Brian Mantia - Drum Solo Artist

Brian "Brain" Mantia

Just in case you haven't heard, Brian "Brain" Mantia is Primus's new drummer, replacing Tim "Herb" Alexander. Brain became Primus's drummer approximately August 20th, 1996 (a mere three weeks after Tim and Primus split) by finding the golden drumhead. No, actually he didn't find a golden drumhead, he was chosen by Les and Ler. Brain will bring a new feel to Primus. Unlike Tim, Brain is a close friend of Les and Ler, and will therefore be more involved in Primus's writing that Tim was. Brain is also a "high-energy, hard-hitting drummer". As Les himself says, "Now that we have...Brain, there's an excitement in the band that hasn't been there ever!"
The combination of Brain and Primus is nothing new. In addition to touring with Les Claypool and the Holy Mackerel last fall (which featured a few special guest appearences by Ler), Brain was actually choosen as Primus's drummer about seven years ago. Apparently, Brain broke his foot in some kind of skateboarding accident, and was replaced by Tim Alexander. Also, if you look in the credits on the inside of Sailing the Seas of Cheese, you'll notice that Brain is listed among the Bastardos drummers. Of course, Brain was also a member of the elite "Fart Sandwich Posse" (Check out the inside cover of Frizzle Fry).

Prior to joining Primus last August, Brain was the drummer for the Limbomaniacs, which once featured Mark "M.I.R.V." Haggard. Brain also worked with MIRV on 1993's Cosmodrome -which was produced by Les Claypool- and a did a little drumming on the band's latest release, Feeding Time on Monkey Island.

Brain also used to drum for the Bill Laswell sideproject Praxis, whose members included Buckethead, Bernie Worell, and "Bootsy" Collins on Bass. Last year, Brain, Buckethead, and former Limbomaniacs guitarist Pete S. got together for a sideproject called Giant Robot, and Brain played drums for Godflesh on the summer '96 tour in addition to doing some work on their latest album. Brain has also worked with Tom Waits, Jon Hassell, and once did a little ditty with Les and Joe Gore (P.J. Harvey) called GoreLesBrain.