Reverend and The Makers : Interview

Where: Manchester Academy

When: 29th October 2009

Having supported the now disbanded Oasis, off with possibly the biggest band around, Kasabian, in early November, and on a headline tour of their own, Reverend and The Makers are, to say the least, living the rock and roll lifestyle.  I caught up with the band at Manchester Academy on their current headline tour.  

Entering a rather spacious backstage area, whilst awaiting the arrival of the band I found myself talking to a rather timid looking member of the support band originating from Oz, the conversation was rather muted to say the least.  I then found myself being swept off to a compact and smoke filled room where the band were chilling out...  

4or The Record:  Hello Reverend and The Makers, How are we all?

Jon McClure:  We all aren’t here, but I’m alright [laughs].

4TR:  Where are the rest of the band then?

Jon:  Erm, well, various places, er, sleeping, on the toilet, smoking narcotics and playing with weird electronic gadgets.

4TR:  Sounds good to me, how you enjoying the tour so far, is it going alright?

Jon:  Wonderful, we are having a lot of fun and long may it continue! Also it’s kind of a tour into another tour because when this finishes we’re off with Kasabian straight after so it’s back to back tours at the moment.  

4TR: Ah great, are you playing the Sheffield date, I’m actually going along to that!

Jon:   Yeah, yeah we are, actually I think Sheffield is the last date on the tour, so it could just be a complete monstrous mess!

4TR:  How do you prepare each night for a gig? Are there any special or unusual routines you go through?

Jon:  Erm, well I just try and...er, smoke as much weed as possible really (laughs nervously)

4TR:  I’ve heard that you do a special acoustic set in car parks after shows, will that be happening tonight in Manchester?

Jon:  It certainly will, yep.  Actually, last time I was here, I’d been in Liverpool the previous evening and had my guitar nicked when I were in the street and a couple had seen it, so they’d come to Manchester and brought me another guitar, and gave it me outside Manchester Academy.  So, yeah, I’ve got really good busk memories of Manchester. So, long may it continue.

4TR: Brilliant! So, you’ve recently played a Climate Change gig in London, do you think it’s a matter we should all take more seriously?

Jon:  Well, I think it’s a lot more serious then fucking file sharing, which seems to be the only thing most musicians get upset about.

4TR:  Yeah, I saw your post on twitter relating to it, are you quite an angry man about that then?

Jon:  Well, I’m just getting things into perspective.  There’s a planet here and it’s fuckin’ melting and you’re worried about some fucking kid in Darlington downloading ‘Smile’ when you’re a millionaire anyway, get over yourself.  I mean I’m right aren’t I?

4TR:  Your new album ‘A French Kiss in the Chaos’  is out now, how do you think it’s being perceived by your fans?

Jon:  It’s being received well by the fans, and because of my stance on file sharing probably nicked by a lot of them! [Laughs]  The critics don’t like me anyway because I tell the truth about them and you’re not meant to tell the truth about them. For example; NME have got no black employees, didn’t put Dizzie Rascal on the front cover for 7 years and most importantly of all, to work at IPC media you have to get a job as an intern and work for free.  Now, if you’re from the working class and the North you can’t afford to work as an intern, so therefore the vast majority of the journalists are derived from the middle classes and they think all grew up listening to Echobelly and Menswear, when in actual fact they grew up listening to noavis and shaba.  Y’know what I’m sayin?

4TR:  The album title is an interesting one, how did it come about?

Jon:  Roots Manuva have got a lyric it says ‘French kissing the chaos’ which means to embrace the chaos.

4TR:  So, you basically nicked it?

Jon: [Laughs] I love it when people are as brusque as I am!  Yeah, I’m just a pilfering bastard really! It sounds lovely though doesn’t it?  

4TR:  Yeah I like it.

Jon:  Do you know that photo by Robert Doinsneau of that couple kissing in Paris – quite a famous one, I quite like that, it’s quite a poignant image to me and my wife as she now is with me in the band, so yeah.  I’m not just a pilfering bastard, I’m a pilfering bastard with a romantic soul! [laughs]. 

