Primus Tracks

Primus Tracks

Primus Tracks chronicles the recordings of the rock band Primus, one track at a time. Join Josh, Frankie, & Primus friend/assistant Tim Soya as they create the ultimate Primus companion - for beginners and hardcore fans alike.

Episodes

July 7, 2025 55 mins
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/primustracks

Find Dave at www.davekloc.com and @davekloc on the socials. 

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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.

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June 23, 2025 54 mins
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, ...
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June 16, 2025 32 mins
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=6546s

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June 9, 2025 50 mins
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. 


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June 2, 2025 46 mins
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 demonstrate...
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May 27, 2025 46 mins
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 ...
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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 Pat...
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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=c4NGvSR2wa...
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Today's track tells the tale of Richard McCaslin, a self-proclaimed superhero, who, disguised as the Panthom Patriot, invaded the Bohemian Grove in search of child sacrifices and other horrific crimes...in the off-season when the economic and political elite were not present. We provide the background on the story, as does Les Claypool in our associated live cuts. We also have with us regular contributor Matt Hunter, who models the...
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The great Gene Meyer (@genemeyelol on the socials) of Bandit fame returns to the pod to discuss Vernon the Company Man. We get literary with some associations to Kerouac, Ginsberg, Arthur Miller, but we even it out with jokes about PRimus shirts being more effective than chastity belts. This tune is certainly a unique departure in terms of this record, but also for Claypool in general, thanks to excellent tabla and sitar provided b...
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April 21, 2025 57 mins
We tackle the title track this week with the help of old friend Lalo Fierro, who, even as a seasoned gigging bassist, maintains an uneven relationship with Claypool's bass playing, mostly due to its unpredictable nature, which is emblematic of today's track. We also consider the eternal question: Do you humor the crusty old guy's stories, or do you not engage? Plus, commentary on the recently completed drum search series (more to c...
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April 7, 2025 39 mins
After the bicep of One Better, we head straight to the crotch for Lust Stings. Les seems to want to highlight the body parts that the people want to see. Lust Stings gleefully swamps the listener with percussion and instrumentation that makes you want to take a hot shower, and adds to it off-putting yet matter-of-fact lyrics about the spread of STI. While all of that doesn't sound too appealing, it all comes together to create a un...
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March 31, 2025 61 mins
The great Luke Bemand returns to Primus Tracks to tackle One Better, the "bicep" of the Of Whales and Woe record. Luke shows us how Les flexes all over this track, and it's not limited to bass, as Les provides drums and guitar in addition to his usual bass and vocals. Luke also brings some commentary from Mike Dillon, who stars on the track.This is a Frankie favorite, so get ready for some fanboy business. Plus, Cold War stories? S...
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March 24, 2025 35 mins
Les Claypool followed up his Electric Apricot jaunt with a collection of taut, focused tunes in 2006's Of Whales And Woe record, which largely sees Les on his own in the studio, laying down bass, guitar, drums, percussion, and vocals for these tracks, and guest turns from the mighty Mike Dillon, Skerik, and Gabby La La. We discuss the album's backdrop, the physical releases, the Fancy touring band to spawn from this record, and tur...
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We are thrilled to speak with Soya and Steve Freeman, aka Extrakd, who has created loads of diverse music over the years with the likes of Brain, Disk, Mirv, Ler, and Buckethead. We tread some of the history and releases from the 90s and 00s, but hone in on Mars Mechanics, which has a new album titled In Through The Drive Through. The record is primarily arranged and performed by Steve, Brain, and Mirv with guest turns from Skerik ...
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March 3, 2025 52 mins
Les Claypool was quite productive in the mid 00s, including these two discs  - one a smattering of videos and live cuts from his numerous non-Primus projects; the other a live experience sourced from fan videos of the 2006 Fancy Band tour. Each DVD came about before the proliferation of Youtube and smartphones with decent audio and video capture properties, so they were welcome additions to the catalog. 5 Gallons of Diesel (2005) a...
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February 24, 2025 51 mins
In 2005, Les Claypool spawned an idea that would form Electric Apricot, a fictitious jam band of goofballs and misfits chasing their dream gig at Festeroo. The "band" formed and recorded some tracks at Rancho Relaxo in early 2005 before hitting the road that spring for some gigs that allowed them to gather live footage in between principle shooting slots. The film had a limited theatrical release, but gathered enough steam for phys...
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February 17, 2025 76 mins
Flapjax has been there since the beginning and seen it all in the world of Primus and Les - the long, slow rise to notoriety, life on the road, making music a sort-of career, and being with his friends through it all. Soya joins to reminisce and jog Dave's memory - it's a great old-school time!

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February 3, 2025 58 mins
In our newest sub-series, Primus Legacy, we speak with pro musicians who have a fondness for Primus, and how the music impacted their musical paths. We begin with the great Tye Zamora, who you may know from Alien Ant Farm, \'mēk\, and his stints subbing in for bands such as Slightly Stoopid. Tye charts his Primus superfandom and how it influenced his development as a bassist, and handles with ease Frankie's rapid-fire questions. We...
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