001 Primus At The Factory

In our debut episode, we revisit an unforgettable night with Primus at The Factory in St. Louis on May 30, 2026. We talk about the music, the atmosphere, the moments that stood out, and the culture that makes live music special. We also share the story behind the limited-edition concert poster created for the show, from the inspiration behind the artwork to how fans connect with it on show night. 10 Free Posters with Jerm & Jay is part concert recap, part creative journey, and all about the conversations that happen after the show.

Transcript

SPEAKER_01 0:00

Hey everybody, this is Ten Free Posters with Jerm and Jay. Conversations after the show. I'm your host, Jeremy Karas, and with me always is my co-host, Jay Heikela. How's it going, Jay?

SPEAKER_00 0:12

Good journey. Thank you for having me here.

SPEAKER_01 0:16

Yeah, thanks for being here. Thanks for uh being in the studio. And uh I am so excited, man. You and I have been talking about doing this forever, starting a podcast, and here we are. We're gonna do it.

SPEAKER_00 0:32

We have, we have. We talk bullshit all the time, and uh and you know it's good to finally record it.

SPEAKER_01 0:39

At Primus, I think you said something to me or you know, like I said something to you, and it was just like it clicked. I was like, let's let's make this the podcast, let's talk about going to shows.

SPEAKER_00 0:51

Yep. I think it this it it it all always revolved around music and and being dad. So again, I'm happy to hear I'm happy to be here having these discussions.

SPEAKER_01 1:04

I am too. I'm excited because you know, I get to be with my friend, I get to drink some beers and just chill out and talk about stuff. And speaking of beers, uh, I am enjoying a lovely cacao lager from Iron Hops Brewing. How about you, Jay? What are you drinking?

SPEAKER_00 1:22

Jeremy, I am drinking Battle of Brew IPA. How is it? It's um it's battling with my taste buds in a good way.

SPEAKER_01 1:33

If you haven't heard of Iron Hops Brewing, they're a St. Louis brewery here. Uh Jay and I are both friends with the owner, Chad Thompson. Uh our kids actually go to school together. So if you've never heard of them or tried them before and you're in the St. Louis area, I greatly recommend it. They're a really good beer. Uh if you check out ironhops.com, you can check out all their uh signature beers. They have nine of them and they have three seasonal beers. So yeah, maybe uh let's kick things off and and just chat about, you know, like uh why did we choose Primus?

SPEAKER_00 2:08

Well, I I I'll I'll say on this one, you know, and and as what this series goes forward, you know, this this I think the question this question will always change. I think some of these bands you did they touched you and some of them have touched me. This is a one that we both know and love, but um, but I think definitely I brought this one to our attention because uh it had been a few years since I'd seen Primus. Um and uh and I w uh wanted to see him play with uh with Sean Lennon. Oh in the Lennon uh claypool delirium. Oh, delirium. Uh it was delirious.

SPEAKER_01 2:50

I agree. It was quite delirious, um, in a very delightful way. Uh getting to see Sean Lennon up there jamming with Les Claypool was just chef's kiss.

SPEAKER_00 3:02

It was awesome. Indeed, indeed. I mean part of it is that Les Claypool was, you know, with all of these acts, you know, so his bass lines were gonna be funking, we're gonna be funking up all three of these acts. So I was excited. Uh I was excited to check this out. And I will say too, Jeremy, having now seen b many shows at the factory, this was by far the most packed I'd seen it.

SPEAKER_01 3:35

So I know, man. That was crazy. I feel like we we didn't even approach the doors until like eight uh like eight eight fifteen-ish, maybe, and you could already hear the music going on. I was a little bummed about that. The the line was still. Yeah, but I mean, it's a lot of people you gotta get everybody in there safely, so it makes sense. Um, so Jay, we talked, you know, why Primus and uh why this show. Um why don't we talk a little bit more deeply about the music and like the experience? Uh what did you think about the music?

SPEAKER_00 4:23

Uh you know, if we're talking about the music and the s you know what what I really loved about this particular performance, um, I guess if we're gonna talk specifically about Primus for a second, and I think I even mentioned this to you at the show itself, was that um it was my impression, um, and I and let me preface too, Jeremy. This is good to know, and I don't know if this is the same for you, but I do not go online and look at the set lists of any of the bands that we're going to see. Um, I know some people do that, and you might too. Um, and that's okay. I'm not here to judge.

