Difference between revisions of ""There's Just So Much Hate Within This Band. Why Are We Still Like this?" - Uncut, November 2011"
(3 intermediate revisions by one user not shown) | |||
Line 7: | Line 7: | ||
| Date = November 2011 | | Date = November 2011 | ||
| Writer = David Quantick | | Writer = David Quantick | ||
− | | Photos = Sam Jones | + | | Photos = Sam Jones, Martyn Goodacre, Kevin Cummins, Pat Pope |
}} | }} | ||
<BR> | <BR> | ||
Line 13: | Line 13: | ||
<BR> | <BR> | ||
<CENTER> | <CENTER> | ||
− | [[Image:|frameless|250px|link=]] | + | [[Image:Uncut1111 (1).jpg|frameless|250px|link=http://www.foreverdelayed.org.uk/msppedia/images/3/36/Uncut1111_%281%29.jpg]] |
− | [[Image:|frameless|250px|link=]] | + | [[Image:Uncut1111 (2).jpg|frameless|250px|link=http://www.foreverdelayed.org.uk/msppedia/images/6/6f/Uncut1111_%282%29.jpg]] |
− | [[Image:|frameless|250px|link=]]<BR> | + | [[Image:Uncut1111 (3).jpg|frameless|250px|link=http://www.foreverdelayed.org.uk/msppedia/images/4/41/Uncut1111_%283%29.jpg]]<BR> |
− | [[Image:|frameless|250px|link=]] | + | [[Image:Uncut1111 (4).jpg|frameless|250px|link=http://www.foreverdelayed.org.uk/msppedia/images/9/9f/Uncut1111_%284%29.jpg]] |
− | [[Image:|frameless|250px|link=]] | + | [[Image:Uncut1111 (5).jpg|frameless|250px|link=http://www.foreverdelayed.org.uk/msppedia/images/a/aa/Uncut1111_%285%29.jpg]] |
− | [[Image:|frameless|250px|link=]]<BR> | + | [[Image:Uncut1111 (6).jpg|frameless|250px|link=http://www.foreverdelayed.org.uk/msppedia/images/4/47/Uncut1111_%286%29.jpg]]<BR> |
</CENTER> | </CENTER> | ||
<BR> | <BR> | ||
Line 24: | Line 24: | ||
{{ConcertTableClose}} | {{ConcertTableClose}} | ||
{{ConcertTableHeader}} | {{ConcertTableHeader}} | ||
− | |||
'''As they release an epic greatest hits, Manic Street Preachers remain as bright and furious as ever. Uncut joins them on a desolate Welsh beach to mull over the past two decades, and to draw a line in the sand. Next? "The third and final great leap forward..."''' | '''As they release an epic greatest hits, Manic Street Preachers remain as bright and furious as ever. Uncut joins them on a desolate Welsh beach to mull over the past two decades, and to draw a line in the sand. Next? "The third and final great leap forward..."''' | ||
<BR> | <BR> | ||
Line 49: | Line 48: | ||
<BR> | <BR> | ||
<BR> | <BR> | ||
− | Manic Street Preachers HQ is Manicsesque the way the Batcave is Batmanesque. Downstairs, a studio with the original mixing desk from Rockfield Studios, posters | + | Manic Street Preachers HQ is Manicsesque the way the Batcave is Batmanesque. Downstairs, a studio with the original mixing desk from Rockfield Studios, posters - Aguirre: The Wrath Of God, a 2004 wallchart of the EU - and a small statue of Aneurin Bevan. Upstairs, two walls of Manics icon posters (James tests me on some and I fail) and a nice telly. On the couches are singles - the Television Personalities’ brilliant “A Sense of Belonging”, some stuff by left-wing sabotage band McCarthy and the artwork for early Manics 7” “Suicide Alley”. Nicky poses with a very broken Richey Edwards guitar - “I think it’s still got his blood on it” - and then settles on a sofa to discuss the business of the day. Ostensibly, we are here to talk about their epic new singles compilation set, National Treasures. Being the Manics, they’re also here to talk about their new album, provisionally entitled ‘70 Songs Of Hatred And Failure’. And, even more being the Manics, they’re also here to talk about going away for three years and coming back as a different group. But let’s start with the hits album. |
<BR> | <BR> | ||
<BR> | <BR> | ||
− | “We talked about doing it when the tenth album, Postcards From A Young Man, came out [in 2010],” says Nicky. “We let ourselves down with the last compilation, [2002’s] Forever Delayed, ’cos we cherry-picked and there were only 19 of our hits on it. There’s 38 on this and when we do this gig at Christmas we’ll play all 38 of them. Three hours | + | “We talked about doing it when the tenth album, Postcards From A Young Man, came out [in 2010],” says Nicky. “We let ourselves down with the last compilation, [2002’s] Forever Delayed, ’cos we cherry-picked and there were only 19 of our hits on it. There’s 38 on this and when we do this gig at Christmas we’ll play all 38 of them. Three hours - with an interval where you can have an ice cream.” |
