In the tradition of the great bards of the old timey Middle Ages, Clutch has played over 1500 shows in their 12 years of existence. Clutch vocalist Neil Fallon has an amazing work ethic and a great musician's philosophy. He says that all the modern technology, including that crazy MP3s, are brand new and that a studio is not where a musician is supposed to hone their talent. I find this all pretty amazing coming from a jam band/noise-metal quartet. Most of the time these bands only like to dump beer on the fans in the front row and fuck anything wet.
Clutch was formed in 1991 by Neil Fallon, Tim Sult, Dan Maines and Jean-Paul Gaster in their home town in Maryland. In 1995 they signed with Columbia Records but that relationship was short lived and they released their next album, Jam Room themselves. Their sixth album, Pure Rock Fury, was released by Atlantic Records in 2001. They now have severed their ties with Atlantic and for their next album they are putting out feelers to see who would release that one.
Clutch's latest album is a live album called Live At The Googolplex. It's hard to tell whether that will make their fans happy or sad because Clutch is famous for catering to those obsessive fans that like to bootleg their shows.
I got a chance to talk with Fallon as they were leaving New York. At the time they were lost and being confounded by their map.
Check out the website for Clutch.
Daniel Robert Epstein: How did you guys pick the songs that ended up on the live album?
Neil Fallon: Those are the songs we played when we opened up for System of a Down. We were just doing half hour sets and we had to decide which ones sounded technically better as opposed to a better performance. Sometimes if a guitar is perfectly tune it doesn't make for a better song than a guitar that is slightly out of tune but played better.
DRE: Clutch is really well known for the live shows. Why did it take so long to release a live album?
NF: We were signed to a lot of different labels and live records are usually reserved for bands that have sold millions of records. Labels don't have a lot interest if you haven't done that. Since our relationship with Atlantic Records terminated we had the time and ability to do that.
DRE: What happened with Atlantic Records?
NF: Your guess is as good as mine. At the end of the day record labels are in the business to make money. You don't really make money selling records unless like I said you're selling millions of them. I think we sell a lot of records but that's all relative.
DRE: You call Clutch a reluctant studio band. What's that mean?
NF: It's much more fun to play live of course. Being in the studio is nice but you can really learn to dislike your own songs if you listen to them over and over again. Whereas live you only have one chance to do them right.
DRE: People call you the hardcore jam band.
NF: Pretty much everything we do is not a conscious decision it's just an extension of our personalities. We go with the flow and see what happens. I think each record is a snapshot of where the band is at artistically a certain time. No one in our band just wants to do a set list. We want to do something that's individual to each night.
DRE: What are your favorite bands?
NF: Led Zeppelin, Nick Cave, Tom Waits, Otis Taylor, Bad Brains and loads more.
DRE: What are your favorite live albums?
NF: How The West Was Won by Led Zeppelin. That's mind boggling.
DRE: Its funny you said that because some critic said this about Clutch, "funkified fury of Led Zeppelin served within a modern metal motif."
NF: Wow [laughs] that's nice. We're into bands like that. That's what we grew up listening and that's all I listen to. Those bands are more closely related to the blues than other contemporary metal bands. If you listen to Deep Purple or Led Zeppelin you hear a lot of blues riffs and that's why I like those bands as opposed to bands that are strictly power chords.
DRE: Have those bands seeped into your consciousness?
NF: I think anything you listen to is an influence but stuff from childhood is bound to get ingrained into what you play. There's nothing you can do about it. Had I grown up listening to mariachi music I probably would have played my guitar more like that.
DRE: How come there's not more material from Elephant Riders on the live album?
NF: We weren't playing a lot of that on the tour.
DRE: Will you be releasing more stuff through Megaforce?
NF: We're going to re-release Jam Room through them but also we're working on our next studio album. That'll be through whoever comes up with the best deal. It could be ourselves or maybe it won't.
DRE: Are you being courted like with baskets of muffins?
NF: [laughs] No muffins or dinners but we're not really interested in that either. We've seen that song and dance. Most of the times those meals are recoupable from your record advance.
