Les Claypool's Memories of Failing to Audition for Metallica's Bassis

JAKARTA - The world of rock music would have a very different face if history had been on Les Claypool's side in 1986.

The Primus band leader opened a long page about his experience when auditioning to become Metallica's bassist, after the tragic departure of Cliff Burton.

Claypool's relationship with Metallica has its roots in school days, where he was good friends with the guitarist, Kirk Hammett. However, this closeness did not necessarily make him understand the direction of Metallica's music, which was soaring to the top of global popularity.

Claypool admitted that he came to the audition room casually, even joking, which was greeted with awkward silence by the Metallica members who were grieving and seriously looking for a replacement.

"I don't know how popular they were back then. We played one or two songs and I said, 'Hey, you want to jam on the Isley Brothers song?' No one laughed," Claypool recalled, quoted by The Guardian, Saturday, March 21.

Claypool's eccentric appearance with blonde mohawk hair, loose skater pants, and different-colored tennis shoes, was in stark contrast to Metallica's pride uniform at the time: greasy hair and tight jeans.

"It's very clear that I'm not suited. I remember Lars saying, 'You're not really used to this kind of music, are you?' My first response was, oh my god, it's so noisy! Then I asked them to play the Isley Brothers song as a joke, but they didn't think it was funny at all," said the 62-year-old musician.

Although James Hetfield once joked in the Behind The Music documentary that Claypool was "too good" for Metallica, Claypool denied the claim. According to him, the main reason was purely because of character differences. He even bluntly called himself a "freak" in Metallica's eyes at that time.

"At the time, I thought joining them would be a fantastic and fun thing to do, but I'm so grateful it didn't happen. I wouldn't have fit in. They're not stupid," he added.

Currently, Claypool is preparing to release an album with a concept album themed on artificial intelligence (AI) titled "The Great Parrot-Ox and the Golden Egg of Empathy" with Sean Ono Lennon.

On the other hand, Primus has just announced a tour schedule in England and Europe after finding a new drummer, John Hoffman, to replace Tim Alexander's position who left in 2024.