June 2, 2025 • 46 mins
The great Kello Gonzalez returns to the podcast on short notice to discuss Nothin' Ventured, which we interpret as our version of a Les Claypool motivational speech, particularly because the spirit of the song (bass solos) and lyrics (taking risks to achieve something) mirrors what LEs did with his career path. IT's also chock-full of cultural idioms amd a sneaky masturbation joke; everyone's favorite Claypoolism.
Kello demonstrates the "five minute" interpretation of the bass line, and we dig into taking risks, the rewards, and why it matters.
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Kello demonstrates the "five minute" interpretation of the bass line, and we dig into taking risks, the rewards, and why it matters.
Find Kello on Youtube and Instagram.
Get involved
Burn your money
Get involved
Burn your money
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:00):
It's Josh Freaky with a couple of dump shits.
Speaker 2 (00:14):
Hello Primates, you found Primus Tracks. Congratulations, What how did
you do that, you little scoundrel. There's a lot of
places to find Primus Tracks. Actually it's and they're not hidden.
We're at Primus Tracks on the socials, on the webs,
and we're over at patreon dot com forward slash Primus
Tracks as well. My name is Josh. He is one
(00:39):
of Mexico's finest. It's Frankie Berestein. Hi, Josh, welcome back
Frankie from the thirty ninth floor of Primus Tracks Towers.
Excuse me when I started this? K And that is
the voice of another one of Mexico's finest, maybe Mexico's
finest dist and just to show his superior position, he's
(01:03):
on the fortieth floor of Primus Tracks Towers. I don't
know how we got a security clearance to get there.
Kalo Gonzalez, welcome back to Primus Tracks.
Speaker 3 (01:11):
Thank you very much.
Speaker 2 (01:14):
And your beautiful Carl Thompson bass. Yes, yeah, I.
Speaker 3 (01:19):
Thank you for having me again and making me work
dream what is supposed to be?
Speaker 2 (01:26):
Yeah, we're recording on a Tuesday in an undisclosed year. Well,
the good people will hear this soon enough. Today we
are talking about nothing ventured. We're on track eight already
of before we jump into the track Josh, Yeah, Frankie,
So the guy, the guy on.
Speaker 4 (01:45):
The boat is like really laying back at this point?
Is he dose enough? Has he had enough of this podcast?
Speaker 2 (01:54):
Frankie is, of course referring to the beautiful crocheted figurines
of our season cheese illustration that the wonderful Trish created
and sent to me. The guy in the boat, Yes,
he used to sit up straight. He used to be
upright enough, as though he were going to face the
sea monsters. And now he does seem resigned to his fate,
(02:16):
as though he is waiting back to say, take me
now it is over. Maybe there's a connection to the
old man in the sea in here somewhere, Yes, some
some kind of thing o ko, Yeah, we should talk
about the track of Chao. We were talking beforehand. Fifteen
years of parasite. You just celebrated that, and I know
(02:40):
you've got all kinds of other stuff happening as well
with Nata. You're still pushing that album with your name
on it. But supposedly you're on vacation supposedly.
Speaker 3 (02:51):
Yes, a lot of music coming out this year. We
actually have a new Parasit album coming out probably when
this is out.
Speaker 2 (03:01):
That's awesome, excellent.
Speaker 3 (03:02):
I'm starting to work on my second album, my second
Ky album, and eventually, I don't know if this year,
but eventually will come out as well. NonStop new music.
I think that's what's all about.
Speaker 2 (03:17):
Can't stop, won't stop. That's the story of Ko Gonzalez.
Actually that kind of ties into what we're going to
talk about with the lyrical themes today. So you're certainly
living the nothing Ventured spirit. I suppose that's correct, he said,
matter of factly. All right, Yeah, let's run it down.
(03:38):
Nothing Ventured three minutes eight seconds. It's track eight on
your of Wales and Woe recording. The credits are as follows.
And we've seen this a few times now on the record.
Les Claypool bass, vocals, guitar, drums, Mike Dylan, vibes, Sceric
Tenor Sacks. Little known fact, Frankie, nothing Ventured. The working
(04:00):
title was no risk It no biscuit. Wow. It's also
entirely fabricated. I made that up. But the spirit of
the words is the same. Another working title was you
miss one hundred percent of the shots you don't take amazing.
A beautiful quote from the one and only Michael Scott
(04:22):
via Wayne Gretzky. I like the little flourishes. Thanks Ko.
There's there's nobody here to do a rim shot, so
you got to do that, right.
Speaker 3 (04:32):
It's like no, it's like watching Seinfeld Seinfeld.
Speaker 2 (04:38):
Yeah, what's the deal with these cultural idioms? No risk it,
no biscuit, I can't have gluten. All right, I'm done. Well,
let's turn it over to Frankie. Frankie, you you often
provide us with much wisdom around these tracks in their
live histories. I know this is a big one.
Speaker 4 (05:01):
In an unexpected turn of events, we stumble upon nothing ventured,
a track that was never performed live.
Speaker 2 (05:11):
Wow, nothing ventured, nothing played? Got it? Well?
Speaker 3 (05:20):
I mean he plays drums, guitars saying spade. I mean,
how can he do it?
Speaker 2 (05:26):
I suppose exactly. We'll give him a pass. It's tough
to do all those things at once. Interesting. So this
is one of very few less Claypool songs that never
made it to the stage with any iteration of his bands.
Speaker 4 (05:41):
Yeah, I mean there are a couple of tracks on
this record which were played a few times only, but
Nothing Venture takes the price for not being performed ever.
And if we could wager a reason why, it could
come down either to the complexity of the song. Perhaps
(06:06):
the band rehearsed it at some point. It would be
interesting to ask any of the Fancy Band members if
they have any recollection of the song coming up in
rehearsals but not making it to a final performance. But
at the same time, I mean by this point, by
two thousand and six, Lis had an amazing catalog of
music to pick from, so I can see why he
(06:27):
would prioritize other stuff over one of the most obscure
tracks on the record.
Speaker 2 (06:33):
Yeah, I'm gonna throw out a challenge then, to our
tens of listeners, a bounty hunt of sort. If you
can find a Nothing Ventured tease in any of the
Fancy Band live recordings or subsequent Less Claypool Band iterations,
I will send you a prize. I will not tell
(06:55):
you what that price is. You will just receive something
from me. But you must audio proof and you can't
just stitch ko playing the riff into a live recording.
I will know there it is speaking of this tune
here to me. This is one of the rare songs
(07:19):
in the Claypool catalog in which there's a direct connection
between the music and lyrics. Generally, the music comes first,
the lyrics come later. Less matches them up, decides which
one works with which, and off he goes to me.
Though lyrically this tune is about taking chances in order
to make something of one's life, and of course Les
(07:41):
took a chance on making a career of playing bassa
making career in music, and I think he reminds us,
or perhaps even rewards us with a couple of bass
solos on this track, as if to remind us that
music was the risk he was taking. And that could
be me filling in a gap there. But I wouldn't
be surprised if that was the secret link between the
(08:02):
music and the lyrics that let's just dropped in there.
I actually wanted for that to uko. Being a man
who's made a music career for himself. What what's your
nothing ventured moment? You probably have tons of them, You've
just had to go for it throughout your career. I imagine
my philosophy is do what makes you happy?
Speaker 3 (08:26):
That's actually a lot of venturing because I have a
lot of friends in the music business that just because
they want to make it, they go for whatever's hit
or whatever's been streamed or in the radio, and they
lose their their credibility. I mean, people are not dumb,
you know. I mean, even though you may be playing
(08:49):
something that's what's been listened to right now, if it
doesn't come from the right place, the public will will
feel it, and you're it will not be will not
be heard per se. Right. But I see my album
anything that I do comes from the heart, comes from
the right place, and it's music that I want to
(09:12):
do because I like doing that, not because I believe
it's something that's make me wish.
Speaker 2 (09:20):
Hopefully you would. But it's the key.
Speaker 3 (09:23):
You know, one thing follows the other. You know, if
you do it for the right reasons, then people connect
to what you do. And I think that's less. I mean, primus,
that's that's been a thing, their life's work at doing
whatever they want to do, and it works. I mean
it's I've had bands where where I think this shouldn't
(09:47):
be liked by anyone, people connect because because it is
something that's honest and I think Primus has the same
the same essence of it's doesn't make sense. I mean,
how how is it that someone likes the song? I mean,
would you go back to night something when you when
(10:09):
you heard my name is Mud?
Speaker 2 (10:12):
I mean, and it was a hit, yeah, which boggles
the mind to this day. Well people thinking.
Speaker 3 (10:20):
That's right, But that's but that's the thing I mean,
you need to you need to risk it. You need
to be honest, you need to.
Speaker 2 (10:26):
Be bold, you need to be audacious with your.
