WUTC's Clark Gibson speaks with Les Claypool about his "Claypool Gold" tour, which is coming to the Caverns on June 5th and Atlanta on June 20th. He is the bass player and singer for Primus, and just released an album with The Lennon Claypool Delirium titled "The Great Parrot Ox and the Golden Egg of Empathy."
Learn more about Les Claypool:
Full Transcript (generated with the help of AI and spot edited)
Clark Gibson: So this is the first time you're bringing Primus, the Claypool Linen Delirium, and Fearless Flying Frog Brigade together on one stage. What was the catalyst for finally combining these bands all into one night?
Les Claypool: Well, I had it somewhat thrust upon me. Our drummer quit us a few years ago, right before our New Year's show, so we were kind of left high and dry. So me and my manager said, well, let's just put together a few of my bands and do one big show. So we did it, it was popular, and then promoters got wind of it and started chomping at the bit to get us to come out and do it on the road. So here we are.
Clark Gibson: So congratulations on “The Great Paradox and the Golden Egg of Empathy.” It's a really great record for those of you that haven't heard it. I've heard you describe it as one of your most expansive collaborations with Sean Linen to date. Why did this feel like the right time to make a new Linen Claypool record?
Les Claypool: Well, it was just time to make a record. And then we thought, well, it's our third actual original endeavor, so let's do something special. So we decided we were working on a couple of different narratives, and we just sort of fell into this whole narrative about the paperclip conundrum and expanded upon that and used that as a conduit to basically comment on the loss of empathy that we're seeing around the planet.
Clark Gibson: Yeah. Do you feel like surrealism is the best tool for processing these kinds of intense real-world anxieties that the album focuses on?
Les Claypool: You know, I don't know if it's the best, but it's what we ended up with. And we started working with Rich Ragsdale, who was just this amazing artist. And I don't think I've ever given so few notes on a creative project in my life as I have with him doing the art for this project. He just ran with it and did a spectacular job. We had this storyline, we had the narrative, and helped him develop the characters. He just took it from there, and it came out spectacular.
Clark Gibson: That's great. So that was more of a collaborative effort. One didn't come before the other, the comic book or the album. It was kind of all supposed to go together.
Les Claypool: No, the album came first. We gave him the storyline, gave him the songs, and he started developing the characters with our help. And then he just ran with the story.
Clark Gibson: I saw that you also released “Return of the Live Frogs Vol. 1.” How does the jam kind of improvisational freedom of that band compare to the tight execution required for the other two projects? How do you go back and forth between those?
Les Claypool: Well, it's funny because we do the Frog Brigade set first, then we do Delirium, and then Primus. Well, Frog Brigade, we have to shorten the songs to fit within our time slot because there's a lot of improv. There's a lot of virtuosos within the group that you got to give them a chance to get out there and run. And then Delirium is pretty tight arrangements. And then you got Primus, which are arrangements, but there's a lot of openness to Primus shows. So you get a good cross between the three.
Clark Gibson: This tour kind of feels like a victory lap for your creative world. Do you ever stop to think about musical legacy, or are you just kind of focused on creating the next project?
Les Claypool: Is it a victory lap or is it my extinction burst?
Clark Gibson: That's up to you, it sounds like.
Les Claypool: Depends on how you look at it. I think it's up to my genetics. We'll see how I'm 62 now. But I don't know. To be honest with you, I don't really think about it. I got my lifetime achievement award from Bass Magazine this last year, and I was just kind of like, oh, that's cool. But then it ended up being this really spectacular event. It got me a little choked up. I hadn't really thought about it, but I do think about it more now because people like you ask me these things.
Clark Gibson: Oh, man. So it seems like you live like a pretty peaceful kind of semi-agrarian lifestyle, and then you go straight into this sensory overload world of taking on this major tour. And it must be kind of a shock to the system for you. So how do you mentally bridge the gap between the lifestyle you live and then turning on that ringmaster of this kind of thing that you do?
Les Claypool: Well, these are all my friends. Everybody in every band they're all dear friends of mine. So I basically pop in my bus with my wife, and we go out on the road with a bunch of friends. And it seems perfectly natural to me. It's just a lot of work. Gearing up for it. But we have an amazing crew. Everybody gets along well. I have a philosophy. Life's too short to hang out with —. So we try and keep people like that away. And we have a really amazing group of creative people and talented people in production. And it's a lot of fun out here.
Clark Gibson: So if the fishing gods came down and told you you could only fish one specific body of water for one single species for the rest of your life, what's the destination and what's the target?
Les Claypool: I just like being near water. And if I'm catching, that's great. The other day I was in Missoula, and I was catching. It was one of those days where I was catching. And sometimes you don't, but I have just as much fun whether I'm catching or not.
Clark Gibson: I really appreciate the time, and I hope you have a fun and safe tour. And we'll see you at the Caverns on June 5th.
Les Claypool: All right, man. Take it easy.
This transcript was done with the help of AI and spot edited. Email wutc@utc.edu with any corrections.
