On artistic holiday from Primus, a hard-to-describe band that the bassist, vocalist and songwriter has fronted since 1988, Claypool continues his rock experimentation with the Frog Brigade. Hes leading them across the nation as part of the SnoCore Icicle Ball winter festival. It comes on the heels of Claypools labor of love, playing with Police alumnus Stewart Copeland and Phishs Trey Anastasio in Oysterhead. Far from a stranger to new collaborations, Claypool has always seemed to have several side projects going outside of Primus. Sausage found him playing with drummer Jay Lane of Rat Dog. And in Les Claypool and the Holy Mackerel, he was in a line-up with Lane, Henry Rollins and Charlie Hunter.

Claypools musicianship also can be heard on albums by Rushs Alex Lifeson, Alice In Chains Jerry Cantrell, Tom Waits and Rob Wasserman. Two of the members of The Frog Brigade, whose sound Claypool describes as Frank Zappa meets Pink Floyd meets King Crimson, also are in Rat Dog. I just wanted to put together a collection of the best musicians I possibly can, Claypool explains of his intentions for Frog Brigade. We definitely have a lot of people interact with us.

Every night is different musically, he says. Theres just a lot more textures now (than with Primus). I didnt want to do Primus again. Pretty much anything I do will have a strong Primus element because I was a Primus guy. In addition to Claypool and Lane, The Frog Brigade includes: Keyboardist Jeff Chimenti, who has played with Phil Lesh, En Vogue and jazz legends Pharoah Sanders, James Moody, Ernie Watts, Art Farmer and Frank Morgan. Guitarist Todd Hutch, an original member of Primus and alumnus of Sausage. Saxophonist Skerik, who has been a member of Galactic and Tuatara (featuring REMs Pete Buck). Guitarist Enor, who has been involved in various music projects, including Channel 23 and the band Breakfast.All these guys in the band are monster musicians. If you saw any of them play individually you would go This guy is a monster. These guys are the top of the line at what they do, says Claypool.

SnoCores Icicle Ball (named by Claypool) is the first opportunity of the new year to see what he means. Theres not a lot of winter touring going on. This is a good winter package. Its something for people to do when the suns not shining, he says. ARTISTdirect.com has announced what it is calling the most ambitious SnoCore touring extravaganza ever to take place in the events six-year history. There are two touring units on the road simultaneously.

The SnoCore Icicle ball co-headlines Claypool and the Frog Brigade and Galactic, with special guests Lake Trout (through Feb. 4) and Drums and Tuba (from Feb. 5 on). The SnoCore Rock tour features Fear Factory, Kittie, The Union Underground, Slaves on Dope and Boy Hits Car. Both SnoCore tours will play most of the same cities and venues, and within a few days of each other. SnoCore is billed as the original winter lifestyle tour. Expect lots of music, lots of players, very good players, a lot of grooving. Its very groove-oriented, says Claypool. He describes the SnoCore Icicle Ball as focusing on more of the jam scene. The jam environment has been a natural place for him, Claypool acknowledges. The scene itself is evolving so much right now. Im sort of a new guy to it, but Ive seen that it is evolving into something different than what I perceived it as.

He says he first thought it was a hippie scene. But its really evolving. A lot of groups are falling under than moniker. They have an identity of their own. Galactic is more of a funk band. We are coming in with a much more edgy and aggressive thing and its going over amazingly well. Lake Trout has jungle-type stuff and different dance grooves. So I think its almost a hub more than it is a scene. Anytime youve got horizons broadening its healthy.

Claypool sees collaboration as a way to gain experience. You are feeding off someone. It could be a good or bad experience, but youre still going to learn from it. Kids always ask me what advice I can give them. I tell them to Play as often as you can with as many different people as you can. The reason I got in this whole thing was to be able to do things and play with people I respect. He says while he does not necessarily enjoy playing with one artist more than another, it was an amazing experience for him to play with Copeland and Anastasio. There was a chemistry I never experienced before. We wrote seven songs in three days, he says.

Asked if he wants to keep reinventing himself and have people not know what to expect, Claypool says, I have an urge to keep myself interested in what I do. He laughs. Its about keeping yourself fresh and keeping it fresh for others, he explains. The theory in all forms of business, whether you are a contractor or in shoe sales, is keeping your life fresh keeps you fresh. Right now what is motivating him is the new environment in which he is playing. Im getting into being a musician again, as opposed to being a rock star or whatever the hell I had been doing. Thats not a bad thing, but Im more into my instrument and my craft than I am marketing my band. This is like my first interview in six months.

Claypool says it was a good time to stand back from Primus and let things breathe a little bit. Our Anti-Pop album received great critical acclaim, more so than we had in a number of years. When it came out, our record company merged with another company and they released a shitload of records. We got list in the pile with quite a few other acts. It was a bit frustrating.

The original intent with Primus, he says, was just to do something original, something different than what was popular at the time. We try to open doors, always do different things. The challenge is throwing a lot of spaghetti at the wall. At the time the big bands were Guns N Roses, Cinderella, Warrant. We were coming up and sort of rebelling against that. Has he achieved what he wanted to with Primus? More so than I ever dreamed, Claypool says. The music scene is always a little bizarre, he says. For guys like me, we are just so repulsed by what is pop music. A lot of that stuff frightens me. Ive got kids and want them to have good taste and be open-minded and original thinkers, and I try to steer them toward things I think are creative. But at some point they are going to come around the house when they are 9 or 12 or whatever and bring around the Britney Spears of the day. And Ill just have to deal with it. My little sister used to bring around the New Kids on the Block. That was the greatest thing to her. That loud sound you hear is Colonel Les Claypool shuddering.