The album took a different creative turn thanks to the COVID-19 Pandemic which I discussed with Andy Martin (Guitar/Vocals) from the band in this interview.
So let’s get straight down to business with this great interview.
Hi Andy. Thanks for doing the interview. How are things with you today.
Pretty good, thanks! The new record comes out this week and I just got married so despite the state of the world I’m pretty stoked.
Can you give a brief history of how the band came about and where it is today.
The four of us have been bands together since we were teenagers and Clamfight has existed since 2002 with our first show in 2025. Currently we’re a lot older and grayer than when we started, have a lot of family and work commitments but are incredibly excited to get out there and play some shows.
We last spoke back in 2018. What have you guys been upto since then. As it’s been over seven years since Clamfight’s last album with III released back in 2018.
There’s been a lot of big life changes since, three kids between Joel and Sean, new jobs, but somehow, we keep on keeping on. Show wise, since the release of III we have yet again covered the East from Maine to Florida.
Obviously the COVID-19 Pandemic had a big effect for you when making this album. Can you describe how this impacted the band itself and changed the musical dynamic for the original plans for the new album.
Speaking for myself, it made me realize how much Joel, Louis, and Sean mean to me. That changed the entire lyrical direction of the album. Logistically speaking it made recording a much slower process. We finished the drums the weekend the East Coast shut down and then I think it was 5 or 6 months before we were able to get back to the studio.
With that in mind, are you happy with the way the new album has turned out. Has it changed dramatically to Clamfight’s original plans for the record.
We are. The extra time allowed us to really flesh this record out and expand it sonically. It’s absolutely the best record we’ve ever made and I’m not sure it would have been if we’d knocked it out as planned in 2020.
What can people expect with this new album. As it’s your most aggressive, heaviest and bleakest release to date.
It’s certainly got some of the heaviest stuff we’ve ever done on it, but also, I sing more than on any prior record. Sean’s guitar work is beautiful. It’s blistering when it needs to be but there are a lot of quiet moments and also hooks ha ha ha. I think when you hear it, I’d hope you think, “wow, these guys love Soundgarden and Converge in equal measure.”
Are you prepared to surprise your fanbase with quite a challenging and complex album to your previous records whilst still maintaining that core “CLAMFIGHT” sound.
Ha, I hope! The reviews so far have been super kind, and since it’s been done for so long a lot of our friends have heard it already. I’d like to think that since we’ve been quiet for so long people will be happier to get something different from us as opposed to a rehash of the same old thing.
You have some fantastic guest vocals on the new album with Sam Marandola (Oldest Sea) appearing on “Brodgar” and Stephen Murphy (Kings Destroy) and the legend that is JJ Koczan (The Obelisk) both appearing on “Clamfight”. How did these collaborations come together.
Friendship. We met Sam after shows started again and immediately hit it off. She is stunningly talented and super fun to be around. Having her not hesitant when we asked her to be on this record was an honor. JJ and Steve are hugely important to us. No one would know who we are without JJ.
My memory is a little fuzzy but I’m pretty sure we met JJ within a year of us starting to play live, so we’ve known him for 20 years? Steve and the Kings Destroy guys are like our big brothers. So yeah, when we had this 7-minute autobiographical song, we knew these were the guys to sing on it and were over the moon that they said yes.
You’re releasing this album yourselves. Was that an easy or hard decision to make.
It wasn’t an easy call, but it was the right one. It was a lot of work for us, and between families and our jobs, it’s not like we have a lot of free time, but we didn’t want to be beholden to anyone else’s schedule. Also, we didn’t want to let anyone down if we got too busy to properly push this album.
Did you have any label interest in releasing the new album. I’m surprised that you’re releasing this yourselves. As you’ve worked with some cool labels in the past.
We talked to some great people about it and appreciate the opportunities we were offered but they just weren’t right for us.
What formats is the album being released upon.
For right now just digital and CD, but I think vinyl is inevitable.
The artwork is stunning for the new album cover. Very primal and showcases your heavier organic sound. Who designed the artwork and how much influence did you have with the final design.
Thank you! The art was by Morgan Russell, an old buddy of mine from my Scottish archaeology days. She’s done some T-shirts for us and has done some killer beer labels in the UK. There is a lot of forest and ocean imagery on the record, and I made a hilariously bad sketch of what I thought it should look like, sent Morgan that and the lyrics and she went off and crushed it. Morgan sent us stuff throughout the process but basically all we ever said was, “that’s incredible, keep going.” She did an amazing job.
What inspired CLAMFIGHT when writing, recording and making the album.
There weren’t a lot of conscious decisions about how we wanted this to sound beyond wanting some shorter songs than the ones on ‘III.’ We didn’t set out to make a prettier record, but it happened, and I think that was due to the extra recording time and our main dude Steve Poponi pushing us to be better musicians.
Lyrically, I was influenced by the Pandemic and where we all our in lives. We’re in our mid-forties, and you just start to lose people at this age, so instead of being about Vikings or something, the theme of the record became, “life can change in an instant, love the people around you as hard as you can.”
CLAMFIGHT have been a band for over twenty three years now. What have been your high points and low points performing with the band within that time.
The high points are that we keep enjoying each others’ company and still love jamming and playing shows. We lost Steve Poponi in 2023, who was a very good friend and recorded all four of our records. That was brutal.
Looking back would you change anything about your time or things experienced with CLAMFIGHT.
Haha, same answer as always, probably just our name? Although I think I’m coming around on that.
Will you be touring this record at all. Will you be touring locally or further afield to promote the album.
Certainly, the whole East Coast, but we’re eyeing the Mid-West now too. Honestly, if people want to see us somewhere we haven’t been before, reach out and we will try our damndest to be shirtless in your town.
If you are, how would you describe the live CLAMFIGHT experience?
Chaotic. Furious but also fun? We’re not super serious people and I think that comes through when we play live. Honestly, as much as we can’t get out there and tour for three weeks straight, I consider us a live band and really believe that’s where we’re at our best.
Thanks for your time Andy, Before you go, do you have any words of wisdom for your fans at all. Or anything else you would like to add.
Thank you Steve for all your hard work on this site. We’re always grateful to anyone that’s supporting heavy music.
Things are obviously tough all over these days, so be good to each other. Lean on your friends, and be someone your friends can lean on.
Clamfight loves you.
Words by Steve Howe and Andy Martin
CLAMFIGHT is available to buy now on CD/DD from all good stockists.
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