SPEAKER_01 5:09

Typically, I I do it for this. I think I went in the same way too. I went in with I listened to their music to get ready to design the poster, which we'll talk about, but really I just listen to their music.

SPEAKER_00 5:23

Sure, sure. Um, and and again, just from I don't I don't ever look at not even super fan stuff. I never look at the set list. Um, so with that said, um my impression was that there were a ton of deep cuts at this show. Um for instance, the very first song that they played was not, you know, Cherry was a race car driver, or um, you know, or my name is Mud, or any of the you know big ones, or even you know, my you know, when known as Big Brown Brown Beaver, but but was Herald of the Rocks, which is a which is a deep cut on uh Frizzle Fry, which is their first studio album. Um and uh and and and I mean I I doubt there is what you could call a radio play song from Frizzle Fry, but the single, if we're gonna call it that, from um was not Herald of the Rocks. And so for them to start this show with that, and and and me being the the late 40-year-old person that I was at that show, I noticed, and I don't think I'd told you this, but when that started, and it there was old there was a bunch of people next to me that weren't singing along, probably because they didn't know the song.

SPEAKER_01 6:59

That's interesting. Do you think maybe they just didn't know about it?

SPEAKER_00 7:04

Who knows? Uh but there don't get me wrong, there were plenty of people singing too, you know, but um, but there were but there was a ton of um of cuts like that. Um in fact, like um, like like um like Mr. Crinkle, you know, from from Pork Soda, um, you know, um Sailing the Seas of Cheese from album the same name. Yeah. Um yeah, I was excited, dude. You know, I was excited to hear that. So that that gave me a musical boner. That's awesome. A musical boner. I see. The whole show. I don't know how PG13 or or whatever we're going with this podcast, but there you go. And by the way, I'll clarify there was not a real agree on that.

SPEAKER_01 8:03

Uh there was no physical or real one. But I will say, um, for myself, uh a part of the music, I really loved uh Sean Lennon and Les Claypool when they played uh Astronomy Demine by Pink Floyd. Um, you know, being a big Pink Floyd fan myself, I found it um really, really cool to just like hear that song. I closed my eyes and I just sat there and bobbed and you know, it just all felt right with the world. It was awesome.

SPEAKER_00 8:36

Yes. And uh, you know, uh one the one thing that I really enjoyed was how they jammed on a lot of these songs. Oh, just kind of like extended it out a bit. Drew them out, yeah, you know, just drew them out, which makes sense. I mean, you know, I'm not a big jam band, you know, I'm not as I'm not, you know, into the grateful dead and and fish. I mean, I like that music, you know, but I mean, you know, I'm not one to go to all those kind of shows, you know, to you know, and then part of the that appeal is that almost every concert is different. Oh, yeah. You know what I mean? Which I love that idea. I mean, if you love live music, you know, that's what's awesome, is that every performance of the same song is just gonna be a little different, you know. Um and then when you just can take a you know a four-minute song and draw it out to ten minutes and just jam on it and just do something different and see where it goes in different places, every every show, you know, is awesome. Um and and and I'm very uh I'm not a big jam band person, but uh, but I I love that where Primus has gone with that. And so it's cool because you know, it's a lot of the classic songs that I know, um, you know, just drawn out a little bit. And I thought that was really cool. So Jeremy, we've we've talked about the band a little bit, and I mean we could talk about Primus all night, or certainly I could, and talk about songs and that, but I mean, you know, the one of the big reasons we're here talking about music and and and other than for us two to get together and drink beer and talk about music is is to talk about the posters. Yeah, because you know the well obviously the name of this podcast is ten free posters, but um you know what what inspired you to start making these posters? In fact, I I don't even remember anymore what was the first one. Certainly maybe and I don't even name I don't even think the first one what was exactly one that we even went to. Um so I don't know, do you wanna do you wanna tell us uh everyone a little bit about how you came to wanting to do this?

