This Is Guernsey

By Natalie Harrison

John McLure, aka the Reverend of Reverend and the Makers, is keen to meet Guernsey people and try local cuisine such as gache. (0573195)

FESTIVAL-GOERS at Guernsey Live might be rubbing shoulders with a rather famous Reverend.

Reverend and the Maker’s Jon McLure, aka the Reverend, said he can’t wait to set foot on Guernsey soil for the first time.

‘I’ve heard Guernsey is a beautiful place,’ said McLure, who, along with the band, will be playing on the John Peel stage at Glastonbury this year.

‘It’s good to support the regions in the British Isles. There’s a lot of good things going on, but it’s quite a London-centric country,’ he said.

‘As a musician, you should take in other areas when you travel around.’

And doing that he will be.

‘I want to know what the people of Guernsey are like,’ he said. ‘I haven’t got any time for liggers backstage.

‘I’ll be walking around the fields with my guitar, having a laugh with them [the locals]. I’m going to stick around and check the place out.’

McLure is said to have ‘discovered’ Arctic Monkeys’ Alex Turner when he was just 14 and has been a crucial part of the band’s work.

And while he said a joint effort with that band is unlikely, he did say collaboration with other musicians was vital.

He’s even looking forward to sampling some local cuisine.

‘I’m going to get my chops round some gache,’ he said.

But what about the Reverend’s early evening slot? Wouldn’t he prefer to play when darkness had fallen and the crowd’s really got going?

‘No, the time is perfect,’ he said. ‘That’s the time when the sun’s starting to look pretty.’

The Reverend said that the band will play songs from the new album, which McLure said he expects to come out next year sometime.

‘It’s a bit of a psychedelic monster,’ he said.

Also, expect to be first to hear the band’s new single, Silence Is Talking, which he said is due out soon.

• Reverend and the Makers will be on stage at 6.45pm tomorrow. See The Week with tomorrow’s Guernsey Press for more exclusive interviews with bands and djs performing at Guernsey Live.