1. 12/2/16 Corey Balsom – The A-Side
The Clause frontmanConnorSmith isthrashinganair guitar,posingforpicturesbya brickwall in
BirminghamCityCentre sportingahoodie,skinnyjeansandasculptural cascade of curlyhair. “Indie
rock forever!”the 18-year-oldshouts. ForSmithandhisbandmates,indie rockispassé.“It’sjust
done,”he sayslater.
The Clause have a philosophy fortheirmusiccareer:create asyouconsume.It’sabouthow we all
listentoa multitude of differentthingsandhow theywanttobe the bandthat tickseverysingle one
of yourboxes.“Iwant to be representative of thisgeneration,”saysSmith.“The non-linear
consumptionof musiceverybodypicksfromall overthe place…Ijustwant to be trulymodern.”
Tenminutesafterstrikingtheirbestindie rockposesinthe shadow of the zig-zaggingfire escape,
the four are beingsnappedwalkingdownacobbledbackstreet.
Theyrecentlytrickedtheirfanbase intothinkingthey’dsplit aftercirculatingan image containinga
comic strip,a typedstatementandanimage of two people readingafront-page headline:“Isthis
the endfor The Clause?”It wasjusta jape.A single soonfollowed,‘Love Me’,whichpokesfunatthe
group’sownrock star pretensions, the generation’sobsessionwithsocialmediaandtheir
contemporaries.It’salsofunkyashell,toboot.
Havingfirstgrouped togetherasteenagersinSolihull,theyspentyearsasoutsidersonthe West
Midlandsmusicscene,ignoredbyBirmingham labelsandlocal musicloversalike.Samwas15,
workingat a supermarket andlivingwith hismumwhentheirmanagerJamie decidedto putout
theirmusichimself. Releasingtheirdebutalbum“BurningwithaPassion”inSeptember2015, The
Clause hitthe road hard the followingyear,playing195 showsin29 countries,travellingfarenough
to circle the worldsix timesover.
“I justwant to be the band of thistime,”saysSam. That’sthe thingI wastaking the pissout of with
the air guitarthing.We do have those cleanlines –the fourboys,twoguitars,bass,drums,leather
jackets– but it’sjustdetail.”
Withthisin mind, theirnextmove isthatbrilliantbutbonkerssecondalbum.“I’mchallenging
people tositthroughan hour and15 minutes and17 songsthat all soundcompletelydifferentfrom
each other,”admitsSam.“I was aboutto say the worldneedsthisalbum.F**kit,youcan go for
that. The worldneedsthisalbum.”