Speaker 3 (10:31):
With your craft. You know, you need to differentiate your voice.
I mean, not the pun intended, but I mean as
a bass player, you need to find your voice. And
that's what I tell everyone.
Speaker 2 (10:42):
That's that's that's that's the risk, part of the risk.
Speaker 3 (10:45):
You know, you need to because I have so many,
so many bassist friends that they're clones of whoever they like.
You know, I know I my sound has a big
Claypool influence. But I tried to make that part of
my backup tools.
Speaker 2 (11:04):
Yes it's in the tool belt, but it's not the
only tool right.
Speaker 3 (11:08):
Yeah, again, no pun intimity.
Speaker 2 (11:12):
I've seen your tool covers do.
Speaker 3 (11:15):
But but that's that's what I mean. Going back to
the song. You know, if you don't risk uh being honest,
then your risk and the risk is higher, you know, the.
Speaker 2 (11:32):
Stakes are higher. Yeah, And I think you're pointing to
something important, which is and you didn't even mention failure,
which is doesn't even enter the lyrics of this song
because you went for it, and that's what matters. It
doesn't if you failed. You fucking went for it, and
that's what counts things.
Speaker 3 (11:51):
Think about this, Yeah, the rate that you have of success,
it's minimal.
Speaker 2 (11:58):
Oh yeah.
Speaker 3 (11:59):
So if you do something and you're not enjoyed the
process and the risk of it failing per se it's higher.
Then it's a loose lose situation.
Speaker 2 (12:11):
Right.
Speaker 3 (12:12):
On the other hand, if you do something that's you're
passionate about, you're already winning.
Speaker 2 (12:17):
You'll never lose.
Speaker 3 (12:18):
You're already winning, Yeah, and you take it to the
next level the so double win.
Speaker 5 (12:24):
You know.
Speaker 3 (12:24):
That's the thing about it, you know, and many people
don't realize that.
Speaker 2 (12:28):
I agree one hundred percent. I've I was thinking about this,
of course in the lead up to recording this, and
I was thinking about everybody has their nothing ventured moments,
and so I'm you know, I was thinking about earning
my doctoral degree. I didn't have to do it, but
I knew I could, and I went for it and
I earned it. You know, it helped me get a
(12:50):
nice pay raise, so that's nice. But they, you know,
the I could do it, and I proved it to myself.
Of course, this podcast was like the lowest risk thing
anybody could ever do, but it you know, there was
no expectation, but it actually caught on and there actually
have been some reward.
Speaker 3 (13:06):
Passion behind it. It's what drove it, you know.
Speaker 2 (13:10):
Yeah, this podcasts passion. It uses a lot of things,
passion is one of them. So there's a lot of
these moments that I think everybody can point to in
their own lives as well and hopefully not look back
with regret later. You know that they went for something
(13:34):
that they were passionate about, or at least they tried,
and that's that's what counts. Let's talk about the music
now that we've waxed philosophical and got that out of
the way. I wrote down I stole one of Frankie's terms.
I called it a stop start delight because it is
classic Claypool. But you mentioned this when we were talking beforehand.
Speaker 3 (13:55):
Ko.
Speaker 2 (13:56):
It seems as though it'll stay in its box the
entire time, because it does feel like a one part song.
But then about halfway through we get a bass solo,
and then we get some sas wildness with some bass
variation under it, we get we get some really chaotic
iterations of the main riff like kyo or ka a
(14:19):
a a oh he e, say yes, it took me
a second chaotic. Hey, that's the that's the name of
your next solo record, Right, you spoil it.
Speaker 3 (14:35):
But what I meant with that is, and I think
most Klaibel songs are built that way. There's just one
riff that makes a song, and then you have your
variations like in this case, right, you'll have your variation
of a theme.
Speaker 2 (14:49):
Yeah.
Speaker 3 (14:50):
On his soul songs, you normally have a lot of
studio improv.
Speaker 2 (14:56):
That's how I would call it for it.
Speaker 3 (14:59):
You saw here, all solo there, and then you just
go nuts here and then.
Speaker 2 (15:03):
We get back to the ref. Right.
Speaker 3 (15:06):
That's kind of the structure that he has on a
lot of these songs. Now this particular album, and I
don't know how much has been discussed yet about that
is I think from from the solo albums up to
this point is the most based, riff driven of his
(15:27):
solo albums, which is something I appreciate it because the
other ones were a little bit more spacious or more atmospheric,
or he was trying to leverage having more sounds and instruments.
Here it was it would it would seem that he composed.
I mean, you can see because he plays a lot
(15:48):
of stuff here. But he composed the songs, recorded them,
and then she said, Okay, a lot of the sacks
here had this there, and I had so. I mean,
but it was a this was indeed more of a
solo effort that I'm pretty sure. He just took his space,
(16:08):
started playing recorded briss put lyrics on, assembled the songs,
and then invited someone.
Speaker 2 (16:14):
That's pretty much it. And that's been the pattern I
think through the I have the to have a question.
Speaker 4 (16:19):
I have a question for you guys. Let's say that
one better. Is the bicyp Yeah, lost stinks? Is the
scrotum yep rumble of the decail?
Speaker 2 (16:31):
Are the hips?
Speaker 3 (16:34):
What is?
Speaker 1 (16:34):
What?
Speaker 2 (16:35):
Is? Nothing? Ventured? The heart? That's great? No, I agree
with that. That's the risk.
Speaker 3 (16:44):
I mean, you don't think it, you just feel it.
Speaker 2 (16:47):
I was gonna go a migdala because that's your you know,
emotional reaction. But yeah, I'll go with heart. It could
be that too, you know, and I think I think
there's more. Well, yeah, I think there's more to it,
So I'll go with heart over over my dumb suggestion
(17:09):
without without pause either Ko Man insightful the heart of
the And it's funny because I wouldn't normally think that
when I run down the track list, but nothing ventured
the heart of the record, but not hearts.
Speaker 3 (17:25):
In romantic or no more like the passion and the drive.
Speaker 2 (17:31):
I'm seeing this that it is the heart for the passion,
especially given the lyrical content, but also the bass solos. Right,
it's all coming together here. I do want to play
a few parts and then ask you to model them,
if you don't mind, with that beautiful Karl Thompson of yours,
the it's try, you'll try. I appreciate that this thing's
(17:57):
only three minutes, just over three minutes. That's this one
is compact, and I actually had to listen to it
a couple of times because I was trying. What I
will say is I was trying to remember how it
went in the second half of the tune, and I
couldn't remember because it's been a while since I listened
to this record, so I had to put this track
(18:17):
on and then I went, oh, yeah, he does some
really cool stuff, because in my head it was the
first minute and half of the song was the entire
song to me, So hearing the variations of the bass
solos and that kind of thing, it was wonderful. I'm
actually going to go to the chaotic and you know,
the spelling iterations of the main in the second half
(18:39):
of the tune. The reason I want to do that
is Primus has a new drummer named John Hoffman, and
for some reason, based on the footage we saw of
auditions and what I've seen of John's drumming on his
social media channels, Less is doing the kind of drumming
here that he wants drummers to do when he plays
with them. In the of they're not smashing through their
(19:01):
giant symbols. They're doing things that are busy and some
might term chaotic, but the high hats closed and there's
a lot of action on the snare and other drums.
That's what I heard, but judge for yourself. That's a
(19:40):
really fun part. It is there's so much going on,
so it really builds up to that point. What do
you hearing their ko from a perspective base perspective.
Speaker 3 (19:52):
I don't think it's the most complicated drift. Yeah, yes,
it's it's relatively simple actually to Biddy Claypole less riff.
I think through the other song we hear the main
ref with variations, which is the something like that, and
(20:19):
then what he does is I think it's in the
second verse he goes up right.
Speaker 2 (20:26):
Up the step.
Speaker 3 (20:27):
Yeah. Through the other song is the ref with the
the end variations, right, there's there's one that he does,
there's another another place where he just does this.
Speaker 2 (20:48):
Yeah, the harmonic sound is really funny to me. And
but it's very fun.
Speaker 3 (20:53):
It's it's a fun song because I mean again it's
it's the riff and and the variations on the ending
and the fun part. And I remember the first time
I heard this song, the solo comes I don't nowhere,
(21:18):
it comes outn't nowhere, And when I when I heard it,
I even.
Speaker 2 (21:23):
Said what happened?
Speaker 3 (21:25):
Because it kind of sounds even off key, you know,
oh interesting, but in a very claypol way. And the
thing has struck me the most of that solo. I
know that when I mean, if he were to play
this live, you'd be different, right, more improvised, open, something
(21:49):
would happen. But the feeling it has, it's very Latin,
you know, that's a very Latin feel. That's the first
thing that's struck me when I when I listened to
that solo, it sounds like she cleans salsa. That's what
I thought, you know, she plays.
