By: Evan J. Thomas
This is Side Stage Magazine and I am Evan J. Thomas and today I have JP Gaster from the band Clutch talking with me today.
Side Stage Magazine: You guys have been around for 25 years now, what do you contribute your success to?
Jean-Paul Gaster: When we started the band we had two goals in mind and that was to play good shows and make good records and that was really the beginning and the end of it. We did not look at this thing as a career, we certainly didn’t think we would be here 25 years later. We still subscribe to those two points of view and I think that that has been our beacon, you know, when times are difficult and when it gets tough out there or back in the day when we were dealing with all the labels. I think we just kept thinking about that, just do good shows and just keep making the best records we can make and that cuts out a lot of stuff, a lot of crap. I would say that if you are starting a band, find guys that are like minded, you know. Find guys who want to make music for the same reasons you do. If you want to start a band because you want to go out and make a million dollars well, good luck. Find other guys who want to do the same thing, it really helps to centralize the energy’s of the band. There are a million different reasons to start a band, just be honest on why you want to do that and surround yourself with other guys who want to do the same.
Do you think it is easier now a days to get your music out there compared to when you guys first started?
Maybe it is easier these days, but i’m not sure if its easier to get noticed. I think it is even more difficult, there are a lot of bands out there. I also think to that there aren’t a lot of venues for bands to play these days it seems like and that makes it really tough too. It kinda seems like there is either the, you know, bar on the corner kinda gigs then big ass theaters and not really a whole lotta stuff in between. I think that makes it difficult for bands to sorta make that jump from small venues to bigger venues and being able to grow their audience.
Your most recent album “Psychic Warfare” hit #1on the Billboard Rock charts, how does this album differ from previous Clutch releases?
Umm… Its been better (laughs). Each record that we do is a little different than last. We tend to sorta react to whatever we did previously and I think we do that on two different levels, you know, I think part of it is when we are in the jam room and we are talking about songs, when we are making new riffs and stuff we make a conscious effort to do something different than we done before. But looking back on the last 25 years, we also do that on sorta a subliminal level as well. I think we do it subconsciously and we don’t even realize we are doing it. I think that just comes from the four of us having played together for 25 years and someways sorta sharing a brain.
Did you expect “Psychic Warfare” to have this much success?
I did not. “Earth Rocker” came out and I think we probably experienced more success with “Earth Rocker” than we had with previous record, by that I mean the initial impact of it. When it came time to release “Psychic Warfare”, me being the guy who never gets his hopes up, I thought to myself Earth Rocker did well so we just hit the right place at the right time and surely “Psychic Warfare” isn’t going to do as well as “Earth Rocker” but that is ok, we still have our fans. And wouldn’t you know it, they came out and it did even better than “Earth Rocker”, which is incredible when you take into account the state of the industry today. But what I am most proud of is that we were able to do this on our own label which is especially gratifying, so yes I was surprised and we are very thankful for it.
You will be playing in Melbourne, Australia coming up soon, what are you looking forward to most down under for those 2 shows?
The sun (laughs). I have a feeling i am going to get my ass kicked when I go down there because its going to be hot. I’ve been on the elliptical machine, i’ve been doing my push ups and my sit ups and all that stuff and I am getting in shape but I know its going to be hot and sunny down there and that is ok, i am ready for it.
What are you expecting as a turnout for those shows?
Its going to be great, you know, Australia is unique in that it was one of the few places that we went to in the world where we actually had a fan base waiting for us. We are much more accustomed to playing Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania 38 times before we have 100 people coming to the gig, or doing Tulsa 50 times. It was amazing the first time we went down there, it was about ten years ago and I was just blown away. I couldn’t believe that that many people knew our music, knew the lyrics. It was really amazing, its a beautiful country. People love rock and roll, there is good food down there, there is good beer, all the good stuff man.
What are your thoughts about playing Shiley Acres, WV for the first time?
I know Tim is excited about it because it is close to his home. Its kind of an out of the way place but we do well in those kind of scenarios. Its going to be fun, its going to be an outdoor gig and we always enjoy those and I think, probably that it will have a local vibe to it. I’m excited for that one.
You guys are starting a tour with Lamb of God and Corrosion of Conformity in April, what are your expectations of that tour?
I think its going to be great, I love COC, one of my favorite bands from when I was a kid. One of the very first bands i got into and I love all eras of the band, the original band, I like the trio with just Mike Dean singing. I think Pepper is a great singer and a great songwriter and I enjoy those songs as well, i’m a huge fan of those guys. Lamb of God we’ve done a tour with before, they are from Richmond so they are almost local and we are good friends with those guys, great band, they have a great fan base too and I think it’ll be a good fit between the three bands all together and I think we will have a nice eclectic group of people there. I think its going to be a great night and I am looking forward to that tour.
You will be playing the World’s Loudest Month Festivals, what do you like best about playing the large festivals?
