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(46) SLUG
I’ve met a lot of cool people and played a couple shows with
Metallica.”
The other four members of Clear continued to make music in Salt
Lake—often with one another. Josh’s indie-rock project, New
Transit Direction, enjoyed moderate success on the indie-rock
label Some Records before he went on to join Accidente.
Tyler and Sean joined the sludge-metal band Hammergun, and
after that project “fizzled out,” Tyler went on to drum for Form
of Rocket and Eagle Twin. “I love playing music, I love playing
my drums, but I don’t want it to be something I have to do all the
time,” he said.
Jason became the vocalist for heavy rock band The Kill, which
ended in 2002.
He also learned to play guitar. In 2006, he started the melodic
rock band Minerva, with Sean on bass.
Sean has made peace with playing music for a hobby, but
watching Mick go on to achieve fame made it difficult for him.
“I thought that maybe there was a chance for all of us to go on
and do this as our job,” he said. “When I realized that that wasn’t
the case, it took me a while to adjust to it. When I finally got
comfortable with that and was happy with it, I was able to come
back to music as a passion. Now I can play music only because
I love it.”
That’s not to say, though, that he didn’t jump at the chance to
play a Clear reunion show. “I’m just stoked that we can do it and
have that time together again and feel like little kids playing music
just because we love it,” he said. “That’s how the band started,
you know, just a bunch of kids in a basement loving music and
doing it because that’s what we loved to do.”
Yesterday ... Again
On Fri. Feb. 16, the SLUG 18th anniversary show (which also
featured reunions by local legends Iceburn, The Stench, and The
Corleones) was completely sold out by 10:30 p.m.
While the audience was still filing in, Mick talked about how
natural it had felt to practice with Clear again. “I’ve never felt
the same passion for another band that I felt for Clear,” he
confessed. He said he hoped he would eventually make music
with the guys from Clear again. And just as they envied aspects
of his rock-star lifestyle, he explained, there were things he envied
about their lives, too—like the opportunity to explore different
styles of music, learn skills other than being a musician, and
start a family. But for the moment, he was looking forward to an
Australian tour with Eighteen Visions.
“How awesome is that?” he asked.
When Clear took the stage together again, they unleashed a
mighty rush of power. From the moment they started playing, the
crowd threatened to surge out of control, with people blatantly
ignoring the “no crowd surfing” rule. The bouncers had their
hands full holding back the tidal wave that kept threatening to
wash up on stage at any moment.
There weren’t as many athletic jumps from each member now,
but there was still power in the stances they took, and the
circling around each other. Jason lost no time in leaping over
the barricades to sing into the crowd. By the end of the set, he
was drenched in sweat—just as he appears in many of Nelson’s
photos from the ’90s.
Pictured Below: From Sambas and camo to socks and Birkenstocks: CLEAR together again in Feb. 2007
Photo By: Mary McClaugherty