Week of June 25, 2009, Issue #714
MUSIC
Les Claypool
Monkey masks and fungi: The oddball is just the norm in Les Claypool's world
Carolyn Nikodym / carolyn@vueweekly.com
It would be easy to say that there is nothing normal about Les Claypool. You could look at his time with Primus, pig costumes, "Winona's Big Brown Beaver" and all. Or you could look at his spoof film (and band) on the jam band scene, Electric Apricot. Or you could look at his wine label Purple Pachyderm, with its "magnificent nose." You could look at much of his career and come to that conclusion. He's even called himself an "oddball" in interviews. But it's not a branding that he's even sure that he lives up to.
"It's been occasionally thrust upon me. I think it's all subjective. Compared to the stuff that I grew up listening to or was influenced by, I'm pretty tame. I'm just one of those guys who was always—even as a kid—looking for something different in all aspects of things. Be it film or literature or fashion or music. I have friends who tell me all the time that they are asked, 'What's he like? What's Claypool like? Is he this weird bastard?' And I think their response is surprisingly tame," Claypool laughs. "I'm in the bubble. I don't know what the hell it looks like on the outside."
The reality is Claypool has always just tried to keep things interesting. Donning weird costumes on stage is far more fun than just coming out in T-shirts and jeans.
"Plus, I love people's faces when you come out with a monkey mask on and you have the whamola and you're beating on this thing with a stick," he says. "I don't tire of the reaction."
Even though undertaking a novel, a film or a new band generally turns into a heap of work, the quest for the engaging keeps everyone guessing and is not without its perks—like the opportunity to work with some of music's other weirdos.
"A lot of it, too, is just what falls in my lap. If Eugene Hutz is over at my house, we drink a bunch of booze and we end up in the studio, and that's exciting to me. Or if I get a phone call from Adrian Belew or Stuart Copeland or Tom Waits or one of these guys, that's generally the direction I'm going to go more often than, say, going and doing a Primus record," he says. "Something like Primus is a comfortable pair of shoes. It's easy, but it's not as exciting for me. Going and making a film was the most difficult thing that I have ever done. It was insanely stressful and painful—physically and mentally—yet I'm looking to do another one. So I think it's the whole variety-is-the-spice-of-life thing."
These days, Claypool is on tour in support of his latest record, Of Fungi and Foe. Commissioned to write music for Nintendo Wii's Mushroom Men: The Spore Wars and for the horror film Pig Hunt, he was so inspired by the imagery of each project that he had the foundation for the album. Although some of the tracks come off a little more minimalist and others a little darker than fans may be used to, the record still revels in the cartoonish, off-kilter sound Claypool has made famous.
But he also has his fingers in a few other pies. The aforementioned second feature film he's working on is based on his novel South of the Pumphouse (which he, incidentally, wrote as a screenplay first), and he's also working on another book. It's not another novel, though, rather a collection of stories. Novel writing is something that he found isolating, alienating and a lot of work—a surprising description from someone so prolific.
It could be a clue, though, into the mind of this particular weirdo. When you take in the cabaret environment of his stage show or consider that he formed a real band to lend authenticity to Electric Apricot, you begin to see what makes Claypool different. He simply doesn't do anything half-assed. V
Sat, Jun 27 (8 pm)
Les Claypool
With O'Death
Edmonton Event Centre, $36.50
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