Jon McClure

Jon McClure (born 22 December 1981), known as The Reverend, is an English musician. He is the lead singer and frontman of Reverend and The Makers, and ex-vocalist of 1984 and Judan Suki. He says that the name "Reverend" became his moniker because "I'm a big mouth and always running on at people".[1]

Jon McClure
Birth nameJon McClure
Born (1981-12-22) 22 December 1981
Sheffield, Yorkshire, England
Genres
Occupation(s)Musician
Instruments
Years active2004–present
LabelsWall of Sound
Associated acts

Early life

McClure was born in the Sheffield suburb Grenoside, and grew up there with his parents and brother Chris. He has known Ed Cosens since childhood and in Notre Dame High School. He went on to become a poet,[2] and began blogging on the internet.

Career

A close friendship developed with Alex Turner of Arctic Monkeys, who McClure met on a bus and asked if Turner wanted to join his band at the time.[3] Together, the two have co-written songs including "He Said He Loved Me", "The Machine", and "Old Yellow Bricks". They also shared a flat together.[4] McClure cites his key influences as being Bob Marley, Oasis and John Cooper Clarke.[5] McClure was part of a collective that set up "Instigate Debate" in August 2008.

Previous projects

Judan Suki

McClure's first band was Judan Suki, which featured Ed Cosens and Laura Manuel from The Makers. The name Judan Suki is Japanese, meaning "being kicked in the weak spot", which McClure believed related directly to their music. The band had approximately 10 members, including Alex Turner and Matt Helders, who were also members of the Arctic Monkeys. In 2003, the band downsized from eight members to five to become 1984. Judan Suki became known within Sheffield and headlined venues such as the Boardwalk and The Foundry Sheffield at Sheffield university in 2002. The band was notable for their cover of "Brothers on the Slide" by Cymande, although studio version was never recorded.

1984

McClure's second band was 1984, named after the novel by George Orwell. Ed Cosens stuck with Jon, and co-wrote many of 1984's songs as well as all of Reverend and The Makers. The band shared a short life from 2004 to 2005 and McClure's strong views against the Iraq War meant that many of his lyrics and vocals had an angrier edge to them. There are clear links and continuations with the lyrics and ideas of 1984 to those of Reverend and The Makers; "God Is In The TV", which is one of the B-sides on the forthcoming single, was originally a 1984 song. 1984 came to an end when McClure decided he was ready to start getting "serious" as he did not want to be "just another guitar band" or part of a Yorkshire music scene.

Some claim the lyric "dancing to electro-pop like a robot from 1984" from the Arctic Monkeys song "I Bet You Look Good on the Dancefloor" is a reference to the band.

Side projects

Reverend Soundsystem

Prior to Reverend and the Makers being signed, McClure hosted a monthly club night named "Reverend Soundsystem", on the first Saturday of every month at The Plug in Sheffield, and has also hosted one event at Manchester's Po Na Na. The Soundsystem, which ran for a year from October 2007 and has featured a number of guest DJs such as Mani (The Stone Roses/Primal Scream), Peter Hook (New Order), Andy Nicholson (ex-Arctic Monkeys), Chris McClure (face of the Arctic Monkeys debut album cover (Whatever People Say I Am, That's What I'm Not) and brother of Jon), Terry Hall (The Specials), Milburn, Bez and Arctic Monkeys as well as live performances from The Sunshine Underground, Gas Club, Stoney, The 747s, The Hosts, White Rose Movement and Starlings (FKA Kelham Crisis). The event no longer takes place at The Plug.

In 2010, McClure took Reverend SoundSystem on tour. The band includes Jon, Matic Mouth, Laura McClure and Jimmy Welsh (who replaced Jagz Kooner).

Mongrel

McClure's new project features band members Lowkey, Andy Nicholson, Matt Helders, Drew McConnell, Joe Moskow, and Jagz Kooner.

Personal life

McClure's influences include The Clash, Oasis, The Stone Roses, The Beatles and The Jam.[6]

McClure married fellow Reverend and The Makers member Laura Manuel in the summer of 2009.

McClure is a lifelong Sheffield Wednesday fan. He is known to be an avid player of the simulation game Football Manager. In September 2009, he became the first member of the public to play Football Manager 2010 upon its release.[7] In an edition of The Wright Stuff, he said that he "absolutely loves" smoking. In March 2010, he was arrested in Inverness after possession of cannabis, but was given a caution.[8]

Political views

In November 2019, along with 34 other musicians, McClure signed a letter endorsing the Labour Party leader Jeremy Corbyn in the 2019 UK general election with a call to end austerity.[9][10]

References
  1. Archived 3 February 2008 at the Wayback Machine
  2. "Reverend and the Makers : Interview". Pennyblackmusic.co.uk. Retrieved 25 August 2014.
  3. "Why 'Reverend' Jon McClure can't be satisfied". The Independent. London. 6 July 2007. Retrieved 7 May 2010.
  4. Youngs, Ian (9 October 2007). "Reverend preaches the power of pop". BBC News. Retrieved 7 May 2010.
  5. Archived 25 February 2008 at the Wayback Machine
  6. "Jon McClure Interview SXSW Texas 15th March 2013 Music News". Retrieved 2 July 2014.
  7. "Jon McClure from Reverend and the Makers visits Sports Interactive". YouTube. 1 September 2009. Retrieved 25 August 2014.
  8. "NME News Reverend And The Makers' Jon McClure arrested in drug bust". Nme.Com. 4 March 2010. Retrieved 25 August 2014.
  9. "Musicians backing Jeremy Corbyn's Labour". The Guardian. 25 November 2019. Retrieved 1 December 2019.
  10. Gayle, Damien (25 November 2019). "Stormzy backs Labour in election with call to end austerity". The Guardian. Retrieved 1 December 2019.
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