth on guitar and Jay Lane on drums. The group released their first album in April 1994 "Riddles Are Abound Tonight" by Prawn Song Records, and did a few short tours and opened for groups such as Helmet, Rollins Band, and Slayer. The band reunited for a show on December 31, 2019, opening for The Claypool Lennon Delirium and have not returned since.
In 1996, Claypool produced, engineered, and released a solo album, "Les Claypool and the Holy Mackerel presents" Highball with the Devil. He is credited with playing bass, and drums as well as vocals on several tracks as well as guitar. Also on the album are Mark "Mirv" Haggard, Adam Gates, Jay Lane, Joe Gore, Charlie Hunter, and Henry Rollins. The accompanying tour included Haggard and Gates on guitars with Bryan Mantia on drums. It was announced during the Holy Mackerel tour that Mantia had been chosen to become the next Primus drummer.
In April 2000, Claypool collaborated with Trey Anastasio (of Phish) and Stewart Copeland (of the Police) to form a supergroup called Oysterhead. Claypool and Anastasio had been looking for an opportunity to collaborate. Each had a mutual interest in playing with Copeland who had been a rock idol of their teen years. Plus, Claypool and Copeland already had an established friendship. Oysterhead were originally intended as a one time performance during Jazz Fest in New Orleans. Though timid of the band's sudden and surprising popularity they decided to record and tour. They released one studio album, The Grand Pecking Order, and toured before disbanding in 2001. They re-united in 2006, at the Bonnaroo Music Festival. In 2016 Les tried to reunite the group, but ended up releasing an album with The Claypool Lennon Delirium. They re-united once again in 2020 for two shows at the 1stBank Center in Broomfield, Colorado, with the rest of their tour cut short by the COVID-19 pandemic.
In May 2000, Claypool formed Les Claypool's Fearless Flying Frog Brigade, an experimental rock group. He was asked to put together a band for the Mountain Aire Festival in Angels Camp, California. The band "of the most incredible guys (he) could possibly find" debuted that Memorial Day weekend and played a number of other festivals including moe.down. Originally he was going to call the band "Les Claypool's Thunder Brigade". Claypool said:
I originally was going to do the two drummer thing with Herb and Jack Irons, so I was gonna call it the Les Claypool Thunder Brigade. Michael Bailey from Bill Graham Presents said to me that it may sound a bit too heavy for the Mountain Aire crowd and to perhaps try something a little different that had to do with the event itself. Since it was home of the Calaveras County Frog Jump... hence the Frog Brigade and then it evolved into Colonel Les Claypool's Fearless Flying Frog Brigade.
Other work
Claypool was a special guest star in a Space Ghost Coast to Coast episode with the most celebrities on Cartoon Network in 1996.
Claypool's first book, South of the Pumphouse, was released on July 1, 2006, by Akashic Books. Copies of the book were sold during his 2006 tour of the U.S. following the release of Of Whales and Woe. The book is a dark tale of brothers, murder, drugs, and fishing; it has been likened to the work of Hunter S. Thompson. Claypool gave his first interview about the book on May 11, 2006.
Also in 2006, Claypool wrote and directed the mockumentary film Electric Apricot: Quest For Festeroo. It was shown at various film festivals and is a spoof of the jam band scene centered on the fake band Electric Apricot, with Claypool also playing the band's drummer and backing vocalist. The band performed real shows in the California area (such as High Sierra Music Festival) for the filming of the movie. During a question and answer session at the Tiburon Film Festival, where the film debuted, he said that the DVD would have an accompanying soundtrack CD. The film has won awards including Best Feature (audience choice) at the Malibu Film Festival. Claypool also said that the band would possibly perform a few select shows, but a tour never transpired as the film's star Adam Gates worked for Pixar, which made touring difficult.
In 2007, Claypool created Claypool Cellars, a wine-making project that turned into a boutique business. It makes wine from grapes grown in California's Russian River Valley. The wines are named based on his music, such as "Purple Pachyderm" and "Pink Platypus". "Purple Pachyderm" in particular was co-created alongside Claypool's wife, Chaney.
