Music

Words by Harry Webber July 23, 2024

Images by Oscar O’Shea //

CLAMM are on a spiritual quest…

That’s what it feels like listening to their Disembodiment EP. Over the course of the Melbourne trio’s EP, we see this critique of society, self and spirit that refuses to be drowned out by thrashy drums and overdriven guitars. After a few listens, lead singer Jack Summers’ vocals are ringing deeper and deeper in your head, and you begin to wonder why CLAMM aren’t one of the biggest bands in (at least) the country.

Disembodiment is in some ways circular. It begins with the introspective ‘Change Enough’ before attacking the structures that be on ‘Disembodiment’ and ‘Define Free’, and finishing up, defeated, with inward-looking ‘Pressure’. It doesn’t offer any answers, rather asks questions that seem to always point towards a sense of hopelessness.

Currently playing to packed-out crowds in Europe – their third international tour – it’s clear that there’s an appetite for CLAMM. I mean, there’s an entire generation watching the environment get destroyed and their dreams of home ownership get demolished while streaming government-endorsed genocides, right?

Maybe CLAMM is exactly what we need.

We spoke with Summers about their new Disembodiment EP, touring life and tulip farms. Check out below and head here to follow CLAMM on IG:

Tell us about the process of recording ‘Disembodiment’. Why the Netherlands? Were you in the studio long enough for your surroundings to bleed into the EP?

Our record label Meat Machine is based in the Netherlands and so they have created some connections and relationships in the Netherlands. Rich (Meat Machine) kind of just came up with the idea of using the few days we had off during a tour to get into the studio with producer Daan Durland and we just went along with it. It was great.

I’m sure the peace, quiet, charm and beauty of the place (which was an old tulip farm) had to have bled into the EP in some way although nobody would call the EP beautiful haha. I don’t know, I think the stillness of the space was an important factor in getting to do the EP with the time we had.

‘Disembodiment’, the track, sums up the sense of hopelessness young people in Australia are feeling at the moment. Does writing/singing these songs help alleviate that feeling for you? Or exaggerate it?

That’s a good question. I think in part it’s cathartic because I’m able to get this thing out there and then have some people resonate with it which in a sense is building some kind of relationship between the band and the person both agreeing on there being a feeling of hopelessness about everything.

But then in two people recognising a feeling of hopelessness there’s probably a sense of community which then leads to a sense of hope in the thinking that, ‘Oh here’s some people that feel that everything is a bit broken, maybe we can all bind together and do something about it or at least support each other through it’.

Do you give much thought to how your listeners respond to your music? How do you want them to process it?

I think it’s important how people respond to it but I don’t give it too much thought. It’s such loud music I tell everyone who hasn’t heard it before not to worry about listening to it haha. I think it’s the type of music that might not be for everyone but it’s certainly there for people who want or need something on the more intense side. How people are going to process it is going to be extremely different every time.

Sometimes if we play at a festival we might be playing to people who haven’t seen us. Because we are only small, sometimes we’ll play really early and I’ll be looking around at faces and their processing of our music seems to leave them in a painful kind of shock and I think that’s fine too.

The themes in the EP are nuanced and deliberate. What/who do you read that reflects these views? Is it observational?

It is observational in a sense but I also have always been kind of obsessed with weird self-help/psychoanalytical/“spiritual” writing because I’m interested in the human experience. I feel like a lot of it oddly ties up with some “punk” perspectives because a lot of it shares the idea that to be a human is complicated and the way that things are today within this capitalist, politically-centralist hell-scape do not make any space for the vast intricacies of the human experience.

What are some of the challenges (if any) of using garage/punk rock as a vehicle for these messages?

Well maybe it’s challenging because the music itself probably isn’t very approachable. I’m not sure this is something we are too worried about though because I think we are just riding the wave and focusing on our music making and if it’s to be loud and intense it will be loud and intense.

What type of audiences do you attract? Ever any beer-soaked dickheads in the crowd that make you feel funny?

I think one thing about our crowds that’s pretty consistent is that we have a really wide range of people that attend. There seems to be just all sorts. A complete mixed bag. Makes me laugh sometimes but I actually really love and appreciate it. It makes sense I guess because I feel like you can’t exactly pin down what we are doing to one genre or style and then you can’t really pin down our audience either. I think there are beer-soaked dickheads everywhere that make me feel funny.

Who are you listening to right now that you think is on a similar wavelength?

We played with the Blinds back in Melbourne before we left for tour. Their EP Endless Fascination is probably some of the only louder music I have been listening to lately. I think they’re great.

What’s changed for you as a band since ‘Care’?

Jeez lots has changed since Care, I mean Care was written before covid. It was recorded around the Covid years. So much has changed.

Tell me about the cover artwork. swills wine glass* what’s it mean?*

Haha I’m not exactly sure there’s a clear meaning involved with it. A figure immersed in darkness but seemingly radiating light. Are they heading for the mountains or returning. Are they ascending or descending?

You’re currently in the UK on tour. Where’s been the best place outside of Aus to play? Where has surprised you?

Hmm it’s definitely a tough one. I still think about a show we did in Athens on our first tour. It was really busy for us and we couldn’t believe it. We just played in a city in Belgium called Kortrijk which is an amazing place for Australian bands to play. There’s surprises everywhere. I’m surprised every night that anyone comes to these shows. I don’t even mean that in a self-deprecating way, its just amazing to me and amazing for us to be here.

How do you make these tours work financially? What’s your “DIY” tips?

We don’t. We are struggling. I have no tips.

Any upcoming Aus shows???

We are playing a show in Melbourne a couple of months after we get back but that hasn’t been announced yet. We are talking about Sydney later in the year. And we head up to Brisbane at the end of August for a Seasonal Fruits show with Jet Black Cat. Parsnip are playing too so it’s double Stella.

CLAMM’s remaining UK/EU tour dates (tix):

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