Les Claypool says he chose to be a bassist because the guitar sounded “wimpy”
Les Claypool, known for his unique approach to bass, has said he chose the instrument because the guitar sounded “wimpy” to him when he was younger.
The Primus frontman’s bass style combines varying techniques such as tapping and slap bass. Regarded as one of the best bassists by music media for his authentic approach, it seems his journey with the instrument started out purely because it sounded much richer – even though he grew up in the era of Eddie Van Halen’s reign over guitar culture.
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In an interview with The Guardian promoting his collaborative concept album on AI, made with Sean Ono Lennon, Claypool says, “To me the bass was a more sultry instrument, whereas the guitar sounded kind of wimpy.” He also explained his playing style as “holding down the root of the bass but also trying to play the rhythm guitar parts”.
Elsewhere in the interview, he also spoke of how his bass chops led him to audition for Metallica to replace Cliff Burton after his sudden passing. Kirk Hammett was a former classmate of Claypool’s, but it just wasn’t meant to be: “I didn’t know how popular they were,” he says. “We played a song or two and I said, ‘Hey, you guys want to jam on some Isley Brothers?’ Nobody laughed.”
Claypool also spoke of his early friendship with Hammett during an interview with Rick Beato last year. Hammett actually wanted Claypool to be a singer in one of his early bands when they were just teenagers, and gave him some cassettes so he could learn a few tracks for an audition, including Cream’s Sunshine Of Your Love.
“But also on there was Hendrix. I’d never heard Hendrix before. I was 14 or whatever so he turned me on to Hendrix and all these different things. But I chickened out. Back then I was total Bobby Brady, you know, croaking and cracking. But I met this other guy that needed a bass player,” Claypool recalled.
“Everybody wanted to be Eddie Van Halen, so bass players were a very rare commodity… I didn’t find out till years later that [Hammett] was kind of pissed at me for bailing on his thing to go play bass in this other band.”
Claypool’s band with Sean Ono Lennon, The Claypool Lennon Delirium, will release their third album, The Great Parrot-Ox and the Golden Egg of Empathy, on 1 May. The concept album features 14-songs reflecting on morality, mortality, and the warnings of AI. You can pre-order the album now.
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Source: www.guitar-bass.net
