This article originally appeared in a 2007 issue of Revolver Magazine.
Neil Fallon is having trouble focusing. It’s the day after his Maryland hard-rock quintet, Clutch—which is touring in support of its latest record, the bluesy, groove-heavy From Beale Street to Oblivion (DRT)—delivered one of its ass-shaking sets to a rambunctious Detroit audience, and the lead singer has woken up a little foggy. “You’ll have to excuse me,” says Fallon apologetically. “My mental synapses aren’t firing as rapidly as they should. The brain is a little slow this morning.” Though he would probably rather be sleeping, Fallon took a few minutes to tell us about some of his favorite things.
FAVORITE KURT RUSSELL FILM
The Thing
[Laughs] Oh, shit, I’m not really a movie buff. But I would have to say The Thing. I was pretty young when I first saw it, and it scared the shit out of me. For a long time after that, every time I opened my door to go outside, I expected that that amorphous mass of dog cells would be on my doorstep.
FAVORITE TOUR CITY
Amsterdam
I’m a big fan of Amsterdam. And not just because of the cliché smoking-weed thing. [Laughs] It’s just a beautiful place. Plus, I love Dutch pancakes, and the architecture is amazing.
FAVORITE POP SINGER
Shakira
This is definitely gonna ruin my street cred. [Laughs] She’s hot, obviously, but I also love how on her old albums she would sing in English, but because her command of the language wasn’t perfect, her lyrics came out really bizarre. She had all these weird lines like, “I’m thankful that my breasts are small.” It was wonderful.
FAVORITE SMELL
A new book
I just read Gangs of New York [An Informal History of the Underworld, by Herbert Asbury]. It smelled awesome. [Laughs] It had nothing to do with the movie and told the real story of all these gangs in old New York. Killer book.
FAVORITE MAD SCIENTIST
Nikola Tesla
Nikola Tesla’s pretty damn fascinating. He was one of those people way ahead of their time. People are still trying to figure out what he was doing. Plus, there are all these conspiracy theories as to why the public doesn’t know more about him. It’s really fascinating.
FAVORITE WAY TO TRIM A BEARD
Butane lighter
‘Nuff said. [Laughs]
FAVORITE RESTAURANT CHAIN
Panera
This will also ruin our street cred. [Laughs] It’s hard to get good food on the road, so we got a list of every Panera in America. We’ll roll in there and eat our rock-and-roll breakfast at noon with a bunch of soccer moms staring at us with looks of complete terror on their faces.
EX-FAVORITE RESTAURANT CHAIN
KFC
We used to be way into KFC, but we learned our lesson. [Groan] Plus, did you see that footage of those rats in that New York City KFC?
FAVORITE JOHN WATERS BALTIMORE MOMENT
Yard Sale Beef
I used to live in the neighborhood where [Waters’ 1998 film] Pecker was filmed, and you know the people that sell beef in their front yard? That’s not fake. That’s a real thing. [Laughs]
FAVORITE MARYLAND CRAB DISH
Soft-shell wrapped in bacon
You eat them right off the grill with a fork. It’s wonderful.
FAVORITE WAY TO SPEND $100
Fine dining
I have no problem spending money on a good, fancy sit-down…with some Panera bread bowls. [Laughs]
FAVORITE SUMMER DESTINATION
Isla Mujeres, Mexico
There’s a place my wife and I like to go in Mexico called Isla Mujeres. It’s off the coast of Cancun, but it’s got nothing to do with Cancun. It’s such a wonderful place. When I go there, I feel completely absolved of any responsibility.
FAVORITE ALCOHOLIC DRINK
Scotch
Definitely Scotch. Wow, that was the quickest answer you got out of me yet.
FAVORITE DOOMSDAY SCENARIO
Alien invasion
Because if that happened, humans would be absolved of any kind of guilt we might feel toward our obvious contributions to the end of civilization. [Laughs]