Weekly Interview 6/15/16: Neil Fallon from Clutch

Neil Fallon
Silver Spring, MD
Clutch
http://www.pro-rock.com/

Photo: Andrew Stuart

How long have you been a musician? How did you get into it in the first place?

I bought my first electric guitar around 1987. It was a shitty Cort strat. A very discouraging introduction. My “rig” was a Gorilla amp and a Boss DS-1. Strictly power chords and feedback for several years. I drove my parents nuts.

Clutch formed in 1991. We knew each other in high school and we started jamming just for fun. I gave up playing guitar when we started, and I focused on lyrics and singing. I later picked it back up in the mid 90s, but really didn’t get serious about playing until around 2000 or so.

Who have been some of your major musical influences, past or present?

Starting out I think there were three main influences on Clutch: D.C. hardcore (i.e Minor Threat, Bad Brains), the Mid Atlantic Doom scene (Pentagram, The Obsessed), and D.C. go-go (Chuck Brown, Junkyard Band). I see those three scenes as the essence of what became our sound.

To be honest, I can’t do a guitar solo to save my life. What I can do is finger style. Travis picking and the likes. I’m a big fan of John Fahey, Mississippi John Hurt, Elmore James, Skip James, and Chet Atkins. And I love Link Wray. When I take guitar lessons, those are typically the kinds of artists I try to learn from.

Photo by: Andrew Stuart

Initially I think it was a practical need. Living at home with the ‘rents or in small apartments when I first set off on my own, I, like most players, had to keep it down. And a distortion pedal is a great way to fool oneself that it’s loud. Later, I was attracted them as a creative tool. I’m sure I’m not the only person who can sit and noodle through a delay pedal for countless hours.

What’s your current setup look like? Take us through your pedal rig (feel free to include amps and instruments as well if you’d like):

Gibson was kind enough to loan me an ES-335 for this tour we’re on now. It is easily the best guitar I’ve ever played. I run that into a pedal board off stage. Our guitar tech does the switching for me. The reason for that is I don’t play guitar on every song and to leave the board on stage while I goof around on the mic would be certain disaster. The chain on the board is as follows:

MXR Smart Gate (handy when playing through p-90s), Keeley Compressor, Jext Telez Uni-Drive (that thing rules), EHX Microsynth, MXR Carbon Copy, Strymon Flint, to Magnatone Reverb / Tremelo selector, and finally to a splitter box that goes to either the Maganatone Stereo Twilighter Amp, or the Orange OR-100. The “Fender” in the photo was a ’68 Super Reverb but that has been replaced by the Maganatone. And of course, these aren’t run all at the same time, I just turned them all on ‘cause they look nifty.

Favorite type of pedal (drive, delay, fuzz, etc. – more than one answer is always acceptable!):

I love spring reverb and the Strymon Flint is one of the best I’ve heard. And I’ve spent plenty of hours on the Boss Loop Station at home. It’s especially fun doing fingerpicking patterns. Cool accidents are easy to come by.

You’re stranded on a desert island – which three (3) of the following do you want to have?

I’ll take my Martin guitar. I’ve had it for 16 years and I’d save it first in a house fire (after my family, of course). But if this island has electricity?

Instruments: This ES-335. I don’t want to give it back to Gibson.
Amps: Vintage ’68 Fender Super Reverb
Pedals: Definitely some sort of loop station, because it sounds like I’m going to be all alone on this island. And a delay pedal, because who doesn’t love to listen to dub on a desert island?

Photo by: Andrew Stuart

What’s up next for you/your band(s)?

We’re on tour with Lamb of God until mid June. Then we go to Europe in August. Headline the U.S. in the fall, back to Europe this Winter and then our U.S. Holiday run. After that, we’ll start thinking about another record.

The Klon hype: Love it or Hate it?

I had to look this up. It’s silly. Another example of supply and demand economics. And also, a good example of the power of suggestion. Are they really THAT different? I don’t think so.

Any last comments, promos or anything you’d like to talk about?

Thanks for the interview. You should interview the real pedal commander in our band, Tim Sult. Fastest Wah in the West.