Oh Sh*t!!! Its Primus Time!

Jan 19th, 2025

MasterMind Drummer Letter

Guess what? For the first time ever, I forgot to send out my newsletter this week!

Since starting them on Jan 1st last year, I’ve never missed a single newsletter. But this week? I completely forgot!

Last night, I was sitting on the couch thinking about how I forgot to film my YouTube video for the week—which is essentially my newsletter, just in video form, released five days later. And in that same moment, I realized I hadn’t even written the newsletter that the video would be based on. Hilarious. #fail

Honestly, I’m not surprised. The last few weeks have been insane, and since getting back from tour last week, my head has been completely stuck in the Primus void and nowhere else.

So, here I am, admitting my failure of the week but also taking it upon myself to just sit down and write it now. At least I can make sure to keep up with the weekly output, even if it is five days late. Lol.

So here we go…

——————-

Well, what an interesting position I find myself in.

It’s Saturday night, midnight—the night before I leave for LA—and I’m lying here in bed, trying to:

A. Make sense of what’s about to happen, and
B. Stay composed, relaxed, and remind myself that this is my bread and butter…

These are all very hard things to reconcile in my head.

Let’s start with some perspective. I grew up on Primus. They’ve been part of my “heroes” list and were a huge part of my formative years—not just as a musician, but as a fan of music.

Primus, to me, was like Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, and Les Claypool was Wonka—a left-of-field, wacky-as-fuck, metal-funk band that always surprised you and kept you wanting more.

That comparison feels even more fitting now, considering their 2014 album Primus and the Chocolate Factory.

I must say, the original Gene Wilder Pure Imagination is easily a top 10 song for me, so hearing the Primus version was a real treat.

So, back to what I was saying—this band was formative for me. To be here now, less than 24 hours from boarding a plane to LA at their request, to go and jam with them? How is my brain supposed to process that?

Well, I’ll tell you how—it hasn’t, and I don’t really think it will. Ha.

I try to make sense of it and understand it all, but it’s such a crazy full-circle moment for me that it feels too weird and random to truly comprehend.

I remember being 14—just a year after I started playing drums—and sitting with a couple of close friends, listening to Sailing the Seas of Cheese, (possibly after our first bong hit), pretending we were pirates! That was 26 fuckin’ years ago, and now I’m auditioning for them. What a strange and wonderful life we live.

What’s interesting is, for as much as I listened to Primus, I never jammed along to any of their songs. I just enjoyed the music. I was a fan.

But from a drumming perspective, I always understood it, and always identified with the style.

Primus is essentially heavy funk/metal/prog, with a bit of color and chaos thrown in here and there—basically, my wheelhouse.

Over the past few weeks, diving deep into their catalog and studying the three incredible drummers they’ve had over the years—Tim, Brain, and Jay—has led me to identify four key characteristics a drummer must have to truly fit the Primus mold:

Pocket. This is, above all else, a pocket band. No question about it. All three drummers have phenomenal feel, groove, and a strong, deep pocket. It’s absolutely essential.
World-Class Double Strokes. Strong doubles are a staple of each drummer’s style and show up on every album and just about every song. Their hi-hat work is next level.
An Ingrained Halftime Shuffle. Over the years, each drummer has laid down some incredible shuffle tracks. These aren’t mechanical or surface-level; they’re deeply ingrained in their styles. It’s clear these shuffles are part of who they are as players. I can definitely relate to that.
Facility, Freedom, and Creativity. Les celebrates creativity, expression, and individuality in his drummers. It’s about having the facility to execute complex ideas and the freedom to inject your own voice into the music.

What’s wild about this list is that these are all key attributes of my own playing. I don’t mean that from an ego standpoint, just a self awareness of my strengths, and what I offer. They’re areas I’ve focused on heavily and consistently for a long time now.

Does this mean I’m going to get the gig? No. Not at all. Thats never what I am getting at when I talk about this. But what it does mean is that I naturally have key elements of what I believe they’re looking for in a drummer. That’s reassuring, to say the least.