DRE: One reviewer called your music stoner rock.
NF: I don't know where that came from. Most of the bands that are called that don't like being called that because it implies the music is dependent on drug use. It's the same thing with grunge. Every band hated being called grunge. Stoner rock is just more guitar riff oriented rock. So if people want to call us that then I would rather be associated with the bands that are thrown into that category than some other ones.
DRE: Do you guys smoke a lot of pot?
NF: No but I only speak for myself. I used to quite a bit but things change. I also used to ride around on a tricycle at one point in my life.
DRE: Are tricycles and pot a lot alike?
NF: They're both fun at first but then they get old.
DRE: How did Maryland/Virginia area influence your music?
NF: Washington DC has always had a great scene. I was always able to see a lot of good bands. But at the same time we weren't so involved with it that we became preoccupied with the current sound. I think a lot of bands come from isolated areas because they are forced to come up with their own sound. Philly, New York and Boston aren't too far away to drive too when you have to perform. If we started in a place like Denver it would have been hard to start touring.
DRE: Is it true you change your set lists to help out the fans who bootleg your shows?
NF: We do that for ourselves. Playing the same set list every night can allow you to daydream sometimes because it can become monotonous.
DRE: I read that you consider yourself a sci-fi geek.
NF: I like the sci-fi.
DRE: What have you seen lately?
NF: I saw the most horrible sci-fi movie ever the other night in my hotel room. The Fifth Element, I think it's terrible.
DRE: What about The Matrix: Reloaded?
NF: I liked it but I think it got a little wishy washy with the eastern philosophy at the end. It's a cool movie though.
DRE: What did you watch when you were younger?
NF: I started on Space: 1999 then Star Wars but I never liked Star Trek and I still don't. Battlestar Galactica and all that good stuff.
DRE: I read some record label wanted you to cover LL Cool J's Mama Said Knock You Out.
NF: Yeah that was the brainchild of one of our previous A & R reps. On the radio a lot of bands get their foot in the door by covering a hit. So half the work is already done for you but that didn't float our boat. He also tried to get us to do My Sharona. That wouldn't have been any better.
DRE: What's the craziest thing anyone threw on stage at you?
NF: A boxcutter.
DRE: Jeezus. Did they get anybody?
NF: It hit me in my chest so I stopped the song and scolded everybody [laughs].
DRE: What's the craziest thing you ever threw back?
NF: A boxcutter. No I'm just kidding. A few days ago a guy threw a gin and tonic in my face. I looked down at my feet and there was an entire pitcher of water there so I threw that on him. But it ended up being refreshing for him which I didn't like.
DRE: Maybe he thought he was trying to refresh you with his drink.
NF: Little limes and straws won't do that.
DRE: By 1999 Clutch had done 500 concerts since 1991. How many are you up to now?
NF: Actually I think by 1999 we had done at least 1000. Now its way more than that. We do about 100 shows a year and I bet it's up to about 1500.
DRE: What do you guys like about being on the road so much?
NF: We have a different front yard every day. In my opinion musicians are supposed to tour. The role of the musician is to travel and play their music. That's the oldest form of music. Records and videos are all new. Musicians are supposed to play music for other people live.
DRE: What superpower would you want to have?
NF: Probably would have gone back in time to earlier today so I would have knowledge of the traffic we'd be hitting right now.
DRE: What's your favorite place to play?
NF: Amsterdam.
DRE: I love Amsterdam.
NF: Its one of the coolest places in the world. People are more mature there. They have more personal liberties, people are civilized, they have great food and the Dutch are very tolerant. They are some of the most democratically advanced people in the world.
DRE: You must have met some of your obsessive fans. What are they like?
NF: Yeah we've met some freaks. It's flattering and disturbing at the same time when someone knows more about your band than you do. I consider myself a fairly private person and I don't relish the public aspect of this life. But then again it's not like we're at the VMAs all the time.
DRE: I'm sure they know your dog's name and stuff like that.
NF: I've met a couple of people like that. I don't mind as long as it's friendly.
DRE: Have people ever been unfriendly fans?
