Even writing about dumb things, you know what I mean? Stuff that feels so obvious that I couldn’t write a song about that. So smoking weed and shagging are my favourite things to do. Do you know what I mean? I read an interview with Killer Mike from Run The Jewells and he was like, “if I’m honest with ya, I just really fancy my wife, I think she’s reyt fit and I love smoking weed and hanging out with my kids”. That’s really relatable, I feel like that too! I think when it comes from a really heartfelt place, that’s what I like doing, that’s my vibe. I can’t just say “Love you baby”, it’s gotta be specific in some way. I’ve often quite overlooked those basic things.

In the summer of 2009 they have supported Oasis on the largest stadium tour in the UK and Ireland. On 1 September 2009, they performed a secret free gig at Tate Modern, London. [21] They were introduced by Sara Cox and supported by Stornoway. [22] The gig was to celebrate the launch of new climate change campaign—"10:10". [23] In November 2009, the band supported Kasabian on their nationwide tour. For the past 2 years, the band have played New Year's Eve shows at KOKO in Camden, London. In 2012 Mark Rooker, GB's Operations Director for the World Traditional Karate Association approached McClure for permission to use " Heavyweight Champion Of The World" as the official song for the first ever unified European Open Championship of Martial Art at The Ponds Forge International Sports Center in his hometown of Sheffield, on 18 August. McClure agreed and the WTKA have continued to use the tune ever since [24] Reverend Soundsystem club nights [ edit ] I played two songs last summer at a couple of fezzies, ‘Heatwave’ and then the next single, ‘Problems’, that’s coming out at the end of this month. I’ve been doing this for twenty years now and I’ve never had that reaction – people singing it straight away and messaging me, “When’s that ‘Problems’ song coming out?” To get that reaction is such a buzz, it really is. The vocals of Jon’s girlfriend, Laura Manuel, provide occasional balanced purity to the main mans harsh constructive verbal rants. This particularly applies to latest single He Said He Loved Me with a shimmering duet telling the story of a heartbroken teenager who’s been dumped by an older man. It works well.

He has also been in the media recently speaking out about the UK's involvement in the Iraq War, requesting that fellow musicians, particularly the Arctic Monkeys, his contemporaries from Sheffield, focus on real issues and to "not write songs about girls at bus stops any more like me and Monkeys used to do, let's start talking about what's happening man as otherwise you know where we gonna go, we're going down the toilet aren't we?". [10] In late 2005, McClure brought several musicians together for Reverend and the Makers. Like his previous bands, the Makers included co-songwriter Ed Cosens, this time playing bass. The rest of The Makers consisted of Dave Sanderson (guitars), Joe Moskow ( keyboards), Richy Westley (drums, formerly of Hoggboy) and Laura Manuel ( vocals), and occasionally Simon Strafford on trombone. Sanderson was dismissed in July 2006 after the band completed their first headline UK tour and replaced by Gledhill guitarist Tom Jarvis. Me and Dan got into this really good thing where we’d get some music going and then he’d do the melody and I, like a jigsaw puzzle, fit my words into his melody. Because he’s coming from such a different place to where I would come from, it becomes this third thing. So we thought, what would it sound like if Ian Brown sang Frank Ocean songs? That was the brief. It ended up not being like that – I think someone said “Barry White if he were from Sheffield…”. But it’s not that either. It becomes this third thing, because you’ve got retro sounding music, modern melodies and then really personal Yorkshire-accented lyrics. It becomes this other thing that doesn’t exist, really.

McClure was in the media spotlight for his personal views in July 2009, after an interview in which he commented on Jade Goody's death earlier in the year; "it's sad she died and it's good more girls are getting smear tests but let's not forget she was a talentless racist". [9] Reverend Soundsystem is a side project made up of Jon (The Reverend) McClure, Marcus 'Matic Mouth' Smith, Laura McClure and Jimmy Welsh (Ocelot). It was almost a sign of the times though wasn’t it, all that late-noughties indie rivalry. These days it’s cooler to be kind.The band supported Oasis, along with Kasabian and The Enemy for their sold out summer tour in 2009. The band released their follow up to 2007's The State of Things, with A French Kiss in the Chaos. The album was released in June and the opening single, " Silence Is Talking" was featured during the band's three night run at Wembley Stadium. The band released a second single, " No Soap (in a Dirty War)" in October. The singles so far are definitely smooth and sexy as you say, and I don’t think anyone expected a song such as ‘High’ from you. Were you worried about how that would go down?

