Jean-Paul Gaster
| Jean-Paul Gaster | |
|---|---|
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| Background information | |
| Born | June 19, 1971 |
| Origin | Frederick, Maryland, United States |
| 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 Mark Stanley, Mike Wescott, Mike Dillon, Mark Morton |
Jean-Paul Gaster is the American drummer for rock band Clutch.
Jean-Paul Gaster learned to play drums by playing along to 1960s and 1970s heavy rock bands like Jimi Hendrix, Cream, ZZ Top and Black Sabbath. Washington D.C's Go-go music and in particular drummers such as Ju Ju House, Brandon Finley and Ricky Wellman were early influences as well. He is one of many students who studied with legendary Washington D.C drummer and educator Walter Salb. Some favorite drummers of Gaster are jazz drummers Elvin Jones and Jack DeJohnette, Bad Brains drummer Earl Hudson and New Orleans drummer Johnny Vidacovich.
Jean-Paul, Neil Fallon, Dan Maines and Tim Sult formed Clutch in 1991. After releasing the Pitchfork 7" the band embarked on its first U.S tour in the summer of 1992. Since then the band has released 11 studio albums and toured extensively through North America, Europe, UK and Australia. The band continues to be an important fixture on today's hard rock scene. Clutch plays an average of 120 shows a year and its most recent release Psychic Warfare went number one on billboards rock chart. The band is currently on tour and working on new material.
Jean-Paul's choice of set up has not changed much since the early days of Clutch. The set up usually consists of 14x26 bass drum, 9x13 tom tom, 16x16 floor tom and 5.5 x 14 chrome over brass snare drums. Favorite drum manufacturers of Gaster's include G.M.S, Slingerland, Gretsch and Ludwig. Gaster enjoys playing both vintage and new drums. Gaster states " I have a collection of vintage snares that I like to use in the studio. Old drums have a resonance that can add lots of character to the sound of a recording. My collection of drums are not museum pieces. If a throw off is in need of repair I'll fix it or replace it. These drums are meant to be played not sit on a shelf for display"
Gaster has been a Meinl endorser since 2002. Gaster plays a variety of models from Meinl's Byzance line. Some favorites are 23" and 24" medium and heavy rides. 20" and 22" Sand rides, 22" Spectrum ride, 14" and 15" vintage pure hi hats. Gaster does not play any "china" type cymbals. He states, "I find china cymbals to be awful and obnoxious sounding. I haven't used one since 1996. I saw Billy Cobham play one at Blues Alley once and he made it sound great. The one Brann Dailer plays sounds pretty good too. I just can't get a sound out of one."
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