A biography for Les Claypoolhasn’t been written yet.
“You can't watch 'Dr. Strangelove' with commercials. That would be sacrilegious.”
“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.”
“My heroes are guys like Frank Capra and Elia Kazan and Coen brothers and Terry Gilliam, more so than a lot of bass players at this point in my life. So I've always been an old-film nut and have very much enjoyed doing videos over the years.”
“I'm a big believer in spontaneity.”
“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.”
“I think Phish will come back. I just think it's time for a breather.”
“You know, whenever somebody comes in, in any situation - whether it's a poker game or a bobsled team or a band - it's gonna change things. And sometimes significantly.”
“I had one guy pretend to be me, go to a hotel room, and tell the people at the front desk that it was me, and then he went in and stole all of our luggage. There's always that eager beaver that wants to be a part of the team and comes off as a sticky fly.”
“Play as much as you can as often as you can with as many people as you can. That's how you learn and grow.”
“You might have a favorite book or film, but you can only watch or read it so many times before you have to let it sit and then go back and realize it's your favorite still. At some point everything gets a little stale and you have to step away from it.”
“I never think about rhythm versus melody; I've always just played to what's in my head.”
“It's always hard to put your finger on what it is that makes Primus Primus.”
“Band chemistry is a tricky thing. If one guy isn't feeling right with the other guys, everything gets thrown off. When you get the personalities and the chemistry right, that's a grand slam.”
“I pretty much built a band out of the most incredible guys I could possibly find. I didn't really want a six-piece band, but it just ended up being a six-piece band because these guys are all awesome.”
“For the past couple of years I've been pretty bored with music in general... just bored with it.”
“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.”
“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.”
“I have a very difficult time describing my music.”
“As I've moved through life, I've found that I like things to be as casual and as spontaneous as possible when writing.”
“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.”