How does anyone play a Rush album in its entirety? Let’s ask Les.

When Primus announced that they were about to go on tour and play the Rush album A Farewell To Kings as part of their live set, fans of both bands immediately paid attention. Here at Bass Player, we had a few burning questions to ask Les Claypool when we caught up with him, including ‘What the hell are you thinking?’, ‘Are you mad?’ and ‘What are you going to do when Geddy Lee shows up?’ among them.

We’re kidding, obviously – if any bassist on the planet can handle the demands of a Rush album, it’s the man from Primus, themselves a fearsomely funky band. Still, it was fascinating to dig deep into the Claypool cerebral cortex and see what was going on in there, and when we asked Geddy himself what he thought of this typically unpredictable Primus manoeuvre, what he said blew our minds – and Les’s mind, too. Life is never boring at BP, believe us.

Elsewhere in this issue we meet a whole bevy of bassists, from Brazil’s finest export Junior Groovador via Dire Straits’ bass player John Illsley to the Bootleg Beatles’ Steve White. We bring you a trio of reviews of essential bass gear, we offer tons of advice on music theory and techniques, and we even give you the chance to win a Bite Funky Booster bass.

And while we’re on the subject of cool stuff, why not consider a subscription to BP? Check out our offer on page 58, and think of all the time you could spend playing the fiendishly complex bass parts that are currently giving Les Claypool a headache, rather than buying the magazine in a store.

See you next month!