The Ultimate Jam Band Comes to Fargo

By Kristine Kostuck
Staff Writer

Next Wednesday, Clutch will be at the Venue to make Fargo’s heads bang and feet move. Fargo is one stop on their extended tour across the States and Canada.

Clutch hasn’t wandered far from live audiences since the beginning nearly 20 years ago. Dan Maines, bassist, explained that sharing their music is just what they need to “work their spirits.”

Clutch’s music is a mixture of hard rock, blues and funk. Their songs are upbeat. Some have called them, “the ultimate stoner/jam band.” In this genre , the Melvins may be the only band comparable to Clutch, but even the Melvins stand apart from Clutch’s danceable style.

Even though their approach is inimitable, after twenty years the band’s sound has remained constant, even with experimentation efforts.

Maines attributes this to the members playing together since high school. “We have learned how to challenge each other in a way that works. We started playing together when we were first learning our instruments,” he said. “We have made it a point to sound sonically different, adding various instruments, harmonica, keyboards and different forms of percussion, but we stuck with the core sound.”

The group is also known for their unsteady bounces between record labels. They have not produced more than two records under one label and produced their latest release, “Clutch Live,” under their own label, Weathermaker Records.

“Clutch” takes their music to a whole different level by connecting their songs to their albums with lyrics. Maine said: “I think he [Neil Fallon, lead singer] forms mental images in his head and that influences what kind of words he is going to put on top of the music. I have a feeling that there is more of that going on in our musical process than him working with a sheet of paper on his own time. We aren’t the kind of band that creates a concept album- but rather creating something that puts the pieces together.”

In early record tracks, the lyrics expressed anger with a serious tone. Like this line from “Pitchfork,” their first album: “You put me in the clutches of sin/Making me a burning specimen.”

In the mid-90s, the lyrics calmed down to wordplay of intellect and humor, referring to history, religion and even pop culture.

“Clutch’s” fan base has steadily grown over the last 20 years without the push of mainstream popularity. Their songs rarely receive radio play and they are not commercialized by the media. 

Their hardcore fans call themselves “gearheads” and drive the group’s ambitions to continue their strenuous touring schedule. For 20 years Clutch has played about 100 shows per year. With support from the next generation of gearheads, they might do it for another 20 years.

As Maines said,  “I haven’t experienced anything negative in music. It is one of the things I enjoy most in my life.”

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If You Go

What: Clutch
Where: The Venue at The Hub
When: Wed, Sept 29, 9pm
Info: 232-6767