Previews & Features

Reverend And The Makers' debut single Heavyweight Champion Of The World - with its strutting bassline and tale of trading dreams for drudgery - has been the anthem of the summer.

It's also been one of the tasters for the Sheffield band's album, The State Of Things, which was released earlier this month and will mould the backbone of their set-list for their first proper UK tour.

When their bus swings into Norwich's University Of East Anglia venue on Wednesday, 3 October, 2007, it will be a home-coming for guitarist Tom Jarvis, who's originally from Stalham.

But Tom isn't the only member of the band who will be pleased to head back east - for their forthright singer and self-styled preacher man Jon 'Reverend' McClure it will be a bittersweet trip.

In an interview ahead of the tour, Jon reveals how he sought solace in the band after the traumatic death of his uncle, who lived in Norwich, and that he plans to "nail" the city gig in his memory.

You're about to head out with the band on tour in October.

I am. I've just been sorting some stuff out.

Gearing up for the tour

It's always good to play live and show people that we're not one of these trick bands who are trying to con you in any way - that it's real and although it's dance music we can make it with real instruments and we're not trying to pull the wool over anyone's eyes and there's a degree of musicianship.

It's exciting. I don't like having days off. There's definitely a message to the music. People say, 'When are you going to have a day off?'. But I'm like, 'Never!'.

People are like, 'I don't want to do this interview; I don't want to do this gig,' but for me it's a pleasure. I love it. It's very important for me as a musician to play to as many people as possible.

A lot of people just go where the money is but I'm not into that. We go abroad and I want to get where the people are because the message is a universal one.

It's applicable to all people but essentially it's just pop music as well if you don't want to accept the message. On the first level you can just listen to it and hopefully it will make you happy and stuff. To play to new people is very important because I want to reach everyone.

You recently played Ibiza Rocks, how did that go for you?

Amazing. We nailed it, I think. Ibiza's quite an important place. I DJ'd at the opening of Manumission this year and it's a crucially important place for dance music and it was great to be out there.

I really like the Bar M people and the Manumission people as well, they're really cool.

The spirit of Ibiza is to be found even though there are lots of drunken English idiots out there, there are some amazing places.

You played Japan earlier this year, what was that like?

Mental. Amazing. [He starts speaking Japanese] That means sorry my Japanese is s***, but I feel like it is good to speak the languages of these places as well because then you're saying to those people, 'My message to you people is just as important as it is to people in England'.

I really like that guy Manu Chau because he goes where the people are rather than where the money are [sic].

I think there's a bit of a culture of arrogance in Britain where somehow we think we're better than other people, and I want to get over that and just say to people that we should be united and together. Our message is a bit of a peace and love one.

We played in Belgium and I'm trying to learn a bit of Flemish, and they've had these problems in Belgium between the Flemish half and Wallonian.

There are two languages in Belgium and four songs through I'm like, 'Right, who's Flemish?' so half of the crowd put their hands up, and then, 'Right, who's Wallonian?' and the other half put their hands up.

I'm saying, 'Listen, you people have been dancing to my tunes... You've been loving it. It's been amazing and you've all been together as a one-ness and you've not been caring about who's Flemish and who's Wallonian, so why do you want to let these government people in suits divide you?'.

I think if we can go all over the world spreading a positive message to people, then that's very important.

My heroes are like Lennon and Strummer and The Clash and Lenny Bruce and people who had a positive message.

I feel like they were like lions to lead people in a positive way, but I don't think we have any lions - our generation doesn't really have any.

We just have a load of fashionistas with trendy haircuts. We're like a return to something that means something; something that's honest and has some integrity.

You think there's a political point to your music and your album is called The State Of Things, why did you pick that as the title song?

I think my job as an artist is to reflect. I got criticised recently in a magazine for writing songs about real Britain, and I thought well what else am I going to write about - imaginary dragons and fairies!

I think the artist's job is to be a mirror to observe and reflect how they feel and how they think the world is.

The State Of Things is about what I think it's like in Britain and some of it is political and some of it is just little stories, but essentially life's politics; it's all politics and it's time people were bothered. But at the same time, it's just pop music.

I don't want to be one of these bands where that's for cool people; this is for these people or whatever.

If you want to listen to it just as pop music and dance and enjoy it with a smile on your face then that's fine and if you want to go deeper than that and scratch beyond the surface and get the real message then that's fine as well.