Artistry
Claypool is well known for his "quirky and eccentric" style of bass playing, and is noted for his musical versatility. In addition to the sheer prominence of his bass playing on recorded works throughout his discography, Claypool's style also incorporates several other unusual techniques, such as flamenco-style strumming, tapping, slapping, and guitar-like chording. He has made prominent use of a Kahler "bass tremolo" vibrato system, as well as effects such as fuzz boxes and envelope filters. For most of his career, Claypool has played four-stringed basses, but has experimented with extended-range basses, most notably six-stringed models, as heard on songs like "Jerry Was a Race Car Driver", which features Claypool tapping the main melody on a fretless six-string bass; Claypool noted he was "getting more into the six-string" during the making of Pork Soda, giving the album a heavier edge.
Claypool has cited Rush and their bassist Geddy Lee, Larry Graham, Chris Squire, Tony Levin, Roger Waters, Paul McCartney, Geezer Butler, Bootsy Collins, Stanley Clarke, John Paul Jones, and the Residents as being musical influences.
Equipment
Claypool has, for a long time, endorsed Carl Thompson basses, but also uses a custom "Pachyderm" bass built by luthier Dan Maloney, and an NS Design upright bass. He uses Mesa/Boogie amplifiers, and an extensive set of effect pedals.
Personal life
Claypool married clothes designer Chaney Smith in December 1995. They reside in Sonoma County, California, and have a son and daughter together.
Claypool is known for his eccentric personality, surreal sense of humor, cannabis use and his love of wine. His love of wine led him to start the process of opening Pachyderm Station in Sebastopol, California with his wife Chaney in 2007. They produce high-end wine with the aim of providing the utmost flavor and quality, mainly focusing on Pinot Noir wines and Champagne. The company, whose name is Purple Pachyderm, originally released their wine in 2012. Ross Cobb and Katy Wilson were hired as the wine makers at the inception, but Wilson left in 2018 to pursue other ventures. The store and restaurant are open to the public for wine tasting and meals, where Les has a food truck that serves his Whamola Wieners, which are a high-end hotdog.
"Les Claypool Day" was declared by Cincinnati mayor John Cranley on June 12, 2018. It was presented to Claypool during Primus' show that night at the Riverbend Music Center by members of the Cincinnati USA Music Heritage Foundation, alongside Claypool's friend and influence Bootsy Collins.
Discography
Guest appearances
(Claypool on bass unless otherwise noted)
1992 – Green Jellö - Cereal Killer (voice of Three Little Pigs)
1992 – Tom Waits – Bone Machine (on the track "Earth Died Screaming")
1994 – Firehose – Big Bottom Pow Wow (in discussion on the various "spiel" tracks)
1994 – Rob Wasserman – Trios (on the track "Home is Where You Get Across")
1996 – Alex Lifeson – Victor (on the track "The Big Dance")
1998 – Jerry Cantrell – Boggy Depot (on the tracks "Between" and "Cold Piece")
1998 – Metallica – Garage Inc. (banjo on the Lynyrd Skynyrd cover "Tuesday's Gone")
1998 – Bloem de Ligny – Zink (vocals on the track "Capsule")
1999 – Tom Waits – Mule Variations (on the track "Big in Japan")
1999 – Kenny Wayne Shepherd Band – Live On (on the track "Oh Well")
1999 – Limp Bizkit – Significant Other (vocals on the hidden track "The Mind of Les", bass and vocals on the outtake "Hell of a Band")
1999 – Phonopsycograph Disk – Live @ Slim's / Turbulence Chest (additional bass on 8 of the 12 tracks)
2002 – Fishbone – Fishbone and the Familyhood Nextperience Present: The Friendliest Psychosis of All (bass on track 1)
Videography
1991 – Bill & Ted's Bogus Journey, features Les Claypool performing with Primus.
2002 – Rising Low (Documentary on Allen Woody, directed by Mike Gordon)
2002 – Various Artists – Live from Bonnaroo Music Festival 2002 (featuring Les Claypool's Frog Brigade and Colonel Claypool's Bucket of Bernie Brains)
2003 – Gov't Mule – The Deepest End, Live In Concert
2005 – Les Claypool – 5 Gallons of Diesel
2007 – Les Claypool – Fancy
2008 – Electric Apricot: Quest for Festeroo (Rock- mockumentary feature film)
2011 – A Cure for Pain: The Mark Sandman Story (documentary on Mark Sandman)