Speaker 2 (22:06):
SFA like.
Speaker 3 (22:11):
Yeah, I'm like, no, it's what she's doing, something like that.
Speaker 2 (22:25):
But that's the five minute version.
Speaker 3 (22:27):
But it sounds great, you know, it's it's old based around.
Speaker 2 (22:31):
This how fun.
Speaker 3 (22:39):
It's in close here, but it's fun. I mean, again,
very clayful. Yeah, yeah, I love it.
Speaker 2 (22:58):
The flare on the fast finger at the end of
the phrase. That's a lot of fun.
Speaker 3 (23:03):
It is a lot of fun. And again I mean
that salta feel. I don't know, Claypool doesn't come out
to me, at least as someone that would be particularly
influenced by salsaying.
Speaker 2 (23:17):
Right, yeah, I don't think it was part of his makeup.
Speaker 3 (23:19):
But I think you scheme out. I mean, yeah, I
don't think he meant it that way. But that's how
he came out.
Speaker 2 (23:25):
Yeah, that's interesting because we know where salsa comes from.
El there you have it. We're making all kinds of
connections here today. That solo so unexpected because at the
end of those iterations of the main riff, you start
(23:46):
with just a harmonic you start, you get a little fill,
and then you get this extended solo about seventeen seconds,
which leads into some about twenty seconds of a saxophone
wildness from Skerk, which I would certainly be remiss if
I didn't highlight it. So let's give Skerrik some love
right here for this madness.
Speaker 3 (24:28):
Yeah, he does some some variations there. You know he's
doing it.
Speaker 2 (24:44):
That sounds really fat. Frankie, does that qualify as thick?
That was thick? Af The judge has spoken, and I
got to say, I love the drums on this track.
Speaker 4 (24:58):
Yeah, they're kind of very under the wall of sound,
but they're really great.
Speaker 2 (25:03):
We keep saying on this record that Less is doing
his Jay Lane impression, but this one I think takes
that to the extreme because he's just he's hitting that
high hat. You know, he is just living on that
high hat in this tune. And then taking it to
the snare and that chaotic part and just pushing it.
(25:23):
All that practice with electric ape got paid off. And
one thing I wanted to say, KO, is you know
I listen. I know that you've had sexophone players on
select Peris tracks.
Speaker 3 (25:38):
Yes, former Mars Bolt sexophonists.
Speaker 2 (25:43):
Wow. What if you just rang up Scaric dream come like?
It'd be pretty sweet? Da'd be pretty good. I think
he'd make some noise for you.
Speaker 3 (25:53):
Yeah, noise, I like noise. I was.
Speaker 2 (25:59):
I guess I was just surprise coming back to this
tune that it was a bit more dynamic than I remembered.
And it's holding up much like the rest of this
record is holding up very well. I think it certainly
has value. And I've said this before about a lot
of Claypool Track's primus tracks. H pun doesn't unlike this podcast,
(26:20):
does not overstay. It's welcome. It's three minutes, it's in
and out, but there's a lot of quality stuff happening.
Even this little cool end groove in the last twenty
odd seconds takes us out. Yeah, I like that.
Speaker 3 (26:54):
I don't think I got that one.
Speaker 2 (27:06):
But it's he's paraphration the riff right, Well, it's a
great song, nice and percussive too. It is, It is is.
I'm surprised by how much I'm appreciating it, coming back
to it.
Speaker 3 (27:18):
Now and again, it's it's this. This is a very
riff bass, riff driven album, and I think he's enjoying
just messing around with the riffs.
Speaker 2 (27:28):
I agree with you. And just the tenuous connection to
the lyrics that I've already posited, I think is what
gives us some more power to me. Let's talk lyrics,
shall we. Frankie Claypool is going back to the cultural
(27:49):
idiom well yet again, and there are three of them
in this set of lyrics. Obviously, the title nothing Ventured
references nothing ventured gained, which is repeated throughout the tune.
I did not know this that it appears in its
original English form, or at least as far as we know,
as far back as fifteen forty six, in an English
(28:12):
book of proverbs, and the wording is different, but the
sentiment is the same. So this is a phrase that
in some way, shape or form has been uttered for
nearly five centuries by humans. To the original version, Oh
you're gonna make me look it up? Huh. I didn't
(28:33):
write it down. I believe. I believe it was nothing ventured,
nothing had. And then there was a second line to it,
and it was about you don't get anything unless you try.
And I'm paraphrasing. The other cultural idiom that springs up
(28:53):
is something borrowed, something blue. Are you guys familiar with
that phrase marriages? Yes, something old, something new, something borrows,
something blue. So that's a wedding tradition, which also is
English and goes back to at least the eighteen hundreds.
So less is really treading deep in English idioms here.
(29:17):
That one is still in wide circulation. I have no
idea if that has been transferred to other cultures and languages.
I don't know if that's something that you guys have
heard outside of American or English media. Are you nodding, Frankie?
I can't tell because I can only see your forehead
and I thought you knocked your iPad down. No, it's yeah,
(29:37):
we've heard it before. Okay. Is it in wide circulation
in Mexico? Do people say that a lot or some variation.
I was under the impression it was kind of universal,
but okay, yeah, I don't know if it's still widely followed,
but you see it in media a lot TV shows,
movies and that sort of thing to supposedly of or
(30:00):
secure a happy marriage. Those are the four things you need. Actually,
the original phrase is something old, something new, something borrowed,
something blue sixpence in your shoe. You don't see a
lot of brides walking down the aisle with coins rattling
in their shoes, so I think that part has been lost.
(30:21):
And then there's a sneaky one that Claypool inserts into
this track. It's at the very end when he says,
one man solitaire is a Rosie palm by any other name.
And I think that's my favorite line in the tune.
Ko has throwed his brow. He's thinking about the possibilities.
It's actually a great masturbation pun. What he's doing is
(30:44):
he's putting a couple of things together. He's putting together
one the slang of rosie palms or Rosie Palmer and
her five sisters, which is a term for a guy's hand,
which he would use to pleasure himself. But when he
says a rosie palm by any other name, he's invoking
that off quoted line from Romeo and juliet A rose
(31:06):
by any other name would smell as sweet. So he's
cramming those two things together to make a really good
masturbation joke. It's well done, mister Claypool. He's jamming a
lot of cultural idioms into this tune. I would I
would never have figured that out. You could argue the
(31:31):
guy that figured it out for you as a genius too.
The saltire helps to fit. The pain is enough to
rumble over the diesel, you think, so, yeah, I think
you're right. I think there's thematic links there. And you know,
I've never really looked into that, if salt air is
easier on the old joints or something like that, but
(31:52):
I can tell you when I'm on the Oregon coast
or any other oceanic coast, the salt hair does wonders
for my hair. It looks it gives it much more volume,
and it looks fantastic, kind of like Ko's. Actually otherwise
we're not at that track yet.
Speaker 4 (32:13):
No, now, every now and then you're gonna get slapped
with a slab of rain. Sounds like, yeah, difficult times
will be inevitable.
Speaker 2 (32:20):
Right, exactly so, And I think that's the message. And
I wrote in my notebook. This is Claypool's version of
a motivational speech that you're gonna get slapped with some
rain every once in a while, keep plugging away.
Speaker 4 (32:35):
And my favorite line is some die and leave their mark,
some just leave a stain.
Speaker 2 (32:41):
It's kind of brutal, and it's in its objectivity. It's
really straightforward. You die and leave your mark, or you
don't contribute, and you've made the world a worse place.
I have noticed Less really likes the word stain. He
uses it twice in this tune. I was thinking of
a ballot of buckethead where he uses that word. I
(33:02):
know he's used it a whole bunch of other times.
And of course my first thoughts he used to call
that is exactly where I was headed, brain, brain, the
beaver stain. So like that that does that word must
be one of his go to words. Now I have
to ask you this, ko, what's one of your go
to words when you're writing lyrics for parizeit it's a joke.
Speaker 3 (33:27):
I know, I go to Google translated.
Speaker 2 (33:36):
Oh man, So yeah, that that part, some die and
leave their mark, some just a stain. That is pretty
straight ahead commentary. And of course he is presenting that
through those vignettes, and it's clear that he's on the
side of leaving a mark, a good mark, not a
(33:57):
skid mark. He really wants to clearly less you know,
he's he's worked in music all this time, and he's
made an impression upon lots and lots of people, the
three of us included, probably you listening included. And I
think he takes a bit of pride in that. I
don't think he would admit it, but you know. But
(34:19):
then he tells this story, these three little stories about
the guy that drove the milk truck until he either
got dementia or it bored him to death. I can't
really tell. But no judgment for some people that's living
their best life is driving the milk truck. I think
the saddest vignette is the woman with the something borrowed
something blue that gets melanoma. That's just a sad story.
(34:42):
I'm not sure what it has to do with the
theme of the tune, but but it's there.
