Author's Note: This was written in 1994 for Rabelais, the infamous La Trobe University student newspaper. I did the interview while organizing an Animal Liberation office. Tim Alexander, who later left the band, sounded incredibly stoned. Primus subsequently released Tales From the Punchbowl (1996), The Brown Album (1997), Rhinoplasty (1998), and AntiPop (1999).

"You have twenty minutes until he calls from the US." The publicist's words echoed down the phone line as I grimly realised that I had no tape recorder to transcribe the interview with me (luckily I knew shorthand!), With any other interview arranged at last minute I would have freaked - but Primus just happened to be among my favorite bands and their drummer Tim 'Herb' Alexander was very cool about the whole thing.

Primus have always been truly independent in spirit, since Les Claypool borrowed $3000 to record their first EP Suck On This (1989). Tight budget constraints continued on Frizzle Fry (1990) which cost $11,000, and the breakthrough 1992 album Sailing The Seas of Cheese, recorded for $33,000. This meant that the band has retained artistic control - rightly so, since Primus have fused the power trio of bands like Cream with surreal lyrics, musical virtuosity, and Zappaesque sonic textures that would make some record industry types squirm. While Claypool has been courted by US guitar magazines as a stunning bass player, both guitarist Larry 'Ler' LaLonde and Tim 'Herb' Alexander have been just as influential on the band's sound.

"I joined the band suddenly, with Ler in 1989. Two members had quit, we were just a local band in the San Francisco Bay area. At the time I joined, we weren't touring, but we soon recorded our first album after this," Tim explained. Each musician's style altered as Primus came into focus - for instance Ler had played in Possessed, an influential death metal band in the mid 1980s. "From <Frizzle Fry onwards, we became more focused as a unit, certainly the constant touring helped!"

Primus has toured with many bands, playing small clubs with Fishbone, halls on the Anthrax/Public Enemy tour, and finally opening stadium gigs for Rush and U2. Tim feels that their career highlight was playing with Rush: "Everybody in the band has been a fan of them from our high school days. Neil Peart definitely influenced my drumming . . ."

Any opportunity for jamming, which was popular during the prog rock era of the 1970s? "Yeah, we did get to jam with them a lot, but that happened backstage! [laughter] We didn't have time for that during the tour onstage - we find it difficult to fit enough songs into a 35-minute opening set as it is. Great fun though . . ."

I was intrigued by their stint on the Lollapalooza III tour, where Primus played the final slot. Previous bands that had held this prestigious position included Jane's Addiction and The Red Hot Chilli Peppers. But Tim vigorously denied that Primus had headlined. "We were on the same bill as bands like Alice In Chains and Arrested Development, who have sold more records than us!"

So, did you find this intimidating, playing with more commercially successful bands? "Well at first it was intimidating, but when we started playing, it wasn't a big deal. Certainly not playing with the other bands - we all checked out each-other's shows. The whole point of Lollapalooza was to see many different bands and help to broaden the audience's minds . . ."

They seemed to have successfully used the same strategy with the popular Big Day Out concerts of earlier this year. I asked Tim what the general audience reaction to Primus shows in Melbourne and Sydney was like. "We were surprised that everybody seemed to know the material, particularly the earlier stuff . . . The audience was very enthusiastic, but I got the impression that nobody knew the new songs. Overall, the shows were a great success, which is the main reason why we've returned to play so soon." Great - most bands don't return for years, if they bother to tour Australia at all, let alone tour twice in a couple of months!

Major influences? "We are all Rush fans as I mentioned, but it varies with each band member. They include Frank Zappa, Peter Gabriel, The Police, King Crimson, and reggae." This wasn't surprising, as in most of the artists listed, the bass player had a dominant role, but enabled the guitarist and drummer to alter their parts from conventional styles to suit the material. Primus recorded a second EP in 1992 titled Miscellaneous Debris, where the band played tribute to Peter Gabriel, Pink Floyd, The Residents, XTC, and The Meters. Some of the interpretations were very interesting!

Primus have also been involved in side projects. "We recorded a song called "Too Many Puppies" for an animal rights compilation called In Defence of Animals. And under our independent label Prawnsong, Les has recorded several artists, including a solo album by jazz guitarist Charlie Hunter, who played with the Disposable Heroes of Hiphoprisy."

I asked Tim if he had any advice for new local bands who wanted to maintain their artistic integrity. "Well, its easy to want to have things happen really quick, but don't rush into things. For instance there are many bands now who are making money by sounding like Alice In Chains or Pearl Jam, but you should stay true to your vision and sound like yourselves."

Our conversation turned to their latest release, Pork Soda (1994), the band's most primal, yet most unique album so far. Tim shines on the instrumental "Wounded Knee", and tracks like "Mr Krinkle" "The Air Is Getting Slippery", and the epic instrumental "Hamburger Train" push the band to new limits. Typical humour surfaces in "Hail Santa" and "Nature Boy". I commented that the new album was more extreme than previous releases. "Extreme??? OK, something just happened, the material got more focused as we individually became more confident and gave each-other space to play in the songs. I don't see it as 'extreme' really, just us. . ."

How does the material get written? "We all write the music, which forms out of constant jamming. Les writes the lyrics." And pretty strange lyrics too - "Bob" deals with a character who commits suicide, "My Name Is Mud" has a protagonist that kills somebody with a baseball bat . . . and of course, Les continues the "Fisherman's Chronicles" which have featured on each album about his favourite past-time, this time from the fishes' point of view. " And I don't like fishing either," Tim claims. "I get seasick every-time on the boat!"

The band resisted record company wishes to get a big name producer for the project, and instead dragged their rack equipment into their rehearsal space and recorded material on Digital Audio Tape (DAT). With little record company interference, the band were able to produce strikingly unusual material. Flying in the face of conventional logic, by being really 'alternative', they are gaining wider audiences, although many critics write them off as being a cult band.