John Hoffman might just be the luckiest man in music right now.
That’s because at the beginning of the year he was a professional, steady-gigging local drummer in his hometown of Shreveport, Louisiana. But all that changed a month later when it was announced he was the new drummer for Primus—the legendary Bay Area surreal funk-metal trio featuring bassist Les Claypool and guitar player Larry “Ler” LaLonde.
After embarking on their first tour with Hoffman in July, the new lineup makes their Santa Cruz debut on Sunday at the outdoor Quarry Amphitheater at UC Santa Cruz.
“The entire experience was just out of this world,” Hoffman says when asked about being chosen. “Especially looking back on it now, in the moment I was just holding on for dear life. But as I reflect on it now, it was quite a crazy series of events that led up to this whole thing.”
Crazy is an understatement.
“Unexpected,” “improbable” and “serendipitous” all come to mind when taking into consideration that less than a year ago nobody in Primus had any inclination they would need to audition new drummers. The then current drummer, Tim “Herb” Alexander, originally joined in 1989 as Primus’ second drummer, shortly before they recorded their debut, Suck On This. True, Alexander would quit and rejoin two more times, but he had been going strong since 2013.
However, on Oct. 17, 2024, he shocked the music world, fans and—more importantly—his band by abruptly quitting via email.
The band released a statement 12 days later saying “it came as a complete shock to all of us,” and that it “has been a bit bewildering for us that Herb would so abruptly opt out.”
Then on Nov. 18, the band posted another social media announcement, this time a call to arms and auditions for a drummer “taking submissions from all points in the universe.”
Recently, Hoffman released a video describing the step-by-step process of how he submitted his video and what happened after, in vivid detail along with clips of his submission mixed in. Primus has also released a series of videos online documenting the “Interstellar Drum Derby,” as they call it.
But the Cliff Notes version is that Hoffman submitted a video playing not only Primus songs but also a cornucopia of other tracks such as the Ren & Stimpy theme song along with video of himself playing live.
After Hoffman submitted, he received an email from Primus’ management saying he had made it through the rounds and the band wanted to see him audition in person in Los Angeles. However, his doubts were raised shortly after when it was discovered the band had been hacked and several contestants were catfished with fake emails.
“When they made that post, I was in denial at first,” he says. “‘That was everyone else, no way I got catfished.’ But then I started thinking about how my story was playing out and I thought, ‘Oh man, I’m probably the exact type of person they are talking about.’”
Luckily for him, and the fans—also known as “Primates”—the audition was very real and Hoffman (whom Claypool has nicknamed “Hoffington”) was announced as the official new drummer on Feb. 7 of this year.
In the past (almost) six months Hoffman says his life has gone from “zero to 1,000 miles per hour.” His first gig with the band was in March in the Dominican Republic when Primus played Tool’s Live in the Sand festival. That night was extra special as Tool drummer Danny Carey—one of Hoffman’s influences—played a bonus Primus.
“That was the cherry on top,” Hoffman says.
“It was an incredible moment. I didn’t really know what to expect and he turned out to be the kindest, happiest person I’ve met in a long time. As soon as we started playing the first note of the first song we just synched up like we were playing from the same brain. I’d think, ‘Oh man! I’m on stage with Danny!’ and then look over and he would be looking at me with a huge smile on his face.”
While Primus doesn’t have any immediate plans to go into the studio, Hoffman says there are murmurs about a new album in the not-so-distant future.
“We haven’t quite discussed a time frame, but the likelihood is very, very high,” he hints. “Nobody should be surprised if we had something going on sooner rather than later.”
Primus plays at 8pm on Aug. 3 at the Quarry Amphitheater, 1156 High St., Santa Cruz. $79.03-$393.97. quarryamphitheater.com
