Clutch sales aren't strong.. everyone else's are weak

Clutch frontman Neil Fallon believes sales of 2013 album Earth Rocker only appeared strong because the state of the music industry means everyone else’s sales are weak.

And he doesn’t intend to become distracted by attempting to match achievements with upcoming title Psychic Warfare, out in September via the band’s own Weathermaker Music label.

Fallon tells Motorcityblog: “Clutch charting on Billboard, and being number 1 on iTunes, is indicative of anaemic album sales in general. That wouldn’t have happened 15 years ago.

“We sell the right amount of records to the right people, and slowly over time, that number gets bigger and bigger and bigger. It’s not because we figured out how to write a Karen Carpenter song.”

He adds: “Because of the internet, and because of us kind of taking control of what we do, we’re not trying to turn this band into some multi-platinum wonder story.”

Fallon also reveals that he keeps a daily “regiment of stretching” after undergoing neck surgery in 2013 to repair long-standing back problems.

He says: “I don’t bang my head – that’s a no-no. That’s what got me in that place for the most part. It’s made me think about how much you take health for granted when everything’s fine, and eventually you have to pay a bill if you’re not doing what you’re supposed to do.”

Clutch release 11th album Psychic Warfare in September and return to Europe this month, including an appearance at the Download festival:

Jun 05: Rock Im Park, Germany

Jun 06: Goffertpark, Netherlands

Jun 07: Rock Am Ring, Germany

Jun 09: Luxembourg den Atelier

Jun 12: Download, UK

Nov 20: Dublin Olympia Theatre

Nov 21: Belfast Limelight

Nov 27: Paris Le Trabendo, France

Nov 28: Cologne Essigfabrik, Germany

Nov 29: Hamburg Markthalle, Germany

Dec 01: Aarhus VoxHall, Denmark

Dec 03: Gothenburg Tradgarn, Sweden

Dec 04: Copenhagen Store Vega, Denmark

Dec 05: Berlin Postbahnhof, Germany

Dec 06: Frankfurt Batschkapp, Germany

Stef wrote close to 5,000 stories during his time as assistant online news editor and later as online news editor between 2014-2016. An accomplished reporter and journalist, Stef has written extensively for a number of UK newspapers and also played bass with UK rock favourites Logan. His favourite bands are Pixies and Clap Your Hands Say Yeah. Stef left the world of rock'n'roll news behind when he moved to his beloved Canada in 2016, but he started on his next 5000 stories in 2022.