Clamfight
are returning from a 5 year absence with a new album and a heavy new
sound. Newly signed to Italian Powerhouse Label – Argonauta
Records. Their new album III will be released on January 18th
2018. T
III sees Clamfight drastically changing their sound to a more Progressive blend of Sludge/Stoner Metal, Taking influence from bands such as Mastodon, Neurosis, SLEEP and YOB that sees Clamfight with a a more cohesive and braver sound compared to their last album.
I
caught up with Andy Martin (Drums/Vocals) to discuss the evolution of
their new sound, signing to Argonauta Records and their journey as a
band.
This
is what Andy had to say.....
Hi
Clamfight. How are things with you today.
Pretty
spectacular, thanks for asking. Sean and I spent the day on the
water, caught some fish and saw a whale. Pretty impossible to beat
that, and honestly it’s going to be tough to not make this whole
interview about that damn whale.
Can
you give a brief history of how the band came about and where it is
today.
The
short version is that we grew up together. Joel, Louis, and I first
jammed together when we were 14 (or just shy of 25 years ago). We
picked Sean up a little later in high school, played a million
firehall shows with our hardcore band in the early 2000s and when
that broke up formed Clamfight. Currently we’re about to release
our third record, and first for Argonauta records. It’s called
‘III’ we aim to spend the foreseeable future balancing pushing it
as hard as we can while keeping our jobs and home lives intact.
How
would you describe your overall sound.
Big.
Though we have very consciously trying to experiment with dynamics
and melody recently, subtly is not our strong point. It’s loud and
aggressive and despite all the classic rock and literary influenced
nerdery, I also think it’s really obvious that we’ve been
butchering songs from “And Justice for All” during band practice
our entire lives.
We
are here to talk about your debut album – III. I've only had a
brief listen recently but it sounds fantastic so for. What can people
expect from the album.
Well
our homeboy and label mate Brent from Hollow Leg called it “questy”
the first time he heard it and I really like that. We went all out on
this one, it’s only five songs but it clocks in at 45 minutes, and
we really let all our most epic (read pretentious) tendencies fly. We
initially had a lot of material but we spent a lot of time deciding
what songs would make the cut. We really wanted a record that would
be giant and sprawling but cohesive at the same time. It’s half us
putting our Pink Floyd and Led Zepplin love on full display but
because I can’t sing so it also ends up being as close to a death
metal record as you’ll ever get from Clamfight.
When
will the album be released.
January
19th, 2018.
You've
signed to Argonauta Records for this album. How did you manage to
hook up with them. Gero's a great guy who is doing a brilliant job.
When
we finally finished the record we let some good friends hear it and
the name that kept coming up was Argonauta. I feel like we’re in a
bit of weird spot musically; we really aren’t a full on-sludge
band, but we’re not doing the Kyuss rip-off thing either so I think
there’s some labels that we aren’t heavy enough for, and some
label that we’re probably too aggressive for.
I
was aware of Argonauta, and knew that Hollow Leg loved working with
them so I asked Brent to put us in touch and that was pretty much
that. Gero got it instantly and he’s been really great to work
with. Our schedules are nuts and he’s Italy, and for a time the
email chain was Sean in Jersey, Gero in Italy, and me in Scotland,
and he was just so patient about that. You can tell the guy has a
real passion for what he’s doing so it’s an honor to be part of
the Argonauta family.
What
influenced you all when recording the album.
It
basically all came down to our comfort in working with Steve Poponi
at the Gradwellhouse in New Jersey and our faith in his abilities.
Steve’s a ballbuster but holy hell is he good at his job and he’s
versatile. He did the last Fight Amp record, which rules, but is a
very different kind of heavy from ‘III’ and it really shows his
range as an engineer and producer. Steve’s also done live sound for
us a lot, including for songs which ended up on ‘III’, so he’s
very aware of how we sound live and what we were aiming for.
What
is the song-writing dynamic in the band. Is it a group participation
or down to one individual.
Sean
and I do the majority of the writing, though Joel and Louis write
their own parts. They both came up with some killer stuff on this
record. I handle all the lyrics.
What
influences you when writing music.
For
this record I think there was a lot of influence from all the Pink
Floyd and Dire Straits that we listen to in the truck. We really
don’t listen to a lot of metal when we’re out playing shows, and
basically never after we play a show, then it’s all David Gilmour
or Mark Knopfler.
We
also wanted to make a very different record than “I Versus the
Glacier’. We’re really proud of that record, and a lot of the
songs on it are personally really meaningful for me, but that record
is full-on. We wanted to do something a little different with this
record and try to take people on more of a trip.
Lyrically
this record is influenced by Orkney and my archaeology hobo life. I
have the best job in the world, but as of now I’ve been on the road
for a year straight. On one hand I’m doing exactly what I want to
do with my life, on the other, I’m missing my partner and family.
That heavy dynamic of loving what I do but knowing that it’s
keeping me away from the people I love is what this record is largely
about.
I
just framed it against Orkney because writing about Vikings doing
Viking shit while simultaneously missing home is more interested than
me writing about skyping my lady.
Why
the long wait for your new album. As you released your last album
almost 5 years ago. Any specific reasons why.
The
long wait this time was mostly due to our jobs. If you added up the
amount of time we spent in the studio it’s probably only 7 or 8
days, but those 7 or 8 days were spread between early 2015 and 2017.
