Clutch at Vinyl Music Hall

Schedule

Sat Sep 18 2021 at 07:00 pm

Location

Vinyl Music Hall | Pensacola, FL

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With the release of their highly anticipated 12th studio album, the gloriously titled “Book of Bad Decisions”, it would be easy to suggest that legendary
Maryland rockers Clutch have made their finest record to date. This may even be
true. You see, the thing about Clutch is that ever since their 1993 debut
Transnational Speedway League they've been in the business of writing stone cold
classics, and even the most rabid fan would have trouble picking just one. “Book
of Bad Decisions” won't make that task any easier. Rest assured, it's another
classic.
Recorded over three weeks at Sputnik Studios in Nashville, “Book of Bad
Decisions” was produced by four-time Grammy winner Vance Powell (Seasick Steve,
The White Stripes, Arctic Monkeys, etc.), a man who apparently knows that a one
degree angle change in microphones makes a difference to how an instrument
sounds. Interestingly, his name first came to the band's attention via country
star Chris Stapleton.
“It started with my brother-in-law, who's a huge Chris Stapleton fan,” says
drummer Jean-Paul Gaster. “He and I would listen to The Traveller quite a bit,
and one thing that stood out was that it didn't sound like any other country
record that I'd heard. Shortly after that I was on Spotify, and a song by The
Dead Weather came up. It just blew me away and I could tell that whoever
produced that record was doing things a different way. I looked it up and there
was Vance Powell's name again, so something was telling us that this is a guy we
should reach out to.”
“Even though Chris Stapleton does music that's not too much like our own, the
sonics of the record are pretty great,” says frontman Neil Fallon. “He has a
very different approach to recording; he comes from the school of live recording
and engineering, and the songs, on tape, are not gonna sound that much different
from what we do live.”
No stranger to the road, Powell spent three days on tour with the band in order
to get a feel for what they do best, watching first from the front of house and
then from the stage, checking out the live sound and how Clutch connect with
their audience.
“I never go into a record having an idea of how it's gonna sound,” he says. “But
after hearing them live, I had an idea of how they could sound. I'm a big live
recording fan, so I like when bands play together and I didn't wanna get into
that manufacturing a record concept. I wanted it to be real organic.”
Indeed, 'organic' is a word that comes up a lot when talking to Clutch about the
new record, Powell taking great care to get guitar tones right and making sure
that each song had its own identity.
“Vance is all about vintage guitar sounds,” says guitarist Tim Sult. “I probably
had more amplifier options than on any other album we've done. It was like going
back to a music store in 1960! This was the first time I've ever recorded with
amps from the '50s and I ended up buying a couple of '50s amps while we were in
Nashville.”
“I felt really good about the gear that I was bringing into the studio,” concurs
bassist Dan Maines, “but Vance had this 1974 Ampeg and I'm so glad that he
recommended that. As soon as we plugged it in, it sounded like Sabbath! We ended
up using it alongside one of my amps, and I loved it so much that once we were
done recording I scoured the ads for another one. What I really like is that
each song has a different tone to it, and I think that's Vance Powell's style.”
With each band member contributing riffs to the album – including Jean-Paul who
has added mandolin to his repertoire – there was no shortage of material, each
song road-tested long before it reached the studio. Hell, with 15 songs, “Book
of Bad Decisions” could easily pass as a double album! Always wary of repeating
themselves and retreading old ground, there is even – for the first time on a
Clutch album – a horn section that swings like James Brown's pants!
“The third night I was watching the band,” says Vance, “they did this song that
at that time was called Talkbox, which is now In Walks Barbarella. While Neil
was singing, I was thinking to myself, “wow, there's a horn line here!” And
while he was singing, I was humming it to myself. I brought it up to them,
tenuously, and they were like, “okay, let's do it!” This is as Parliament,
Funkadelic as it gets, maybe even a James Brown vibe!”
One thing, however, that is entirely as expected, is that as arguably the
greatest rock lyricist of modern times, Fallon, as always, has provided some
interesting subject matter, everything from poets to presidents and recipes to
rock 'n' roll. You may have to Google some of it, because Fallon is nothing if
not a clever bugger, and likes to keep his audience on their toes.
“Most of the time I have no idea what he's talking about,” laughs Jean-Paul,
“but the lyrics completely inform how I'm going to play that tune. Whether or
not I understand exactly what Neil is singing about is not important. I listen
to the way Neil sings those words and I think about what those words mean to me,
and that, ultimately, informs how I'm gonna play drums on that song.”
“I think I probably second guess myself into doing that,” says Neil of his
lyrical style. “I would rather not be able to answer all the questions, just to
keep it interesting for myself. Sometimes a rhyme sounds awesome and I don't
know what it means, but I'll go with it anyway. It's become more difficult to
write lyrics now that I have Wikipedia at my fingertips, because you can go down
rabbit hole after rabbit hole and not get anything done! Not too long ago you'd
have to spend months in a public library trying to find out the things you can
find in a couple of keystrokes.”
Elsewhere, however, you'll find a more straightforward approach to lyrics, A
Good Fire relating the memory of hearing Black Sabbath for the first time –
something that everyone can relate to – while Sonic Counselor pays homage to
Clutch fans. Indeed, it's fair to say that Clutch fans – collectively known as
Gearheads – are a breed like no other.
“I've always loved rock songs that just celebrated rock 'n' roll,” grins Fallon,
“but that song was a bit more about the people who come to our shows, that make
it as exciting for us as hopefully it is for them. My favorite shows that I've
seen bands do is like going to church, especially when everybody's in sync with
each other and you walk out with your jaw on the floor. I feel incredibly
grateful that people have walked out of our shows and felt the same way. It's a
tip of the hat to them.”
“We're exceptionally lucky to have the fans we have,” Jean-Paul agrees. “They're
diehard, and because of that, we take this that much more seriously. We do not
take this for granted. We know that those folks could be anywhere else, and
they've chosen to spend the evening at a Clutch show, so we're gonna do the best
we can to provide them with the best musical experience we can. I think that
translates to the records, because at the end of the day, all you have is your
records. When this whole thing wraps up, those are gonna be the things that go
down in history.”
Clutch are:
Neil Fallon – vocals & guitar
Jean-Paul Gaster – drums
Dan Maines – bass
Tim Sult – guitar
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Where is it happening?

Vinyl Music Hall, 2 S Palafox St, Pensacola, United States

Event Location & Nearby Stays:

Vinyl Music Hall

Host or Publisher Vinyl Music Hall

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