Reverend and the Makers, an indie band that rose to fame from the streets of Sheffield, also hit the stage in a spontaneous set at our very own Independent Arts Centre. If that wasn’t enough the group then moved on to FD2D editor, gonzo journalist and entrepreneur, Dan Lamoon’s place to play at an impromptu house party. After an epic gig in his own living room Dan spoke to Jon McClure, the front man and the one they call ‘The Reverend’. Some serious discussion summarising a politically charged and contrasting weekend (complete with Yorkshire accent) follows.

So, John today we came together for the peace festival. Obviously the sh*t hit the fan yesterday, pretty horrible, pretty shocking to be honest. So why have you come down and performed?

Because, it sounds really hippyish, but people need to just be cool and love each other and get together and we’ve all been together in this (Dan’s) house tonight having a party and having a blues and putting it together and at that (Independent) Arts Centre in town we had a good gig and like, I’ve come down just to say stop hating each other, it’s not good. I’ve been talking to some girls tonight, they’ve been saying they don’t like Somalis and all this, I said “me dad’s Somali” they said “we’re right sorry we didn’t mean to offend ya” when he’s not really but what if he were. I just think, at end at day like we have been getting too deep, we’ve just spent billions of pounds bailing banks out, hate them don’t hate your fellow geezer down’t street, whether Somali, Kosovan, wherever there from man. That EDL present nothing but hatred and horrible things to me, ya know what ah mean?

Yeah definitely, so with your lyrics, it’s always been quite political, certainly for me. I grew up on your sh*t, you’ve always grown up with quite a political voice but in quite a grimey sense…

Yeah, we made Mongrel album with all them spitters and that were dead political. The second Reverend and the Makers album were really super-political. RSS is not so much, it’s more of a musical experiment in that I think music’s become very boring so I don’t just want to make political music, I’m obviously a political person but… Anyhow we’ve combined bassline and dubstep which are massive at moment and you’d go raving in a club to that but you want some songs, indie’s become a bit boring like, singers are good but bands sound all’t same so we mashed it together. We call it Indie step and we’ve been playing it in houses, in house parties, blues parties and it’s been an amazing response, and really it’s a bit of fun RSS because I think I deserve a bit of fun for ten minutes. But within that you can bring people together and say you’re from here, you’re from there, we’re all in this house, we’re all in it together and that’s my way of being subtly political let’s say.

So you say you want a little bit of fun so is Reverend and the Makers your job and you doing RSS your fun?

No, not really, I love Reverend and the Makers and I will probably make a fun Reverend and the Makers album again but at minute I just want to do something else musically that’s dead adventurous. A lot of people are saying this Indie Step thing we’ve got we’re popping in Sheff (Sheffield) and in Yorkshire n that, that it’s got a good unique sound so I just want to crack on with that for ten minutes because Sheffield is the home of British electronic music from Cabaret Voltaire to Human League and stuff. It’s been a while since I had that little scene in Sheff so it’s time when summat came that’s new I think.

Yeah, it’s good that you’re doing something new. Do you think some of the songs you wrote before with Reverend and the Makers were partly due to what’s going on now or partly due to financial gain. I mean you say you’re going to make another album with Reverend and the Makers, is that down to what is given to you in the sense of stardom and the rest?

No, not really like, Reverend and the Makers is my band innit so I can go back to that whenever I want. Obviously I make money playing in Reverend and the Makers, I don’t make money playing in people’s houses but I’ve never been motivated by money otherwise I would have gone on Letterman and made a million in America because I were offered the chance to go on Letterman and the chance to sign big record deals. I can go and do that when I want to do that but that’s not ever been my motivation, my motivation’s about just representing good stuff whether that’s people getting together in a house, being cool with each other and having a good time or whether that’s saying I don’t want no EDL or no BNP or no National Front whatever man, I just represent what I thinks good, it’s not a money thing ever man.

No?

Never!

D: It’s not about the money?

Nah.

No, so what’s the fuel? What’s the spark?

Well, when your house were rammed tonight and there were loads of people jumping up and down that makes me feel better than being on Jools Holland know what I mean. I don’t know, it sounds like a clichéd load of bollocks but it aint, I’m in it for the music man.

Well that puts a massive smile on my face, that’s what I do art for, that’s what From Dusk 2 Dawn’s all about. We’re doing art for the sake of artists rather than the sake of money, rather than the sake of all these sort of commercial influences. Obviously everyone needs to fend for themselves, how do you see yourself as an artist really pushing yourself and wanting to develop yourself and what advice can you give to young artists who want to sort of, live in your footsteps?

Alright then, firstly express what you see to be the truth! It’s not been popular for me to be political in the last few years. I’ve been slagged of all over, I’ve had death threats from the BNP, I’ve had EDL and BNP turn up at me gigs with knuckle dusters when I did Mongrel in Stoke you know what I’m saying. So firstly, be yourself but don’t become haggard and boring, don’t keep saying the same thing. I’ve made two very political records, if I keep making political records it’s just like preaching to people and people don’t want that, they want entertainment as well as education. So on a second thing, play with your sound, experiment with your sound and look at what kids are doing, 18-year-old kids man, they’re making some mental sounds- dubstep, bassline, future garage all this stuff and that excites me because I think yeah go on then ya little f***ers. So look at what everyone else is doing and see how it can fit into what you’re doing. See we’ve got this little indie step and we’re into it now.

So yeah, indie step’s your new sort of… step?

Yeah, because it meets in the middle, you know what ah mean and people want that thing where… I tell you what I think’s happening people like you who are doing your magazine and you’ve got your independent thing and all that are still here and we’re doing are parties and all that kind of thing. People don’t want to go and stand in town, pay four quid and stand in some glass bar that’s ‘orrible and listen to shit music and be surrounded by nobheads so that’s why people are coming back to house parties. It’s starting to go back underground now man, people are starting to do their own shit. People aren’t buying a newspaper that’s written by people in London every week and going “oh yeah, they must know what’s going on” because they don’t man. Somebody in Leicester might know, somebody in Clyde might know, somebody in Dundee might know and it’s all gone everywhere. You see what I’m saying, it’s gone underground and I think something good’s going to come in the next few years.

How do you think the people’s voice is going to be heard against this huge government then?

Think of Bob Marley man, you can’t fool all the people all the time. People don’t believe what Murdoch press says anymore. People look at EDL and think “D*ckheads, go and fight at a football match, I’m not interested.” People are sick of b*llsh*t, they look at pop charts, they’re like “nah”, they watch X Factor, they’re like “come on?” People just want an alternative, and just through force of will as it were an alternative and an underground emergence because people want it to happen. I want there to be an alternative so there will be an alternative. You see tonight, loads of people just jump up and down in a terraced house on a road in Leicester.

Do you know what I’m saying to ya, because that’s a sign of what’s coming. You don’t wanna pay 15 quid to go and stand in some corporate sh*thole and drink piss weak beer. Who wants to do that when you can come here and jump up and down (laughs).

Well it’s lovely to meet ya.

Lovely to meet you too my friend.