In an alternate timeline, Larry LaLonde never joined Primus. Instead, Todd Huth, who co-founded the band along with Les Claypool, is still the band’s lead guitarist.
He was instrumental in the creation of the Primus myth – and even co-wrote Suck on This, Frizzle Fry, and Sailing the Seas of Cheese.
“I got this idea of mashing symphonic theory with everything I learned before to see what would transpire,” he tells Guitar World in a new interview. “This mindset was pretty much the base for the early Primus guitar parts.”
Huth left the Primus circus in 1989; however, he remains close with Claypool to this day and has fond memories of those early, heady days.
“The way we usually wrote together was that Les would bring in a bass line he was working on, and I would take a song or idea I was kicking around and make it work with his part,” he says.
“For example, in John the Fisherman, I had been tweaking around with backward sliding and diminished patterns.
“Les would usually arrange the tune, and I would put in my two cents during the process. Sometimes, we would rehearse a new song one or two times, and surprisingly Les would put it on the next show’s playlist. It taught me how to gracefully stumble through a song.”
On the live front, things weren’t as harmonious. “We played every show we could get from dive bars to opening for Red Hot Chili Peppers,” Huth recalls. “I’d say one out of three people in the crowd liked us and the other two thought we sucked. Hence, ‘Primus Sucks.’”
‘Primus sucks’ eventually became a famous inside joke and a sort of “badge of honor” for fans of the band.
Huth notes, “[I thought] it was pretty clever for Les to come up with that idea of saying that on stage. You might as well say what most of the audience was thinking.
“We slowly accumulated a following but again found ourselves drummer-less. Since we were down, Les went on tour with Blind Illusion and tried out for Metallica. Because of that, I was thinking of moving on myself.
“In popped Jay Lane. It breathed new life into the band. Our crowds were growing, and our Primus/Sausage tape was selling well.” However, due to scheduling conflicts, Lane had to leave and they were “back on the drummer carousel.”
“Les seemed a bit disillusioned with drummers, bummed that Jay left and the fact that we just tried out 20 prospects, so he deferred the choice to me. I liked Tim [“Herb” Alexander] from the start. He’s a creative tactician, and his heavy groove is one for the archives.”
Huth didn’t even get to play with the drummer known for his polyrhythmic playing. Just as he had a kid and was working as a pipe fitter, Primus started touring a lot. The guitarist felt like he couldn’t keep up.
“I was exhausted and had less and less say over Primus’s scheduling. It was a difficult decision to leave Primus because of what I put into it. And I knew where it was heading. But I wanted to see my kid, Elmo, grow up.”
Guitar World’s interview with Todd Huth will be coming out in the coming weeks.
