“Tommy the Cat.” “John the Fisherman.” “Jerry Was A Race Car Driver.” “My Name is Mud.” “Wynona’s Big Brown Beaver.” Yessiree, Primus is responsible for some of the most cutting edge and original rock music of the 1990’s. And now, the definitive Primus line-up – singer/bassist Les Claypool, guitarist Larry LaLonde, and drummer Tim Alexander – is back together and planning on getting the worldwide masses bobbing up and down in unison once more.

Although originally formed in 1984, it was not until shortly before the end of the decade that the aforementioned classic line-up was solidified. With most hard rock/heavy metal acts at the time either neatly falling into either “thrash” or “glam” categories, Primus joined a variety of underground bands that refused to be pigeonholed (and by the early ’90s, had fully infiltrated the mainstream) – merging metal, funk, alternative, punk, country, roots rock, and experimental music, along with Claypool’s penchant for witty and often humorous storytelling lyrics.

Building a large and loyal following first in and around San Francisco (before eventually, going global), Primus kicked things off with a string of releases that are now considered classic alt-rock titles – 1989’s ‘Suck on This,’ 1990’s ‘Frizzle Fry,’ 1991’s ‘Sailing the Seas of Cheese,’ 1993’s ‘Pork Soda,’ and 1995’s ‘Tales from the Punchbowl.’ Along the way, Primus toured with some of rock’s biggest names (Jane’s Addiction, Public Enemy, Rush, U2, etc.), headlined the third-ever Lollapalooza Festival, and issued a variety of crafty music videos, which stood out in sharp contrast to the ultra-seriousness of most other video clips at the time.

Alexander exited Primus in 1996, but returned in 2003, in time for an EP/DVD set, ‘Animals Should Not Try to Act Like People,’ and a sold out reunion tour, that lasted over the next few years, before the drummer departed once more. But as Claypool got to work on putting together a forthcoming book about the band’s history, Les began longing for the days of when Alexander’s unmistakable and powerful drumming provided the beat. A phone call was placed, a conversation ensued, and before you could say, “Here come the bastards,” the Claypool-LaLonde-Alexander line-up was back in business. Plans to tour the world over and offering up new music are already in place. Be forewarned…here they come!

Although originally formed in 1984, it was not until shortly before the end of the decade that the aforementioned classic line-up was solidified. With most hard rock/heavy metal acts at the time either neatly falling into either “thrash” or “glam” categories, Primus joined a variety of underground bands that refused to be pigeonholed (and by the early ’90s, had fully infiltrated the mainstream) – merging metal, funk, alternative, punk, country, roots rock, and experimental music, along with Claypool’s penchant for witty and often humorous storytelling lyrics.

Building a large and loyal following first in and around San Francisco (before eventually, going global), Primus kicked things off with a string of releases that are now considered classic alt-rock titles – 1989’s ‘Suck on This,’ 1990’s ‘Frizzle Fry,’ 1991’s ‘Sailing the Seas of Cheese,’ 1993’s ‘Pork Soda,’ and 1995’s ‘Tales from the Punchbowl.’ Along the way, Primus toured with some of rock’s biggest names (Jane’s Addiction, Public Enemy, Rush, U2, etc.), headlined the third-ever Lollapalooza Festival, and issued a variety of crafty music videos, which stood out in sharp contrast to the ultra-seriousness of most other video clips at the time.

Alexander exited Primus in 1996, but returned in 2003, in time for an EP/DVD set, ‘Animals Should Not Try to Act Like People,’ and a sold out reunion tour, that lasted over the next few years, before the drummer departed once more. But as Claypool got to work on putting together a forthcoming book

about the band’s history, Les began longing for the days of when Alexander’s unmistakable and powerful drumming provided the beat. A phone call was placed, a conversation ensued, and before you could say, “Here come the bastards,” the Claypool-LaLonde-Alexander line-up was back in business. Plans to tour the world over and offering up new music are already in place. Be forewarned…here they come!

