Drew Ailes caught up with Clutch drummer Jean-Paul Gaster at a recent Sounds Of The Underground show. He was originally supposed to interview Neil Fallon, however, due to some scheduling issues that didn't pan out, so several questions (written for Neil) could not be asked.

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How long did the new album take to record?

The actual recording process took probably about a month. The basic drum tracks were done in about three days, and then we did a series of just live things. Some of the stuff came out like "Small Upsetters," "Tripping The Alarm"...these are all things that we just jammed right in the studio, live, as a band. Including the very last tune, which is the Howling Wolf tune, we all jammed that together. We actually learned that the very last morning, and put that down within an hour.

I heard you guys rent out studios and just jam for a long time.

Well, it depends. It depends how it goes. This particular instance we were able to do just that. We were able to get all the meat of the drum tracks done and essentially just sort of play around for the last three days, which was a good thing to do.

Is there anything different or out of the ordinary on Robot Hive/Exodus?

I think as far as the production goes, the record is quite different sounding than Blast Tyrant. The production, I think, is a little more lifelike. I think it's a little more organic, and that the low end is a little more apparent. The kick-drum and bass/guitar relationships are a little different than they were on Blast Tyrant. I honestly prefer this style of production more than Blast Tyrant, although certainly Blast Tyrant has its merits as well.

How did you guys decide on the cover art?

That was an artist that Neil [Fallon] hooked up with. He's a young guy out of Brooklyn and I think doing CD packages and stuff like that was not something he normally did, but it was something he was interested in doing. We sort of just gave him a little bit of a concept and he ran with it, and the results were stellar, so we're really stoked about the way it came out.

When did the idea to re-release Pitchfork first surface, and are you satisfied with it?

We originally released Pitchfork as a 7 inch on a small label, and then started selling it on our own as a CD a few years after that. And then about three years ago, we were given this opportunity to go to Japan, and essentially it was, "we need to go to Japan and we need some money, what do we do?" So we made a deal with Megaforce Records and we licensed them the Jam Room record and the Pitchfork record, and they in turn gave us some money. We went to Japan, and that was pretty much it. Yeah.

As far as River Road Records goes, is that probably just going to be releasing Clutch's material, or do you have plans to expand out even further?

Yeah, at this point it's really just an outlet for us to put things out that don't necessarily need a major label style release. Essentially River Road is really nothing more than us selling records either on the road or through the Internet, which for us is actually a good way to do things. We see a lot more money, and the folks who are really interested in getting sort of the deep cuts of the Clutch stuff, they're able to get it, and so it works out for everybody.

Why isn't Clutch currently on a major label? I know you guys were before and had problems with that, but have you ever had any sort of offers or ideas?

Recently we haven't really pursued that. We've been with DRT and that's been an okay relationship. We've done several records with major labels and the truth is that a major label really doesn't make any money or...let me put it this way: it's not something that a major label is really interested in doing, in selling a 100,000 records. The fact that we have a steady fan base, and the fact that we sell, say, 80,000 or 100,000 records of each release that we do is something major labels look at and say "wow, if they can sell that, certainly we can sell a million records." And then, you know, within a few months of the release, they realize, "wait a second, this is a lot of work to sell this thing." So they usually lose interest very quickly, and it's just...it's not a good place to be. They do business a lot differently than we do, and that's about it really.

I know Clutch tours with a lot of different bands from all different kind of genres. What are your favorite sorts of shows to play? With bands who are more akin to you guys, or do you prefer a more varied line-up like the Sounds of the Underground?

Well, I think each one has its merits. If it was up to me, we would do an Evening With Clutch like we did last summer, and we would play for three hours and I would be a lot happier. I like to play drums. In a situation like this, you know, it's got its advantages as well. We certainly play for a lot of new people, and you get exposed to other bands and other music and you can always take away a little something from just about everybody, really. So this, this for us, this is really more of just an opportunity to play for new people, and I look forward to getting out in the fall and doing our own thing.

I've read other interviews where you guys said you were headlining another U.S. tour, any idea who that might be with?

As of right now, no. The last thing we did, the Evening With was such a successful thing, and we had such a good time doing that. At this point, I really don't know if anybody would even be opening.

A friend of mine wanted me to ask if Transnational Speedway would ever get played the whole way through or something crazy like that...

Um, probably not. [laughing]

Alright, I'll let him know that. Have you noticed that your audience has changed a little since you've ventured into the realm of playing more groove oriented material?

I don't think the audience has really changed all that much other than the fact that it's just gotten bigger. We've always had a very wide sort of audience, whether it was metal kids, or thrash kids, or goth kids when we toured with Manson, you know, whatever. There's all different types of folks that find something in the music and so I think it's more than anything has just grown.

Kind of a simpler one: was it a conscious decision to move away from that sort of...hardcore/metallish sound, and more into what you're playing now?

