The Elephant Riders



Clutch is an American rock band from Frederick, Maryland, originating in Germantown, Maryland. Its four members met while in high school in Germantown and consider themselves a Frederick-based band where they write/rehearse for every album/tour. Since its formation in 1991, the band line-up has included Neil Fallon (vocals, rhythm guitar, keyboards), Tim Sult (lead guitar, backing vocals), Dan Maines (bass, backing vocals) and Jean-Paul Gaster (drums and percussion). To date, Clutch has released thirteen studio albums, and several rarities and live albums. Since 2008 the band have been signed to their own record label, Weathermaker. Clutch (originally called “Glut Trip” and stemmed from “Moral Minority”) was formed in 1991 by Dan Maines (bass), Jean-Paul Gaster (drums), Tim Sult (guitar), and Roger Smalls (vocals) in Germantown, Maryland. Smalls soon departed and was replaced by Neil Fallon, a longtime schoolmate of the other members at Seneca Valley High School. The band quickly gained notice through constant touring. The 12 single “Passive Restraints” on the Earache label was Clutch’s first commercial release, garnering attention from other labels. Their debut LP, Transnational Speedway League, was released in 1993. It was followed by a self-titled album two years later that gained Clutch mainstream exposure. The band moved to the larger Columbia label for the 1998 album The Elephant Riders. They followed it in 1999 with a self-released groove-based album Jam Room. On April 28, 2009 Clutch released Slow Hole to China, a collection of unreleased tracks. On June 10, 2012, the band released a new single, “Pigtown Blues”, on iTunes, backed with an acoustic version of “Motherless Child” from Strange Cousins from the West. On March 16, 2013 Clutch released their tenth album Earth Rocker which entered the Billboard Top 200 chart at #15 giving Clutch their highest chart position to date. It would remain on the chart for a total of 5 weeks. The album also reached #4 on iTunes’ overall Top 100 album charts and was #1 in their rock chart. Earthrocker won “Album of the Year” 2013 from British publication Metalhammer, and was rated highly on many rock/metal magazines’ and websites’ end-of-the-year “Top Tens”. In an interview on January 7, 2015 with music and entertainment company 88 Miles West, Fallon stated that the band was heading to Dripping Springs, Texas, to record their upcoming eleventh album. Fallon states the venture to Texas was due to the relocation of record producer Machine, with whom they worked on Blast Tyrant and Earth Rocker, and who recently opened a new studio there. He stated in the interview that “Septemberish, give or take a couple of months” is when they hope to release the new album. Their eleventh studio album is titled Psychic Warfare, and was released October 2, 2015. Fallon said the concept is influenced by science fiction author Philip K. Dick. “His general philosophy and questions have always crept into my lyrics, because I share an interest in it,” he adds. “On Earth Rocker, ‘Crucial Velocity’ was definitely a Philip Dick song for me. On this record, ‘X-Ray Visions’ certainly is.”. Gaster described the new material as more diverse than ever. In April 2018, Neil Fallon announced through the radio station The Eagle Rocks that the band's twelfth studio album would be titled Book of Bad Decisions. The album will be released on September 7, 2018. The album was recorded at Sputnik Sound Studio in Nashville, Tennessee with producer and engineer Vance Powell. On November 13, 2020 Released The Weathermaker Studios Vol. 1. A collection of re-recorded hits and 4 unreleased covers and songs. On September 16,2022 Clutch released their 13th Studio album: Sunrise on Slaughter Beach. Between 2004-2018 Clutch created seven straight top 10 releases on Billboard’s Independent Album Chart. Neil Fallon – vocals, rhythm guitar, harmonica, keyboards, percussion Tim Sult – lead guitar Dan Maines – bass guitar Jean-Paul Gaster – drums, percussion Read more on Last.fm. User-contributed text is available under the Creative Commons By-SA License; additional terms may apply.