Here’s how it’s worked so far: they gave me six specific songs to learn. Two are mandatory, and I get to choose two more from the remaining four.

I can’t reveal which songs they are, as we’ve been asked to keep that private, but I will say they’re a fantastic selection. The tracks span a wide palette of the Primus sound and highlight the key elements I mentioned earlier.

The list is well-rounded, and it’s fair to say that if you can play these songs comfortably and confidently, you shouldn’t have an issue with the rest of their catalog.

One of the things I’ve really enjoyed about this process is diving deeper into the playing of all three drummers.

Each of them are such strong players, yet they’re so different from one another. It’s been fascinating to draw parallels between their approaches, while also noticing their unique differences.

Everyone is quick to cite Tim as the drummer of Primus, which makes perfect sense given his tenure, but I think most people overlook Jays amazing contribution—and how great Brain was too.

Jay was the original drummer for Primus, and, as the story goes, he reached a crossroads early in his career where he had to make a choice: stay with Primus or join Charlie Hunter’s new trio.

Jay wanted to explore a more “jazz” route, so he chose Charlie, and that’s when Tim joined the band.

It’s worth mentioning that Brain was actually asked to join the band very early on too, back in 1989. Unfortunately, he had a foot injury at the time and couldn’t take the gig. He wouldn’t officially join until 1996, after Tim left for the first time.

What many people don’t realize is just how influential Jay was on those early Primus songs. In fact, Jay actually wrote the direction of many of the grooves and inspired the hi-hat work that became the foundation of Frizzle Fry.

Jay eventually rejoined the band in 2010, after the band had been dormant for a period, and after a brief comeback from Tim. He stayed for a couple of years and recorded one of my favorite Primus albums—an album that, in my opinion, gets overlooked simply because it came a little later in their career: Green Naugahyde (2011).

Jay’s playing on that album is so good and absolutely worth a listen if you haven’t already. In particular, his work on Last Salmon Man features some of the tastiest hi-hat work I think I’ve ever heard.

Now, while all three drummers are such different players, they share a lot of common ground too—those commonalities being the key elements I mentioned earlier.

Where they differ, though, is where things get really interesting.

Jay has a more delicate and defined approach, and dare-I-say, ‘swampy’ aspect to his playing. This coupled with a tremendous amount of “flare” too. He floats over the hi-hats with such precision and articulation—it’s been a real pleasure getting to know his style in more depth.

Then we have Tim. Tim is quintessential Primus. He’s got a heavy pocket, funky as hell, a strong aesthetic, writes interesting parts, and has an almost “Chad Smith/Blood Sugar-like” rawness to his playing that was defintely in the scene at the time – Danny Carey, Matt Cameron, and Dave Abbruzzese come to mind…

Tim has this incredible ability where he sounds super tight and yet ultra loose at the same time. Everything he plays feels intentional yet free? I don’t actually know how he does it—it’s such a juxtaposition—I’m guessing its how Les sits with him too, that achieves that. It’s an amazing skill none-the-less.

Diving deeper into his playing has been such a rewarding experience. (Not surprising, as Tim has had a massive impact on me over the years.)

And then there’s Brain. His era with Primus tends to divide people. I see it discussed all the time: “I wasn’t big on the Brain era,” or “I tapped out at that point.” But in my opinion, Brain brought something seriously unique to the band that often gets undervalued.

The Brown Album, released in 1998, marked a hard left turn for Primus, in both sound and songwriting. It was also Brain’s first album with the band, and many people struggled with that transition.

If you’re used to the cranked snares and the crisp production Primus became known for, The Brown Album might feel like a shock to the system. But Brain’s drumming on that record is absolutely fantastic too.

I’d sum up Brain as bombastic, and punk-as-fuck. That pretty much captures him for me. He’s got all the key elements I mentioned earlier, but with this raw fire that really works—especially in a live setting.

