Claypool has also self produced and engineered his solo releases from his own studio "Rancho Relaxo." Les got the studio's name from a joke in an episode of The Simpsons. 2006 saw the release of a full-length feature film Electric Apricot written and directed by Claypool as well as a debut novel South of the Pumphouse.

Claypool was born September 29, 1963 in Richmond, California, but was raised in El Sobrante, California in a working class family with a history of working as auto mechanics. His early education included Collins Elementary School and De Anza High School. Les' parents divorced when he was a young child, but he says that he had a decent childhood, citing that he was never abused or severely bullied.

Claypool was able to develop his slap technique through listening to players like Stanley Clarke and Larry Graham. He also bought his first Carl Thompson bass, his trademark four string bass. (Claypool stated in August of 2009, that he now owns 13 bass guitars, including a multi-wood fretless 6-string called the Rainbow Bass.)

In 1986, after the death of Metallica bassist Cliff Burton, Claypool auditioned to play bass for Metallica, playing the song "Master of Puppets" on his bass. In Metallica's Behind the Music, Claypool said that during the audition he jokingly asked the others if they wanted to "jam on some Isley Brothers tunes." James Hetfield remarked that Claypool was not awarded the job because "he was too good".

Primus began as Primate with Les Claypool, guitarist Todd Huth and various drummers, most notably Jay Lane, in the mid-1980s, though Huth and Lane left shortly thereafter to pursue other projects. Claypool replaced them with guitarist Larry LaLonde and eclectic drummer Tim Alexander in 1989 (Tim "Herb" Alexander left the band in 1996 and was replaced by Brian "Brain" Mantia). Primus began selling out local clubs with their out-of-control live act and irreverent approach to music (their catchphrase was "Primus sucks!"). This was later to be changed.

From 1989 to 2000, Primus steadily became one of the most bizarre bands to gain significant mainstream airplay, headlining Lollapalooza in 1993, appearing on Late Night with David Letterman and Late Night with Conan O'Brien in 1995, and even making an appearance at Woodstock '94 where they performed their Pork Soda hit "My Name Is Mud" and were pelted with mud (Claypool claims to have mud still in his speakers). Also, in 1997, they were asked to play, and record, the theme song for the animated television show South Park. Claypool and Tom Waits have recorded on each other's records since 1991 and have continued to do so. In 1999 he let Activision use the song "Jerry Was a Race Car Driver" on the hit video game Tony Hawk's Pro Skater.

In 2000 Primus went on indefinite hiatus.

In late 2003 Claypool reunited with former Primus drummer Tim Alexander and guitarist Larry LaLonde to record a DVD/EP called Animals Should Not Try to Act Like People, which Claypool described as the first DVD with supplementary music, as opposed to the contrary. The band staged a two month tour in which they performed two sets per show, the second consisting of their 1991 release Sailing the Seas of Cheese in its entirety. They continued touring into 2004, even performing their 1990 release Frizzle Fry in its entirety.

In Mid-August 2006, a DVD release entitled Blame It on the Fish was added to the listings of Amazon and other online shops. Shortly thereafter, the website The PRP reported that a rumor had surfaced implying that the band was quietly planning a North American tour for November/December 2006.

On October 17, 2006, Primus released both their first greatest hits CD They Can't All Be Zingers and their third DVD Blame It on The Fish, subtitled An Abstract Look at the 2003 Primus Tour De Fromage.

They Can't All Be Zingers includes sixteen digitally remastered songs that span their entire career, including a previously unreleased and extended version of "Shake Hands with Beef," the Tom Waits collaboration "Coattails of a Deadman," and "Mary the Ice Cube" from the 2003 DVD and EP Animals Should Not Act Like People.

Claypool has let the video game Guitar Hero II use the Primus song, "John the Fisherman," one of two songs in the game using the actual recording instead of a cover.

Blame It on the Fish: An Abstract Look at the 2003 Primus Tour De Fromage contains live footage from the band's 2003 reunion tour, interview segments and behind the scenes footage. The DVD includes a 70 minute feature film and 90 minutes of bonus material, including a 30 minute mockumentary about the band in 2065. Blame It on the Fish is directed by Matthew J. Powers, who directed Never Been Done, a documentary about Jon Comer.

Primus: The Beat A Dead Horse Tour 2006 began in November 2006 and was completed the following December.

In 2008 Primus played at a few festivals including; Rothbury (in Michigan), The Ottawa Blues Fest, Quebec City Summer Fest, and Outside Lands Festival (in San Francisco).

Les Claypool let the DC snowboard team use the Primus song "Jerry Was a Race Car Driver" in their 2007 movie "DC Mt. Lab 1.5"

Mitch Allan was born in Baltimore, Maryland, the younger of two children. He graduated from Randallstown High School in Baltimore. Mitch also attended the University of Maryland at College Park and graduated with a BA in Mass Communication with a minor in Political Science.

His original band, Honor Among Thieves, became a big name on the Baltimore, MD music scene in the mid 1990's. They later changes their name to SR-71 when they signed to RCA Records. While playing the Baltimore music scene, he also ran and produced records out of Wall of Sound Recording Studio which later became Wright Way Studios.

As Honor Among Thieves, the quartet self-produced an independent album entitled Grow. Two songs from this disc would eventually be re-worked and placed on the SR-71 debut CD, Now You See Inside.

With a number two modern rock single, a number four video on MTV and endless touring, Now You See Inside was certified gold in the U.S. within five months of its release and would go on to sell more than 750,000 copies worldwide. The single "Right Now", written by Mitch Allan, would go on to appear in over a dozen films including Loser, Dude, Where's My Car?, and American Pie. Less than two years later, SR-71's second album, Tomorrow, written and co-produced by Allan, was released, producing another top 15 single and pushing their total worldwide sales to over 1 million. SR-71's third album, Here We Go Again (2004), is only available as a Japanese import. Allan had planned to release his solo album called Clawing My Way To The Middle.

Sci-Fi Actress Kelly Hu and Mitch Allan

In recent years, Mitch has been focusing his attention on song writing and producing. His most recent success was the Top 5 hit "1985" written by Allan, John Allen, and Jaret Reddick and performed by the band Bowling for Soup. Allan appears in the music video for the song. Originally only available on the SR-71 Japanese import CD Here We Go Again, the Bowling For Soup song "1985" has gone on to be certified Digital Triple Platinum and holds the iTunes record for the most downloads in a single week (over 23,000). It can be found on the Gold-certified Bowling For Soup album A Hangover You Don't Deserve and is part of the compilation Now That's What I Call Music! 17.

Mitch's writing/producing credits also include songs for artists such as Chris Daughtry, Faith Hill, The Jonas Brothers, Tokio Hotel, Takota, Anberlin, Monty Are I, Bo Bice, and Marty Casey & Lovehammers.

Recently, Mitch was nominated for a Latin Grammy for "Song of the Year" for the Belinda song "Bella Traición". A song co-written by Mitch and Kara DioGuardi entitled "Lost" was recorded by Faith Hill, and released as her first single from her greatest hits project. In 2009, he co-wrote with Kara DioGuardi and Cathy Dennis the American Idol winner's single "No Boundaries".

An avid poker player, Mitch is also one of the "famous faces" due to being a regular player on the online poker website Hollywood Poker, which is run in conjunction with Ongame Network.