4TR:  A personal favourite is Silence is Talking but the majority of your songs and lyrics don’t conform to a pattern; how do you go about writing material that’s different from everyone else?

Jon:  Thanks for that, that’s a great thing to say.  Erm, well because I don’t listen to the same music as them.  The majority of bands around listen to rock music, I’m not into rock music.  I’m into fuckin’ groovy music, black music to be honest, I like the groove of it. I’m into psychedelic music too, really like the freeness of it, y’know?

4TR:  Yeah. What kind of bands influenced you?

Jon:  Well lyrically, Bob Marley because, well, he’s just the fuckin’ prophet isn’t he really.  I would say Lennon is a good one too, but it’s like Marley’s Batman and Lennon’s Robin, he can’t really compete y’know.  Musically though I like groove music, Reggae, Funk, Disco, Afro Beat, Hip–Hop, Ragga; music that makes you move.  It’s got something deep to it, guts, bottom end, y’know.  Where as a lot of music today is just like posh white fuckers that won everything and didn’t have to work for it.  I mean ultimately if you look back at the nineties and the majority of British bands, like The Libertines, and I mean Carl Barat is a very good personal friend of mine but I don’t want to sound like those bands.  My band derived nothing from those bands.  The nineties have been very fuckin’ disappointing musically, I mean if you think about it most of the bands were wank really.  The best musicians come from Black music or dance music really.  Think about it; Dizzee Rascal, Roots Manuva and Tie, people like that, there not necessarily gonna be seen with a leather jacket and a guitar slung round their necks.   

4TR:  It’s not all about style is it?

Jon: No, it’s fucking not, and it’s not about Old Street roundabout in East London, there’s more to this country than Old Street roundabout.  The world does not revolve round it.  

4TR:  Is it true that Silence is Talking was inspired by John Lennon and you were high whist writing it?

Jon:  Yeah, MDMA.  Which used sensibly is just, wonderful.  I’m not going to sit here and lie, because I don’t think people should lie about drugs.  The fact that they're lying about drugs is where the problem comes from.  MDMA if you use it in a very small amounts occasionally, can be very nice.  I’d had a little bit and been listening to Tomorrow Never Knows and one thing lead to another. It’s a fuckin thing that we all do and there’s no point in lying about it.  That’s why I’m always endeared to Noel Gallagher because for someone of his fame to go “yeah taking a line is like having a cup of tea for a lot of people”.  That’s what happened in the 90’s everyone started taking drugs.  

4TR:  Do you think that’s the end for Oasis?

Jon:  Yeah, I think it’s done now.  I wouldn’t have a bad word to say against Noel Gallagher [though], he’s a proper gentlemen, knows how to fuckin conduct himself.  He’s a fuckin dude mate.  I was always into black music when I was younger and I put my telly on and went to turn it off at 9.00 then – Channel 4, The Word, Bang, Oasis.   I was looking at it thinking, shit man, fuckin’ hell this is good.  It was a real deep thing.   When we toured with them as well, god, what an honour.  I consider myself quite an intelligent person, but like, not all music has to be high brow [sitting there with almost every musical gadget possible] there’s a time and a place for that I think.  I mean I’m not saying it’s bad, because coming from Sheffield it’s a big part of what we do with bands like; The Human League, ABC, y’know all them kinda people.  It’s in the blood in Sheffield, the synth kind of tradition.  We’re the latest electro–pop band, if you like.  

4TR:   There were rumours, Jon, that you would be leaving music all together.  I presume those rumours have been put to bed now you and your band are touring again?

Jon:  Because of what I told you earlier, the way the music industry is, and combined with taking lots of drugs from the doctor, I began to see things in a negative way and get very depressed; but the problem is I’m a musician and people will just say I’m doing it for the attention.  So I mean what can you do? You're fucked if you do and your fucked if you don’t.  

4TR:  Did you think, forget the critics?

Jon:  Yeah, music is in a bad state as it is so I felt I had to stick with it and do something about it. 

4TR:  Thank you for talking to me Jon, enjoy the show tonight and the rest of the tour.

Words: Ben Gilligan

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