Clutch’s Neil Fallon says fans who want bands to return to their ‘old sound’ are just looking to relive their own “glory days”
“It’s not so much they want the same music — they want the period in their life that they associate with that music to come back.”
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Clutch frontman Neil Fallon has a theory that requests for bands to return to their ‘old sound’ aren’t so much about music as they are about nostalgia.
Speaking to Ryan J Downey of Knotfest in a new interview, Fallon reasoned that a band’s music would sound repetitive if they gave in to such requests, saying “That’s one thing I never really quite understood. ‘Oh, I wish you could return back to your old sound’ or whatever. That’s like, ‘well do you want the same thing over and over and over and over?’”
“There are bands that found a very specific thing and did very well doing variations of that one or two themes,” he continued. “I’m thinking of like AC/DC or the Ramones.”
“That’s all well and good but… honestly, I think a lot of it has to do with people wanting a time machine. It’s not so much they want the same music – they want the period in their life that they associate with that music to come back.”
The singer made sure to drive the point home about the misplaced nostalgia of fans, saying, “Musicians are not wizards. They can’t take you back to your glory days or a good time in your life, because ultimately I think that’s what people are actually looking for.”
“I mean when you’re 17 years old, music is affecting your identity. For a lot of us that was part of us figuring out who we are. It’s a very exciting time, at young adulthood even, but as you get older it’s harder for you to have those influences because you’ve already gone through that. And you’re not going to have the same excitement of discovering a new world because you’re already there.”
Watch Neil’s full interview below.