Primus Tracks

On this OFAF track, Les Claypool ponders what one of his heroes might do in numerous situations around a trip to London in which the airline loses Les's luggage, he's without UK currency, but he gets to screen a film with George Martin in the room and parties with George's son Giles until Les's pal Jason pukes on someone. It's certainly not your standard Claypool lyrical fare! Tune in to learn a bit about George Martin and why LC might hold him in such high regard, as does most everyone else in the music industry. Get involvedInstagramFacebookEmailBurn your money 

The fourth track of the Of Fungi and Foe record, Boonville Stomp was composed specifically for the film Pig Hunt, which takes place in and around Boonville in the woods of northern California. Les Claypool has a small role in the film, as well, if you're at all curious. This tune has cinematic elements to it, which stands to reason. Does it all come together as a standalone song for an album? That's the question we grapple with in this episode. Plus, we spit some boontling at you brightlighters. Get involvedInstagramFacebookEmailBurn your money 

Remember 2008? What do you mean, you'd rather not? Yeah, me either, but Les Claypool won't let us forget the person who helped define the year and the followers who molded themselves in her image, or something like that. Red State Girl is a curious track with a music video and a live performance on national TV to boot, so it qualifies for the lead track from Of Fungi and Foe, as well as the first track on the album not to be music created for another medium. It's an actual straightahead piece of music for music's sake. Get involvedInstagramFacebookEmailBurn your money 

Fungi or Foe? Both! Amanitas is another cautionary tale that has a few unexpected twists and turns. It's another tune originally intended for the Mushroom Men soundtrack repurposed for release on OFAF. Mushrooms sure are wacky! Get involvedInstagramFacebookEmailBurn your money 

Of Fungi and Foe's opening track is solidly on the Fungi side, as the music for this track is exactly as Les Claypool conceived and recorded it for the Mushroom Men video game, with vocals added to the album version. We sample the video game music, instrumentation, and get behind the story of the lyrics, and evaluate the tune as a harbinger for the record, and try to categorize it for the Claypool catalog, because that's, I guess, what our brains want to do. Mushroom Men soundtrack: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BovgCknGwo4&list=PLE8D3E68CBA71B182&index=1Get involvedInstagramFacebookEmailBurn your money 

As we chug along in the Claypool chronology, it's time to address 2009's Of Fungi and Foe, the second album to be credited simply to Les Claypool. Frankie has it on regular rotation; Josh listened to it once upon release, wasn't interested, and shelved it. WILL THIS SOW DIVISION IN PRIMUS TRACKS TOWERS? No, but it will provide a study in contrasts as the album unfolds. In this week's overview we provide the contemporary context for the release with notes about the album, tour, and promotional aspects. Most of the music for this record had already been composed for two disparate projects: a video game about mushrooms (fungi) and a movie about a killer wild boar (foe), so we'll examine how that affects our reception. Get involvedInstagramFacebookEmailBurn your money 

At long last, we welcome the legendary Toaster to Primus Tracks. Toaster is a prolific Primus/Les taper who started toasterland.com over 20 years ago as a respository for show recordings and a way to catalog performances for the masses. It's proved to be a priceless resource to hardcore fans, and we reference it regularly on the podcast. Toaster joins to share his experience at Tipitina's in New Orleans 2003, where the Frog Brigade played for 3.5 hours, ending at 4:30am. This is a favorite of Frankie's, and these two geek out on the Frog Brigade era as we samples numerous portions of this legendary show that features numerous guests, song teases and partials, and bastardized versions of some classics. Drop out of life for a while and have some fun at toasterland.comGet involvedInstagramFacebookEmailBurn your money 

Primus have completed their first headlining tour with drummer John Hoffman, who has been plenty busy since his hire in January 2025. This latest tour spanned 25 dates in 24 cities over 35 days, in which the band played 47 different songs! We dig into those numbers, the stage production, and the general excitement from the fanbase as Les, Ler, and Hoffer made a mad dash across the United States to establish live rapport, continue to establish their foundation, and just perhaps, toss about some ideas that may become songs for a new record. WERE YOU THERE? Tell us about your experience @primustracks on Instagram, or primustrackspod@gmail.comGet involvedInstagramFacebookEmailBurn your money Get involvedInstagramFacebookEmailBurn your money 

Sometimes, Primus Tracks listeners have questions that we cannot answer, and that's when we fire up the Soya Signal for a round of your queries. Soya joins from yet another hotel room, this time teching for Oasis, and if you've seen their tour schedule, you know the man has some time to fill. Questions this time range from Primus lyrics to beer to skateboarding to perms and Taco Bell.Do you have a question for Tim Soya? Leave a voice mail or send a text to 337-514-7692 - it's an unmonitored number, so there's no chance anyone will actually answer. Get your question in early for the next round. Get involvedInstagramFacebookEmailBurn your money Get involvedInstagramFacebookEmailBurn your money 

Tim Wright drummed in Primus from 1986-1988 as Primus gained a larger following in the Bay Area, and played a key role in helping advance the band's fortunes via endless practice and rehearsals and a grinding gigging schedule. Tim shares sme wild stories from that time period, the origins of his nickname, and some watershed moments from his own band, Curveball. Thanks to Tim for taking the time. Great talk!Get involvedInstagramFacebookEmailBurn your money Get involvedInstagramFacebookEmailBurn your money 

