Les Claypool: Fungi Feature!
JamBase has a featured article on our favorite “clown prince of prog rock,” the musically eclectic Les Claypool.
Claypool recalls his early beginnings on bass, “We [Les and his father] went down to Al’s Music, he knew Al, and we bought this Fender P-Bass copy. I pulled weeds all summer to pay for the damn thing. And because there weren’t that many bass players back then – everybody wanted to be Eddie Van Halen – I was in big demand immediately. So, I was instantly in a band… My first gig was in the cafeteria at our high school and I was so nervous I stood sideways ‘cause I couldn’t look at the audience.”
The article highlights a large chunk of Claypool’s musical history, from Primus, Oysterhead, Les Claypool’s Flying Frog Brigade, Colonel Claypool’s Bucket of Bernie Brains, to his current work with Fungi material and how it relates to video games and thriller movies. Don’t think he has any plans to slow down: “I’ve got some other pots on the stove. I’m not sure what’s going to be moved to the front burner at this point in time,” Claypool says. “I do have to go to Europe later in the year. I’m going to Australia later in the year with this band. I’m trying to get a couple of film projects off the ground. I’m working on another book. Mostly I just need to get my tractor running so I can finish mowing my damn field.”
Check out the full article at JamBase.