NF: Oh sure. People who have been drinking and then their judgment can get impaired. You just have to be on your toes.
by Daniel Robert Epstein
Clutch was formed in 1991 by Neil Fallon, Tim Sult, Dan Maines and Jean-Paul Gaster in their home town in Maryland. In 1995 they signed with Columbia Records but that relationship was short lived and they released their next album, Jam Room themselves. Their sixth album, Pure Rock Fury, was released by Atlantic Records in 2001. They now have severed their ties with Atlantic and for their next album they are putting out feelers to see who would release that one.
Clutch's latest album is a live album called Live At The Googolplex. It's hard to tell whether that will make their fans happy or sad because Clutch is famous for catering to those obsessive fans that like to bootleg their shows.
I got a chance to talk with Fallon as they were leaving New York. At the time they were lost and being confounded by their map.
Check out the website for Clutch.
Daniel Robert Epstein: How did you guys pick the songs that ended up on the live album?
Neil Fallon: Those are the songs we played when we opened up for System of a Down. We were just doing half hour sets and we had to decide which ones sounded technically better as opposed to a better performance. Sometimes if a guitar is perfectly tune it doesn't make for a better song than a guitar that is slightly out of tune but played better.
DRE: Clutch is really well known for the live shows. Why did it take so long to release a live album?
NF: We were signed to a lot of different labels and live records are usually reserved for bands that have sold millions of records. Labels don't have a lot interest if you haven't done that. Since our relationship with Atlantic Records terminated we had the time and ability to do that.
DRE: What happened with Atlantic Records?
NF: Your guess is as good as mine. At the end of the day record labels are in the business to make money. You don't really make money selling records unless like I said you're selling millions of them. I think we sell a lot of records but that's all relative.
DRE: You call Clutch a reluctant studio band. What's that mean?
NF: It's much more fun to play live of course. Being in the studio is nice but you can really learn to dislike your own songs if you listen to them over and over again. Whereas live you only have one chance to do them right.
DRE: People call you the hardcore jam band.
NF: Pretty much everything we do is not a conscious decision it's just an extension of our personalities. We go with the flow and see what happens. I think each record is a snapshot of where the band is at artistically a certain time. No one in our band just wants to do a set list. We want to do something that's individual to each night.
DRE: What are your favorite bands?
NF: Led Zeppelin, Nick Cave, Tom Waits, Otis Taylor, Bad Brains and loads more.
DRE: What are your favorite live albums?
NF: How The West Was Won by Led Zeppelin. That's mind boggling.
DRE: Its funny you said that because some critic said this about Clutch, "funkified fury of Led Zeppelin served within a modern metal motif."
NF: Wow [laughs] that's nice. We're into bands like that. That's what we grew up listening and that's all I listen to. Those bands are more closely related to the blues than other contemporary metal bands. If you listen to Deep Purple or Led Zeppelin you hear a lot of blues riffs and that's why I like those bands as opposed to bands that are strictly power chords.
DRE: Have those bands seeped into your consciousness?
NF: I think anything you listen to is an influence but stuff from childhood is bound to get ingrained into what you play. There's nothing you can do about it. Had I grown up listening to mariachi music I probably would have played my guitar more like that.
DRE: How come there's not more material from Elephant Riders on the live album?
NF: We weren't playing a lot of that on the tour.
DRE: Will you be releasing more stuff through Megaforce?
NF: We're going to re-release Jam Room through them but also we're working on our next studio album. That'll be through whoever comes up with the best deal. It could be ourselves or maybe it won't.
DRE: Are you being courted like with baskets of muffins?
NF: [laughs] No muffins or dinners but we're not really interested in that either. We've seen that song and dance. Most of the times those meals are recoupable from your record advance.
DRE: One reviewer called your music stoner rock.
NF: I don't know where that came from. Most of the bands that are called that don't like being called that because it implies the music is dependent on drug use. It's the same thing with grunge. Every band hated being called grunge. Stoner rock is just more guitar riff oriented rock. So if people want to call us that then I would rather be associated with the bands that are thrown into that category than some other ones.
