The Weathermaker Underground | Clutch started out on major labels, but these days they’re taking the indie route instead.
DETAILS
CLUTCH
w/ Baroness, Lionize. Edmonton Event Centre (WEM). Sat, Aug 1. Tickets: $28, available at the door or through Ticketmaster (451-8000/ticketmaster.ca).
What’s in a name? For the band Clutch, the music community seems to have invented a million different words for the music they make, from punk to metal to stoner rock to grunge to blue steel. Clutch’s drummer Jean-Paul Gaster has heard them all before. (Well, except for “blue steel” — I came up with that one. First time for everything, right?) And in their own vague way, they all make sense.
“We got signed early on and came from the punk rock hardcore scene where there were a lot of bands around us getting signed,” says Gaster. “But we knew right away that it was more of a gamble for the record company than it was for us. When people ask me what kind of music we do, I say almost rock ’n’ roll. Our sound comes from blues, from jazz ... and from rock ’n’ roll. So I guess rock ’n’ roll is the best way to explain it. It really is a melting pot of different styles and influences.”
Gaster has gotten used to hearing other people’s perspective on what he does. Clutch’s first forays into the record industry were with major labels like Columbia and then Atlantic, after which the band started their own indie label Weathermaker Music. Through it all, Gaster has been more interested in chasing the feeling you get from creating music than worrying what it would be called.
“When we started the band, the intent was to play shows and make records — end of story,” he says. “There were no illusions of us becoming rich and or famous. A turning point for me was seeing Bad Brains at the old 9:30 Club [in Washington, D.C.] just out of high school. I saw those guys take that stage and turn that room into a church. That was a really heavy thing for me and it was then that I realized what I wanted to do. I don’t need to play stadiums, I don’t need to play arenas.... As long there are people there who are interested in having a good time and we are all on the same level, then we are going to put on the very best show that we can put on.”
While we’re pondering the connotations of various words, I asked Gaster if he’d be interested in finishing off the interview with a word association test. His reply to the first question? “All right.” Game on!
SEE: BitTorrent.
Jean-Paul Gaster: I’m fine with that.
SEE: John Bonham.
JPG: Master of the drums.
SEE: Theme album.
JPG: We don’t have any of those.
SEE: Canada.
JPG: People love rock ’n’ roll in Canada.
SEE: Intellectual rock ’n’ roll.
JPG: I don’t think it exists.
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