Timothy Wayne Alexander (born April 10, 1965), also credited as "Herb" Alexander, is an American retired musician best known as the drummer for the rock band Primus.[1] Prior to Primus, Alexander was the drummer for Arizona's Major Lingo from 1985-1990. Alexander has been in Primus across three stints; he initially left the band in 1996 and rejoined in 2003 before leaving again in 2010 and re-joining in 2013, again departing in October 2024. 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.[2]
Tim Alexander | |
|---|---|
 Alexander performing with Primus in 2005 | |
| Background information | |
| Birth name | Timothy Wayne Alexander |
| Also known as | Herb |
| Born | April 10, 1965 Marine Corps Air Station Cherry Point, U.S. |
| Genres | |
| Occupation | Musician |
| Instruments |
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| Years active | 1985–2024 |
| Labels | |
| Member of | |
| Formerly of | |
Biography
editAlexander joined Primus by replacing Jay Lane (along with Larry LaLonde who replaced Todd Huth)[3] in 1988, and lasted until 1996. Les Claypool spoke of Alexander's playing in an interview with Bass Player: "[He] 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".[4] 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). On April 21st, 2024 he released an album titled "All That Syncs Must Diverge" with saxophonist Skerik and bassist Timm Mason, under the name Sound Cipher. The album was recorded at Studio Litho and released through Royal Potato Family Records.
Following Alexander's departure from Primus, he went on to form his own group, Laundry, which released on Claypool's label Prawn Song Records.[5] They put out two albums and were based in the Bay area of San Francisco.[6] 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.[7]
Alexander has been hailed for his "polyrhythmic" playing.[8] On July 18, 2014, Alexander had a heart attack, and underwent open heart surgery.[9] He had another heart attack in 2016.[10] Alexander operated a cider company based in Bellingham, Washington, called Herb's Cider.[11]
Tim has stated that his reasons for leaving Primus again, while on tour in October of 2024, were due to ongoing health issues and to be closer to his family.[12]
References
edit- ^ Erlewine, Stephen Thomas; Prato, Greg. "Biography: Primus". AllMusic. Retrieved June 13, 2010.
- ^ "The Surreal Origins of Primus | Les Claypool on Metallica Ties, Acid Trips, MTV Breakthrough" – via www.youtube.com.
- ^ Madsen, Pete (2006). Funk Guitar and Bass: Know the Players, Play the Music. Hal Leonard. p. 76. ISBN 978-0-87930-894-0.
- ^ Jisi, Chris (2008). Bass Player Presents The Fretless Bass. Backbeat Books. ISBN 978-1-61713-377-0.
- ^ Robbins, Ira A. (1997). The Trouser Press guide to '90s rock: the all-new fifth edition of The Trouser Press record guide. Simon & Schuster. p. 579. ISBN 978-0-684-81437-7.
- ^ "Interview with Tim Alexander (Attention Deficit, Laundry, ex-Primus)". www.ram.org. Retrieved March 11, 2024.
- ^ ^ Prato, Greg. "Q&A: Les Claypool on Primus' Future and His TV Show With Dean Ween". Rolling Stone. Retrieved October 23, 2013.
- ^ Weingarten, Christopher R. (November 2003). "In My Room". CMJ New Music Monthly. p. 13. Retrieved June 22, 2014.
- ^ "Puscifer on Facebook". Facebook. Archived from the original on April 30, 2022.[user-generated source]
- ^ Kreps, Daniel (July 3, 2016). "Primus' Tim Alexander 'Doing Well' After Second Heart Attack". Rolling Stone. Retrieved March 11, 2024.
- ^ "Herb's Cider – Hard Ciders | Bellingham WA".
- ^ https://metalinjection.net/news/breakups/tim-herb-alexander-explains-his-decision-to-leave-primus