Stewart Copeland Open to Oysterhead Reunion

Posted on Sep 28th 2009 4:00PM by Steve Baltin
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Well before Them Crooked Vultures, Chickenfoot and the Dead Weather were bringing back the supergroup phenomenon, Police drummer Stewart Copeland teamed with Primus' Les Claypool and Phish's Trey Anastasio for Oysterhead. Despite being a veteran of one of these bands, Copeland doesn't think the all-star collaborations always make good music.

"I don't believe in supergroups," he tells Spinner. "Having tried it many times, it's rare. It does happen, but normally what makes a group really swing is the empathy and the shared experience of the players. The Rolling Stones, none of them are incredible players by themselves, but it's how they swing together that makes them what they are, same with the Beatles, same with many groups. The concept of taking the world's greatest guitarist and putting him with the greatest drummer and greatest singer doesn't always work."

What made Oysterhead successful then? "Although I guess technically it is a supergroup, the empathy with Trey and Les goes way beyond that," he says.

When Spinner spoke earlier this year with Les Claypool -- who Copeland calls, "One of the wisest men in show business. The Abraham Lincoln of rock" -- the bassist said there's been continued talk about resurrecting Oysterhead for another album. While Copeland says there's nothing scheduled, he's in if they can make it happen again. "That's something I would never say no to," he says "That's a lot of fun, that group."