Tim Alexander Biography
Timothy Wayne Alexander (born April 10, 1965), also credited as "Herb" Alexander, is an American musician best known as the drummer for the rock band Primus. Alexander has been in the band across three stints; he initially left the band in 1996 and rejoined in 2003 before leaving again in 2010 and re-joining in 2013. Alexander has played in several projects with Tool frontman Maynard James Keenan including the bands Puscifer and A Perfect Circle. He earned the nickname "Herb" from his Primus bandmates after carrying a fanny pack full with herbs like ginseng that he would distribute.
Biography
Alexander got the job with Primus replacing Jay Lane (along with Larry LaLonde who replaced Todd Huth) in 1988, and lasted until 1996. Les Claypool spoke of Alexander's playing in an interview with B* Player: " is a very precise player. Even when we're really stretching on something, you can rarely tell that we're still a band that doesn't rehearse much. And a huge part of that is because of Tim". Alexander has played on the majority of Primus's discography, including some of the band's most well known albums such as Frizzle Fry (1990), Sailing the Seas of Cheese (1991), Pork Soda (1993) and Tales from the Punchbowl (1995).
Following Alexander's departure from Primus, he went on to form his own group, Laundry, which released on Claypool's label Prawn Song Records. They put out two albums and were based in the Bay area of San Francisco. On September 25, 2013, Rolling Stone announced via an interview with Claypool that Alexander would be rejoining Primus, with a possible recording session taking place as early as November. Previous drummer Jay Lane would be moving on to other projects including his former band Ratdog.
Alexander has been hailed for his "polyrhythmic" playing. On July 18, 2014, Alexander had a heart attack, and underwent open heart surgery. He has another heart attack in 2016. Alexander operated a cider company based in Bellingham, Washington, called Herb's Cider.
References
External links
- Website
