An early supporter and active endorser of PRS Guitars, Larry LaLonde has been among the most creative voices in the alternative scene since the early nineties. As a member of Primus, he has defined the sound of one of rock’s most distinctive bands. Merging recognizable elements of metal, prog, funk and experimental Vaudeville, Primus is practically a genre unto itself.

PRS: Your distinctive playing is a critical piece of the Primus sound. What has been the biggest influence on your playing?

Larry: I would say that aside from the usual suspects like Eddie Vân Halen and Randy Rhoads that guys like me who started playing in the early 80’s were listening to, I really became interested in finding my own style when I heard guys like Zappa, Robert Fripp, and Adrien Belew. East Bay Ray from the Dead Kennedy’s, and even Jerry Garcia and Bob Weir.

PRS: What are your favorite Primus songs to perform live?

Larry: It’s so hard to pick a favorite with this band because we play so many different ones from night to night. If I had to pick right now, I’d have to say "Groundhogs Day" because there’s an open jam / guitar solo in the middle that can really go a lot of places. On these last two tours with our new drummer John Hoffman, Les and John have been coming up with killer stuff that’s been really fun to solo over.

PRS: You have a long, rich history with us. What are your fondest memories of working with PRS Guitars?

Larry: When I first started working with PRS it was a really great time for me because I was so excited about the guitars. At the time PRS was fairly new to the world and I had only seen them in the hands of my friends who I was on tour with. Dave Navarro and Alex Lifeson to be specific. Just the idea that they were willing to do anything with me was amazing and when the first couple guitars showed up it was insane. The colors were like candy and just remember thinking, “Man, this is the coolest thing ever!” At that time Bonni Lloyd was the artist relations person there and she really made me feel at home with things I had no experience in. Going to the NAMM show as a PRS artist, doing a guitar store appearance, and my first, and I believe only magazine ad! Many firsts for me in the guitar company world were with PRS.

^ A vintage 1995 PRS ad featuring Larry LaLonde.

PRS: What do you love the most about your PRS guitars in general?

Larry: The first thing you notice about a PRS after you get past is how amazing the numerous deep, rich finishes are. They are so comfortable to play, they balance perfectly, and you can just feel that it’s an insanely well-crafted instrument. I love that with the current electronic options I can really get a lot of drastically different tones. With switches that will get me twangy single coil to beefy humbuckers, it really helps me get what I need out of one guitar. When I met Paul, I could tell he was going to be amongst those big names that we had all heard of in the history of guitar innovators. It seemed like he had cracked some kind of code that people were trying to find to come up with something new from what had been out there since the beginning of electric guitar. He really found a space that bridged that gap in between the big classic guitar companies. I think he was just out to make his vision of a great guitar but going on 30ish years later, there’s no doubt these are some of the greatest guitars ever made.

PRS: Primus has already had an eventful 2025, onboarding a new drummer, releasing a single, and wrapping up the Sessanta V2.0 tour. What’s next for the band?

Larry: It’s definitely been a wild year for Primus. The addition of our new drummer John Hoffman sent us diving back into our catalog with his suggestions for songs that we hadn’t thought about for a while. The Sessanta tour with A Perfect Circle and Puscifer was an amazing time. It was John's first tour with us, so it was great to have all our friends from those bands help welcome him.

PRS: We’ve heard a new Primus album may be in the works; can you tell us anything about that?

Larry: I think after this tour we’re all really excited to go into the studio and see what we come up with. The thing about Primus is we never have any idea what the next record will be. It’s a great freedom to have and there are no wrong notes!

Connect With Primus:

https://primusville.com/

Photo Credit: Jordan Kravitz // @thevicariousobserver