Speaker 4 (34:49):
I think the lesson there is that it's better to
have loved her even if she passed away than to
never have married her, because then he wouldn't have experienced
that they're enjoyed.
Speaker 2 (35:03):
Which which is you know, another nothing ventured adjacent quote
is that it's better to have love and loss than
never loved at all. Credit back to Tennyson. So maybe
that's that. I'm sure that's the connection. Frankie, thank you.
And then our last vignette is the guy that sold
his house to buy a wood trawler and do what
he loved, which is ocean fishing. Imagine that fishing in
(35:28):
a claypool song. So that guy was living his best life.
I think that's the example of the person making their mark,
or at least for themselves, right, staying true to themselves,
doing yeah, going for it, whatever it might be. So
(35:50):
those little vignettes are are so brief, but I suppose
they're quite visceral. And there's once again he's he's doing
a lot with a little as far as these words go.
And I think this is lyrically one of the stronger
tracks on the record, right up there with Robot Chicken.
Speaker 3 (36:08):
We're realigned with the message, yes, with the point he's
trying to get across.
Speaker 2 (36:16):
Yeah, that it all comes together here. And the thing
we don't know is how much he labors over his
lyrics and we've talked about it a little bit. I
mean we've done two hundred episodes, and we've seen extracts
from his legal pads in which he is jotting lyrics
and crossing things out and editing, revising, and ending in
(36:38):
the Over the Electric Grapevine book, so we know that
there's alternate lyrics or drafts that had to be workshopped.
And of course we know from the early demos many
lyrics from early tunes have been changed too, So there's agree.
Speaker 3 (36:51):
We can agree that Less is not a man of
few words.
Speaker 2 (36:58):
A lot of words on in that lyrics book.
Speaker 3 (37:00):
So I don't think he'll have a problem coming up
with lyrics or wars or something that rhymes. Would yeah,
some other word, I mean.
Speaker 2 (37:10):
Whatever rhymes was stain. He's got it. No, that's that
part flows. And so he certainly has that because Frankie knows,
being a huge Oysterman fan, if it doesn't flow from
the pen, he will carpenter again.
Speaker 3 (37:27):
There you go.
Speaker 2 (37:28):
I knew you could finish that for me. Now, Kay
was going to play pseudo suicide because of the reference.
Now kidding, there it is there. I know that note
that's that's at one minute and three seconds. It's my
favorite note in the whole track. These are profound lyrics
(37:49):
and they, like I said, it's his version of a
motivational speech in a way, at least go try. You know,
if you don't go for it, you'll never know. A Yes,
that beautiful sound can only mean one thing. Guys, it's
(38:11):
time for Primates takes. If you would like your take
on the track up for discussion red right here on
the podcast. All you have to do is go to
patreon dot com forward slash Primus tracks. There's a lot
of junk over there. I'm really selling it. But one
of the best features I think Frankie is at every level,
(38:32):
any level of support, you get hurt, you are heard, right.
I thought you for a moment, I thought you said hurt.
We're We're not in the business of hurting.
Speaker 3 (38:44):
Anyone unless that's your thing, or if.
Speaker 2 (38:48):
You're into it. I will dabble. So anyway, back to
the topic at hand. The I put the thread up
for the track to be discussed, you put your thoughts
and I read them right here. So let's do that now.
Our pal Mickey Waters says, I think this is my favorite,
(39:11):
at least musically. I assume he means on the album,
it's just so chaotic, especially that ending unless is crispy
high hat work, getting closer and closer to Jayski. Thank you, Mickey, Edwin,
Allen Richards the fourth our Landed Gentry says nothing like
some solid bouncing bass and the mighty screech of Scaric Sacks.
(39:34):
Is it a cautionary tale, an encouragement to try new things,
a secret fisherman's chronicle, whatever it is, Oh.
Speaker 4 (39:41):
Enjoy great, controversial, brave and controversial.
Speaker 2 (39:47):
Look out, Edwin, They're coming for you. Yeah. Eric in Australia,
our resident curmudgeon who may not like that title, but
I have bestowed it upon him and I will not
rese it, says an important stitch in the tapestry. Claypool
really shines with his quirky lyricism on this record, and
(40:07):
this is a fine example. Also Scarrick, he typed it
in all caps, had to do it. And finally, Brooks
delight is about to take our jobs yet again, and
Brooks breaks it down as follows. We don't have a
Brooks breaks it down theme yet? Do we we need
one of those? We need one? Yeah, And Brooks as
(40:31):
a musician. He could certainly in a few minutes, you
bet five minute version of the Brooks breaks it down? Kayo,
what do you got for a Brooks breaks it down?
Five minute flourish? Excuse me, five second flourish. There you go,
(40:51):
Brooks breaks it down, He says, I think this track
has very overlooked. The non existent live history certainly supports
that argument. Personally, I'm a big fan of this song.
It's full of trademark claypoolisms, the stops start quality throughout
the track, a tale of tragedy, and an absolute banger
of a bass solo. This one just might be my
white Whale. Also, Scarrick Dang Brooks essentially writes the abstract
(41:18):
of our papers on these episodes. Well, thank you, Brian
Mats for those wonderful takes. Really, in the.
Speaker 4 (41:30):
Future, people will only have to listen to Brooks break
it Down and that's it.
Speaker 2 (41:36):
Oh yes, absolutely. To save server space, We're just gonna
have Brooks breaks it Down segments and that'll be it,
and then we'll have like ten thousand of them. I
won't have to listen to us ko. I noticed you
had to tune back up after your Brooks Breaks it
Down theme. He broke it down, all right, it's onto
(41:59):
Frankie's favorite segment, Live Cuts.
Speaker 5 (42:04):
GM Vehicle Live Cuts, the Jam Vehicle Live Cuts.
Speaker 2 (42:08):
What's going on here? What have we got, Frankie? We
got nothing and done? You know what? I didn't look for?
And I've not been searching our covers of the Whales
and Woe tunes, and I haven't been doing that regularly.
I wonder if there's a cover of this one out
(42:29):
in the world. I'm not going to look right now.
Speaker 5 (42:32):
Some people have tackled one better, one better? Yeah, are
these base covers base covers? I would love to see
a full band cover of any of these tunes.
Speaker 2 (42:49):
That's a nice thing. I'm gonna clip that. I like that.
We're human, you know, yes, although I don't know ko.
I feel human most days, but when I talk to you,
I feel as though you are akin to a titan
on Mount Olympus, a Viking. Maybe it's the lighting in
your abode, but it feels very titanic.
Speaker 3 (43:14):
Well, this is a larger room.
Speaker 2 (43:18):
Well you filled it with some badass stuff. Oh yeah,
I guess I can say this. There was something gained today,
nothing ventured because you've been tracked next time we discuss
how I like to percolate my coffee.
Speaker 3 (43:40):
Hopefully that means drink.
Speaker 2 (43:43):
We got a brute first, Kayo, how do you take
your coffee with coconut milk? Interesting? I take it black, Frankie.
You don't even drink coffee, do you? Only you the
sweet variety?
Speaker 4 (44:02):
So that could be like with with milk with chocolate, yeah,
but I mean just black?
Speaker 5 (44:07):
No?
Speaker 2 (44:07):
Never, Okay, let me let me ask you this. How
do you take your you Who? Straight up? That's my guy.
Speaker 3 (44:17):
You are the one thing I think about is the.
Speaker 2 (44:21):
Glue you guys, Frankie, and is you who? I've never
met somebody who liked chocolate water so much. Oh, it's fantastic.
Speaker 3 (44:35):
It's not like like the chocolate water. I think about
when I was a kid that would sell chocolate powder
in like a bag, and then you would do that
with hot water. Yeah, like but with water?
Speaker 2 (44:49):
Uh huh?
Speaker 3 (44:50):
That is that what you're talking about.
Speaker 2 (44:51):
That's essentially what you Who is to me? Ko The
good people can find you at ko GC just about
everywhere including YouTube, Instagram probably the two most important places
to find you.
Speaker 3 (45:05):
I mean, TikTok if you want to see me dancing.
Speaker 2 (45:09):
Or no, dang, that's too bad.
Speaker 3 (45:13):
I'll do some primus dance for you.
Speaker 2 (45:18):
Uh take a time, limber up, first, stretch, stretch your legs.
That's the primus dance.
Speaker 3 (45:26):
Uh.
Speaker 2 (45:26):
So go find Ko Parazite, Nata, Ko Gonzalez. I'm sure
I'm missing some of your other musical projects. Those is
the three I remember.
Speaker 3 (45:34):
We'll find them there and.
Speaker 2 (45:37):
I'm looking forward to the new Parazite record and then
beyond that the next Ko Gonzales record named Chaotic Chaotic.
Thanks so much for joining us KO on short notice. Hey,
helping us out.
