Birmingham four-piece The Clause on tales of youth, Jonny's shoelaces, dream collaborations & leaving everything out on the stage...
Alternative indie group, The Clause, made up of school friends Pearce Macca on vocals, Niall Fennell on drums, Liam Deakin on guitar and Jonny Fyffe on bass teamed up in 2015 and have since grown from strength to strength, releasing their single Shut Me Out in 2016, and spending the next years performing dates with the likes of The Twang, Ocean Colour Scene, DMA’s, The Snuts, The Slow Readers club and more.
Their 2019 single In My Element has garnered over a million streams on Spotify, and a steady stream of indie-rock bangers have cemented them as a band you don’t want to miss when they stomp into a venue near you!
Currently on a sold-out tour with The Reytons and The Lottery Winners, the band have announced some solo dates on the run up to Christmas this December, including Sidney & Matilda in Sheffield and a hometown show at the O2 Institute in Birmingham.
Click here to get tickets to their upcoming tour!
Ahead of their December dates, we caught up with frontman Pearce to find out what they’ve got planned…
Describe your sound in your own words?
We’re a band with a 60s style, an 80s groove and a 90s attack.
Your tour starts soon… What can fans expect from your live show?
We leave everything out on that stage for the people who come to see us. There’s a set full of scintillating riffs and massive choruses to get you singing at the top of your lungs. We go full throttle from the start to the end of our set and play every gig like it’s our last.
The shows in Sheffield and Birmingham are on the run up to Christmas? Can fans expect any festive surprises?
We do love a pre Christmas gig. We might have some tricks up our sleeves… Get your tickets and find out x
You released your latest EP Forever Young in the summer… what inspired your writing this time around?
This collection of songs depict tales of our youth, telling stories of our encounters and experiences. The lead track Forever Young is all about sticking your fingers up to the world and living in the moment. Being fed up with the world and the negative aspects of society bred the inspiration for writing some of these songs as an escape and protest against the modern world.
How did you find writing / recording during the pandemic?
It was a difficult time for everyone and not being able to play live and gig for so long was tough, so writing music everyday was my escape during lockdown. I pretty much locked myself in my shed for the entire lockdown to write tunes. It was difficult not to let some of the negativity at that period seep into the songs I was writing but in the end I just tried to focus on how good everything was going to be when everything got back to normal again and channelled that into the material.
Did you learn anything new about yourselves / change any processes or how you record together (aside from the obvious separation)?
Yeah it was weird, we had to do any group writing sessions on zoom which was a massive pain. It’s hard to get creative through a screen. I think we learnt a lot more about ourselves as musicians though, it gave us a lot of time to craft our sound.
Are you working on any new material at the moment?
We’ve been writing some of our best stuff yet over the last 6 months. Some of our unreleased material is special and we’ve been in the studio over the last few weeks recording some of it. We can’t wait to get it out into the world.
Have you been writing while on the road / trialing any new tunes live?
We’ve tested the waters with a few new numbers at a couple of festivals over the summer. We’ve been blown away with how well they’ve gone down. It’s quite difficult to write when you’re in the van travelling the country. Everyone’s too busy having a blast to be able to focus on writing any songs in the tour van to be honest, we try and leave that for our downtime at home.
What’s your favourite track to perform live?
One of our unreleased tracks Hate The Player. It has a bit of a dance/disco twist mixed in with our rock sound. It always gets the crowd moving and goes down a treat at every gig, it’s a stomper.
Do you have any rituals you do before shows?
Our only ritual is making sure our bass guitarist Jonny has his shoelaces tied. Honestly the amount of times that kid has fallen off a stage is worrying, he’s a danger to the audience.
What about after the show? How do you relax?
We always try and battle that post gig depression by having a drink with our crew backstage and talking about the show. Then maybe go out and have a good night in whatever city we find ourselves in to unwind.
It’s always good to go out and meet people who’ve spent their hard-earned money to see us after the gig, have a drink and get to know some of them.
Essentials for the rider?
We’re easily pleased to be honest. A case of beer and a multipack of crisps and we’re good to go!
Are you working on any other projects you can tell us about?
We’re working on a really exciting collaboration with a big American rock artist. We can’t really give much more away about that one though.
Is there anyone you’d really like to work with next?
I think we’d make some filthy beats with Kevin Parker from Tame Impala. That’s a dream collaboration.
Who would you love to go out on tour with?
Going out on tour with a band like DMAs, Blossoms or Kasabian would be a huge one for us. We’re big fans of those bands so getting to share a stage all around the UK with them would be unbelievable.
What are you listening to at the moment? Who are your favourite artists?
We love the new Foals and Silk Sonic records released this year. They’ve been on repeat in the tour van for a while.
Either/Or
Dogs or Cats? Dogs
Tea or coffee? Tea
Travel by plane or by car/bus? Car
Television series or movie? Movie
Restaurant or take out? Restaurant
Early Bird or Night owl? Night owl
Breakfast or Tea? (Evening meal) Tea
80s or 90s music 80s
Mosh pit or full house of lighters? Mosh pit
Time machine or magic wand? Time machine
Whiskey or Beer? Whiskey
Tidy or Messy? Messy
Misquoted movies or mistaken lyrics? Mistaken lyrics
Guacamole or salsa? Salsa
Vacation or Staycation Vacation
Club show or Stadium show Club show
Gigs or festivals Festivals
Listen to The Cause here:
