# The guitarist who built Primus, then walked away > Todd Huth co-wrote the first three Primus records, picked their drummer, then left right before it all broke open. - Title: The guitarist who built Primus, then walked away | Shortify - Summary: Todd Huth co-wrote the first three Primus records, picked their drummer, then left right before it all broke open. Huth shaped the sound that made Primus… - Keywords: primus, les claypool, guitar, band history, 90s rock, guitarist, built, walked, away, Guitar World - Source: Guitar World — https://guitarworld.com/artists/guitarists/primus-tim-huth-recalls-the-bands-early-pre-fame-days - Published: 2026-09-12T11:00:00+00:00 - Read time: 1 min - Topics: primus, les claypool, guitar, band history, 90s rock ## The other Primus guitarist Todd Huth co-founded Primus with Les Claypool and co-wrote Suck on This, Frizzle Fry and Sailing the Seas of Cheese, all before Larry LaLonde arrived. ## Symphonic theory, mashed up Huth's plan was to run symphonic theory through everything else he had learned and see what came out. That mix became the blueprint for early Primus guitar parts. > I got this idea of mashing symphonic theory with everything I learned before to see what would transpire ## How the songs got written Claypool would bring in a bass line and Huth would bend one of his own ideas to fit it. On John the Fisherman that meant backward slides and diminished patterns. ## Learning to stumble gracefully A new song might get rehearsed once or twice, then show up on the next night's setlist. Huth says that habit taught him how to fall through a song without stopping. > It taught me how to gracefully stumble through a song. ## Where Primus Sucks came from They took any gig going, from dive bars up to opening for Red Hot Chili Peppers. About one person in three liked them, so Claypool started saying it from the stage first. > I'd say one out of three people in the crowd liked us and the other two thought we sucked ## The drummer carousel Drummer-less again, Claypool toured with Blind Illusion and tried out for Metallica. Jay Lane revived the band, then had to leave. After 20 tryouts, Claypool let Huth choose Tim Alexander. > He's a creative tactician, and his heavy groove is one for the archives. ## He picked Elmo A new kid, a pipe fitting job, and a band that had started touring constantly. Huth had almost no say over the schedule, and he knew exactly where Primus was headed when he quit in 1989. > But I wanted to see my kid, Elmo, grow up. ## Key takeaway Huth shaped the sound that made Primus work, then chose watching his kid grow up over the tour bus, and kept Claypool as a friend anyway.