Primus has shared the latest installment of the Interstellar Drum Derby video series, featuring Nikki Glaspie. The Nth Power drummer was one of over 6,100 drummers who sent in auditions for the open seat in Primus, ultimately filled by John Hoffman.
Thursday’s video follows previous installments featuring Rory Dolan, Thomas Pidgen, Mike Stone, Stan Bicknell, and Sam Groveman who were among the ten drummers flown out to L.A. for an in-person try-out with Les Claypool and Larry “Ler” LaLonde. While Glaspie may have seemed like a bit of an outside pick for the outlandish alt-metal band, Nikki’s well-documented funk chops were right in the group’s wheelhouse.
As Claypool explained in the video, previous drummers Bryan “Brain” Mantia and Jay Lane (Claypool’s personal favorite of the band’s long line of drummers) came from funk/R&B backgrounds and the band’s unique funk-metal sound reflects that. “And Nikki Glaspie is pretty damn funky,” Claypool said, which goes without saying to anyone who’s seen her myriad projects. Ler was also already familiar with Glaspie through their shared work with percussion psycho Mike Dillon.
An in-demand session and touring drummer, Glaspie has played with Beyoncé, Jay-Z, Dumptaphunk, George Porter Jr., and many more. Most recently, she was abroad in Europe recording an album with Snarky Puppy and the Metropole Orkest, jetting off to L.A. for the Primus audition days after returning from the Netherlands.
“I listened to Primus in high school, just to be able to come in here and play with these dudes is f–ing awesome,” Glaspie said ahead of her audition. “Literally my entire life I’ve been playing drums, so that was my preparation for this.”
After Nikki tried her hand at one of Les’ basses, the trio got down to business with an open jam—one that prompted Claypool to declare “You’re bad as f–k!” Unfortunately, Glaspie did not get the list of staple songs Primus passed along to all of the drummers for their auditions, but they winged it with “My Name is Mud” and “Tommy the Cat”. Though Glaspie wasn’t as intimately familiar with the material as she would have liked, that wasn’t necessarily a deciding factor for the band.
“[Jay Lane]’s not the type of guy, especially back then, who’s gonna sit down and learn a bunch of songs,” Claypool recalled. “A lot of those songs we already had prior to him coming into the band. And he just came in and interpreted them his way. He just kinda heard it and was like [imitates drum playing] and he did his thing and you’re like ‘Holy f–k.’ It was amazing. And that’s what [Nikki’s audition] reminded me of.”
Even though Glaspie didn’t get the job, she expressed sincere gratitude for the opportunity to come and jam with some musicians she had listened to for years.
“I’m just happy coming in here talking, hanging out, and playing music,” she said.
Watch Nikki Glaspie audition for Primus in episode six of the Interstellar Drum Derby. Primus recently announced the Onward & Upward Tour, the band’s first headlining outing with John Hoffman. Find tickets and a full list of tour dates here.
Primus Interstellar Drum Derby | Ep. 06 – Nikki Glaspie | When in Doubt, Wham it up