The Clause

Few bands wear their influences as openly as The Clause, the Birmingham four-piece whose indie rock keeps one foot in funk and rhythm and blues. Their sound borrows the swagger of the 1960s, the groove of the 1980s and the attitude of the 1990s. Pearce handles vocals and guitar, with Liam Deakin on guitar, Jonny Fyffe on bass and Niall Fennell on drums.

The band began as three childhood friends in Birmingham, Pearce, Jonny and Niall, with Liam joining later, having met through the city's local scene while still at school. By the late 2010s they were playing across the city and the wider Midlands, and their 2019 single In My Element reached number 1 on the UK iTunes Rock Chart and 46 on the overall chart, all done without a label or management. Early 2020s touring took them alongside The Snuts, The Pigeon Detectives and The Enemy, and to the Isle of Wight Festival. Their debut album, Victim of a Casual Thing, followed in October 2025, and a headline UK tour led to a homecoming at O2 Academy Birmingham in December.