John Hoffman - New Primus Drummer

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Trilock_Gurtu

Trilock_Gurtu

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Title says it all. John Hoffman came out on top. Lots of amazing auditions, but in the end John was the guy I was pulling for. Congrats to him!

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Primus sucks.
 
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I actually know John. He's from the Shreveport LA area and I'm from Texarkana TX which is just about an hour apart. He's an amazing drummer so it doesn't surprise me at all that he got the gig. He's also a good vocalist. His Bob Marley cover band Stiff Necked Fools played here in town where he's the lead singer in addition to playing some percussion as well. Awesome stuff.

Here's a video they made for one of their songs about 12 years ago. John is a pretty funny guy too. :)

 
glynch said:
I actually know John. He's from the Shreveport LA area and I'm from Texarkana TX which is just about an hour apart. He's an amazing drummer so it doesn't surprise me at all that he got the gig. He's also a good vocalist. His Bob Marley cover band Stiff Necked Fools played here in town where he's the lead singer in addition to playing some percussion as well. Awesome stuff.

Here's a video they made for one of their songs about 12 years ago. John is a pretty funny guy too. :)

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Nice! Didn't know he had a voice, too. I think his Dad sang in a reggae group back in that day? Must be in the jeans. Yeah, I'm looking forward to seeing him play with Primus.
 
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Is it terrible of me to only care if they have a cool kit like Herb? For me that was half the fun of watching Herb, was him playing that big kit with those octos and gong drum.
LOVED his orange porkpie kit.

Either way, congrats to him! Interested to hear how he fits in with 'em!
 
bigbonzo said:
Why does it say "Primus sucks" at the bottom your post?
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Haha it's a longstanding joke. The band started it themselves (I believe), way back. It's tongue and cheek, old school Primus fans say it all the time, the band has a good sense of humour, it's never taken personally.
 
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bigbonzo said:
Why does it say "Primus sucks" at the bottom your post?
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Trilock_Gurtu said:
Haha it's a longstanding joke. The band started it themselves (I believe), way back. It's tongue and cheek, out school Primus fans say it all the time, the band has a good sense of humour, it's never taken personally.
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Tool has the same thing going …
 
aizoyurei said:
Is it terrible of me to only care if they have a cool kit like Herb? For me that was half the fun of watching Herb, was him playing that big kit with those octos and gong drum.
LOVED his orange porkpie kit.

Either way, congrats to him! Interested to hear how he fits in with 'em!
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Same for me (when I was a kid). Herb's love for Peart was obvious from the beginning. It's interesting seeing the different Primus drummers over the years, and how their setups reflected their styles. Herb was Prog guy, Brain is more of a rock, bombastic player, and Jay to me was more of a Jam band type vibe (perfect if you consider who he's playing for now). It's really cool how Primus let each player do their thing. That history alone should have been a huge clue for the drummers auditioning - you be you. Instead I suspect that 99.9% of the audition videos were of Primus covers, and the vast majority of those the same cluster of Primus tunes (John the Fisherman, My Name is Mud, etc etc).

John stuck out to me, and I think to Les, as well. Remember, yes, Les loves Rush/Prog, but he equally loves old school funk acts, like the Isley Brothers, Booty's, etc etc. A majority of the audition videos were everyone trying to be Herb, or Prog out. I don't think Primus was interested in repeating themselves, but wanting to evolve into something "new". If they wanted to keep doing the Prog type vibe, they would just hired Thomas P. He would have gave them all the chops they needed. Nah, John snuck in the back door. I think his pocket and creative ideas really stuck out to the band. Plus, he showed he has more than enough chops if they want to Prog out, but he'll do it in an interesting and "his style" type of way.

I haven't been this excited to hear new music from Primus in a long time. I think (and hope) John is going to breath some new air into the band.
 
Outstanding! He’s awesome and fits the bill hopefully. Here’s a true story. Way back in ‘84 or ‘85, I answered a BAM (Bay Area Music magazine) ad for a drummer in a “very original band”, I think it said. I called and left a message on a machine telling them I was new to the Bay Area and was looking to play. I had no idea who the band was. A few days later, someone dropped a cassette into my mail slot in Oakland. It was just a beat up cassette and a sheet of paper with a phone number. On the tape it said Primus. Never heard of them and I gave it a listen. YIKES!! What the hell was that? I thought.

I didn’t call back. No, I don’t have the tape. It got thrown away that night.
 
Trilock_Gurtu said:
Haha it's a longstanding joke. The band started it themselves (I believe), way back. It's tongue in cheek, out school Primus fans say it all the time, the band has a good sense of humour, it's never taken personally.
Click to expand...
Primus sucks is a rare musical common ground for my wife and I, although she means it quite literally.
 
I was perplexed that on the YT title stating he got the gig for Primus a month ago but the video said he was still auditioning but then the release was yesterday...confusing. Either way, congrats to John...sounds like a solid player. Saw Ler lost his home in the fires in the middle of this
 
s1212z said:
I was perplexed that on the YT title stating he got the gig for Primus a month ago but the video said he was still auditioning but then the release was yesterday...confusing. Either way, congrats to John...sounds like a solid player. Saw Ler lost his home in the fires in the middle of this
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I know, right. When that second video came out, it confused me, too. But after watching it, it made sense, and was kinda funny. The irony that he did end up getting the gig is pretty epic.
 
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