Les Claypool

I love character actors. If I'm switching channels, and something with Slim Pickens is on, or Walter Brennan, I'm stuck. I have to watch it.

My favorite venues are the 2,000 seat theaters, like the Warfield. If there was a Warfield in every city, I would play it. That's all I would do. I love venues like that.

From my experience, moving through life, things tend to go in eight- to 10-year cycles. Friends, relationships and whatnot.

You don't go see Primus to see what kind of new clothing I'm wearing or what my new hairdo is. You come to see Primus for the musical experience and the visual experience. I think, anyways. Maybe I'm wrong!

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.

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've always said the bass just happens to be the crayon I picked out of the box. I'd still be drawing the same pictures... should I have picked trumpet or accordion or guitar, whatever it may be. The sounds in my head are still the same.

Theaters are great. They're designed to sound good, not for basketball.

For me to do a project - I have a pretty successful solo career, so - for me to even want to do Primus, it had to be a creative step forward.

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 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.

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.