After over 20 years, Les Claypool will once again hit the road with his Fearless Flying Frog Brigade for the Summer of Green Tour. Long considered to be one of the animated bassist’s most beloved bands, this incarnation of the ever-morphing act boasts longtime Frog Brigade members Skerik (saxophone) and Mike Dillon (percussion, vibraphone), as well as Sean Lennon (guitar), Harry Waters (keyboards) and Paulo Baldi (drums). However, when Claypool initially dreamed up the Frog Brigade at the dawn of the new Millennium, he actually considered it to be more of his “therapy project.”

At the time, Primus—his long-running, festival-approved alt-funk trio—had hit a rough patch and Claypool was looking for a new creative outlet. “We called it a hiatus but, at the time, we were broken up,” Claypool says, referencing Primus’ trajectory in 2000.. “Me and one of my best friends in the entire world, Larry LaLonde, weren’t talking.” 

Just as Primus’ future was starting to feel uncertain, Claypool was beginning to discover a new, exciting audience thanks to a high-profile set with Oysterhead—his supergroup with Phish’s Trey Anastasio and The Police’s Stewart Copeland. After receiving an offer to perform at Angels Camp, Calif.’s Mountain Aire Festival, Claypool put together a new group of musicians drawn from both his inner circle and the extended improv scene. He briefly toyed with calling the project the Thunder Brigade, before shifting to the slightly gentler moniker the Frog Brigade. Riffing to the Mountain Aire Festival’s scenic location, he chose the name as a nod to the jumping frog of Calaveras County popularized by Mark Twain. Then, he hopped on the road.  

“I said, ‘I’m gonna gather some of my favorite musicians together and hit the road.’ I bought this little airstream and packed these guys into this motorhome and started driving up and down the coast playing bars,” Claypool says. “That was the original Frog Brigade—Skerik, Jeff Chimenti, Jay Lane, Todd Huth from Sausage and then Eenor, who I found on Craigslist. We just had a blast.”

The ensuing run of shows not only exposed Claypool to an entirely new, open-eared audience but also kickstarted his second act as a solo artist. Not wanting to play songs from the Primus catalog, Claypool loaded his Frog Brigade sets with new, juicy originals and covers by prog-rock godfathers like King Crimson. 

“When I did the Holy Mackerel record, Highball with the Devil, in 1996, I always said that those were the songs I wouldn’t inflict upon the guys of Primus—I just knew that it wasn’t gonna thrill them to play those songs,” Claypool says. “Some of them were written on guitar and some of them were written on drums. With Frog Brigade, I was free to do that again. I was free to go in there and be a mad scientist.”

He also made the daring decision to perform Pink Floyd’s 1977 psychedelic masterpiece Animals in its entirety each night.

“I’ve always wanted to play ‘Pigs’ if I had a keyboardist in my band because it’s one of my all-time favorite Pink Floyd songs,” Claypool says. “And then we said, ‘Why don’t we learn the whole record. That way we can play two sets.’”

Les Claypool’s Fearless Flying Frog Brigade, as the ensemble soon became known, immediately gelled both on and off the stage—connecting the dots between the jam, punk, prog and metal communities along the way. They played a marquee set at the inaugural Bonnaroo in 2002, participated in the SnoCore Tour and welcomed the likes of Bob Weir and Warren Haynes to the stage. In 2001, Claypool released Live Frogs Set 1 and 2, the latter of which featured the Frog Brigade’s award-winning take on Animals. The following year, the Frog Brigade dropped a full-length studio album, Purple Onion, which introduced a slew of new original material and won over fans and musicians alike. 

“Making the Purple Onion record was an incredible experience,” Claypool says. “Tom Waits listed it as one of his top 20 albums of all time, and I can’t even believe that just came out of my mouth. It was a great time for creativity and experimentation. There was a lot of pasta being thrown at the walls at that time. And it was a good period of growth for me. I became way more confident and, with the Animals set in particular, I became way more confident in my vocals. I never really considered myself to be a singer—I always felt like I was the narrator of the band but I actually had to sing some of this material and work on my singing.”