Jordan Kravitz recently joined the Primus crew to photograph some 2024 dates, including New Year's Eve. He's currently out capturing the band on numerous dates of the 2025 Onward & Upward tour, bringing us our first comprehensive look at John Hoffman in the Primus drum chair. Jordan disucsses how he got the gig, his approach to capturing the energy and presentation of the music, dealing with dim stage lighting, and how being a fan of the music impacts his shots.Find Jordan on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/thevicariousobserver/and his website: https://www.jhkcreativephotography.com/Get involvedInstagramFacebookEmailBurn your money Get involvedInstagramFacebookEmailBurn your money 

Dave Kloc is a prolific artist who designs posters for a wide variety of artists, but when PRIMUS comes calling, he ups his game. Enjoy a peek behind his creative process and unique approach to making these lasting images. This episode is best experienced on video at patreon.com/primustracksFind Dave at www.davekloc.com and @davekloc on the socials. Get involvedInstagramFacebookEmailBurn your money Get involvedInstagramFacebookEmailBurn your money 

We conclude our Of Whales And Woe coverage with this sendoff instrumental that airs a bit of mystery with its abrupt conclusion and sound samples/field recordings. We take a stab at what it might all mean, but perhaps it's just a bit of wordplay. Final thoughts on OWAW, and a preview of what's to come.Get involvedInstagramFacebookEmailBurn your money Get involvedInstagramFacebookEmailBurn your money 

Sam Stewart of Flagman returns to discuss Filipino Ray, an acrobatic bass jaunt that comprises the penultimate track of Of Whales and Woe. The bass lines go hard, but there is a lot of open space as well, which can be tricky for many musicians. Sam helps us with those intricacies, and regales with his own tales of whales and woe around procuting and hearing this record for the first time. We also share what we know about Ray Wing, the lyrical subject of the song, who Les played with in the Tommy Crank Band in the 1980s. Plus, can we borrow your old iPod cable? Thanks. Find Sam @salmonsamstew and @flagmanband on Insagram.Get involvedInstagramFacebookEmailBurn your money Get involvedInstagramFacebookEmailBurn your money 

We all know about the South Park theme, but were you aware that Les Claypool wrote and performed the theme to Robot Chicken, another long-running animated television program? Probably. We discuss his involvement in the show theme, its inclusion on this record, and Frankie takes the "miscellaneous instrumentation" quiz. Bob with keyboards: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=raehRGepI4w&t=6546sGet involvedInstagramFacebookEmailBurn your money Get involvedInstagramFacebookEmailBurn your money 

The hips of the record have arrived! This utterly accessible, catchy track doubles as a slice-of-life study of a commercial fisherman, whose solace is the sea, despite its diminishing economic returns. We weigh how officially unofficial this track stands as a Fisherman's Chronicle, and and explain why it's the most-performed track from the record, although that's fairly clear to aficionados. Get involvedInstagramFacebookEmailBurn your money Get involvedInstagramFacebookEmailBurn your money 

The great Kello Gonzalez returns to the podcast on short notice to discuss Nothin' Ventured, which we interpret as our version of a Les Claypool motivational speech, particularly because the spirit of the song (bass solos) and lyrics (taking risks to achieve something) mirrors what LEs did with his career path. IT's also chock-full of cultural idioms amd a sneaky masturbation joke; everyone's favorite Claypoolism. Kello demonstrates the "five minute" interpretation of the bass line, and we dig into taking risks, the rewards, and why it matters. Find Kello on Youtube and Instagram. Get involvedInstagramFacebookEmailBurn your money Get involvedInstagramFacebookEmailBurn your money 

Les Claypool's ode to his wife, Chaney, starts side two of Of Whales and Woe, and there's certainly no woe to be found in this joyous track, which reflects the irrational emotional highs of fulfilled love, through the Claypool lens. Josh, a native Iowan, sheds some light on the lyrical references and discusses agricultural exports, because that's all Iowans talk about aside from the weather. We also play an excerpt from Les's book tour in Iowa City. That evening was captured by the radio program Live At Prairie Lights and is archived here: https://digital.lib.uiowa.edu/node/797265Get involvedInstagramFacebookEmailBurn your money Get involvedInstagramFacebookEmailBurn your money 

This week, we offer up a commentary track on the hour-long Primus Interstellar Drum Derby finale. Receiving this much video footage of the band auditioning, practicing, rehearsing, jamming, and recording music is so rewarding after years of shelved video-based projects. You can join in the fun by simply listening in, syncing the youtube video with the podcast ep at the 12:52 mark in the audio, or viewing the synced video at the Patreon site (see "Burn your money" link below).Drum derby finaleGet involvedInstagramFacebookEmailBurn your money Get involvedInstagramFacebookEmailBurn your money 

NEW TRACK ALERT! Primus have released Little Lord Fentanyl, the first track to include newly-minted drummer John Hoffman. The track was a part of the final drum auditions for Hoffman and Borlai, who each composed drum tracks for the song. We discuss the workings of the tune and the lyrical content in a knee-jerk reaction mode, and what it possibly portends for Primus. Little Lord Fentanyl: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c4NGvSR2waUDrum Derby finale: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aFtaNtSYNYAGet involvedInstagramFacebookEmailBurn your money Get involvedInstagramFacebookEmailBurn your money