ON THE RECORD
WITH MORE TOURING SET FOR 2019
IN SUPPORT OF “BOOK OF BAD DECISIONS”
MID-ATLANTIC COAST POWERHOUSE
CLUTCH, HAVE NO SIGNS OF SLOWING DOWN.
For almost 30 years the Maryland quartet Clutch have been uncompromising in their approach to the industry and in the power of their music.
Book of Bad Decisions, the groups 12 studio album, is hewn in the roots of its predecessors. Heavy, Powerful and Unapologetic. One of the few bands
that had the forethought of what the industry was becoming and formed their own label. Hard-hitting percussionist Jean-Paul Gaster takes
a few moments while on the first leg of their tour to give his thoughts on the new record and 27 years of perseverance.
Did you ever think when you
first started out that you would
be doing this for 27 years with
the same group of guys?
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Page 54
JEAN-PAUL: Yes! Same 4 dudes. When we
started playing shows the intention was just for
us and our friends. We wanted to play the best
shows that we could play, we wanted to make
some cool recordings, and that was pretty much
the beginning and the end of it. The idea of mak-
ing a career of it was not really on our radar at
all. I think that had a lot to do with the bands
that we looked up to. These were bands that
were not particularly popular bands, they didn’t
fill arenas or stadiums. They weren’t even on the
radio for that part. Bands like Fugazi, and The
Bad Brains and the Melvins and Prong. These
were all bands that we looked up to. We were
just thrilled that we could even play the 9:30
Club. It’s been a long ride but it’s absolutely
thrilling and we are very fortunate to be in the
position that we are.
The band has always stayed true
to your sound over the years. Was
there ever a time when you thought
about experimentation and going
outside of the box?
JEAN-PAUL: Well we try to experiment with ev-
ery record that we do. As much as we sort of have
a sound, we try to do things that are different from
the last record. I think that happens on couple
of levels. I think the 4 of us tend to write stuff
that is in contrast with wherever we came from.
That can take a lot of different forms. I think at
this point a lot of that stuff even happens subcon-
sciously. I often see when we are in the process
of writing songs, we’ll be putting together ideas,
and sometimes people won’t say anything for 1/2
hour, 45 minutes or an hour. There’s sort of an un-
spoken language that we have developed over the
years and a lot of times after those few minutes
or that hour we have a new piece of music and it
really happens very naturally, It’s a very organic
kind of thing.
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