Speaker 3 (45:53):
Thank you again for making me work doing my vacation.
Speaker 2 (45:57):
It's it's my pleasure. No, it's my you. You can
make me work on my vacation anytime, and I will
tell you I'm on vacation about forty eight weeks a year,
So give me a call. Yeah, thanks Cao, Thanks Frankie,
(46:19):
Thank you later days, Willie Mace
It's Josh Freaky with a couple of dump shits.
Speaker 2 (00:14):
Hello Primates, you found Primus Tracks. Congratulations, What how did
you do that, you little scoundrel. There's a lot of
places to find Primus Tracks. Actually it's and they're not hidden.
We're at Primus Tracks on the socials, on the webs,
and we're over at patreon dot com forward slash Primus
Tracks as well. My name is Josh. He is one
(00:39):
of Mexico's finest. It's Frankie Berestein. Hi, Josh, welcome back
Frankie from the thirty ninth floor of Primus Tracks Towers.
Excuse me when I started this? K And that is
the voice of another one of Mexico's finest, maybe Mexico's
finest dist and just to show his superior position, he's
(01:03):
on the fortieth floor of Primus Tracks Towers. I don't
know how we got a security clearance to get there.
Kalo Gonzalez, welcome back to Primus Tracks.
Speaker 3 (01:11):
Thank you very much.
Speaker 2 (01:14):
And your beautiful Carl Thompson bass. Yes, yeah, I.
Speaker 3 (01:19):
Thank you for having me again and making me work
dream what is supposed to be?
Speaker 2 (01:26):
Yeah, we're recording on a Tuesday in an undisclosed year. Well,
the good people will hear this soon enough. Today we
are talking about nothing ventured. We're on track eight already
of before we jump into the track Josh, Yeah, Frankie,
So the guy, the guy on.
Speaker 4 (01:45):
The boat is like really laying back at this point?
Is he dose enough? Has he had enough of this podcast?
Speaker 2 (01:54):
Frankie is, of course referring to the beautiful crocheted figurines
of our season cheese illustration that the wonderful Trish created
and sent to me. The guy in the boat, Yes,
he used to sit up straight. He used to be
upright enough, as though he were going to face the
sea monsters. And now he does seem resigned to his fate,
(02:16):
as though he is waiting back to say, take me
now it is over. Maybe there's a connection to the
old man in the sea in here somewhere, Yes, some
some kind of thing o ko, Yeah, we should talk
about the track of Chao. We were talking beforehand. Fifteen
years of parasite. You just celebrated that, and I know
(02:40):
you've got all kinds of other stuff happening as well
with Nata. You're still pushing that album with your name
on it. But supposedly you're on vacation supposedly.
Speaker 3 (02:51):
Yes, a lot of music coming out this year. We
actually have a new Parasit album coming out probably when
this is out.
Speaker 2 (03:01):
That's awesome, excellent.
Speaker 3 (03:02):
I'm starting to work on my second album, my second
Ky album, and eventually, I don't know if this year,
but eventually will come out as well. NonStop new music.
I think that's what's all about.
Speaker 2 (03:17):
Can't stop, won't stop. That's the story of Ko Gonzalez.
Actually that kind of ties into what we're going to
talk about with the lyrical themes today. So you're certainly
living the nothing Ventured spirit. I suppose that's correct, he said,
matter of factly. All right, Yeah, let's run it down.
(03:38):
Nothing Ventured three minutes eight seconds. It's track eight on
your of Wales and Woe recording. The credits are as follows.
And we've seen this a few times now on the record.
Les Claypool bass, vocals, guitar, drums, Mike Dylan, vibes, Sceric
Tenor Sacks. Little known fact, Frankie, nothing Ventured. The working
(04:00):
title was no risk It no biscuit. Wow. It's also
entirely fabricated. I made that up. But the spirit of
the words is the same. Another working title was you
miss one hundred percent of the shots you don't take amazing.
A beautiful quote from the one and only Michael Scott
(04:22):
via Wayne Gretzky. I like the little flourishes. Thanks Ko.
There's there's nobody here to do a rim shot, so
you got to do that, right.
Speaker 3 (04:32):
It's like no, it's like watching Seinfeld Seinfeld.
Speaker 2 (04:38):
Yeah, what's the deal with these cultural idioms? No risk it,
no biscuit, I can't have gluten. All right, I'm done. Well,
let's turn it over to Frankie. Frankie, you you often
provide us with much wisdom around these tracks in their
live histories. I know this is a big one.
Speaker 4 (05:01):
In an unexpected turn of events, we stumble upon nothing ventured,
a track that was never performed live.
Speaker 2 (05:11):
Wow, nothing ventured, nothing played? Got it? Well?
Speaker 3 (05:20):
I mean he plays drums, guitars saying spade. I mean,
how can he do it?
Speaker 2 (05:26):
I suppose exactly. We'll give him a pass. It's tough
to do all those things at once. Interesting. So this
is one of very few less Claypool songs that never
made it to the stage with any iteration of his bands.
Speaker 4 (05:41):
Yeah, I mean there are a couple of tracks on
this record which were played a few times only, but
Nothing Venture takes the price for not being performed ever.
And if we could wager a reason why, it could
come down either to the complexity of the song. Perhaps
(06:06):
the band rehearsed it at some point. It would be
interesting to ask any of the Fancy Band members if
they have any recollection of the song coming up in
rehearsals but not making it to a final performance. But
at the same time, I mean by this point, by
two thousand and six, Lis had an amazing catalog of
music to pick from, so I can see why he
(06:27):
would prioritize other stuff over one of the most obscure
tracks on the record.
Speaker 2 (06:33):
Yeah, I'm gonna throw out a challenge then, to our
tens of listeners, a bounty hunt of sort. If you
can find a Nothing Ventured tease in any of the
Fancy Band live recordings or subsequent Less Claypool Band iterations,
I will send you a prize. I will not tell
(06:55):
you what that price is. You will just receive something
from me. But you must audio proof and you can't
just stitch ko playing the riff into a live recording.
I will know there it is speaking of this tune
here to me. This is one of the rare songs
(07:19):
in the Claypool catalog in which there's a direct connection
between the music and lyrics. Generally, the music comes first,
the lyrics come later. Less matches them up, decides which
one works with which, and off he goes to me.
Though lyrically this tune is about taking chances in order
to make something of one's life, and of course Les
(07:41):
took a chance on making a career of playing bassa
making career in music, and I think he reminds us,
or perhaps even rewards us with a couple of bass
solos on this track, as if to remind us that
music was the risk he was taking. And that could
be me filling in a gap there. But I wouldn't
be surprised if that was the secret link between the
(08:02):
music and the lyrics that let's just dropped in there.
I actually wanted for that to uko. Being a man
who's made a music career for himself. What what's your
nothing ventured moment? You probably have tons of them, You've
just had to go for it throughout your career. I imagine
my philosophy is do what makes you happy?
Speaker 3 (08:26):
That's actually a lot of venturing because I have a
lot of friends in the music business that just because
they want to make it, they go for whatever's hit
or whatever's been streamed or in the radio, and they
lose their their credibility. I mean, people are not dumb,
you know. I mean, even though you may be playing
(08:49):
something that's what's been listened to right now, if it
doesn't come from the right place, the public will will
feel it, and you're it will not be will not
be heard per se. Right. But I see my album
anything that I do comes from the heart, comes from
the right place, and it's music that I want to
(09:12):
do because I like doing that, not because I believe
it's something that's make me wish.
Speaker 2 (09:20):
Hopefully you would. But it's the key.
Speaker 3 (09:23):
You know, one thing follows the other. You know, if
you do it for the right reasons, then people connect
to what you do. And I think that's less. I mean, primus,
that's that's been a thing, their life's work at doing
whatever they want to do, and it works. I mean
it's I've had bands where where I think this shouldn't
(09:47):
be liked by anyone, people connect because because it is
something that's honest and I think Primus has the same
the same essence of it's doesn't make sense. I mean,
how how is it that someone likes the song? I mean,
would you go back to night something when you when
(10:09):
you heard my name is Mud?
Speaker 2 (10:12):
I mean, and it was a hit, yeah, which boggles
the mind to this day. Well people thinking.
Speaker 3 (10:20):
That's right, But that's but that's the thing I mean,
you need to you need to risk it. You need
to be honest, you need to.
Speaker 2 (10:26):
Be bold, you need to be audacious with your.
Speaker 3 (10:31):
With your craft. You know, you need to differentiate your voice.
I mean, not the pun intended, but I mean as
a bass player, you need to find your voice. And
that's what I tell everyone.
Speaker 2 (10:42):
That's that's that's that's the risk, part of the risk.
Speaker 3 (10:45):
You know, you need to because I have so many,
so many bassist friends that they're clones of whoever they like.
