Les Claypool

Les Claypool本名為Leslie Edward Claypool，于1963年9月29日生于美國佛羅里達州， 四歲時父母親就因故離婚，從小他便與他的母親生活。小時候的Les Claypool就以收音機為伍，到國中時，他發(fā)覺他想要學些樂器，那時他還分不清楚什么是吉他什么是BASS，但是他對這種&可發(fā)出肥厚聲音&的四弦樂器相當有興趣。
 
國中時Les認識一位叫Mark Biedermann的吉他手，而Mark因為缺一位Bass手，所以Les就向父親借錢買了生平的第一把BASS（Fender P-Bass），并加入生平第一個樂團（Blind Illusion），在當時Les還不會彈奏BASS，而Mark Biedermann 就負責教導Les彈奏。當時Les常常跑去看Rush樂團的Geddy Lee表演，他仔細觀察Geddy的手及所有彈奏的部分，因為Geddy Lee的刺激，他了解自己還需要更努力，為了要讓彈奏速度更快，他開始用三只手指彈奏。
 
除了在Blind Illusion樂團里彈奏外，國中時的Les還加入學校的爵士樂團，雖然當時他還不會視譜，但是經(jīng)過老師的教導，漸漸的他就懂得如何視譜了，除此；加入爵士樂團也讓他有機會接觸到Upright Bass，Les回憶道：「彈奏Swing是一件很有趣的事情，你可以看見大家隨著節(jié)奏而起舞！」接受了Metal及Swing洗禮的Les開始對Funk產生興趣，當他聽到Stanley Clarke的 I Want to Play for Ya 專輯后便深深受到這種節(jié)奏的吸引，他學習彈奏專輯中的每個音符，幾年的苦練之后，Les的Slap速度已經(jīng)相當?shù)捏@人了，國中時大家都叫他&Disco Les& 因為他始終彈funk。
 
1984 年Les參加很多樂團的audition，不過都沒有找到適合自己的樂團，Les便開始嘗試自己創(chuàng)作；這段期間一位舊識的吉他手Todd Huth 找他組團，因此Primate 樂團成立(隨后改名為Primus)。為了錄制專輯，Les賣掉車子以籌措錄音的費用，雖然專輯推出了，但只有在當?shù)氐碾娕_撥放，而歌迷也是少的可憐。
 
1988年Todd Huth因經(jīng)濟因素而離團，該年Les 重回Blind Illusion 并遇見Primus 現(xiàn)任吉他手Larry LaLonde，隨后他們又遇見鼓手Tim &Herb& Alexander，由于他們的努力，Primus 漸漸建立起名望，然而就在專輯 Suck on This 錄制中，他們又面臨團員的異動，但是極高的電臺撥放率及好評，使他們更為堅強，也引領著Primus持續(xù)前進。
 
對于Les的彈奏，就像Primus的樂風一樣，你除了無法定位及理解外，你會對他的創(chuàng)造力及技巧稱奇，六弦無琴格的Bass，時而彈奏和聲，時而強烈的Line，Bass在他的手里，就像是玩具一般，操控著音樂的起伏，也操控著聽眾的情緒。
 
The most original rock bassist to come along in the 90s was unquestionably Primus Les Claypool. With his oddball sense of humor and funky playing, Claypool took his varied musical influences and created an invigorating and completely inventive style. The Les Claypool story begins on September 29, 1963, when he was born in Richmond, CA. As a teenager, Claypool met fellow student Kirk Hammett (yes, the Kirk Hammett of Metallica fame), who turned him on to such rock acts as Jimi Hendrix, Cream, and Led Zeppelin. It was around this time that Claypool took up the bass, influenced by the likes of Rushs Geddy Lee, Yes Chris Squire, and Paul McCartney. Although Hammett asked Claypool to join a band he was in, he opted for another group in his high school, progressive metallists Blind Illusion, while broadening his musical horizons by playing in jazz and swing bands. Upon discovering such fusion and funk bass greats as Stanley Clarke and Larry Graham around this time, Claypool began incorporating slapping into his playing technique.
 
After graduation, Claypool played in a local cover band, the Tommy Crank Band, which specialized in blues, R&B, funk, and mainstream rock hits. Playing several sets a night almost every night of the week, he sharpened up his improv skills, and after a short while, there wasnt a musical style that he couldnt pull off convincingly. It was while with Tommy Crank that Claypool bought his first Carl Thompson piccolo bass (after seeing Stanley Clarke play one), an instrument that would become his trademark. It was around this time (early to mid-80s) that Claypool began demoing his own original compositions, which would become the impetus for Primus. Originally called Primate, Primus consisted of guitarist Todd Huth and drummer Jay Lane in addition to Claypool, who also contributed vocals (in a strange sing-speak style, almost akin to a narrator) in addition to bass. Although the trio instantly created an underground following in the San Francisco area, Primus was put on hold when Huth left and Claypool returned to Blind Illusion (whose sound now resembled a thrash metal band), and appeared on the groups lone album, The Sane Asylum, on Combat Records.
 
His return to Blind Illusion didnt last long, but he met a kindred musical spirit in BIs guitarist, Larry LaLonde. By 1989, a new Primus lineup was formed — Claypool, LaLonde, and new drummer Tim Herb Alexander — and not long afterward, their first album was issued, the live set Suck on This. The album caused such a buzz with college radio that the independent label Caroline signed the group, resulting in the reissue of their debut and their sophomore effort, 1990s Frizzle Fry, while the trio toured with such bands as Janes Addiction and 24-7 Spyz. 1991 proved to be an even better year for the group, as their major-label debut (for Interscope), Sailing the Seas of Cheese, reached gold status a year after its release, as the trio opened for such varied artists as Public Enemy, Anthrax, U2, Fishbone, and Rush.
 
Primus scored a surprise Top Ten hit with 1993s Pork Soda (and subsequent headlining spot on that years Lollapalooza festival tour), solidifying the bands status as quirk rocks undisputed kings, as more hit releases followed throughout the decade and new millennium: Tales from the Punchbowl, The Brown Album, Rhinoplasty, and Antipop, as well as the theme song to TVs South Park (Claypool also tried his hand at directing the bands videos). In addition to his Primus duties, Claypool has always had time for side projects — Sausage (a reunion of the original Primus lineup), Les Claypool and the Holy Mackerel (Highball with the Devil), the Frog Brigade (Live Frogs, Purple Onion), and Oysterhead — as well as guesting on albums by other artists (Buckethead, Jerry Cantrell, Victor, Limp Bizkit, Tom Waits, Rob Wasserman). He released Of Whales and Woe in 2006, the first project solely credited to the man himself.