We're not a critic's band really, we're a band for people, I think.

You're saying that people can take whatever they like from your music and you're happy with that?

Yeah, because it's pretentious on the part of the artist to think that you can control. I had this thought that now we live in the year of the business show, whereas it should be show business.

The show should come first... People are trying to control who buys their records and who they target it at.

I'll just target it at anyone; anyone who wants to listen to it can listen to it and I think that's the way it should be and I'm not afraid to tell the truth and be honest and I think people respect you gradually for that.

I feel there's a movement that's come within this country; a rejection of bulls*** and a rejection of people being tricked by those who are effectively businessmen masquerading as musicians.

You're great friends with Alex Turner so what was it like for you and your band when Sheffield started getting a lot of attention from music labels and press off the back of Arctic Monkeys?

I went and hid in the studio for two years. People wanted to make me out to be the don of Sheffield or the godfather of Sheffield, but I've never felt comfortable in that role because it not something to which I aspire.

For a start I don't really like all the bands in Sheffield: I think some are good and some aren't and secondly I think it's just another ruse to divide people.

Why would I be lumped together with a load of bands based purely on geography?

When people come to me gigs and they're like, 'Sheffield' or 'Yorkshire,' I'm like, 'Well what if you've come from Shropshire to watch this concert today?'.

The press always want to divide people, everybody wants to divide all the time, divide, divide, divide. I don't want to divide people, I want to unite people.

Jon says his Norwich trip will bring back memories

I've collaborated with lots of bands in Sheffield because they were all fans of me when I was just a poet. I collaborated with lots of people in Sheffield on the album and I've written songs with Bromheads Jacket and I've written songs with Arctic Monkeys before because they're friends of mine but essentially I'm just a collaborative person.

Everything I do is collaborative. I've already written the second album and a lot of people that I'm going to collaborate with aren't from Sheffield, they're from all over the world, so whilst they might try and write me into their little pigeonholes...

I felt like I was in a cage in Sheffield and I burst out of one cage so I'm not going to be written into another one by their stereotypes.

This probably opposes everything you've just said then, but you're heading to Norwich on tour which will be a bit of a home-coming for your guitarist who's from Norfolk originally.

It will. I've just been with Tom and it's a shame that we're not still with him.

I also have lots of family in Norfolk as well. My cousin runs a shop in Norwich.

So, it's not just Tom who will have family and friends in the audience?

I've got a lot of family down there and I've spent a lot of time in Norwich during my childhood with my auntie and uncle.

My uncle, he died quite tragically when I started doing this Reverend And The Makers thing and I think that he's been very inspirational to me in lots of ways.

I feel a bit emotional telling you this - I've not spoke about... A lot of people in my family had counselling after he died.

My mum and my brother and everybody had counselling and in lots of ways Reverend And The Makers has been my form of counselling and therapy.

He was always a very positive person who showed a lot of love and peace towards the world and was like a very beautiful human being, so in lots of ways I've channelled my thing into this. I'll dedicate this gig to him in lots of ways.

I think if I can spread a positive message to people all over the world, then I'll have done the right thing by him because he was a really good guy and stuff. I want to nail Norwich on his behalf.

You say he's been an inspiration for the band.

Yeah, definitely.

He was from Barnsley originally, my uncle, and he settled in Norwich and lived there for about 30 years, but in lots of ways he was a Barnsley lad and had a Barnsely accent but spoke with an honesty and an integrity and an intelligence which you're not supposed to have when you're from a place like Barnsley or Sheffield and I think he was the first person to really make me understand that you could bust out of your thing without becoming a pretentious w*****.

You could have a degree of intelligence, but still stay true to yourself and to your roots and stuff.

He was definitely a very inspirational man to me and I think to play in Norwich will bring back a lot of memories to me of being around there.

I love Norwich and as I say have spent a hell of a lot of my childhood down there, and Great Yarmouth as well, so it should be a pleasure to play there. I think also for the first time we have a bus so we can party in Norwich.

You'll have to head out to some nightspots or maybe you'll bring the sound system with you.

Well, it will all be going off. Maybe we'll just DJ off the back of [the] bus.

Reverend And The Makers will play the University Of East Anglia, Norwich, on Wednesday, 3 October, 2007.