You know, I know I my sound has a big
Claypool influence. But I tried to make that part of
my backup tools.
Speaker 2 (11:04):
Yes it's in the tool belt, but it's not the
only tool right.
Speaker 3 (11:08):
Yeah, again, no pun intimity.
Speaker 2 (11:12):
I've seen your tool covers do.
Speaker 3 (11:15):
But but that's that's what I mean. Going back to
the song. You know, if you don't risk uh being honest,
then your risk and the risk is higher, you know, the.
Speaker 2 (11:32):
Stakes are higher. Yeah, And I think you're pointing to
something important, which is and you didn't even mention failure,
which is doesn't even enter the lyrics of this song
because you went for it, and that's what matters. It
doesn't if you failed. You fucking went for it, and
that's what counts things.
Speaker 3 (11:51):
Think about this, Yeah, the rate that you have of success,
it's minimal.
Speaker 2 (11:58):
Oh yeah.
Speaker 3 (11:59):
So if you do something and you're not enjoyed the
process and the risk of it failing per se it's higher.
Then it's a loose lose situation.
Speaker 2 (12:11):
Right.
Speaker 3 (12:12):
On the other hand, if you do something that's you're
passionate about, you're already winning.
Speaker 2 (12:17):
You'll never lose.
Speaker 3 (12:18):
You're already winning, Yeah, and you take it to the
next level the so double win.
Speaker 5 (12:24):
You know.
Speaker 3 (12:24):
That's the thing about it, you know, and many people
don't realize that.
Speaker 2 (12:28):
I agree one hundred percent. I've I was thinking about this,
of course in the lead up to recording this, and
I was thinking about everybody has their nothing ventured moments,
and so I'm you know, I was thinking about earning
my doctoral degree. I didn't have to do it, but
I knew I could, and I went for it and
I earned it. You know, it helped me get a
(12:50):
nice pay raise, so that's nice. But they, you know,
the I could do it, and I proved it to myself.
Of course, this podcast was like the lowest risk thing
anybody could ever do, but it you know, there was
no expectation, but it actually caught on and there actually
have been some reward.
Speaker 3 (13:06):
Passion behind it. It's what drove it, you know.
Speaker 2 (13:10):
Yeah, this podcasts passion. It uses a lot of things,
passion is one of them. So there's a lot of
these moments that I think everybody can point to in
their own lives as well and hopefully not look back
with regret later. You know that they went for something
(13:34):
that they were passionate about, or at least they tried,
and that's that's what counts. Let's talk about the music
now that we've waxed philosophical and got that out of
the way. I wrote down I stole one of Frankie's terms.
I called it a stop start delight because it is
classic Claypool. But you mentioned this when we were talking beforehand.
Speaker 3 (13:55):
Ko.
Speaker 2 (13:56):
It seems as though it'll stay in its box the
entire time, because it does feel like a one part song.
But then about halfway through we get a bass solo,
and then we get some sas wildness with some bass
variation under it, we get we get some really chaotic
iterations of the main riff like kyo or ka a
(14:19):
a a oh he e, say yes, it took me
a second chaotic. Hey, that's the that's the name of
your next solo record, Right, you spoil it.
Speaker 3 (14:35):
But what I meant with that is, and I think
most Klaibel songs are built that way. There's just one
riff that makes a song, and then you have your
variations like in this case, right, you'll have your variation
of a theme.
Speaker 2 (14:49):
Yeah.
Speaker 3 (14:50):
On his soul songs, you normally have a lot of
studio improv.
Speaker 2 (14:56):
That's how I would call it for it.
Speaker 3 (14:59):
You saw here, all solo there, and then you just
go nuts here and then.
Speaker 2 (15:03):
We get back to the ref. Right.
Speaker 3 (15:06):
That's kind of the structure that he has on a
lot of these songs. Now this particular album, and I
don't know how much has been discussed yet about that
is I think from from the solo albums up to
this point is the most based, riff driven of his
(15:27):
solo albums, which is something I appreciate it because the
other ones were a little bit more spacious or more atmospheric,
or he was trying to leverage having more sounds and instruments.
Here it was it would it would seem that he composed.
I mean, you can see because he plays a lot
(15:48):
of stuff here. But he composed the songs, recorded them,
and then she said, Okay, a lot of the sacks
here had this there, and I had so. I mean,
but it was a this was indeed more of a
solo effort that I'm pretty sure. He just took his space,
(16:08):
started playing recorded briss put lyrics on, assembled the songs,
and then invited someone.
Speaker 2 (16:14):
That's pretty much it. And that's been the pattern I
think through the I have the to have a question.
Speaker 4 (16:19):
I have a question for you guys. Let's say that
one better. Is the bicyp Yeah, lost stinks? Is the
scrotum yep rumble of the decail?
Speaker 2 (16:31):
Are the hips?
Speaker 3 (16:34):
What is?
Speaker 1 (16:34):
What?
Speaker 2 (16:35):
Is? Nothing? Ventured? The heart? That's great? No, I agree
with that. That's the risk.
Speaker 3 (16:44):
I mean, you don't think it, you just feel it.
Speaker 2 (16:47):
I was gonna go a migdala because that's your you know,
emotional reaction. But yeah, I'll go with heart. It could
be that too, you know, and I think I think
there's more. Well, yeah, I think there's more to it,
So I'll go with heart over over my dumb suggestion
(17:09):
without without pause either Ko Man insightful the heart of
the And it's funny because I wouldn't normally think that
when I run down the track list, but nothing ventured
the heart of the record, but not hearts.
Speaker 3 (17:25):
In romantic or no more like the passion and the drive.
Speaker 2 (17:31):
I'm seeing this that it is the heart for the passion,
especially given the lyrical content, but also the bass solos. Right,
it's all coming together here. I do want to play
a few parts and then ask you to model them,
if you don't mind, with that beautiful Karl Thompson of yours,
the it's try, you'll try. I appreciate that this thing's
(17:57):
only three minutes, just over three minutes. That's this one
is compact, and I actually had to listen to it
a couple of times because I was trying. What I
will say is I was trying to remember how it
went in the second half of the tune, and I
couldn't remember because it's been a while since I listened
to this record, so I had to put this track
(18:17):
on and then I went, oh, yeah, he does some
really cool stuff, because in my head it was the
first minute and half of the song was the entire
song to me, So hearing the variations of the bass
solos and that kind of thing, it was wonderful. I'm
actually going to go to the chaotic and you know,
the spelling iterations of the main in the second half
(18:39):
of the tune. The reason I want to do that
is Primus has a new drummer named John Hoffman, and
for some reason, based on the footage we saw of
auditions and what I've seen of John's drumming on his
social media channels, Less is doing the kind of drumming
here that he wants drummers to do when he plays
with them. In the of they're not smashing through their
(19:01):
giant symbols. They're doing things that are busy and some
might term chaotic, but the high hats closed and there's
a lot of action on the snare and other drums.
That's what I heard, but judge for yourself. That's a
(19:40):
really fun part. It is there's so much going on,
so it really builds up to that point. What do
you hearing their ko from a perspective base perspective.
Speaker 3 (19:52):
I don't think it's the most complicated drift. Yeah, yes,
it's it's relatively simple actually to Biddy Claypole less riff.
I think through the other song we hear the main
ref with variations, which is the something like that, and
(20:19):
then what he does is I think it's in the
second verse he goes up right.
Speaker 2 (20:26):
Up the step.
Speaker 3 (20:27):
Yeah. Through the other song is the ref with the
the end variations, right, there's there's one that he does,
there's another another place where he just does this.
Speaker 2 (20:48):
Yeah, the harmonic sound is really funny to me. And
but it's very fun.
Speaker 3 (20:53):
It's it's a fun song because I mean again it's
it's the riff and and the variations on the ending
and the fun part. And I remember the first time
I heard this song, the solo comes I don't nowhere,
(21:18):
it comes outn't nowhere, And when I when I heard it,
I even.
Speaker 2 (21:23):
Said what happened?
Speaker 3 (21:25):
Because it kind of sounds even off key, you know,
oh interesting, but in a very claypol way. And the
thing has struck me the most of that solo. I
know that when I mean, if he were to play
this live, you'd be different, right, more improvised, open, something
(21:49):
would happen. But the feeling it has, it's very Latin,
you know, that's a very Latin feel. That's the first
thing that's struck me when I when I listened to
that solo, it sounds like she cleans salsa. That's what
I thought, you know, she plays.
Speaker 2 (22:06):
SFA like.
Speaker 3 (22:11):
Yeah, I'm like, no, it's what she's doing, something like that.
Speaker 2 (22:25):
But that's the five minute version.
Speaker 3 (22:27):
But it sounds great, you know, it's it's old based around.
Speaker 2 (22:31):
This how fun.
Speaker 3 (22:39):
It's in close here, but it's fun. I mean, again,
very clayful. Yeah, yeah, I love it.
