Les Claypool

Band: Primus
Gear: SVT-3PRO, SVT-4PRO
Website: www.myspace.com/thereallesclaypool

Les Claypool – now the only original member of Primus – calls his band’s music “psychedelic polka.” That said, Primus has been mislabeled as everything from thrash-funk and alternative metal and everything in-between to try and categorize their stewing of musical subgenres. Truth is, though presumably rooted in rock, there is no classification for the band’s indefinable sound.

Claypool’s sense of humor and impressively improvised bass playing is a large factor in the band’s irreverent approach to music. While a song might start out as acid jazz, the bass slyly shifts into rippin’ funk and then finishes as a thrash metal country jam. His flamenco-strumming and two-handed metal tapping combined with an R&B funk slap technique (example: “My Name Is Mud”) is as confusing to decipher as it is compelling to listen to, making Claypool one of rock’s most unique bass players.