Q&A Interview: Les Claypool

"it was like climbing Mt. Everest wearing nothing but a speedo."

February 14, 2009, 07:30 PM

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So let's start off with the promotion on this one, because this album is really interesting. Your new record OF FUNGI OR FOE is out in about a month. The concept for the project is extended material from the Mushroom Men video game and the film Pig Hunt. How does it work together as an album and what sparked your desire to create even more material for these two projects?

Well it's not so much... I was commissioned to do these two soundtracks they were really cool, abstract projects. As I was doing these pieces, I knew I wanted to make songs out of them and put them on a record. After I finished I thought, "I really like these pieces. They're dark and eerie." So I set to putting lyrics to the songs and mixed it with other random things from my notebook- riffs and rhythms, and it just evolved into this record.

So you're a musician, a filmmaker, a writer... do you have anything else up your sleeve? Magician? Physicist? Volunteer Firefighter?

You know, the magician part- I used to have a magic kit when I was a kid. I failed at it. I tried to learn how to juggle, and I couldn't do it. I have plenty on my plate though as it is! [laughs] I'm a father, and that's the big one. That's where I really try to be the most successful.

Electric Apricot: Quest for Festeroo is finally available on DVD!

Yeah!

[laughs] How did you like making that movie and is it the kind of thing you think you would do again?

It was torture. I have a bunch of different metaphors I have thrown around, but the one that sticks best is that it was like climbing Mt. Everest wearing nothing but a speedo. You know, I've lost various appendages to frostbite and really wanted to give up. But just like climbing Everest, once you get to the top you're looking for other mountains to climb. It was a bitch. Making records is far easier.

Well you are still early in your film career. How does it compare to your early days as a musician?

There are many parallels that you can draw, but movies are just a bigger beast. Making a film is like... I read statistics that said the biggest cause of divorce is building a house together. It's such an undertaking and such a stressful thing to do. Making this was like building a house, but all of the materials are on fire. It was daunting. But film is a much more viable medium. Everyone is into film, but not everyone is into music.

Boy, tell me about it. It has completely stopped driving the culture.

Well music supplements film. I think as we move through these tough times, we're gonna see a lot more interesting and abstract art from all mediums. Especially from the music world. It's hard for me to have a perspective because I'm an older fellow and when I was younger, my whole world was driven by music. It was such a big part of my daily existence. I think when you get older and you're not part of the dating game it starts to fall by the way side. I can only speak for myself, of course. I know for some people that passion is always strong.

I was just talking to someone about this the other day, actually. Because there is this big void in the financial end of the music industry, it's kind of eliminated the middle class. Pop artists that are a sure bet, labels are investing a lot of money and resources in. But then there are also the people who are bubbling up in the underground, playing shows and putting their stuff on the internet. The middle class is being ignored. You watch the Grammy's and everything is based on or nurtured by American Idol or the Disney Corporation. Everything you see in the mainstream is coming from that kind of culture. It's not really conducive to true artistry or experimentation.

This is a bit of a side track and I'm not sure what made me think of it, but what do you think the chances are of the War on Drugs coming to an end in the next 4 years?

The War on Drugs is like a catchphrase for the crackdown on the production of marijuana in this country and the importation of..whatever is coming across the border. I think this administration may take a different approach to it. I think there are a lot of forces out there that don't want to see things legalized for various reasons. Some of it is valid. Some of it I don't think is very valid. As we've seen in the past, society seems to show more tolerance for things like alcohol as they become more familiar with it. But, there is a lot of money being made BECAUSE marijuana is illegal. Things would change if it became legal and regulated.

Yeah, that's true. But while it may be inconvenient at first for current drug growers and distributors in the US, it's really more the narco-terrorists that we need to be worried about. Just across the border in Mexico, narco-terrorism runs rampant with people fleeing the country just because they're scared to death to leave the house. In Afghanistan, we're fighting terrorists that wouldn't even be there if it weren't for the drug trade. It just seems like a ridiculous amount of money and resources and lives are wasted to further this bullshit ideal that some plants are evil.