Speaker 2 (22:58):
The flare on the fast finger at the end of
the phrase. That's a lot of fun.
Speaker 3 (23:03):
It is a lot of fun. And again I mean
that salta feel. I don't know, Claypool doesn't come out
to me, at least as someone that would be particularly
influenced by salsaying.
Speaker 2 (23:17):
Right, yeah, I don't think it was part of his makeup.
Speaker 3 (23:19):
But I think you scheme out. I mean, yeah, I
don't think he meant it that way. But that's how
he came out.
Speaker 2 (23:25):
Yeah, that's interesting because we know where salsa comes from.
El there you have it. We're making all kinds of
connections here today. That solo so unexpected because at the
end of those iterations of the main riff, you start
(23:46):
with just a harmonic you start, you get a little fill,
and then you get this extended solo about seventeen seconds,
which leads into some about twenty seconds of a saxophone
wildness from Skerk, which I would certainly be remiss if
I didn't highlight it. So let's give Skerrik some love
right here for this madness.
Speaker 3 (24:28):
Yeah, he does some some variations there. You know he's
doing it.
Speaker 2 (24:44):
That sounds really fat. Frankie, does that qualify as thick?
That was thick? Af The judge has spoken, and I
got to say, I love the drums on this track.
Speaker 4 (24:58):
Yeah, they're kind of very under the wall of sound,
but they're really great.
Speaker 2 (25:03):
We keep saying on this record that Less is doing
his Jay Lane impression, but this one I think takes
that to the extreme because he's just he's hitting that
high hat. You know, he is just living on that
high hat in this tune. And then taking it to
the snare and that chaotic part and just pushing it.
(25:23):
All that practice with electric ape got paid off. And
one thing I wanted to say, KO, is you know
I listen. I know that you've had sexophone players on
select Peris tracks.
Speaker 3 (25:38):
Yes, former Mars Bolt sexophonists.
Speaker 2 (25:43):
Wow. What if you just rang up Scaric dream come like?
It'd be pretty sweet? Da'd be pretty good. I think
he'd make some noise for you.
Speaker 3 (25:53):
Yeah, noise, I like noise. I was.
Speaker 2 (25:59):
I guess I was just surprise coming back to this
tune that it was a bit more dynamic than I remembered.
And it's holding up much like the rest of this
record is holding up very well. I think it certainly
has value. And I've said this before about a lot
of Claypool Track's primus tracks. H pun doesn't unlike this podcast,
(26:20):
does not overstay. It's welcome. It's three minutes, it's in
and out, but there's a lot of quality stuff happening.
Even this little cool end groove in the last twenty
odd seconds takes us out. Yeah, I like that.
Speaker 3 (26:54):
I don't think I got that one.
Speaker 2 (27:06):
But it's he's paraphration the riff right, Well, it's a
great song, nice and percussive too. It is, It is is.
I'm surprised by how much I'm appreciating it, coming back
to it.
Speaker 3 (27:18):
Now and again, it's it's this. This is a very
riff bass, riff driven album, and I think he's enjoying
just messing around with the riffs.
Speaker 2 (27:28):
I agree with you. And just the tenuous connection to
the lyrics that I've already posited, I think is what
gives us some more power to me. Let's talk lyrics,
shall we. Frankie Claypool is going back to the cultural
(27:49):
idiom well yet again, and there are three of them
in this set of lyrics. Obviously, the title nothing Ventured
references nothing ventured gained, which is repeated throughout the tune.
I did not know this that it appears in its
original English form, or at least as far as we know,
as far back as fifteen forty six, in an English
(28:12):
book of proverbs, and the wording is different, but the
sentiment is the same. So this is a phrase that
in some way, shape or form has been uttered for
nearly five centuries by humans. To the original version, Oh
you're gonna make me look it up? Huh. I didn't
(28:33):
write it down. I believe. I believe it was nothing ventured,
nothing had. And then there was a second line to it,
and it was about you don't get anything unless you try.
And I'm paraphrasing. The other cultural idiom that springs up
(28:53):
is something borrowed, something blue. Are you guys familiar with
that phrase marriages? Yes, something old, something new, something borrows,
something blue. So that's a wedding tradition, which also is
English and goes back to at least the eighteen hundreds.
So less is really treading deep in English idioms here.
(29:17):
That one is still in wide circulation. I have no
idea if that has been transferred to other cultures and languages.
I don't know if that's something that you guys have
heard outside of American or English media. Are you nodding, Frankie?
I can't tell because I can only see your forehead
and I thought you knocked your iPad down. No, it's yeah,
(29:37):
we've heard it before. Okay. Is it in wide circulation
in Mexico? Do people say that a lot or some variation.
I was under the impression it was kind of universal,
but okay, yeah, I don't know if it's still widely followed,
but you see it in media a lot TV shows,
movies and that sort of thing to supposedly of or
(30:00):
secure a happy marriage. Those are the four things you need. Actually,
the original phrase is something old, something new, something borrowed,
something blue sixpence in your shoe. You don't see a
lot of brides walking down the aisle with coins rattling
in their shoes, so I think that part has been lost.
(30:21):
And then there's a sneaky one that Claypool inserts into
this track. It's at the very end when he says,
one man solitaire is a Rosie palm by any other name.
And I think that's my favorite line in the tune.
Ko has throwed his brow. He's thinking about the possibilities.
It's actually a great masturbation pun. What he's doing is
(30:44):
he's putting a couple of things together. He's putting together
one the slang of rosie palms or Rosie Palmer and
her five sisters, which is a term for a guy's hand,
which he would use to pleasure himself. But when he
says a rosie palm by any other name, he's invoking
that off quoted line from Romeo and juliet A rose
(31:06):
by any other name would smell as sweet. So he's
cramming those two things together to make a really good
masturbation joke. It's well done, mister Claypool. He's jamming a
lot of cultural idioms into this tune. I would I
would never have figured that out. You could argue the
(31:31):
guy that figured it out for you as a genius too.
The saltire helps to fit. The pain is enough to
rumble over the diesel, you think, so, yeah, I think
you're right. I think there's thematic links there. And you know,
I've never really looked into that, if salt air is
easier on the old joints or something like that, but
(31:52):
I can tell you when I'm on the Oregon coast
or any other oceanic coast, the salt hair does wonders
for my hair. It looks it gives it much more volume,
and it looks fantastic, kind of like Ko's. Actually otherwise
we're not at that track yet.
Speaker 4 (32:13):
No, now, every now and then you're gonna get slapped
with a slab of rain. Sounds like, yeah, difficult times
will be inevitable.
Speaker 2 (32:20):
Right, exactly so, And I think that's the message. And
I wrote in my notebook. This is Claypool's version of
a motivational speech that you're gonna get slapped with some
rain every once in a while, keep plugging away.
Speaker 4 (32:35):
And my favorite line is some die and leave their mark,
some just leave a stain.
Speaker 2 (32:41):
It's kind of brutal, and it's in its objectivity. It's
really straightforward. You die and leave your mark, or you
don't contribute, and you've made the world a worse place.
I have noticed Less really likes the word stain. He
uses it twice in this tune. I was thinking of
a ballot of buckethead where he uses that word. I
(33:02):
know he's used it a whole bunch of other times.
And of course my first thoughts he used to call
that is exactly where I was headed, brain, brain, the
beaver stain. So like that that does that word must
be one of his go to words. Now I have
to ask you this, ko, what's one of your go
to words when you're writing lyrics for parizeit it's a joke.
Speaker 3 (33:27):
I know, I go to Google translated.
Speaker 2 (33:36):
Oh man, So yeah, that that part, some die and
leave their mark, some just a stain. That is pretty
straight ahead commentary. And of course he is presenting that
through those vignettes, and it's clear that he's on the
side of leaving a mark, a good mark, not a
(33:57):
skid mark. He really wants to clearly less you know,
he's he's worked in music all this time, and he's
made an impression upon lots and lots of people, the
three of us included, probably you listening included. And I
think he takes a bit of pride in that. I
don't think he would admit it, but you know. But
(34:19):
then he tells this story, these three little stories about
the guy that drove the milk truck until he either
got dementia or it bored him to death. I can't
really tell. But no judgment for some people that's living
their best life is driving the milk truck. I think
the saddest vignette is the woman with the something borrowed
something blue that gets melanoma. That's just a sad story.
(34:42):
I'm not sure what it has to do with the
theme of the tune, but but it's there.
Speaker 4 (34:49):
I think the lesson there is that it's better to
have loved her even if she passed away than to
never have married her, because then he wouldn't have experienced
that they're enjoyed.
Speaker 2 (35:03):
Which which is you know, another nothing ventured adjacent quote
is that it's better to have love and loss than
never loved at all. Credit back to Tennyson. So maybe
that's that. I'm sure that's the connection. Frankie, thank you.
