The reactions I’ve seen so far have been
super positive.
Lennon: Yeah. I was surprised, because
I thought a lot of people would be like,
“Fuck him.” But you know, I love the music
and we went through a couple options, like
which one might work. “Tomorrow Never
Knows” was the one that I was comfortable
with. I mean, sure, it is hard to recreate—
we’re not trying to recreate it exactly. But
it’s certainly easier than playing “A Day in
the Life” or something, because it’s just one
chord, pretty much.
Claypool: I’ve come to a few realizations
from becoming good friends with Sean.
Like most of the planet, I used to sit
back and go, “Oh the children of famous
people or legendary people must have it
made. All the doors open for them when
they do this thing or the next thing.”
And really it is almost the opposite. I’ve
learned that he has so much scrutiny—
he is under such a magnifying glass—
whenever he does anything musical. I
know my own son, he was a bass player
and he switched from bass to banjo
because he got tired of people saying,
“Oh you’re Les Claypool’s son, hmmm
…” And that’s on a very small scale
compared to what Sean has to deal with.
I sympathize with him on many of these
things. But I also know from playing
with him that he has a very strong voice
of his own and a very strong signature.
I think some of that is because he has
elements of his father—and he also has
elements of his abstract mother that
shine through—but, also, he’s Sean. He’s
an interesting fellow with an interesting
perspective. He’s very intelligent. He’s
extremely humble. I think more than
anything I’m hoping that the planet gets
to see that he does have his own voice
beyond the expectations of his DNA.
What basses did you use on the album?
Claypool: I used my dobro bass quite
a bit. I have an old Eko bass that I used
quite a bit, too, and then my Pachyderm
bass. It’s all 4-string stuff except for
the upright—a lot more pizzicato stuff,
less thumping, but there is also some
thumping and strumming on there.
Were you going direct or using an amp?
Claypool: I take a signal from an amp. I
don’t mike it, but it’s a direct signal from
an amp. I haven’t miked a cabinet in
many years.
Was any of it tracked live?
Claypool: Quite a bit. Sometimes Sean’s
on the drums and I’m on the bass—
sometimes it’s bass and guitar.
What guitars did you use?
Lennon: I’ve been playing BilT guitars.
One of them is called the Relevator. It
has these knobs that are a built-in delay,
a built-in fuzz, a mute knob, and a delay
solo knob. On the song “Oxycontin
Girl,” you can hear me using that guitar
for the first time. You can play a note
and then use the knob where you can
change the delay time—because it is
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