Love one Clutch album and you’re a fan for life.
This rugged Maryland blues rock quartet might look incongruous on the Soundwave line-up of post-hardcore and heritage alt-rock acts but they’ve been a unique force for the last twenty years. And that’s why the ‘Gearheads’ love them so.
Husky drum master Jean Paul Gaster tells us about surprise chart success, soundtracking zombie-killing, the Clutch cult, and how he’s still stumped by his own band’s lyrics.
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Clutch tend to pick up fans along the way who become fans for life, but do you have any indication of how far back into your catalogue the new listeners go?
I think your average Clutch fan is aware of the catalogue that we have. The kind of music that we do attracts those kinds of people. They’re the same fans that buy all of the Black Sabbath records, even the weird ones like Technical Ecstasy. I think Clutch fans know more about music than most people out there. There are a lot of that goes into the sound and I think people are cognisant of that. And hopefully it makes them dig a little deeper too, and go back to listen to the roots of where all the music came from – that’s really the most important thing.
It seems like a real love-in: old fans embrace new ones; nobody has accused you of selling out. They’re unusually committed.
There’s definitely some very obsessive fans out there. There was a guy at that last batch of shows that has been to over one hundred Clutch shows. He’s been coming since ’92, I believe. Hopefully the music is something that grows with the person. I don’t play the way I did twenty years ago, I don’t think about the drums the way I did twenty years ago. It’s an experiment. I hope fans of music are listening to different stuff to what they were listening to twenty years ago.
Album number nine, Strange Cousins From The West, actually cracked the American Top 40. That’s astounding.
Yeah, we were at number 36, I think. It was the first time we’ve been on the charts like that, and more importantly it was on our own label. It was a double whammy for us. We were really excited about it. In this day and age it’s impossible to sell any records, let alone enough to get you in the Top 40.
A lot of the Clutch’s persona is embodied by Neil [Fallon, the singer] and his cryptic, mythic lyrics. Is the band as perplexed as everyone else?
No doubt about it! [Laughs] People always ask me what Neil’s lyrics mean, and to this day… look, I’m lucky enough to have a whole studio in my house and we demo a lot of the stuff right downstairs in my basement and I still get goosebumps. We’ll put down some music and he’ll come over and say ‘I got a few words I want to record’ and out comes this voice, which is like no other, saying things that are still inspiring and shocking sometimes. I still get excited about it.
But the same is true for all of us. Everyone in this band has been playing music for so long that we have our own sound and identity. I know I’ve strived for that on the drums. I feel like that’s something that’s missing in music nowadays. Everyone is trying to sound like the next guy, rather than create their own sound. And I’m proud that everyone in this band has their own identity and their own approach to the music, which is unique to anything else out there right now.
I thought it was apt to hear Clutch soundtracking the trailer for zombie apocalypse video game Left 4 Dead 2. Are you a gamer?
I’m not a video game player. Those who want to play video games, help yourself [laughs]. It’s a great diversion for some but as far as making songs that are perfect for video games? That never entered our minds [laughs]. I guess it’s a catchy sound that works well for zombie killing!
I just read an online comment that declared, “I am certain of only one thing: Clutch’s next album will be my favourite Clutch album until the one after that arrives.” Do you ever get sick of this adoration? Do you get bad responses?
Of course! There’s bad press for every record that you do. You can’t pay that much attention. At the end of the day, the record is all you really have and you know whether you put your heart into it. Every Clutch record was a different point in my life, my playing is a little different from album to album. It’s an honest attempt to write the very best songs that you can record. There’s not a lot of forethought that goes into it, so we’re very happy with whatever good words people have to say. And if you don’t like it, well, hey, you can go fuck yourself.
Andrew Tijs
CLUTCH - AUSTRALIAN TOUR DATES - FEB 2010
Feb 19 - The Zoo, Brisbane
Feb 20 - Soundwave Festival @ RNA Showgrounds Brisbane
Feb 21 - Soundwave Festival @ Eastern Creek Raceway Sydney
Feb 24 - The Factory Theatre Sydney
Feb 25 - Prince Bandroom Melbourne
Feb 26 - Soundwave Festival @ Showgrounds Melbourne
Feb 27 - Soundwave Festival @ Bonython Park Adelaide
Mar 1 - Soundwave Festival @ Steel Blue Oval Perth
Mar 2 - Amplifier Perth