Preach for the stars
GOOD things come to those who wait...
Big Jon McClure must have absorbed something of that message when he was pulling pints of the black stuff down at Sheffield venue The Boardwalk this time last year.
For while he has watched former bar and band colleague Alex Turner (both were in Judan Suki back in the day) take on the world as the voice of the Arctic Monkeys and former ticket collector Jon Windle chart with Little Man Tate he remained patient, biding his time.
It's not like his band Reverend And The Makers didn't have the songs. They impressed plenty on tour with the Brit Award winners. And sold out Plug twice on their own, without a record deal.
But the lofty lad was careful not to simply get blown along in an Arctics wind and get critically dashed against the rocks, like fellow music makers Milburn.
"That time after the Arctic Monkeys when everyone was getting offered record deals and A&Rs were offering money to do this and that I was the one person who resisted. I decided to go to ground and do my own thing.
"Good quality music survives the test of time - if you're making art, take your time. That said, it was hard saying no to a lot of stuff as I was on the dole. It was tempting but I've never been motivated by money."
Jon's faith in his decision was boosted by his Reverend Soundsystem nights down on Matilda Street and collaboration offers from various artists. A chance meeting with Wall Of Sound owner Mark Jones - Jon asked him for a light at a London club night - led to a deal with a label which had provided the big man with much aural pleasure in the past.
"My manager Geoff (Barradale, also Arctics manager) was of the mentality that I should build things up myself - do it naturally, let people come to me rather than chase a deal."
Now, with debut single Heavyweight Champion Of The World (out May 28) all over radio like a cat with a crab
stick Jon is having to get used to being interviewed by the mass media. "There are worse things - I could be chilling steel," he says.
Or pulling pints. Not that he regrets his time at Snig Hill's now world famous music venue. "I was asked politely to leave because I was always letting Dom down," he says of his final days at The Boardwalk. "But all my mates started asking me for a job there. It's pretty weird the way it all happened there. I don't think it will ever be replicated in the same way.
"And I've seen a lot of bands there which have influenced me like The Fall and I met John Cooper Clarke who I have since worked with." In fact, the Mancunian bard features on the b-side of the single, a spoken word duet called The Last Resort.
Jon also credits Mr Boardwalk Chris Wilson with teaching him much - "he is anti doing things in an obvious way and into independent thinking" - along with city producer Alan Smyth.
"Sheffield became a brand and it was horrible and The Long Blondes and Arctic Monkeys were the only acts signed to indie labels.
"I've always been into dance music, at The Arches and Republic when it was good, and when Mark came to see us practice it was like a thunderbolt in the room.
"Now everyone thinks I am his son we've such a similar vibe. He's like Alan McGee used to be. He doesn't think of it as a business, although he wants to make a quid, obviously, we all want to make a living."
The 25-year-old signed to WOS earlier this year at a point when some were beginning to wonder whether he'd missed the boat.
Now the boat is definitely back, and cruising - Champion looks set to bludgeon the charts and confirm Jon's strategy. A throbbing electro-funk anthem based on a desire to not be like everyone else it comes with a brilliant video starring him in a variety of spirit-crushing jobs inspired by his days as a call centre worker for Norwich Union "sitting at a desk with four other people you hate".
He says it was their acceptance of a dull reality that drove him.
"We're slaves to our mortgages and then we die - and people seem to blindly accept that. All the while our country is away bombing Afghanistan and Iraq," he scowls.
"I started out as a poet rather than a songwriter and Champion was from a larger poem. You can only really say things like that on your first album, but people can identify with it. On the album we tackle politics and social issues, things that don't usually get said in an era of careerest musicians. Lyrically there's a lot of b****cks to it although a lot is quite poppy."
The b-side 18-30 is a suitably knowing glimpse of some of the above characters in their downtime - boozy Brits aboard in pursuit of sun-licked R&R.
Jon takes the message to The Leadmill on Sunday and Barnsley's Cherry Bomb Disco on June 1.
"There's a shock on people's faces when they see us for the first time and realise it's not just Arctic Monkeys," he adds, boarding the bus to London.
"It's not just blokes with guitars - you've got to sit up and take notice."
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Weather for Sheffield
Thursday 09 February 2012
Today
Light snow
Temperature: -1 C to 1 C
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Light snow
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