Guitarist Larry LaLonde wanted to join a band that left room for experimental work. He hit the jackpot in 1988. That's when he joined Primus.
"I was always into finding weird guitar stuff," LaLonde said during a phone interview from the band's "illustrious studio" in San Francisco. "I used to think the new stuff was strange, but then I went back to the music of the '50s and found more stuff that was weirder."Primus - LaLonde, drummer Bryan "Brain" Mantia and figurehead/bassist/vocalist Les Claypool - will make another stop in the Salt Lake area at Saltair, Saturday, Sept. 27. Buck O Nine and Powerman 5,000 will open the show at 7:30 p.m.
"There is a lot of energy in Salt Lake City," LaLonde said, referring to the band's last appearance at Wolf Mountain during the HORDE Festival this past summer. "It's always a fun place to play."
LaLonde began his guitar-playing career back in 1981 after he saw Rush and Van Halen within a two-week period.
"I was blown away from what I saw," LaLonde said. "I had no idea what was about to come over me. The day after Van Halen, I convinced my parents to get me a guitar."
LaLonde fine-tuned his playing and eventually joined the death-metal band, the Possessed, before meeting up with Claypool in another band called Blind Illusion.
"I really wanted to get into a band that was a blend of Rush and the Dead Kennedys," LaLonde said.
Since LaLonde joined, the band has also added a new drummer. Original beat-master, Tim "Herb" Alexander, left last year and was replaced by Mantia, formerly of the Limbomaniacs.
Primus also joined the HORDE Festival, which included artists as diverse as Neil Young & Crazyhorse, Morphine and Big Head Todd & the Monsters. If Young had not been the headliner, there could be room to argue that Primus was the main draw. Thousands of people crammed together on mountainside at Wolf Mountain (now The Canyons) to hear such songs as "Those Damned Blue-Collar Tweekers" and "Jerry's a Racecar Driver."
"It must be something in the water," LaLonde said about the massive following Primus has gained in the last little while. "Actually, things slowly got to this point, but I have no idea why people like us so much."
LaLonde said it might have something to do with the band having formed when other bands such as the Red Hot Chili Peppers and Faith No More were coming out of the woodwork.
"We were lucky, I guess," LaLonde said about the band's timing. "But no one could figure out where we came from. We'd have gigs opening for the Sea Hags, Schooly D, Screamin' Jay Hawkins and Testament."
The new news of the band is the release of its new album called "The Brown Album." The featured track, "Fisticuffs," has garnered radio play all across the country.
"A lot of the songs came about during jam sessions," LaLonde said. "We would put a tape recorder in the middle of the room and play.
"A few hours later, we'd listen to the tape and throw out the songs that sucked. That's the way we work."