Interview and photos by Anisa Allen

After 15 years of making music together, Clutch can still pack clubs across the country with their unique brand of Americana-influenced blues/funk/metal.  Their music can still induce a mosh pit, but at the same time create images of sitting on a porch in the mountains eating fried chicken and drinking cola.  This dichotomy is exactly what their cult following has come to expect from one of America’s truly original bands.  Touring in support of their upcoming release “From Beale Street to Oblivion,” Neil Fallon graciously took the time to speak with me.

World of Fandom:  Who do you create your music and lyrics for?  Is it for yourselves as a personal expression or is it for the fans?

Neil Fallon:  Um, it’s for ourselves.  I mean, when it’s just us writing music, I mean, we’re the only people in the room, so we’ve gotta entertain ourselves first.  I think trying to write music for people would kinda be like putting the carriage in front of the horse.

WOF:  You put out many albums over the years.  Do you find that your audience has changed?

Neil:  Sure, I mean, uh, it’s hard to say because it’s been such a long period of time.  But I think our audience has become much more appreciative of the show as a whole and there’s less of the, uh, kind of mosh crowd, for lack of a better word.

WOF:  How else has it changed?  Do you find it’s like, the same fans that stuck with you over the years?  Is it older or younger, same age crowd?

Neil:  There are people that have been with us since the beginning.  There are people who have been with us, then heard an album and became completely disillusioned and never came back again.  There’s also people that heard a record, a young kid that, you know, that was probably five years old when we started that is coming out to our shows now.  So it’s a little bit of everything.

WOF:  As sound evolves, and you, as a band, evolve, do you foresee making any drastic changes, or would you?

Neil:  It’s hard to say because everything we do is pretty instinctual.  We never really engineer anything.

WOF:  What are your influences?  Is it all classic rock bands?  What bands is it?

Neil:  We started out, you know, big into bands like, uh, Bad Brains and Minor Threat, Black Flag.  And metal as well, bands like The Obsessed, or Melvins later on.  Classic rock bands when we were real young guys.  They weren’t classic rock, they were just contemporary, so those bands are a deep, deep influence.  And we’re also, we listen to jazz and blues, you know, what have you.

WOF:  What inspires you to write and what’s your process?  Do you write together as a band, do you do it alone?  How does that work?

Neil:  The music, we write together.  Um, sometimes one of us will write a riff, you know in private and then bring it to the table and then one of us will change it.  It’s a very democratic process. (Tio Bita)

WOF:  What are you listening to right now? 

Neil:  I was just listening to a band called Black Merda, which is the predecessor to funkadelic, from what I understand; late 60’s psychedelic rock band.

WOF:  Do you listen to anything modern-day at all?

Neil:  Um, I just got the new Dungen record (Tio Bita).  I love them.

WOF:  Does everyone in the band, or anyone in the band have a family?  Like, wife and kids?

Neil:  We’re all hitched.  There are kids; Dan’s got a couple kids.

WOF:  How do you and your families handle the stress of touring?  Does anyone bring their family?

Neil:  Luckily, we live on the east coast where sometimes the shows are close enough that we can just drive in our family sedans.  But, uh, otherwise you know, it’s just a matter of biting the bullet.  We’re gone for long periods of time, but that also gives us the luxury of staying home for long periods of time.

WOF:  How often do you tour?

Neil:  Um, well let’s see.  We’ve been home January, February, and we’re gonna be gone March, April, May, and June.  So, I would say we’re probably gone about a third of the year.

WOF:  Wow, and do you just talk to your families, like daily, weekly …?

Neil:  Daily.  We have pretty enormous cell phone bills.

WOF:  What’s your favorite city or venue to play?

Neil:  Um, that’s tough.  I mean, I love going to new places – that’s always my favorite place.  I’m particularly fond of the Netherlands.  Also, in the states, I like – this time of year, I like going to play in California or Florida.

WOF:  Because of the weather?

Neil:  Yeah.

WOF:  When you’re not touring or practicing, does the band spend time together at all?

Neil:  Not really.  We see enough of each other on the road that we kind of need to get a little bit of elbow room.

WOF:  What kind of stuff do you do when you’re not touring, practicing?  What other activities do you enjoy?

Neil:  Well, we all got little musical side projects that we work on.  We also, you know, Dan’s busy with all his kids and Jean Paul works on his house quite a bit.  I try to stay busy, I mean, musically and writing-wise, and work on the house as well.

WOF:  What are your long-term goals for Clutch?  Where do you want to be in 10 years?  And 20 years?

Neil:  I’d like to just be in a mental state where I’m still, like, satisfied making music and I don’t feel like a broken record.  No one’s got any delusions of trying, you know, getting rich quick or famous.  It’s just a matter of doing something that’s artistically satisfying is I think, much better for mental health than anything else.

WOF:  So is getting rich part of the plan though?

Neil:  Well, I’m not gonna say it wouldn’t be nice.  But that doesn’t equate to happiness.

WOF:  Would you wanna be like a mainstream, popular band or do you like the status of the band?

Neil:  As long as mainstream doesn’t equate to lowest common denominator.  The ideal situation for any band is like, whatever happened to Nirvana.  You know, like everyone went to them.  It would be silly to go try to pursue that because you’re just setting yourself up for disappointment and then ultimately, embarrassment and regret.

WOF:  Does the band have, when you’re not touring, like normal day jobs?

Neil:  No, and with that, I think we’re … we see that as a sign of success in our own book.  We’d rather just be able to make music full time and gold records and accolades are nice, but being able to do this full time is its own reward.

WOF:  Okay.  That’s all the questions I have for you.

Neil:  Okay, thank you for the opportunity.

WOF:  Yeah, thank you so much.  I really appreciate your time.  I love Clutch … been a fan for, probably like 13 years – first record I ever bought.

Neil:  Right on.

WOF:  So, I was really excited to get to talk to you.  I appreciate it.

Neil:  Where’re you located?

WOF:   In Tampa, Florida.

Neil:  Oh, right on.  Well, enjoy your kick-ass weather.

WOF:  Yeah.  It’s cold for us right now, but, yeah – we’re lucky, I know.  But you’re gonna be here, soon right?

Neil:  Yep, absolutely. (Clutch played St. Petersburg, FL on March 5^th)

WOF:  Well, I’m looking forward to it.

Neil:  Alright, well, we’ll see you then.

WOF:  Alright.  Thank you.

Neil:  Yep.

WOF:  Bye.

Neil:  Bye-bye.

For more information, go to Clutch’s website, http://www.pro-rock.com/, and be sure to pick up a copy of their new album, “From Beale Street to Oblivion,” coming out on March 27, 2007.