And then our last vignette is the guy that sold
his house to buy a wood trawler and do what
he loved, which is ocean fishing. Imagine that fishing in
(35:28):
a claypool song. So that guy was living his best life.
I think that's the example of the person making their mark,
or at least for themselves, right, staying true to themselves,
doing yeah, going for it, whatever it might be. So
(35:50):
those little vignettes are are so brief, but I suppose
they're quite visceral. And there's once again he's he's doing
a lot with a little as far as these words go.
And I think this is lyrically one of the stronger
tracks on the record, right up there with Robot Chicken.
Speaker 3 (36:08):
We're realigned with the message, yes, with the point he's
trying to get across.
Speaker 2 (36:16):
Yeah, that it all comes together here. And the thing
we don't know is how much he labors over his
lyrics and we've talked about it a little bit. I
mean we've done two hundred episodes, and we've seen extracts
from his legal pads in which he is jotting lyrics
and crossing things out and editing, revising, and ending in
(36:38):
the Over the Electric Grapevine book, so we know that
there's alternate lyrics or drafts that had to be workshopped.
And of course we know from the early demos many
lyrics from early tunes have been changed too, So there's agree.
Speaker 3 (36:51):
We can agree that Less is not a man of
few words.
Speaker 2 (36:58):
A lot of words on in that lyrics book.
Speaker 3 (37:00):
So I don't think he'll have a problem coming up
with lyrics or wars or something that rhymes. Would yeah,
some other word, I mean.
Speaker 2 (37:10):
Whatever rhymes was stain. He's got it. No, that's that
part flows. And so he certainly has that because Frankie knows,
being a huge Oysterman fan, if it doesn't flow from
the pen, he will carpenter again.
Speaker 3 (37:27):
There you go.
Speaker 2 (37:28):
I knew you could finish that for me. Now, Kay
was going to play pseudo suicide because of the reference.
Now kidding, there it is there. I know that note
that's that's at one minute and three seconds. It's my
favorite note in the whole track. These are profound lyrics
(37:49):
and they, like I said, it's his version of a
motivational speech in a way, at least go try. You know,
if you don't go for it, you'll never know. A Yes,
that beautiful sound can only mean one thing. Guys, it's
(38:11):
time for Primates takes. If you would like your take
on the track up for discussion red right here on
the podcast. All you have to do is go to
patreon dot com forward slash Primus tracks. There's a lot
of junk over there. I'm really selling it. But one
of the best features I think Frankie is at every level,
(38:32):
any level of support, you get hurt, you are heard, right.
I thought you for a moment, I thought you said hurt.
We're We're not in the business of hurting.
Speaker 3 (38:44):
Anyone unless that's your thing, or if.
Speaker 2 (38:48):
You're into it. I will dabble. So anyway, back to
the topic at hand. The I put the thread up
for the track to be discussed, you put your thoughts
and I read them right here. So let's do that now.
Our pal Mickey Waters says, I think this is my favorite,
(39:11):
at least musically. I assume he means on the album,
it's just so chaotic, especially that ending unless is crispy
high hat work, getting closer and closer to Jayski. Thank you, Mickey, Edwin,
Allen Richards the fourth our Landed Gentry says nothing like
some solid bouncing bass and the mighty screech of Scaric Sacks.
(39:34):
Is it a cautionary tale, an encouragement to try new things,
a secret fisherman's chronicle, whatever it is, Oh.
Speaker 4 (39:41):
Enjoy great, controversial, brave and controversial.
Speaker 2 (39:47):
Look out, Edwin, They're coming for you. Yeah. Eric in Australia,
our resident curmudgeon who may not like that title, but
I have bestowed it upon him and I will not
rese it, says an important stitch in the tapestry. Claypool
really shines with his quirky lyricism on this record, and
(40:07):
this is a fine example. Also Scarrick, he typed it
in all caps, had to do it. And finally, Brooks
delight is about to take our jobs yet again, and
Brooks breaks it down as follows. We don't have a
Brooks breaks it down theme yet? Do we we need
one of those? We need one? Yeah, And Brooks as
(40:31):
a musician. He could certainly in a few minutes, you
bet five minute version of the Brooks breaks it down? Kayo,
what do you got for a Brooks breaks it down?
Five minute flourish? Excuse me, five second flourish. There you go,
(40:51):
Brooks breaks it down, He says, I think this track
has very overlooked. The non existent live history certainly supports
that argument. Personally, I'm a big fan of this song.
It's full of trademark claypoolisms, the stops start quality throughout
the track, a tale of tragedy, and an absolute banger
of a bass solo. This one just might be my
white Whale. Also, Scarrick Dang Brooks essentially writes the abstract
(41:18):
of our papers on these episodes. Well, thank you, Brian
Mats for those wonderful takes. Really, in the.
Speaker 4 (41:30):
Future, people will only have to listen to Brooks break
it Down and that's it.
Speaker 2 (41:36):
Oh yes, absolutely. To save server space, We're just gonna
have Brooks breaks it Down segments and that'll be it,
and then we'll have like ten thousand of them. I
won't have to listen to us ko. I noticed you
had to tune back up after your Brooks Breaks it
Down theme. He broke it down, all right, it's onto
(41:59):
Frankie's favorite segment, Live Cuts.
Speaker 5 (42:04):
GM Vehicle Live Cuts, the Jam Vehicle Live Cuts.
Speaker 2 (42:08):
What's going on here? What have we got, Frankie? We
got nothing and done? You know what? I didn't look for?
And I've not been searching our covers of the Whales
and Woe tunes, and I haven't been doing that regularly.
I wonder if there's a cover of this one out
(42:29):
in the world. I'm not going to look right now.
Speaker 5 (42:32):
Some people have tackled one better, one better? Yeah, are
these base covers base covers? I would love to see
a full band cover of any of these tunes.
Speaker 2 (42:49):
That's a nice thing. I'm gonna clip that. I like that.
We're human, you know, yes, although I don't know ko.
I feel human most days, but when I talk to you,
I feel as though you are akin to a titan
on Mount Olympus, a Viking. Maybe it's the lighting in
your abode, but it feels very titanic.
Speaker 3 (43:14):
Well, this is a larger room.
Speaker 2 (43:18):
Well you filled it with some badass stuff. Oh yeah,
I guess I can say this. There was something gained today,
nothing ventured because you've been tracked next time we discuss
how I like to percolate my coffee.
Speaker 3 (43:40):
Hopefully that means drink.
Speaker 2 (43:43):
We got a brute first, Kayo, how do you take
your coffee with coconut milk? Interesting? I take it black, Frankie.
You don't even drink coffee, do you? Only you the
sweet variety?
Speaker 4 (44:02):
So that could be like with with milk with chocolate, yeah,
but I mean just black?
Speaker 5 (44:07):
No?
Speaker 2 (44:07):
Never, Okay, let me let me ask you this. How
do you take your you Who? Straight up? That's my guy.
Speaker 3 (44:17):
You are the one thing I think about is the.
Speaker 2 (44:21):
Glue you guys, Frankie, and is you who? I've never
met somebody who liked chocolate water so much. Oh, it's fantastic.
Speaker 3 (44:35):
It's not like like the chocolate water. I think about
when I was a kid that would sell chocolate powder
in like a bag, and then you would do that
with hot water. Yeah, like but with water?
Speaker 2 (44:49):
Uh huh?
Speaker 3 (44:50):
That is that what you're talking about.
Speaker 2 (44:51):
That's essentially what you Who is to me? Ko The
good people can find you at ko GC just about
everywhere including YouTube, Instagram probably the two most important places
to find you.
Speaker 3 (45:05):
I mean, TikTok if you want to see me dancing.
Speaker 2 (45:09):
Or no, dang, that's too bad.
Speaker 3 (45:13):
I'll do some primus dance for you.
Speaker 2 (45:18):
Uh take a time, limber up, first, stretch, stretch your legs.
That's the primus dance.
Speaker 3 (45:26):
Uh.
Speaker 2 (45:26):
So go find Ko Parazite, Nata, Ko Gonzalez. I'm sure
I'm missing some of your other musical projects. Those is
the three I remember.
Speaker 3 (45:34):
We'll find them there and.
Speaker 2 (45:37):
I'm looking forward to the new Parazite record and then
beyond that the next Ko Gonzales record named Chaotic Chaotic.
Thanks so much for joining us KO on short notice. Hey,
helping us out.
Speaker 3 (45:53):
Thank you again for making me work doing my vacation.
Speaker 2 (45:57):
It's it's my pleasure. No, it's my you. You can
make me work on my vacation anytime, and I will
tell you I'm on vacation about forty eight weeks a year,
So give me a call. Yeah, thanks Cao, Thanks Frankie,
(46:19):
Thank you later days, Willie Mace
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