I’ll say too, his 1999 album with the band, Antipop, is actually one of my favorite Primus records. I feel, by then, Brain had really settled into the band, and their songwriting was hitting its stride also.

The late ’90s and early 2000s had some incredible drum production, and Antipop is a standout example of that. I was just 16 at that point, which may have something to do with it being formative, too.

I also feel like this album is where Brain’s time playing Tim’s material live had started to influence him. You can hear shades of Tim in his approach to parts on this record—it’s fantastic. A perfect hybrid of the old and the new, in my opinion.

The first four tracks—Electric Uncle Sam, Natural Joe, Lacquer Head, and Antipop—are absolutely killer. They’re songs I heavily identify with my early years as a fan of Primus.

Listening to all three drummers, especially their live performances, has shown me how wide the goalposts are for Les in terms of how these songs can be played. All three drummers have approached the same songs differently, each bringing their own touch. Hearing those variations has been incredibly helpful.

The only challenge with that is figuring out what’s considered a “key” part, and what’s not. There are so many approaches to some of these songs that it’s easy to overthink, but I’ve worked through all that now.

Here’s the real takeaway: After diving into the playing of all three drummers, I feel I’ve come to truly understand what Les wants most from his drummers – and it’s simply for them to be themselves.

That’s it.

Sure, you need the key attributes I mentioned earlier—pocket, strong doubles, an ingrained shuffle, and creativity to boot—but what matters most is just being authentic, and not a carbon copy of anyone or anything else.

Les has made it very clear that all three drummers have been great, but he’s not looking for a clone. He wants the drummer to bring their own voice to the kit, and that’s actually been the biggest thing to connect with here, as I’ve been preparing for this audition.

With regard to Les not looking for a clone, I actually picked up on this early on when I sent my introduction email.

This is the reason why I never submitted:

A. A video of me playing a Primus cover, and
B. A video filmed specifically for the submission.

Why? Well, firstly, if you can play, they’ll know. There’s no need to prove you can play their material—they’ll assume you can. What they really need to see is you. The real, unfiltered you behind the kit. Your unique voice. I understood this.

And secondly, I didn’t film a video specifically for the submission because if they couldn’t see something in me from all the videos I’ve already shared online, then I’m simply not the right guy for the job. And that’s OK.

I’ve always shared my playing quite openly and freely online—raw and natural. No covers, no edits—just me being me, and in the moment. If it turns out they didn’t connect with any of that, then they wouldn’t connect with me. Simple as that. And once again, thats ok. I’d never want a gig I’m not right for, regardless of what it is.

What I did submit though, were links to –

A pocket/groove video,
A clip exploring my approach to shuffles, and
A solo/facility-focused video.

Together, these showed a wide range of what I offer, presented in my most genuine and unfiltered form.

And guess what? They did like what they saw! In fact, Les reached out directly, early December, and the rest is history.

So here I am, within the final 24-hour window before I fly out to LA, and if I’m being honest, I’m still wrapping my head around all of it.

I’ve had losts of questions about gear, so just to fill you in, they are providing a full setup at that end, of whatever I may need. This includes gong bassdrums, octabans, cymbals, whatever… I’ll just be taking my creature comforts – snare, cymbals, and kick pedal.

This experience will undoubtedly test my real-time composure like nothing else, but there’s one thing I know for certain:

I’m here for a reason, and that is without a shadow of a doubt in my mind. One path… one path.

Does that confidence and belief guarantee anything? No, not at all, and I am honestly happy either way. I could’ve just left it at the email from Les. Trust me, my cup was full just from that! But I do believe I’m meant to be there, for one reason or another, and that will reveal itself over the next few days I guess.

The only question now is: will they feel the same?

And with that… only time will tell.

——————

Let’s leave it there this week, as now, I need to go organise my gear, wash some clothes, hang with the fams, and then… board a plane.

I’ll keep you posted.

Stay hungry, (and healthy),

Stan.