Primus have recruited Tool drummer Danny Carey to fill in for Tim Alexander while he recovers from open heart surgery.
Carey will play with Les Claypool and co at a handful of September shows, with Alexander set to return to the fold in October. Carey will be on the stool for appearances at Riot Fest in Chicago and Denver.
Claypool tells Rolling Stone: “The mighty Tim ‘Herb’ Alexander is a polyrhythmic viking of extreme and unique talent so the one person that we thought could step into his shoes and do it justice is the one and only Mr Danny Carey.
“Whereas Herb is the stocky, Easter Island-faced, boulder of a drumming human, at nearer to seven feet, Danny Carey is the mighty redwood tree of percussion – towering over his kit like a golden-haired noble sequoia.
“I can’t wait to see that menacing grin of Danny’s shine out as we pound our way through Here Come the Bastards and Those Damned Blue-Collar Tweekers. He’s a dear old friend and we are extremely excited to have him aboard, and I would wager we are equally if not more intrigued than most by what kind of sounds are going to come out of the three of us once we actually get in a room together and do more than just consume fancy booze.”
Claypool adds that Primus decided to go through with the shows to give Alexander some financial relief and that Carey was their top choice.
The two bands have a connection, in that Alexander has played with Tool frontman Maynard James Keenan in Puscifer and A Perfect Circle.
Claypool adds: “When Tim had a minor heart attack a few weeks back we were all startled. When he went in for an angioplasty the next morning and they said he needed a triple bypass we were all shocked. Tim is the ‘Ginseng drummer’ for a reason. He was always the non-meat eating, teetotaling, mastodon of a man who could throw a football over a mountain, chuck a curve ball at 89 miles per hour and could play his drums for hours on end without breaking a sweat, but unfortunately genetics and a taste for dessert have a way of catching up and kicking one’s balls.
“The great Herbinator has undergone his surgery and has come out with flying colours, but alas, it will be weeks before he can man the Primus percussion helm.”
Primus release new album Primus & the Chocolate Factory on October 21, while Tool are finally working on a follow-up to 2006’s 10,000 Days after years of legal wrangling over artwork royalties.