DRE: Do you guys smoke a lot of pot?
NF: No but I only speak for myself. I used to quite a bit but things change. I also used to ride around on a tricycle at one point in my life.
DRE: Are tricycles and pot a lot alike?
NF: They're both fun at first but then they get old.
DRE: How did Maryland/Virginia area influence your music?
NF: Washington DC has always had a great scene. I was always able to see a lot of good bands. But at the same time we weren't so involved with it that we became preoccupied with the current sound. I think a lot of bands come from isolated areas because they are forced to come up with their own sound. Philly, New York and Boston aren't too far away to drive too when you have to perform. If we started in a place like Denver it would have been hard to start touring.
DRE: Is it true you change your set lists to help out the fans who bootleg your shows?
NF: We do that for ourselves. Playing the same set list every night can allow you to daydream sometimes because it can become monotonous.
DRE: I read that you consider yourself a sci-fi geek.
NF: I like the sci-fi.
DRE: What have you seen lately?
NF: I saw the most horrible sci-fi movie ever the other night in my hotel room. The Fifth Element, I think it's terrible.
DRE: What about The Matrix: Reloaded?
NF: I liked it but I think it got a little wishy washy with the eastern philosophy at the end. It's a cool movie though.
DRE: What did you watch when you were younger?
NF: I started on Space: 1999 then Star Wars but I never liked Star Trek and I still don't. Battlestar Galactica and all that good stuff.
DRE: I read some record label wanted you to cover LL Cool J's Mama Said Knock You Out.
NF: Yeah that was the brainchild of one of our previous A & R reps. On the radio a lot of bands get their foot in the door by covering a hit. So half the work is already done for you but that didn't float our boat. He also tried to get us to do My Sharona. That wouldn't have been any better.
DRE: What's the craziest thing anyone threw on stage at you?
NF: A boxcutter.
DRE: Jeezus. Did they get anybody?
NF: It hit me in my chest so I stopped the song and scolded everybody [laughs].
DRE: What's the craziest thing you ever threw back?
NF: A boxcutter. No I'm just kidding. A few days ago a guy threw a gin and tonic in my face. I looked down at my feet and there was an entire pitcher of water there so I threw that on him. But it ended up being refreshing for him which I didn't like.
DRE: Maybe he thought he was trying to refresh you with his drink.
NF: Little limes and straws won't do that.
DRE: By 1999 Clutch had done 500 concerts since 1991. How many are you up to now?
NF: Actually I think by 1999 we had done at least 1000. Now its way more than that. We do about 100 shows a year and I bet it's up to about 1500.
DRE: What do you guys like about being on the road so much?
NF: We have a different front yard every day. In my opinion musicians are supposed to tour. The role of the musician is to travel and play their music. That's the oldest form of music. Records and videos are all new. Musicians are supposed to play music for other people live.
DRE: What superpower would you want to have?
NF: Probably would have gone back in time to earlier today so I would have knowledge of the traffic we'd be hitting right now.
DRE: What's your favorite place to play?
NF: Amsterdam.
DRE: I love Amsterdam.
NF: Its one of the coolest places in the world. People are more mature there. They have more personal liberties, people are civilized, they have great food and the Dutch are very tolerant. They are some of the most democratically advanced people in the world.
DRE: You must have met some of your obsessive fans. What are they like?
NF: Yeah we've met some freaks. It's flattering and disturbing at the same time when someone knows more about your band than you do. I consider myself a fairly private person and I don't relish the public aspect of this life. But then again it's not like we're at the VMAs all the time.
DRE: I'm sure they know your dog's name and stuff like that.
NF: I've met a couple of people like that. I don't mind as long as it's friendly.
DRE: Have people ever been unfriendly fans?
NF: Oh sure. People who have been drinking and then their judgment can get impaired. You just have to be on your toes.
by Daniel Robert Epstein
VIEW 14 of 14 COMMENTS
syx said:
seeing clutch live is like going to church.
thanks to DRE for the good taste.
it's more like you're out in the city living it up and Neil approaches you like a street preacher from hell, but he's got no bible and he speaks in riddles.