Casey Schwochow of How Was It Detroit? conducted an interview with drummer Jean-Paul Gaster of Maryland rockers CLUTCH on October 28 at The Fillmore in Detroit, Michigan. An excerpt follows On CLUTCH’s plans for 2017:
Gaster: “We’re gonna write some, and then we’re gonna go back on tour. Touring really never ends. We take breaks from time to time. We’ll take off the first three months of next year and we’ll get down to writing, see what kind of direction that’s gonna take us in, and then start making plans to record. Probably what will happen is we will do some shows in the spring, and then, for us, it’s really important to play the new songs live, so I have a feeling that wherever we choose to record, we’ll do shows on the way out there to work through the material, play the material. You know, for me, as a drummer, those experiences are crucial to recording a record that, at the end of the day, you feel proud of. In the live setting, you can immediately tell where the pulse of that tune is. You gauge by the audience reaction, how they’re latching on to whatever groove that is, and you start to tweak things — you might pull stuff back or you might push stuff, change up an approach entirely, maybe. But that’s really crucial — it really brings the song to life.“