In 2003, Primus reunited, and Claypool’s muse slowly started to lead him elsewhere.  “To me, the Frog Brigade represented a certain era of what I was doing and then there was a period when I no longer had a guitar in the band. The Frog Brigade had lots of guitar and keyboard so when it became me and the cello and Mike Dillon’s melodic sense and whatnot, it was just so different that we stopped using the name. It slowly got whittled down—it was no longer Mothers of Invention, it just became Zappa.”

Yet, the adventurous spirit Claypool rediscovered with the Frog Brigade has continued to guide his every move, sending Primus in new directions and helping spawn solo vehicles like the Fancy Band and The Claypool Lennon Delirium, his group with Lennon and Baldi

And now, over 20 years since the Frog Brigade’s last full-scale tour, Claypool has regrouped his highly improvisational outfit for an extended run. The revamped Flying Frog Brigade plans to mix in material from all eras of Claypool’s illustrious solo career, as well as a selection of choice covers. They will also once again perform Animals every night. 

“There is a pretty rich catalog of material there so there will definitely be stuff from my entire career,” Claypool says. “It won’t just be the Frog Brigade era, but the big element of the Frog Brigade is gonna be playing Animals. But this time we’re doing it with just one guitar and with five marimbas and saxophones so this will be a new interpretation, obviously—a different interpretation with Sean in there. There might be a Delirium song. There are a lot of popsicle sticks on the table to build some things with.”

Two worlds have collided, and what glorious and odd worlds they are. After a successful summer tour, pairing Primus with Ghost of a Saber Tooth Tiger, the two bandleaders, Les Claypool and Sean Lennon, have decided to combine their abstract talents into a project called The Claypool Lennon Delirium. Their efforts thus far have spawned the upcoming, full-length release called “Monolith of Phobos.”

“Sean is a musical mutant after my own heart,” said Claypool. “He definitely reflects his genetics–not just the sensibilities of his dad but also the abstract perspective and unique approach of his mother. It makes for a glorious freak stew.” After some impromptu, backstage jams and an epic live sit-in on Primus’s psychedelic opus, “Southbound Pachyderm,” Claypool approached Lennon about doing a recording project. “I was trying to wrangle up an Oysterhead reunion since Primus was taking a rest for 2016 but the planets just wouldn’t align for that,” said Claypool. “I don’t like sitting around, so when Sean said he didn’t have plans for this next year, we started kicking around the notion of making an old-school, psychedelic/prog record. Next thing I know, he’s staying in my guesthouse, drinking my vino and banging on my drums.”

Lennon responded, “I told Les that I was Neil Diamond’s nephew. I think that is what really sold him on the idea of working with me.”

Over the course of six weeks or so, the two wrote and recorded a total of ten songs with both of them sharing various vocal and instrumental responsibilities, going beyond their core instruments of bass and guitar. Claypool explained, “Usually I play the drums and percussion on my records but Sean has such a different feel than I do, it just made more sense for him to man the kit on most of the tunes on this project. I took the helm at my old vintage API console and let him bang away. He was happy as a piggy rolling in shit every time he grabbed the sticks…his drumming is like a cross between Ringo and Nick Mason. But I think folks will be most surprised by what a monster guitar player he is, especially when you prod him a bit.”

“Monolith of Phobos” is just how the title implies–an old-school approach to a psychedelic space rock record.

Lennon added, “It’s been an honor and a challenge playing with someone of Les’ caliber, but luckily the Gods of Pinot Noir shone favorably down and granted us a bundle of devilish tunes about monkeys, outer space and sexual deviancy.”

The Claypool Lennon Delirium “Monolith of Phobos” record is slated for a spring release and the band will be touring through the summer.