Jean-Paul Gaster

Jean-Paul Gaster
Background information
Born	(1971-06-19) June 19, 1971
Origin	Frederick, Maryland, USA[1]
Genres	Rock, funk metal, alternative metal, blues rock
Instruments	Drums
Years active	1990–present
Labels	Atlantic, DRT Entertainment
Associated acts	Clutch, The Bakerton Group, Five Horse Johnson, Scott Weinrich, King Hobo, Kamchatka

Jean-Paul Gaster is the American drummer for rock band Clutch.

Style and influences

Jean-Paul Gaster learned to play drums growing up on 1960s and 1970 heavy rock bands like Jimi Hendrix, Cream and Black Sabbath. He is one of many students who learned from the late Walter Salb. Favorite drummers of Gaster are artists such as legendary jazz drummers Elvin Jones and Buddy Rich and blues-rock drummer John Bonham (Led Zeppelin). He also claims to be inspired by Questlove, drummer of Hip Hop band The Roots.^[2] Gaster often claims he's influenced by Go-Go music, early pop, and oldies rock n' roll.

Projects

In the late 1990s, Jean-Paul Gaster was part of instrumental blues project The Bakerton Group (a band composed of other Clutch members Tim Sult, Neil Fallon, Dan Maines, Mick Schauer). The Bakerton Group formed an independent record label, River Road Records, to release their own music.

Jean-Paul Gaster made an appearance on the album The Mystery Spot of rock band Five Horse Johnson. The album was released on May 23, 2006 via Small Stone Records.^[3]
In 2007, Jean-Paul Gaster collaborated with Opeth keyboardist Per Wiberg and Kamchatka guitarist Thomas Andersson on a project called King Hobo.^[4]
During 2008, Jean-Paul Gaster played drums on Scott Weinrich's solo album, Punctuated Equilibrium.^[5]

Equipment

Gaster uses a variety of equipment including his drums. A collector of vintage and modern drums, Jean-Paul has been known to play Gretsch, Ludwig, and GMS drums, as well as Slingerland drum kits from the 50s and 60s. He prefers drum kits with the 26" kick drum, but he's often seen using a 24" also. Hardware is often mismatched, but he's currently using the Jojo Mayer Perfect Balance bass drum pedal. He is an endorser of Meinl cymbals, and uses Vater's West Side model drumstick.

Gaster on file sharing

"As a musician, I think it is irrelevant to me. It exists and it is out there and no matter what I try and do about it, it will always be there. I don't mind kids trading tapes, that's totally cool. Videos are cool too. They only add to the live show. A kid might show that to some of their friends and they might think that we are cool and might come out and see us next time.

The reality is that an artist has to have a record go gold, before they are even going to see a dime. Bands put out 3 or 4 records on a label and never see a dime from record sales. So, it is not like people who are downloading would be putting a dollar in my pocket if they would have bought the record. The industry is set up so that the record company will immediately get paid from record sales. So...download all you want!!!

I think that the internet has changed the record industry and will continue to do so. The record labels will find some way to make money. I think that the artists main concern is to concentrate on their live performance and be the best artist that they can".^[6]

Personal life

Gaster currently lives in Frederick, MD with his family. Clutch rehearses for each album and tour in Frederick at their rehearsal space near Fort Detrick, a song which was the subject of one of the band's biggest hits, "50,000 Unstoppable Watts".^[7]

References