Jon McClure, 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".
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, 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. 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. McClure cites his key influences as being Bob Marley, Oasis and John Cooper Clarke. 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, Peter Hook, Andy Nicholson, Chris McClure, Terry Hall, 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. 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.
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. 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. 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.