We’d get close to wrapping it up and then I’d leave the country
for 2 months, or Steve would have a tour pop up, and then all of a
sudden it’s two years later. If I can be home more in the future
maybe it won’t be 5 years until the next one.
You're
coming upto your 16th year as a band. Did you ever think
that the Clamfight musical journey would last this long.
Ha,
that’s a great question. I remember when we were a lot younger we
swore we were going to hang it up when we all turned 28. That was 10
years ago. We all have a lot more responsibilities these days but we
all love making music and hanging out with each other so I don’t
see us hanging it up anytime soon. Personally I have ideas for other
records that I think we’ve still got in us, and if it takes us
longer to get them out because of our lives, that’s fine. They’ll
happen eventually.
What
have been your high points and low points with the band.
We’ve
gotten to open for some our heroes, like Eyehategod and Scott Kelly
and Bruce Lamont, and those shows were really great experiences. The
other more continuous high point is the connections with other
like-minded weirdos that we’ve managed to make. Having made really
close friendships with bands and promoters up and down the east coast
is really rewarding, and honestly it gets even cooler when you start
seeing your rock and roll buddies without amps in the room. There’s
a long list of incredible people we just wouldn’t know without
Clamfight, and those folks are the unquestionable best thing about
being in a band.
As
for the low points, that’s a slightly more difficult question.
We’re brothers, and sometimes we fight like brothers, but honestly
now that we’re older even a nasty post show fight can get chalked
up to booze and buried with a hug and an “I love you” the next
day. The real low points are the life events, the unexpected
tragedies that can come out of nowhere and crush you as you get
older.
But
at the same time, when you get that 3am phone call and someone you
love is just gone, having the other guys in the band to lean on is
its own kind of beautiful. We’ve all had our fair share of loss,
but when I look back at the kindness and patience we’ve had for
each other its sort its own high point. So ultimately, there isn’t
a low point really, just occasional mild shit-fits backed up with a
lot of love.
Would
you change anything about your time with Clamfight.
Just
our dumb name.
Are
you all involved with different musical projects or is this your main
band.
Clamfight
is everyone’s main thing. There’s been sporadic jamming with
different people over the years, and I think that sort of thing is
important for growing as musician, but personally our schedules get
in the way of being reliable bandmates for anyone else. Sean and I do
have a growing collection of riffs that don’t really make sense for
Clamfight and we have every intention of them seeing the light of day
at some point.
What
is your musical setup when performing or recording live. Is it an
advanced setup or a basis setup.
Sean’s
got a little bit of weirdness going on with his pedals but otherwise
we are real basic meat and potatos guys, set-up wise. My drums sound
like garbage at most shows because I’m just going to break them
anyway.
How
hard is it for Clamfight stand-out from the
crowd. Or do you not worry about things like that.
In
terms of song writing Sean and I tend to swear off new music when
we’re in writing mode. That’s probably why you’ll never see us
wearing bell bottoms and writings songs about cars or sex witches or
something. Maybe it’s because we’re boring guys but I feel like
I’ve been listening to the same 5 records since the year 2000 and I
feel like that helps us avoid a little of the ‘doing what everyone
else is doing’ stuff.
In
terms of live, we just try to play as hard as we can. Sound sucks?
Had a long day? Tired? Sick? Argued over where we ate dinner? Fuck
it, just play as hard as we can. That and being polite and punctual.
When we first starting out as band and sucked pretty hard, saying
‘thank you’ and showing up when we said we would got us a lot of
shows.
Do
you perform many local gigs or do you have to travel further afield.
I’d
consider us a regional act if that makes any sense. We’re all
pretty tied down workwise so we tend to get by on weekenders, but
we’ve covered 1,100 miles in a weekend before, and once did 2,800
miles in a long weekend, so we still try to cover as much ground as
we can. Since “Glacier” came out we covered the whole of the east
coast of the US from Maine to Florida, and we’ll hopefully do all
that again in support of ‘III’. We’re also eyeing something a
bit further afield for the fall hopefully (like the West Coast).
With
2017 drawing to a close. What have been your favourite albums you've
listened to this year.
I
caught Mutoid Man a few weeks ago and consequently ‘War Moans’
has been a daily listen ever since. Iron Monkey’s new one shreds,
and I loved that Bloodclot record. That was my summer jam.
Hellrad’s
‘Counting Sins’ just crushes. Mother of God does that record rule
and they’re great live and great dudes. I jammed the hell out of
Kings Destroys’ ‘None More’ EP as well.
My
record of the year though is probably Shroud Eater’s ‘Strike the
Sun.’ They’re family, and guest on ‘III’ so I’m obviously
biased, but it’s a pretty fine thing when people you love make a
record that that’s damn good.
Before
you go, do you have anything to say to your fans.
Thanks
for giving a shit, really. For a band that can’t really properly
tour, the support we’ve gotten from all over the US as well as
Europe and Australia has been hard to wrap our heads around. Anytime
someone drops more on international shipping for a copy of the record
or a T-Shirt I kind of want to hop on a plane and go hug the ever
loving shit out of them. So all I can really say is thanks, and that
you guys are the absolute best.
Words
by Steve Howe and Andy Martin
Thanks to Andy for
doing this interview. III will be available to buy on CD/DD via
Argonauta Records from January 18th 2018.
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