Cochlear Implant

The tireless Les Claypool is a bass virtuoso, a movie director, a novelist and a wine entrepreneur

I’m still not sure how Les Claypool managed to make time for me to interview him. Considering how many projects he has going on the side, it’s a small miracle that he’s available to do any promotion at all (even though the guy has his name all over so many things, he’s pretty much a self-promotion machine).

Claypool’s side projects have never been the typical side projects. Sure, there are a few musical collaborations in there, but the Primus bass player also keeps himself busy directing feature films, penning novels (his first, South of the Pumphouse, was published in 2006), and everyone’s favourite pastime: developing and manufacturing his own (well-regarded) brand of Pinot Noir. What to most people are merely pipe dreams are the things Mr. Claypool accomplishes on an ordinary weekend.

“I think anytime [you take on a side project], whether it’s making a wine or writing a novel or making an album, they’re all daunting,” Claypool says. “There are so many parallels you can make to other elements in life, like your first day on a job or whatever. You just decide you’re going to do it and you do. Lots of people have great ideas, but their follow-through is not necessarily part of the equation.”

Claypool admits that his side projects keep him insanely busy, but he hasn’t ever really known anything different. “It’s like my father,” he says. “There was always some deck partially built, or some retaining wall partially built, or some bathroom that was being remodelled while there was a car in the garage with the fenders off, having a valve job done. There was always some project being done. If there aren’t lots of pots on the stove, I’m kind of going crazy.”

Claypool seems sane enough as he talks about how his projects often have mixed results. When an opportunity to create the soundtrack for the videogame Mushroom Men: The Spore Wars came across his desk, for instance, Claypool jumped at it. “I thought the concept, the artwork, the storyline were really cool,” he says, “plus it was a way for me to make some brownie points with my young son, who happens to be a gamer.”

On the other hand, he says, maybe when he agreed to direct the feature film Electric Apricot, he bit off more than he could chew: “It was a huge pain in the ass. It was one of the most difficult things I’ve had to do in my life. It’s like climbing Mt. Everest wearing nothing but a Speedo — you lose appendages to frostbite and it’s torture, but as soon as you get down you’re looking for the next mountain to climb. I just think next time I’m going to wear more than a Speedo.”
Claypool’s stove may be piled a little high with pots and pans, but it’s hard not to admire his steady equilibrium. “I wouldn’t be doing any of this if it wasn’t fun,” he says. “This is a pretty damn cool job that I have — I can’t complain at all.”