S2 E2: A Conversation About Building A Community With Neil Fallon

“Justification, the means are not the end

Doctrine and dogma, I will not relent

This world a garden in need of such weeding

This world a minefield in need of such sweeping”

From “Impetus” by Clutch

This week on The Hardcore Humanism Podcast we talked with Neil Fallon – founding member, vocalist and songwriter of the legendary rock band Clutch. In a review of Clutch’s album Book of Bad Decisions (2018), Rolling Stone describes Clutch’s music as “bluesy, riff-centric hard rock with hints of psychedelia and punk, topped off by the gravelly roar of wildly charismatic front man Neil Fallon.” And yet as compelling as Clutch’s music is, one of the most striking qualities of the band is that Clutch has not only retained the same band members for thirty years, but they have also built one of the most passionate and devoted fan bases in rock music. When people talk about Clutch it goes way beyond music they love. They talk about Clutch as the soundtrack of their lives – and remember some of the most important moments in their lives as they relate to Clutch albums and shows. 

Source: David Brodsky, used with permissionupdownedit

Even for those of us who are not in a band, there’s a lot to be learned from Fallon and Clutch about how to build a supportive community around us. Because one of the most important things that we can all do in our quest to develop a fulfilling and purpose-driven life is to build a culture around us that supports our hopes, our dreams – our vision of who we are and what we want to achieve. Hardcore Humanism therapy and coaching has its foundation in Humanistic psychology. And humanistic psychologists such as Albert Maslow have posited that in order to lead a self-actualized life, we must build strong social connections.

And decades of research supports the notion that having a strong social support network predicts improved physical and mental health. For example, one nationally representative Canadian study of 25,113 participants ages 15 and older examined the relation between a sense of community belonging and self-rated mental health among individuals with mental illness. Results showed that participants with very strong community belonging had an increased likelihood of reporting better mental health. Similarly, in four experiments with 643 participants, one study repeatedly found that people who experienced social exclusion reported feeling that they had a less meaningful life. 

And yet while we have ample evidence that a strong support network improves our health and well-being, most of us aren’t sure of how to go about building a community around us that is optimal for our needs. And while Fallon acknowledges that he and the band did not consciously orchestrate the connection the band has with its fans, he was able to retrospectively point to some possible factors that contributed to their unique and loyal relationship. As an example, Fallon points to the band’s roots in hardcore punk – a genre and culture in which there is an explicit lack of boundaries between the musicians and audience. This helped create the mindset of the band – which was to eschew more traditional “rock star” attitudes and place a great deal of value on connecting directly with their audience. Similarly, Fallon explained how this premium on a connection with their fans began long before the band was successful or famous in a traditional sense. This allowed Clutch to grow and strengthen their network of fans for decades. Further, Fallon acknowledged Clutch’s consistent work ethic of producing albums and performing live, that endured regardless of whether they were signed to a record label, what label they were on, or whether they had more mainstream popularity at a given time. And that consistency built a loyalty and connection with each other as a band and with their fan base.

We hope that as you check out what Fallon has to say, you can apply lessons from his life to yours and learn to build strong, supportive social networks that will help you achieve your own life’s purpose!

Photo by David Brodsky