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It's a bit darker and eerier than some of the stuff I've done in the recent past. It's very textural, somewhat tribal, sort of abstract Americana. -Les Claypool on Of Fungi and Foe |
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Photo of Claypool by Jay Blakesberg
The concept of jamming has spanned into other aspects of Claypool's diverse career. The jam scene finds itself at the center of the 2008 release, Electric Apricot: Quest for Festeroo. The mockumentary, which Claypool wrote, directed and starred in, follows the rise to fame of the fictional jam band Electric Apricot. Hilarity ensues as the Grateful Dead worshiping neo-hippie members of the Electric Apricot attempt to record an album and play an opening slot at the famed (and fictional) jam festival Festeroo. Massive ego problems combined with drug and alcohol related issues frequently plague the quirky group.
 Les Claypool by Fil Manley |
At face value, one may interpret the film as Claypool taking a jab at the jam scene, but Claypool feels as though the film is a parody of creative people taking themselves too seriously, not specifically freeform musicians. "The film is more taking the piss out of the four creative individuals. It's taking the piss out of the creative mind," Claypool comments. "People within the [jam] scene find the film very endearing."
Even on his current tour, improvised music can regularly be found creeping out of the Ampeg bass amps located on stage. Although his various projects may not be one of the first to come to mind when the term 'jam band' is spoken, Claypool still finds improvisation to be an important aspect of his work.
"I find the [jam] scene, especially as I've moved through it over the past several years, it's not so much about the style of music you play, because it covers many different styles," says Claypool. "It's about the approach to music. It's about keeping the parameters loose and keeping the borders, of songs and what not, open."
Claypool is able to expand the borders of jam music without using one of the jam scene's cornerstone instruments, the electric guitar. Much of his recently released and live work is sans guitar. This non-standard instrumentation forces the emphasis of a song into other areas than guitar soloing. Bringing a smile to the faces of low-end enthusiasts everywhere, the bass guitar is frequently found in the front of the mix. And the basses Claypool utilizes are sometimes as unconventional as the music he uses them to play. His instruments range from a bass that closely resembles a banjo to a six string bass to the Whamola, which looks like a very thin stand up bass with only one string and a lever at the top. Claypool creates a tone by hitting the string with a stick. He then moves the lever up and down to adjust the pitch. The Whamola bears an odd resemblance to the Grim Reaper's scythe and can create sounds similar to a car revving up.
The Whamola provides the percussive bass sounds that can be heard on "Mushroom Men," the opening track from Of Fungi and Foe. The song "Mushroom Men" began as part of a soundtrack Claypool was working on for the Nintendo games Mushroom Men: The Spore Wars and Mushroom Men: Rise of the Fungi. The video games center around tribes of living and warring mushrooms that call Planet Earth their home.
 Les Claypool by Jay Blakesberg |
Also based upon a soundtrack is "Booneville Stomp," which can be found on his newest release. This time, Claypool steps away from sci-fi and takes a dive into the horror genre by writing the song for the 2008 release Pig Hunt, which chronicles the story of a 3,000 pound wild boar that wreaks havoc on the marijuana fields of Northern California.
"Basically I had this material lying around that I did for these scores that I really enjoyed. So, I took the material and put lyrics to them and arranged them. I brought in some other material that I had, some stuff that I had lying around, some stuff I did with Eugene Hutz [Gogol Bordello] in sort of a drunken frenzy. And when I eventually had something that seemed cohesive, I slapped it all together and put a title on it," comments Claypool.
Even though Claypool developed parts of the release for exciting video games and a thriller movie, he doesn't feel that the album is putting the 'fun' in fungi. "It's a bit darker and eerier than some of the stuff I've done in the recent past," muses Claypool. "It's very textural, somewhat tribal, sort of abstract Americana."
In order to recreate the highly original "Abstract Americana" in a live setting, Claypool enlists the help of Mike Dillon (marimba, vibraphone, junkyard percussion), Paulo Baldi (drums) and Sam Bass (cello). The quartet is currently completing a tour though the Americas, but the ever-ambitious artist has no plans to slow down.
"I've got some other pots on the stove. I'm not sure what's going to be moved to the front burner at this point in time," he says. "I do have to go to Europe later in the year. I'm going to Australia later in the year with this band. I'm trying to get a couple of film projects off the ground. I'm working on another book. Mostly I just need to get my tractor running so I can finish mowing my damn field."
Les Claypool tour dates available here.
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