The Clause have established themselves with a bold presence within the UK’s emerging music scene, defined by sharp guitar work, prominent vocals, and a commanding stage presence. Their sound sparks the perfect balance between style and intensity, and is perfect for sweaty gig crowds. They’ve been making waves in the music scene, and it’s clear to see why fans are so hooked.

With a unique blend of indie, rock, and a flair of retro, The Clause aren’t just another emerging band: they’re setting themselves apart from the crowd. 

We caught up with frontman Pearce McMenamin to discuss their debut album ‘Victim Of A Casual Thing’, their upcoming headline tour, and what lies ahead for one of Birmingham’s most exciting new bands. 

Could you please introduce yourself and where you’re from?

I’m Pearce Macca from Birmingham, and I’m in The Clause.

Your debut album, ‘Victim Of A Casual Thing’, is set to be released next month. How does this record differ from your previously released EPs?

I think it's the complete evolution of our sound and the band really. Every previous record, single, EP, all roads have led here. So it just sounds like, for us, the band that we've always wanted to mature into, and if you're listening back to the last two EPs, you'll know, you'll hear all of that come together in this album, and everything starts to make sense about the direction we want to tie the band in. So yeah, we're happy with it.

What sparked the vibe or direction for your new album? Was there a specific moment, influence, or feeling that kicked it all off?

I’m not sure; I think if you were going to find the spark, you’d probably have to go back about eight years ago, when we started the band. We always had this goal, and we knew where we wanted to get to when we started; the gigs we wanted to be doing, the kind of album we wanted to release. The spark is just our individual love for music in every member of the band, and the desire to be something great and make something people are gonna remember. And this album, like we’ve been saying in any interviews we’ve done, is just completely down to our parents’ record collections, the CDs we were bought when we were kids, and all of that coming together into what formed The Clause, really. It's just down to our love for music.

If you could summarise your album in three words, what would they be?

Unique, authentic, and what's a good word for the last one… let’s say exciting.

You’re about to head off on a series of intimate gigs at record stores across the UK. Why is it so important for music fans to keep supporting local spots like these?

In the context of our band, we would not exist without these independent venues, these record stores that champion upcoming music and keep the heartbeat of the industry alive. It's such an important thing for people to keep doing because, especially in our hometown of Birmingham, it's been so sad over the past god knows how long. You’re seeing music venues just shut left, right and centre. Our favourite places that we’ve played when we were kids and gave us a start and a leg up. It’s happening all over the country, and we’re seeing so many important places of culture die out. So yeah, it’s important for people to champion these grassroots venues and come out to these independent record stores and help them to survive because if the moment ever comes where these places cease to exist, that's the death of the music industry.

You’re heading off on your headline tour in November. What are you most looking forward to on the tour, and what can fans expect?

D’you know what, we’re just itching to get out, man. For us, the best thing we’re looking forward to is just finally being at this point where we’re doing our debut album tour. It’s a bit wild, and it’s something we’ve dreamed about since we were kids, but we’re playing venues we never thought we’d get to, really. Probably about five or six years ago, it was just a pipe dream. So, for example, when we played the O2 Academy when we were probably about 12 or 13 in Birmingham, it was like some kind of school project, and I think we said at that point, jokingly, one day we’re gonna headline here. Fast forward a decade, and it's happening, and we're gonna be doing it in Birmingham, so that's gonna be special, but playing to a thousand people in both Manchester and Sheffield and all the cities around the UK gotta match that. Yeah, it's crazy man, for a band that has had no support and we’ve had to do things the hard way and do it all ourselves, being able to see all these people out celebrating our album, it's gonna be special, and we can’t thank everyone enough.

What song is a highlight track from the album, and why?

I’d probably say one of the ones that hasn’t been released as a single, one of the ones that won’t have been released before the album’s release. I’d probably say ‘Exception’, which is a song right in the middle of the album. It’s kind of a blend of a lot of different music tastes that we have, and it's probably one of our most vulnerable songs, so I’m looking forward to people hearing that one.

What made you add songs from two separate EPs to the album?

I think a couple of years ago, when I started writing for the album, when we did the ‘Pop Culture’ EP in 2023, it was then when I started writing for the album as a whole. There were a lot of songs that are on the album that had been written; they weren’t all written after the last EP we wrote, they were all written together, and then as we kept writing, we picked the best ones that fit into the project, the best on ‘Pop Culture’ EP, and then the ‘Weekend Millionaire’ EP. So I think when I wrote the songs ‘Weekend Millionaire’ and ‘Fever Dream’, we always knew that they were gonna go on the album because they make sense. They tell the story that we want the album to tell, and they fit in the context of the record. I think unless we wrote a song that was gonna kick them off, there was no way that they weren’t gonna go on the album. And also, when we were a bit younger, we signed a deal when we were about 19 with Universal, and through Covid, we ended up losing that record deal, and we also lost our biggest track at the time, which was ‘In My Element’. So for the album, we thought we’d go and re-record it and take it back and make it ours again, so we could put it on the record, so it's a bit of an act of defiance that one.

Finally, who or what is to blame for your music career?

I’d probably say each of us, our parents are completely to blame because they were the ones stupid enough to give us a guitar at like six or seven years old and stupid enough to keep wasting their money trying to support us in dropping us to gigs, and picking us up and waiting up late nights trying to let us get in when we were away touring and stuff. So if there’s anyone to blame, it’s really them. But I’m thinking that they’re probably hoping that at some point we’ll be able to pay them back. It won’t be anything financially, but if it’s spiritually, you know, that's enough for us.

Micha Thompson

@x.micharose.x

Image: Luke Jones

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