Clutch: Masters of Progression

For almost three decades Maryland rockers CLUTCH have been active and riding the train of constant success. Keeping the same line-up, a rarity for the music world with a band that have been around for so long, and releasing some of the most idolised albums to date in the rock world, it’s no surprise that yet again we see them reach new heights. 2019 will see something new for the band, and instead of an album release, CLUTCH will be issuing the Weathermaker Vault Series.

Releasing an album’s worth of material over a period of time without actually putting it into a final full-length purchasable format sounds like a very risky idea, but for CLUTCH it’s the future. Understanding that times have changed since consumers would only have the option but to go out and buy physical copies of their music, they’ve decided to do something that will keep them current on streaming platforms where most people now get access to their favourite sounds.

“We wanted to experiment and just knock out a few songs at a time”, states the band’s drummer Jean-Paul Gaster. “I think it also comes down to how people are listening to music these days. I don’t think we’re going to abandon the process of recording albums but for now we wanted to jump into something real quick.”

The question that stems from moving towards streaming consumers is just why so many people are crossing over to the online world as opposed to physical. “It’s difficult to buy CDs these days, unless you go online of course and have them ordered and delivered to your home,” continuing he adds, “Record stores are going out of business, so it’s just the way people listen to music now and some try and push against it but it’s not going to do you a whole lot of good.”

When it comes to change in the music industry, CLUTCH have never been a band to sit on their hands and grumble about how unhappy they are with the way it’s been going. Instead of taking the approach of fighting against streaming platforms, corporate record stores and big labels taking advantage of young, excited bands, they decided to adapt always with the change and do something about it. In 2008, the band set up their own record label Weathermaker Music, they took control of their own sound and the way they did things and ensured that CLUTCH would be 100% CLUTCH.  “We’ve been around now for 27 years and the music industry has always been a tough place for us. We started our own label in 2008 and that sort of made things easier, we were able to put out a lot of peripheral stuff that the band had to deal with, so being able to write and record and put out music the way we like was pretty great.”

For them to take creative control and take action on something they wanted to change meant that for the Maryland rockers they’re able to make the decisions and do forward thinking with something like the Weathermaker Vault Series. “I think it’ll be cool because we’ll be able to release stuff that people will be more consistent with. You won’t have to wait two years to get a new CLUTCH record or a new CLUTCH song. We’ll see how it goes, we’ll certainly make a collection of songs that will be an album again, we’ll do that again of course but for now it’s just releasing stuff every once in a while.”

The band find it important to keep themselves on the go and stay heard within the music scene. They’ve never been known to sit around for years doing the same old formula as it goes noticed with their latest series, but even after releasing their latest album Book of Bad Decisions they claimed to take a break, but no surprise that their idea of a break isn’t what other bands have in mind. “We don’t sit around music. We get off of a tour and we might take a week or two off but usually fairly quickly we’re writing or recording something.” Gaster continues, “We enjoy making music, we’re not a band that wants to play the same songs we were doing 20 years ago, we do that of course but we like to create and we like to feed our brains.”

There’s no shock that CLUTCH have achieved the successes they have found through their journey in music. They’re proof that moving forward with the times regardless of agreeing with it or not is the way to go. You can’t rewind, so living in the past isn’t an option. From creating their own label, changing the way they record to spice things up, to how they’re going to be tackling the Weathermaker Vault Series, risk is what got CLUTCH to where they are today.

“We’ve always done that [risk], even in the early days when we released our first album Transnational Speedway League in 1993 we went on tour with one of our favourite bands, I can remember very specifically having 35 minutes to play and the majority of those 35 minutes were playing new material and we had a blast, the record label was not that enthusiastic about that kind of a move, but it kept us interesting. It set the tone for the relationship we have with the fans.” Closing off, JP states, “We don’t like doing the same thing over and over.”

When you’re passionate about something, you fight for it. Every risk in CLUTCH‘s career has been that fight, but it has paid off in amounts that cannot be accounted for. The music they make has been for themselves first because that’s what they’re passionate about. Almost three decades ago this band never intended to make a career out of music, but here they are, each original member living the dream because they’re doing what they love without giving up when times got trying. They’re the masters of progression and proof that old doesn’t mean outdated.

The band will be touring the UK this December. 

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