Things could have been so different for Clutch, had frontman Neil Fallon continued in his early role as the band’s DJ.
The singer started out as the group’s guitarist before a stint handling samples and spinning discs. Guitarist Tim Sult recalls the origins of the band and how a change in musical direction led to Fallon switching roles.
Originally called Moral Minority, the band featured a singer called Brian who left before a name change to Glut Trip and the addition of a new singer, Roger Smalls.
Sult tells My Global Mind: “Neil sang on the second Moral Minority demo if I remember correctly. Then Brian decided he wanted to be the singer and wanted Neil to do samples. Brian got really into Ministry and he wanted to do a Ministry type thing.
“We were only teenagers and went through phases really quick. So in 1989 he brought me into the band to play guitar and Neil was doing the samples. This guy Brian sang, so that was really the original first line up of Clutch. Neil was the DJ, literally.”
Clutch are preparing for the release of their 11th album, Psychic Warfare, in September. Drummer Jean-Paul Gaster has repeated his comments that it is more diverse than previous effort Earth Rocker.
Gaster tells Lithium: “I think there’s a little more dynamic range happening on this album. I think the tempo of the songs is a little bit more far-reaching. Earth Rocker had a very specific energy to it, it was a very upbeat record, and this record also has some of those kinds of songs.
“But I think some of the feels are a little different — maybe a little more reminiscent of stuff we’ve done even before Earth Rocker. So it’s definitely a departure from what we did last time.”
