Features

Les Claypool: A Self-Described "Festival-Whore" Shares Perspective (Relix Revisited)

Here in the Relix office, we’ve started turning our eyes (and ears) towards festival season. One group that will be making the rounds this summer is Primus. Today we look back to the June 2006 issue of the magazine, in which les Claypool shared his thoughts on fests as well as his mockumentary Electric Apricot: Quest for Festeroo which had just been released.

Les as Lapdog Miclovich

I’m a festival whore. I’ve played pretty much everything except Lilith Fair and, if that was still around, I’d probably be there too with Gabby La La. Primus was part of Lollapalooza, which was instrumental in getting this whole festival thing going. Jane’s Addiction was riding a huge wave in the early ‘90s—they were the cool band and everyone wanted to be a part of anything they were involved in. Perry Farrell saw what was going on in Europe with the Reading Festival and said, “Well, shit, let’s do that in the States.” He did it and really did help to change things.

But when I was a kid, they didn’t really have diversified music festivals. Bill Graham would put on these Day on the Green festivals with Ted Nugent, AC/DC and The Monsters of Rock. Before Lollapalooza, I remember they did this thing called Gathering of the Tribes. It was this whole mixed fest: King’s X, Yo-Yo and EPMD. I think Henry Rollins was on it and it just died a horrible death—nobody came. I think Bonnaroo has really brought that diversity back and it’s obviously brought attention to the jam scene. But it’s also brought more respect to a scene that was generally pooh-poohed by the press. I still hear from my publicist, “Well, it’s hard to get into these magazines ‘cause they don’t want anything to do with jambands .” Bunch of morons, you know—it’s like bigotry. I just think it’s ridiculous, but Bonnaroo has helped to soften that stigma.

Now, I’ve written a handful of screenplays over the years and really pursued Electric Apricot, in particular, because of what it’s about. I raised the money—gathered various producers. We’d always hit these walls and we’d lose money—one guy ended up dying. It’s a nightmare trying to make a film and trying to get money. I find this true in every aspect of entertainment—I’m sure in any aspect of business—the more money you try and get from people, the more control they want to exercise over whatever the hell it is you’re doing.

It’s a bit of a composite of all the festivals I’ve played. The film is kind of a three-act stage play, so the third act takes place at the festival. Prior to that it is more about the four individuals in this band, Electric Apricot. Being a guy who has been in many bands over the years, I’ve heard many stories and legends and what not. I was able to draw from that and incorporate many of those experiences into the plotline. We made this fictitious festival in the Pacific Northwest, Festeroo. Playing Festeroo is sort of the Holy Grail for these four individuals.

I talked to Trey and Matt [South Park creators Trey Parker and Matt Stone] prior to making this film; they’re actually investors. They grew up in Colorado, so they have their opinions of the jam scene and that culture. But, when I started the film, it was just me and Adam Gates, an old friend of mine, who has been around my world for a long time. I brought him in and then the keyboardist, Jonathan Korty—who plays Herschel Tambor Brilstein—who is an old friend of our producer, Jason McHugh. He came and stepped into character and was perfect. The search for the guitar player was a little harder. I finally found Brian Kehoe, who is a very old high-school friend of mine, who’s just kind of a lunatic—he was the guitar player for Frog Brigade a couple years back. I knew he was a character and he could play the hell out of the guitar. So, the cast was chosen not just on their ability to step into these characters but also because they can play their asses off. The band is actually pretty damn good. In the film, I play Lapdog Miclovich, who plays the drums in the band. He’s probably one of the best drummers in the world, and I’ve played with a lot of drummers. I’ve played with Stewart Copeland, Neil Peart and all these amazing players. One of my fantasies would be to play with Lapdog Miclovich.