Being able to play for new people. For me that is really the reason to play those festivals. Financially, you don’t always get paid well for doing those, you know. You end up taking a little bit less money but in the end you get the opportunity to play for new people and that is how we’ve grown this band from the very beginning. We never really had radio play, not much press, we certainly didn’t have any kind of presence back in the day on MTV when a lot of the other bands were getting coverage there. Its always been just word of mouth and just playing, playing and playing so when we have the opportunity to play for fresh people that means we have the chance to grow our fan base. If there is going to be 3000 people in the audience maybe 30 of those folks will hear something that they like and more likely than not those people will become lifelong fans.
When you are at these festivals, do you like to get out and hang with your fans?
We get out there, often times we will do signings and stuff like that. The vibe at a festival is much different than a typical night club gig and I like that, you know, for us we are so accustomed to sort of staying in those dark clubs, hanging out in the dressing room. So being able to play outdoors at a festival like that gives you the chance to go meet people, often some other bands are friends of yours, I know Sevendust is going to be on some of those festivals so it’ll be fun to hook up with those guys. Its a good opportunity, the best thing of all is to play for all of the people.
Which bands you are interested in seeing at the Festivals?
To be honest I am not really sure who all is on there. There is a lot on there, the thing is I am on the road so much that I really don’t get the chance to go out and see bands. It’ll just be a good opportunity to just see some of these bands and check out what they got going on.
You guys are releasing a special limited edition 12” vinyl for Record Store Day on April 16th, what do you think of the success of Record Store Day and should we do more days like that?
Well, Obviously its an important thing to keep these record stores in business, you know. I think its good for the stores and its good for the music fans too. The bands get the opportunity to put special product out there and it just helps this industry just move along. I think if you had more days like that I think maybe that special part of it might go away. Its a cool thing to keep it special like that, just one day a year, but its a great thing and it gives us a chance to put out cool product like the vinyl that we are talking about
How do you prepare yourself on the day of a show?
I practice a lot, i spend a lot of time locked in a broom closet or a coat room or a dingy basement with a very small practice kit that I travel with. I try to do that a lot, i try to spend at least an hour a day just thinking about the drums. The thing is, when I practice i really like to make it a cerebral thing, its a mental thing, you know. I really try to get inside my head and think about whats happening, think about whatever it is I am working on, be aware what is happening. When you hit the stage I try to go for the total opposite, i try to play from the neck down. So its two very different experiences, for me thats been very helpful in balancing the two and you have to have both. You can’t just spend all your time in the practice room, then again you can’t just spend all of your time just playing and not considering what it is you are doing. The more time goes on the more time I spend with this instrument the more i realize it is really all up in your head, its all mental.
What do you think of performers who are all flash but no substance?
Well, I guess they are just that, right? Its all flash and no substance and its easy to spot those guys and there is plenty of them out there. There have been times where Clutch has taken bands out as a favor or business reasons. When we try to pick opening bands we try to pick our friends, we try to pick bands that we like, try to pick bands that we want to hear. But sometimes, someone will say “hey look, can you give this band a shot” for whatever reason, you know. Maybe they are in your booking agency or maybe the promoter knows somebody. If you are in business you can’t be just all about you, everybody has got to give a little so we try to help people out. Sometimes those bands that we put on the will be exactly as you described, all style and no substance and the Clutch fans see through that in about 25 seconds, its pretty incredible. Sometimes we will get solicitations from bands or managers saying we should check these guys out and I think we have gotten better at saying “look, we’ll do that” but i’m not sure its going to be a really good experience for you guys or for the audience. There is a market for that (all flash), I am sure there are plenty of people who enjoy that kind of thing, Clutch fans are not those.
Have you ever been star struck meeting someone you admire?
Sure, Lemmy. We did a couple tours with Motorhead and both of those were fucking incredible tours. I can’t say enough how much that band really inspired me in so many ways. But I will say, the two tours that we did with them my interaction with Lemmy was little or none because I was very intimidated by that guy, you know. I wouldn’t have known what to say to Lemmy that would be cool. I will say though that one afternoon in Canada I think we were in Edmonton and I was watching Motorhead sound check and the drummer Mikkey Dee, he’s a very friend guy, he and I got along quite well and we would hang out after gigs and have beers and talk drums and you know, just Mikkey Dee stuff. I could remember one thing Motorhead and Mikkey Dee motioning me to come over and check out his drum kit he had. He had this enormous riser, this thing was probably six feet tall and on the riser itself and his monitors alone were bigger than the PA system in a lot of clubs, it was really ridiculous. So he motioned to me after one song and he said “come up and check out the kit” and I looked at him and I saw Lemmy standing there and I saw Bill standing there and I said “no, i’m cool… Mikkey, I don’t need to get up there” and he said “no, no really you have to come up and try it” and I thought “well, ok”. So i told myself, look man, if you are going to climb up that damn six foot ladder to get up to that drum kit i’m going to play, i’m going to kick a beat and I did. So I sat down and I started playing and within a bar and a half Lemmy jumped in, and then Phil jumped in and I had the opportunity to have a little jam with Motorhead.
Thank you again Jean-Paul for your time today, this is Side Stage Magazine and I am Evan J. Thomas.
