SplatterTribe: Your currently out on the road, so how's the tour been going?   Jean-Paul: Tour's been goin' great. It's been a tour where we're doing two sets. We do a Bakerton Group set and a Clutch set. This evening we're in Chicago. We're kind of having a record release party for The Bakerton Group, so we're gonna play a full Bakerton Group set, plus some of the older songs too. But yeah, the tour's goin' great.     SplatterTribe: What's it like pulling double duty every night? Jean-Paul: Well, we've done it before. A couple of years ago we actually did an entire 'evening with' where we did a Bakerton Group set and two Clutch sets. That was a lot of playing. It's better to spend your time playing than hanging around in the dressing room (anyway).   SplatterTribe: So how did the Bakerton Group come about?   Jean-Paul: We started doing it back in the 90's actually. We had some time off between records, and at the time, we just started experimenting with new styles. We started listening to blues, jazz and with the Bakerton Group, we just kind of work shopped those idea's. That's kind of how Bakerton Group came to life. We started writing our own songs and then with the launch of Weathermaker Music, we (had the opportunity) to put out a full length record, so we kind of went for it. It was an experiment and left us thinking in a little different way and playing with different ideas.     SplatterTribe: Why did you not just release the songs under the Clutch name?   Jean-Paul: Well, we were playing shows as The Bakerton Group. I suppose we could have just made an instrumental Clutch record, but it's kind of fun to have an alter ego.......And it allows us to play different situations too. I think we're just scratching the surface of what we can do with The Bakerton Group and who knows really where it will lead? It is kind of nice to have that alter-ego.     SplatterTribe: I guess it breaks the monotony of being in a veteran touring band as well, huh?   Jean-Paul: Absolutely. It just makes you think in a different way and keeps things fresh.     SplatterTribe: So tell us a little about your opening acts for this tour. Jean-Paul: Well, we had Willem Maker on the bill earlier on this tour. Right now we have another band called Rev Peyton's Big Damn Band. We have a band called Red Fang on the entire tour.   SplatterTribe: How do you decide your opening acts? Do you hand pick who comes out? Jean-Pau: Yeah, sometimes we pick'm. Sometimes our agent helps us out with that. A lot of times bands will just send maybe, their MySpace link to our booking agent and we take a listen to it. We try to mix things up. We try not to have four straight up Rock bands in a row, although sometimes we do do that. We try to mix it up a little bit. Willem Maker play acoustically and I think dynamically it kind of makes the evening flow in a more interesting way than just having four straight up Rock bands.     www.justinsmithart.com   SplatterTribe: Why are you playing some nights as only The Bakerton Group and not Clutch, is it just to coincide with The Bakerton Group's album release?   Jean-Paul: Yeah, for the most part really and it allows us to get into these cities and play as The Bakerton Group. Both Chicago and Detroit are pretty good Clutch cities and it makes sense to book and headline The Bakerton Group gigs there. You know, again it's just tryin' to move stuff around. Tryin' to keep things fresh.     SplatterTribe: So what are some other musical projects you guys have done outside of the Clutch name?   Jean-Paul: Most recently I played on Scott Weinrich's solo album. He goes by the name of Wino. He asked me to be a part of his solo project and I was honored to do that. Scott Weinrich is an amazing guitarist, an amazing talent and an awesome songwriter. He's one of the most ridiculous guitar players you've seen in your life. So it was really an honor for him to ask me to be a part of that. We all do different things.   SplatterTribe: What about non-musical projects? Jean-Paul: I grow tomatos.   SplatterTribe: Grow tomato's...You can't beat a good tomato. Jean-Paul: Yeah, in the summer time, sure........Ahhhhh, man, a tomato sandwich.....forget about it....     SplatterTribe: OK, this is our version of Storytellers. I'm gonna name some of your albums and you tell us whatever stories come to mind. First is 'Transnational Speedway League: Anthems, Anecdotes & Undeniable Truths'.   Jean-Paul: 'Transnational'. Well, it was our first full length. Of course, it was a pretty big deal because we were making a full length record. We thought we were supposed to go to a big studio and go far away from home. So we drove all the way out to San Francisco to record at Razor's Edge Studio and looking back on it, it was a great experience. That was a studio that a lot of our favorite bands had recorded at. The Melvins had recorded there. We were big fans of theirs. Sleep had recorded there and we were definitely big fans of Sleep. So, at the time, we thought that was the right thing to do and looking back on it, it was fun. I'm glad we did that.   SplatterTribe: What about the Self-Titled release?   Jean-Paul: We realized we didn't really have to go across the country to make a record. We made one right in our hometown. We went back to......Uncle Punchy, we call him. He had a pretty small studio there in Silver Springs, Maryland and it was a frequent with all the local bands. That's kind of how we started out with him. We had recorded some stuff prior to 'Transnational' with him. We just sort of felt like we made 'Transnational' out west, so let's stay home and hunker down over it at Uncle Punchy's place, and make a different kind of record. It really is a different kind of animal.   SplatterTribe: Elephant Riders.   Jean-Paul: Uhm, 'Elephant Riders' was a difficult album to make because we actually recorded it twice. The intention was to set up a recording studio in a big house that we were living in at the time. We used to live out in the woods in West Virginia in an old. old farmhouse. There were black snakes all in the basement and spiders everywhere. (It was) kind of a creepy old house, but it was a good vibe and a good time and we recorded the entire album there. We turned it (the album) into our record label at the time (Sony) and they turned us down and said, "No. You need to come to New York City and you gotta work with a producer."   That's when we met Jack Douglas. Jack had did work with Aerosmith. He did 'Toys In The Attic' and some of those classic records. He did John Lennon. He did The Knack. So he was, by far, the most 'Producer' of 'Producers' that we had ever worked with at the time. We learned a lot from that experience. In the end, I think that really is a great record. At the time though, because we had to re-record it, it was difficult and it was hard for me to really, fully appreciate that album. Years later.......I think that's really one of our best records.   SplatterTribe: How different were the two separate recordings?   Jean-Paul: Uhm...There is some change in it. Oddly enough, we're actually gonna be releasing some of what we call, the demo versions of those songs that were recorded in West Virginia. So the listeners will be able to tell the difference. We're gonna release a version of 'Ship Of Gold' on our re-release of 'Slow Hole To China'. 'Slow Hole To China' is a compilation disc of demo's, outtake's and rare pieces that never really came out. We're gonna re-release that album in April. You'll be able to hear the West Virginia version of 'Ship Of Gold' there and you can tell the difference. The 'Elephant Riders' version is a little slicker, maybe a little more well rehearsed. It sounds different. The West Virginia stuff is a little more extreme, up and down. The swing is a little different to. I think the swing is a little more pronounced, where as the 'Elephant Riders' stuff is a little more straight ahead. So it is a pretty different animal.   Part 1 / 2         www.pro-rock.com   www.myspace.com/clutchband   www.myspace.com/thebakertongroup   www.myspace.com/weathermakermusic