Well I live in California, so you can see how it kind of supports these communities. The old logging communities and fishing communities that have been put out of business have built their entire new economy on growing weed. Obviously there is a criminal element that we're seeing more of now. Organized crime and people ripping each other off. But for the most part, I think you could talk to a lot of upstanding people in California communities. They may not say it to the press, but they know their lives and communities are better off because of the pot trade. But then again, as it becomes legal, you may not see that flourishing because there will be huge fields in South Carolina run by Philip Morris that will be full of pot plants. This is just me speculating, of course. At the end of the day, I'm just a bass player. [laughs]

The pendulum had swung so far to the right for such a long time, now it has to go to the left. So we're going to see the left for a while and then it will go right. Hopefully we'll get some things done and see some progress. Someone like Bill O'Reilly will disagree with everything I say, but that's his right. [laughs]

[laughs] With his sliding moral and ethical scale, I wouldn't be too worried about Bill O'Reilly agreeing with anything.

Very true.

So what is Purple Pachyderm. When and where will it be available?

Purple Pachyderm is a very small batch of extraordinary purple liquid. We live out in wine country and some friends and I scored quite a bit of fruit, so we made a small amount of wine. There are only 230 cases. It's going to be in some local restaurants in California. It will be in places I personally like to go to. I have so much that I'm doing right now, even though I'm just doing a little amount, it seems insane. But, it's fun. It's something I'm doing with friends and it's an enjoyable distraction from the entertainment industry. It's also a way for me to get some very good free booze.

How do you keep all of your projects straight? Do you have a team that you work with, or are you hyper efficient?

I have Lajoy! She keeps all my ducks in a row. There are other people I work with, but she is the master at the helm. She's the second in command, really. My manager is Andy Gould. She's my babysitter. Not for my kids, but for me.

Do you ever come across extremely talented people you'd like to collaborate with but find the business end to be more trouble than it's worth?

It happens sometimes, but for the most part I've been very fortunate. That's one of the most exciting things for me. I've been able to meet, befriend and work with some of my biggest influences. These are incredible things.

While you seem to have your hands in absolutely everything, I'm sure you've been approached to do projects that you just had to turn down. What's the most ridiculous thing you've ever been asked to participate in?

Um, I don't know if this is ridiculous. I was asked to help the drummer of Aerosmith write songs for their new record. That was more surreal, not ridiculous. Unfortunately I was busy working on one of my own projects at the time and couldn't do it. I'm not sure they would really want any of my retardation.

What would you drop absolutely everything to do?

If Roger Waters never takes his gig back with Pink Floyd. I want that gig. We did Pink Floyd's album Animals on tour. In its entirety. I would much rather see Roger Waters do the gig, but I would also love to do it.

With such a massive collection of material, how do you decide what to play live? Do you have your own preferred ratio of new material to old?

Some songs you just feel like playing. Some songs make it to the set every night. We have a huge list of material and the set list is different every time we play. That's the nice thing about having a larger repetoire. Sometimes it depends on the line up. I don't have a guitarist this time, but I do have a cellist.. let's see what we can play. So, it depends on the ensemble I have at the time.

When does the touring start for Fungi or Foe?

Starts in 2 weeks. We'll be in San Diego on March 4. We're doing this thing called the Oddity Faire. I've played pretty much every festival but Lilith Fair. I wanted to put a festival together with all of the odd balls, the avant artists and generally strange bands, different performers and musicians, some circus people and my gaggle of...whatever you want to call them. This is the first year where we did it. When I was a kid, if I could have gone to a show that had Captain Beefheart, Tom Waits, Devo, Public Image Unlimited and so many others... that would have been amazing. So I want to put all of the freaks together for one evening. It's like Burning Man, Ringling Brothers and Barnum & Bailey all smashed together.


OF FUNGI AND FOE releasing March 17, 2009 on Prawn Song Records

www.lesclaypool.com
Les Claypool on MySpace Music - Free Streaming MP3s, Pictures & Music Downloads

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