When it came to actually writing and recording these songs, when you were in the studio, was there any sort of method to the madness in terms of writing and recording?
LC: Well I had a couple tunes, and he had a couple tunes, and we just started fiddling around. Normally in my own writing I play quite a bit of the drums and percussion, but right off the bat he sat down on the drums and started playing drums to it and I thought, “Wow, this is amazing because he has a totally different feel than I do.” I kind of lean forward on the beat. My influences drumwise are guys like Stewart Copeland, where as he had that Ringo, Nick Mason feel. We thought we would write some old psychedelic record, and that was what we were joking about from the very beginning: writing a Floyd-era record. It kind of went down that path, but then we went down some other paths as well. He ended up playing drums on every song except for one.
Sean brought a bunch of toys with him, such as a mellotron. It was a true collaboration. Even when we started figuring out who did what where, it’s pretty much 50/50. Everything we did. I haven’t had that kind of relationship in quite a long time, if ever.
Les, when you listen to the songs, it feels like a happy medium between some of your past projects and some of Sean’s past projects. Was there an original target on the sonic map because it was a joint influence for the two of you? Or did you personally want to go in there and make something that was a little different than Primus and your solo work, yet still had that psychedelic feel?
LC: When we first started talking, we were joking around and turning each other on to different music and films and all kinds of whatnot. The whole crux of our friendship was that we would sit down and geek out with each other on film, art, literature, and music. Obviously, Sean’s got a very colorful background, so even being around his mom and his whole life with his perspective on things, is pretty unique and interesting. Then again, going back to the notion of him on the drums, for me that was a big deal. I was turning over something, even when I bring in drummers to play, I generally don’t work with drummers with that kind of feel. It’s more of what I call a “lopey” feel, as it’s sort of laid back. Usually my guys lie forward a little bit. Just that itself gave the project a much different feel than anything that I would’ve normally done on my own. Whether it’s Primus, or Oysterhead, or Frog Brigade, or any of these projects. Doing these things with Adrian Belew or Danny Carey or Bucket of Bernie Brains, none of them have that kind of feel, that sort of “lopey.” Sean hates it when I say “lopey.”
Were there certain films that spoke to you, that could sonically inspire this project for you two?
LC: Well like I said, seeing that stuffed animal video and the Jodorowsky influence on that, talking about those types of films. He and I sat down and watched Head here at the house one night and that was pretty funny. I assumed that he had seen it, though he hadn’t, he knew the Porpoise Song, so we sat down and watched Head and he was flipping out.
At what point did you decide to record the album as a duo instead of bringing in a full band?
SL: Les and I both played drums on the album and early on we decided we were just going to try to write without a drummer. It was just less cooks in the kitchen. And then, we had planned on, once he wrote the song, getting a real drummer to come in. I think that by the time we finished writing and doing the basic tracks, we thought we’d rather just stick to us playing. It was that simple. Les’ music is really in your face and hard-hitting and surreal and provocative and exciting, but he’s also pretty chilled out guy. I guess it’s rare.
Was there any music that he turned you onto while you guys were hanging out that maybe you hadn’t listened to before or hadn’t revisited for a while?
LC: Yeah. Of course I always draw a blank whenever these types of things come up. We went and saw Sabbath together. In New York, we went and saw one of the final Sabbath shows which was amazing. It was great because they were playing a lot of the early, Masters of Reality type stuff.
When it came to putting together the live band, you have a couple extra players involved including Money Mark. What was the process of putting the live band together like?
LC: Sean wanted Money Mark. I met Money a couple times but I didn’t really know him. For me, a part of the thing is how good of a hang somebody is, and I’ve heard from a few people and the few times I’ve met Mark, he’s a great guy. So that’s an A plus right there. And then of course, obviously, he has pretty amazing music, so we get to play together, and I’m looking forward to getting in a room and playing with him. Sean was pushing hard for Mark, so that’s been a great thing. As far as the drummer, I worked with so many people over the years and I just felt Paulo would be the best person for this project because he can kind of cop that lopey sound. It’s funny ‘cause we were talking about Sabbath—years ago when we toured with Sabbath, there were all the original guys and they had Bill Ward on drums. They got this new guy who is spectacular, but there was something about seeing them with Bill Ward that was unbelievable because he has that kind of lopey feel. He slows down; it’s an interesting feel that you don’t see in my world very often. So I suggested getting Paulo because we are going to listen to my catalogue. The plan is to go out and do these songs and also we want to have a strong setlist to draw from, so we can mix it up every night. So we’re going to play a lot of my stuff, some of his stuff, and then dip into some covers, we’re not sure what yet.
SL: I’ve always wanted to be in a band with Money Mark. He’s been my friend since we were really young. My first label was the Beastie Boys’ label. I’ve been friends with Mark since then. He’s just really busy, and I’ve been busy. Everything just aligned for this. He happened to be free. He had the whole time off. You know, it was a shot in the dark, but wound up paying off. I mean it’s hard to explain why any few people get along. It’s the miracle of chemistry, I guess. I mean neither of us knew exactly what we were getting into exactly. I think in my case I was definitely a little nervous because I really looked up to Les as a player. I did a lot of practicing trying to get warmed up. I thought that I’d be intimidated playing with him, but he just really guided me through it in a very generous and easy-going way. It actually felt easy playing with him. I think that had more to do with him. I’m not sure though. I went into it like, “Alright. Got to make sure I can keep up with Les.” But it wasn’t like that. It didn’t feel like there was any keeping up. It just felt like we were having fun and playing music together in a very natural way. It’s a testament to his chillness. Despite his virtuoso accomplishment, he managed to make me feel at ease.
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