Les Claypool Archives - Page 5

Gigs tend to dry up for bassists during the winter months (besides holiday work), making it the perfect time to start composing new music for the spring. Whether you’re a seasoned composer or just starting out on the bass, writing music will help you grow as a player and musician. We compiled some advice from the world’s top bass players...

Les Claypool has always played distinct basses, and this week we’re checking out one of those basses he helped design: The Pachyderm Basses Blonde Bass. Claypool worked with luthier and longtime friend Dan Maloney to form the company and create his idea of the ultimate bass. “My idea was to incorporate the traits of the instruments I have loved over...

Les Claypool’s latest project with Sean Lennon, aptly named The Claypool Lennon Delirium, is everything you’d imagine it would be. Built upon the bassist’s unmistakeable style, the band has a mind-altering style of rock and psychedelia. Check out this clip of “Breath of a Salesman” taken from The Late Late Show with James Corden. The synergy between Claypool and Lennon...

Primus bassist Les Claypool and Sean Lennon began to jam together in 2015 when Lennon’s band, Ghost of a Saber Tooth Tiger, opened for Primus, and that musical connection spawned an album: The Claypool Lennon Delirium’s Monolith of Phobos. “I use the metaphor that a musical interaction or jam is a conversation, and the best conversations are the ones that...

Primus frontman and bass wizard Les Claypool has teamed up with Sean Lennon to form a new band called The Claypool Lennon Delirium, and they’re taking the show on the road. The duo has announced their album, Monolith of Phobos, will be released on June 3rd with a three month tour to follow. Claypool and Lennon first got together during...

In what promises to be one of the most anticipated tours of 2016, Tool and Primus are teaming up for a set of tour dates in January. The 8-date trek is a rare outing for Tool, who have seldom played more than 20 shows in a single year since 2007. Kicking off on January 9th in San Diego, the tour...

Just about all of Les Claypool‘s bass lines are catchy and fun to play, but “Lee Van Cleef” is one of my favorites. The song, which pays homage to the actor with allusions to Claypool’s childhood, centers around a springy slap bass line on the D and G strings. Check out this clip of Primus performing it on the Jimmy...

Primus will be hitting the road again this summer with a U.S. tour focusing on the East Coast and Midwest. Fronted by bassman Les Claypool, the trio will kick things off with an appearance at the All Good Festival before snaking their way to end up at the Sumtur Amphitheater in Papillion, Nebraska on August 7th. Primus is currently touring...

For some reason, it just doesn’t feel surprising that Primus leader/bassist Les Claypool loves the 1971 film Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory so much that he, the rest of the original Primus lineup (that hasn’t played together since 1995) and the 2-member Fungi Ensemble, would create a take on iconic film’s music. is as unique as you’d expect, while...

Les Claypool has always marched to the beat of his own drum. That’s why we’re celebrating his birthday today with a clip of the trio playing “To Defy the Laws of Tradition” from their 1989 radio performance on Stanford’s KZSU. The video captures the band’s eclectic energy as they start with a spacey atmosphere before kicking into the song’s groove....

With his band, Primus, bassist Les Claypool not only helped bring alt-rock to the world in the early 1990s, but also infused the music scene with tunes that were fun, funky, experimental, and one of a kind. The group’s influence is significant, making it the perfect subject for a book. And now one has arrived — . The book is...

Les Claypool is once again auctioning off his personal bass to benefit Jacob’s Heart, an organization that offers children’s cancer support services. Similar to the instrument he auctioned in 2012, the bass is his own Pachyderm design. “This particular bass #122312003 was delivered to me on December 29th, 2012,” Claypool states. “I’ve always found that maple instruments have a very...