We never had a band meeting saying, "okay, it's time to change our sound, guys." We got this band together with the idea that we would play shows and make records, and that was really it. The idea of selling a lot of records or making it into something that it wasn't supposed to be never really came in. More than anything we just concentrated on playing, and I think we were lucky enough in our early formative years to get on the road and stay on the road, and I think we all learned to play our instruments. So what you hear is honestly just the natural progression of where we are as players, you know?

Does anyone in the band have any sort of formal musical training, or is it more just developed on your own?

Well, Tim [Sult] took quite a bit of lessons, and so he's good with theory. I took lessons with a jazz drummer and really just learned the history of all the instrument, of the drum kit. You have to remember that the drum kit as we know it really came into inception when this music called "jazz" hit the scene. So I think it's really important, as a drummer, to take jazz lessons. Not so much because you want to play like Max Roach, but more because you need to understand why the drums are set up the way they are, like, why is it there's a high hat sitting at your left? There's a reason for this stuff, and so I think that's really an important thing for young guys to understand.

I'm pretty sure it isn't based on what you've told me earlier, but is it a conscious effort to have every album have a specific theme or concept like it seems to?

I don't think so. I think more often than not Neil writes his lyrics —thankfully I don't write any lyrics because mine would suck- I think Neil writes all his lyrics and then I think at the end of the day there seems sometimes to be some sort of common thread. I don't think it's ever something like a grand concept that he comes up with, but it's really easy because of the way he writes his words. He's such a visual guy, you know what I mean? You can read some of his lines and immediately you can sort of paint your own picture, your own concept of really what the record's about, and I think that's really what we do. We just take a few things out of the lyrics and sort of build something about that.

How have you managed to keep the same line-up for so long without getting into fights or having some sort of bitterness? You guys have been together for a long time.

We have been together for a very long time. [laughing] I don't have any easy answer for that. I'm blessed to play with the guys who I play with. I play with the best players that I know. As guys to hang out with, I love hanging out with my guys. I can't complain, we're family and this is what we do.

What are your home lives like? Does regular touring kind of disrupt or put a strain on them?

I think at this point we've done this for so long that this is really the norm for us, you know? People have families and wives and stuff, but the music was really there to begin with, so it wasn't like we were introducing something new into the equation.

I know you've probably been asked this a lot and it's probably a redundant question, but how did you end up on the Bam Margera show?

He's a fan. He's a fan. He's been coming to see Clutch for many, many, years. His brother Jess plays drums in a band called CKY, he just came over and took some lessons with myself. So he's really a fan, that guy is, as is his brother. He had an opportunity to do some things, and he took that opportunity and when he asked us to come up and play on the show....certainly, we're gonna go play on the show.

On a side-note, do you know how Neil's niece is doing? I remember you guys were doing kind of a benefit a while ago, is she doing alright?

She's doing great. She's actually walking.

Cool. That's good to hear.

It's fantastic. It is. It's a blessing.

What are your views on organizations like Clear Channel?

Clear Channel, I think is...you're talking about a company who's just trying to make money. It gets to a point where music or entertainment has very little to do with their vision of what it is that they're trying to get across. These are cats who are just trying to make as much money as they can, right now, today. It's the same old thing. Good music generally will not get played on the radio because most folks just don't understand good music. That's not to say most folks are stupid, because that's certainly not the case. I think that actually it's quite the opposite. If you took the time to introduce these people to real music, I think that they would certainly appreciate them, but companies like Clear Channel don't give people the benefit of the doubt. They assume that everybody's too stupid to really understand any kind of real cerebral music, you know?

Another typical question: do you think filesharing helps or hurts artists?

I don't think I have a real stance on it. I certainly don't think that it hurts Clutch's record sales. I think most people who download songs, when they hear a Clutch song...I think most people will go and buy the record. I don't know if that holds true for all different bands of all different genres, but I'm pretty confident that there's a lot of people out there who get turned on to the music and say, "hey, I want that record, because I want to know who produced it, or I want to know where they recorded the drums." You know. It's not this kind of flavor-of-the-month music that sort of just goes away.

If someone was just going to start listening to Clutch for the first time, what album would you suggest they pick up?

Robot Hive/Exodus.

Well put, well put. Are there any newer bands you've kind of gotten into or seen a lot of promise in?

Well, we have High On Fire on this tour, and I like those guys quite a bit. I was not familiar with Opeth prior to this tour, and I've had a good time watching them play. I think the new Mastodon record is fantastic. But the honest truth is that a lot of the heavier sort of rock stuff that's coming out, I just don't...I can't really sink my teeth into it.

That's understandable. Aside from High On Fire, are there any bands that you really enjoy touring out here with?

We've done stuff with both High On Fire and Mastodon and those guys are a lot of fun. I think at the end of the day you want to go out with folks who are your friends and that you can at least see eye-to-eye when it comes to music. After all, you're going to be sharing the same stage, sometimes for months on end. So it's really important to surround yourself with people that you enjoy being around.

That just about wraps it up, is there anything you want to add?

Not really, Robot Hive/Exodus.

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