Experimental metal packed with funk, prog, and tons of silliness.
Primus: Deep Cuts
Weirdo metal and rock grounded in rhythmic power and ingenuity.
About Primus
Hometown
El Sobrante, CA, United States
Formed
1984
Genre
Hard Rock
Avant-garde funk-metal band Primus formed in the Bay Area in 1984 and is celebrated for their mischievous musical style and quirky videos.
∙ Sailing the Seas of Cheese, their 1991 LP, featured the alternative hit “Jerry Was a Race Car Driver” and the single “Tommy the Cat,” which they performed in Bill & Ted’s Bogus Journey.
∙ Their third album, 1993’s Pork Soda, which included the hit “My Name Is Mud,” debuted at No. 7 on the Billboard 200 chart and went Platinum in 1997.
∙ “Wynona’s Big Brown Beaver”—the band’s funk-rap hit—received a 1996 Grammy nomination for Best Hard Rock Performance.
∙ Directed by stop-motion animator Mike Johnson, the video for their 1998 cover of Charlie Daniels’ “The Devil Went Down to Georgia” became a viral hit.
∙ In 2011, Green Naugahyde, the band’s first full-length LP since 1999’s Antipop, rose to No. 15 on the Billboard 200 and into the Top 10 of three other charts.
∙ As a tie-in with their 2014 album, Primus & The Chocolate Factory with The Fungi Ensemble, the band sold Primus Bars and other chocolate treats named after their songs.
∙ The band's most enduring track is the theme to the long-running cartoon South Park.
Members of Primus include, or have included, Les Claypool, Tim Alexander, Larry LaLonde and more.
Musical InfluencesPrimus's musical influences include Grateful Dead, Adrian Belew, Talking Heads and more.