Les Claypool
Les Claypool

The bass is just the crayon that I picked out of the box. I'd probably be writing similar stuff if I played guitar or trumpet. The pictures I want to draw I do with this crayon I chose, which is the bass.

Les Claypool
Les Claypool

Theaters are great. They're designed to sound good, not for basketball.

Les Claypool
Les Claypool

I have a very difficult time describing my music. Because I run into people in the hardware store and they go, 'Oh, you're a musician. So what kind of music do you play?' And I go, 'Uh, I've been doin' this for many years - I don't know what to call it.'

Les Claypool
Les Claypool

The end of the Nineties was an unhappy Primus camp. I hit a creative stagnation that wasn't helping us forward, and the personal elements, it just was time to stop.

Les Claypool
Les Claypool

We've all had our thing. I listened to the Monkees when I was little kid.

Les Claypool
Les Claypool

I've always said the bass just happens to be the crayon I picked out of the box. I'd still be drawing the same pictures... should I have picked trumpet or accordion or guitar, whatever it may be. The sounds in my head are still the same.

Les Claypool
Les Claypool

I like to open new doors and blaze new trails through the jungle and all that whatnot. What keeps me goin' all these years is changin' it up.

Les Claypool
Les Claypool

I enjoy my John Deere tractor quite a lot. It's a tool that I must use to keep Mother Nature at bay. I have all kinds of things encroaching on my property.

Les Claypool
Les Claypool

San Francisco is an interesting place. It's always been such a nice culturally diverse environment, which it still is, but there's a lot of money there now and a lot of dot com's so it's a little different than it used to be.

Les Claypool
Les Claypool

If I'm home and I come up with something, I'll try to record it, but a lot of the time I'll forget to. A lot of things go off into space and never come back 'cause I just don't remember them.

Les Claypool
Les Claypool

I don't really listen to bassists - not anymore. When I was younger, I listened to those guys and was trying to figure out everything they did. Nowadays, I draw inspiration from everybody.

Les Claypool
Les Claypool

I'm a big believer in spontaneity.

Les Claypool
Les Claypool

To me, if you're going to talk about funk, you have to go back to George Clinton and Bernie Worrell. Those guys are the giants. I've played with Bernie, and it was unreal. He's the master.

Les Claypool
Les Claypool

Daniel Day-Lewis is my favorite actor walking the planet right now. He never ceases to amaze me.

Les Claypool
Les Claypool

More than anything, I think the best thing you can do as an artist is just stay as true to yourself as possible and hope that your fan base will appreciate that.

Les Claypool
Les Claypool

You know, people would always ask me, 'How long is Primus going to go on?' And I would say, 'Until it isn't fun anymore.' At the end of the '90s, it just wasn't fun anymore on many levels.

Les Claypool
Les Claypool

I think the world is very much embracing this whole concept of musicians going out and playing their instruments and playing music for music as opposed to music that has something to do with some form of image or imagery.

Les Claypool
Les Claypool

My favorite venues are the 2,000 seat theaters, like the Warfield. If there was a Warfield in every city, I would play it. That's all I would do. I love venues like that.

Les Claypool
Les Claypool

I didn't realize Metallica was as big as they were. I just thought it was my buddy Kirk's band - we went to high school together. I wasn't really following metal.

Les Claypool
Les Claypool

Music in general is looking for something new overall.