SPEAKER_01 11:17

Yeah, I mean that's part of why we're here, you know. It's the first cast, so yeah, let's get into it. So before I jump into the details of why I started all this, let me preface this by saying I love music. There's just something about seeing a band you admire and getting to experience that unique live performance at the venue. I mean, there's just nothing like it. You know, along with this love for music, I love the band poster art and I love the culture. I enjoy it because after the shows you have this artifact and every time you look at this piece of artwork, you get to relive bits and pieces of the experience of that night. Um also, yes, you are right, Jay. But the first poster I ever created was actually for my own band, Locust Feather. I wanted to promote the band's first album, Hit Record. So March of 2025, I decided to make a poster for it. And a really funny thing happened in the process of creating this one poster. I realized how much I really enjoyed making it. After I finished producing it and holding it in my hands, I got this crazy idea. I was like, hey, why not just start making my own posters for the shows I was gonna go see? As well, I was like, why not just give them away? Put them in the hands of the fans directly. And if someone wants to buy it from me, then great. You know, it's an extra bonus, and it and you know, it'll just go towards my art supplies, so I can keep doing it. But let me say this that you know the money's not why I do this. It's nice, but in the end it's not my goal. Really, the basis of all this to me is I'm not trying to take away from the experience, I'm trying to add to it for fans. You know, as a fan myself, I love going to the show, I love getting a poster, you know, but now I look forward to giving away posters after seeing the show and seeing the fans getting excited for this extra moment that they weren't even expecting. So that's kind of the story behind like why all of this started. But you know, for the Primus show specifically, I listened to their entire catalog. It was just fun to sit there and like listen to music, just let it fill my brain and explore different ideas on paper and sketch out different things. And so honestly, the initial idea I had for the Primus poster, it was gonna be of a zombie crawling out of the ground, holding their ears and like screaming the name Primus, like because of how loud and annoyed they were um by the band playing over their grave. You know, but then as I sat there and I worked out these ideas, uh an idea just popped in my head. So Gold from Claypool Gold, and then knowing, you know, the venue, the factory, it just it sort of all clicked in my brain. And I immediately thought of uh the condescending Wonka meme uh that features Gene Wilder from the Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory movie. From there, everything really just fell into place, and I I just rode this wave of inspiration. The candy theme, as well as a bit of like this Dr. Seuss feel of the the churning factory in the background with the smoke coming out and everything. I think that's something I really try to do with these posters. Um I'm not beholden to anyone. Um so to me, I really just try to to spend this time and really tie everything together. The music, the band, the location, the experience. I try not to rush things. I like to think about it in ways to just tie it all together and tell this really cohesive story with hand-drawn artwork. So I enjoy it because it feels cathartic, and I like to think that the fans see it and feel that way too. And speaking of the fans, uh I'd like to use this time to give a special shout out to all the fans that supported the Primus poster drop. Your support really means the world to us. And here's that list of fans in no particular order. Carlos Ariz Mendy, Scott Brown, Samantha Rourke, Aubrey Quinn, Taylor Fall, Dean West, Greg Gaz, Jeff Maz, Jeff Christopher, Jeremiah Evans, Dustin Merritt, Randall Stevens, Roger Wallace, Nathan Norton, Scott Claude Felter, Michael Davis, Clint Barry, and last but not least, the captain. And if you've ever been to a Primus show, then you've probably seen the Captain there. If not, you can check out the video I've got on my social media where the captain is picking up his poster, all dressed up for Primus. Oh wow. I mean, we we've talked about the you know the experience we had had at the show. We talked about you know the posters a bit. I think it's time to kind of you know kind of wrap things up here. So what what stuck with you from this show? What was your favorite moment?

SPEAKER_00 16:36

I I enjoyed the show more when we moved or I enjoyed the whole thing, but um when we moved and we had a little bit more room, I I I felt like I could bob a little bit more to the music, and that that made me feel good. Um yeah, you know, like I said, it was a pack show, but we were among friends. Okay. Um, and and and I loved that. I thought it was uh it was it was really good.

SPEAKER_01 17:10

Right on, right on. I agree, man. That little subtle move from the right side to the left side just kind of opened things up for us, and you know, we found our place and our people and we just were grooving along with it. So it was a lot of fun. Just want to say thanks to everybody for listening to our first episode. And um if you got a poster at the show or you like the show or you have anything you wanted to, you know, contribute or say, you can always reach out to us via email at tenfreeposters podcast at gmail.com. As well, you can find me on uh social media under the handle Jerem's Drawings. This has been Ten Free Posters with Jerem and Jay. Conversations after the show. Thanks for listening, and we look forward to more conversations.

SPEAKER_00 17:57

Thank you everyone. Talk to you soon, I think.