It was announced in January 2012 that the band had completed work for the third album, scheduled for a release later that year. The band also revealed that they will be supporting Noel Gallagher's High Flying Birds on their UK Arena tour in spring. [13] Details on the album are sketchy, but McClure has stated it will be produced by Jason Cox and James Dring ( Gorillaz) and Youth ( The Verve, U2) and will move away from the political-minded nature of the band's second album. [13] The band also announced they had signed to Cooking Vinyl Records. McClure also stated that ex- Milburn and current The Book Club frontman Joe Carnall was to join the band, as well as ex- thisGirl drummer Ryan Jenkinson. MSN Entertainment UK - Latest Celebrity News, Gossip, Photos & Videos". msn.com. Archived from the original on 16 July 2009 . Retrieved 26 August 2009. Lies is a series of short films based on stories/poems written by Jon McClure. The films are part of the local independent film production Kestrel Filmworks with sponsorship from Boxfresh. Lies is a tongue in cheek look at lies told to Jon and his brother Chris throughout their childhood. In total there are six films. Like most music from the Steel City these days, we can’t escape the Arctic Monkeys link. Jon has previously been in two other bands, the first named Judan Suki along with Alex Turner. The Second – 1984 is referred to in the famous Monkeys lyrics “dancing to electro-pop like a robot from 1984” and “I bet you look good on the dance floor.” But despite these strong connections, this album is evidence of an added independent dimension to the Sheffield sound. It’s dripping with potential anthems such as The State Of Things and Heavyweight Champion Of The World. Whilst The Machine is one of many tunes that’ll send you fidgeting like a futuristic automaton android to every beat. Performing live, Jon can’t help himself as his lanky awkward posture shifts like a certain Peter Crouch.I bet! As you say, you’ve got that Radio 2 attention but you’re also tuning into the sounds of younger pop, which is creating another great platform for you. Your albums have always seemed like a vessel for whatever’s keeping you up at night or fuelling your fire. What is that this time round? You’ve done some self-exploration lately with your trip across Africa. What was the most rewarding part of that? Of all the swagger lifting the peak of noughties UK indie, no one carried it better, louder, or more publicly than Reverend and the Makers’ Jon McClure. Like their pals, Arctic Monkeys, Reverend And The Makers are another Sheffield sensation whose rise was precipitated by word-of-mouth wonder and MP3 demo sharing, leading to the band – a vehicle for 25-year-old manic street preacher and local hero Jon McClure – selling out a 1,000-capacity hometown venue long before they’d signed a deal. McClure, an agreeably unhinged frontman and nifty wordsmith, spins colourful tales of humdrum living in his South Yorkshire accent. His ear for detail and provocative delivery recall veteran Manchester punk-poet John Cooper Clarke, who, it turns out, is McClure’s mentor.

The album was released on 18 June 2012 and reached number 16 on the UK Albums Chart. In December 2012 the band released a live CD & DVD titled " Reverend and The Makers Live In Sheffield", recorded at O2 Academy Sheffield in October 2012. [18] ThirtyTwo (2013–2014) [ edit ]In April 2006, Reverend and The Makers were support to the Arctic Monkeys on their sold out UK tour, exposing the band to larger audiences and bigger venues. This was followed by their own first UK tour in May and June, selling out dates in Shoreditch, London and The Plug in home-town Sheffield on the final night. A second tour followed in October 2006, showing great progression as a band. The sound was much tighter and far more advanced than on their previous tour. On 9 October 2015 the band released their fifth studio album, their third on the Cooking Vinyl record label. The band released their sixth album on 22 September 2017, which debuted at Number 11 on the UK Albums Chart, their best performing album since their 2007 debut. You’ve made albums in the likes of Jamaica and Thailand before, but tell us about the scene and setting of Heatwave In The Cold North. I guess it’s a lot more personal and introspective these days. I’ve done a lot of politics, social realism, kitchen sink drama stuff, I’ve done the psychedelic hedonism thing. Though I did a bit of mental health on the first album, what I’ve never really done is introspective: looking at me and my relationships with people. Whether that’s my wife, my friends or people I’ve had disputes with and fallen out with, I guess there’s a lot of autobiographical stuff in there. You can’t start writing council estate kitchen sink stuff when you’re seven albums in. Although I’m not a millionaire I clearly have a decent standard of living, and get paid well for what I do, so I think it’d be really disingenuous to be writing what I wrote about on my first album, right?