<BR> | <BR> | ||
<BR> | <BR> | ||
Line 61: | Line 60: | ||
<BR> | <BR> | ||
<BR> | <BR> | ||
− | “Fucking sit in here and try and reclaim some kind of | + | “Fucking sit in here and try and reclaim some kind of happiness...” Nicky claims. “No, we want the next album to be the third and final great leap forward of the band. I dunno what the next phase is gonna be, but to make people love you it’s got to be really special...My wall in my bedroom is Sandinista!, Bitches Brew, The White Album...the idea of doing something long, full of depth - and perhaps we have to sacrifice some of the writing quality for the sound.” |
<BR> | <BR> | ||
<BR> | <BR> | ||
− | More on this story as it unfolds. National Treasures will feature almost every Manic Street Preachers single, including a new cover of “This Is The Day” by The The. “Which,” Nicky claims, “is just an absolutely gorgeous, melancholic song which we’ve just | + | More on this story as it unfolds. National Treasures will feature almost every Manic Street Preachers single, including a new cover of “This Is The Day” by The The. “Which,” Nicky claims, “is just an absolutely gorgeous, melancholic song which we’ve just Manicfied...Manicfied? Manicsified?” Sadly, it omits both their marvellous cover of Rihanna’s “Umbrella” and their great download-only festive single, “Ghosts Of Christmas”, which contains the fantastic line, “Hot Wheels on the dinner table/Too much sherry, Mum unstable”. |
<BR> | <BR> | ||
<BR> | <BR> | ||
− | So let’s begin our voyage around the Manic Street Preachers with 1991’s “Motown Junk”, their first “fully fledged, rock’n’roll opening salvo”, as Nicky calls it. “I do think it’s one of our best singles by a million miles. We’ve played it at every fucking gig for the last 22 years | + | So let’s begin our voyage around the Manic Street Preachers with 1991’s “Motown Junk”, their first “fully fledged, rock’n’roll opening salvo”, as Nicky calls it. “I do think it’s one of our best singles by a million miles. We’ve played it at every fucking gig for the last 22 years probably...” |
<BR> | <BR> | ||
<BR> | <BR> | ||
Line 94: | Line 93: | ||
<BR> | <BR> | ||
<BR> | <BR> | ||
− | “There was a deep-rooted politeness in those situations,” Nicky claims. “And he always had a plan. He would never go into an interview without doing a bit of revision. He did think of ‘We hate Slowdive more than Hitler’ the night before an | + | “There was a deep-rooted politeness in those situations,” Nicky claims. “And he always had a plan. He would never go into an interview without doing a bit of revision. He did think of ‘We hate Slowdive more than Hitler’ the night before an interview...which is a pretty dangerous fucking thing to say! And the night before we did our first NME cover shoot, I went out and got love bites. Richey couldn’t get off with anyone so he got his compass out and carved HIV into his chest.” |
<BR> | <BR> | ||
<BR> | <BR> | ||
Line 103: | Line 102: | ||
<BR> | <BR> | ||
<BR> | <BR> | ||
− | “I think | + | “I think ‘Motorcycle...’ was our first recognised song. Every country we’ve been to knows that song,” Wire says now. “I wish we could have done an album of ‘Motown Junk’s, but we put ourselves under so much pressure to be big sooner than we thought.” |
<BR> | <BR> | ||
<BR> | <BR> | ||
Line 112: | Line 111: | ||
<BR> | <BR> | ||
<BR> | <BR> | ||
− | Next on the singles list | + | Next on the singles list - as Nicky skips, as the Manics often do, the second, rockier album Gold Against The Soul - is “Faster”, first single from 1994’s career-changing and career-defining The Holy Bible, where Richey Edwards addressed his increasing mental illness and anorexia and James Dean Bradfield his love of late-’70s post punk. |
<BR> | <BR> | ||
<BR> | <BR> | ||
− | “‘Faster’ is still probably our most original and powerful piece of music,” Nicky says as James comes over. He nods at Nicky. “We started to record in a palatial studio with a snooker room and a tennis court. But | + | “‘Faster’ is still probably our most original and powerful piece of music,” Nicky says as James comes over. He nods at Nicky. “We started to record in a palatial studio with a snooker room and a tennis court. But - and this was his idea - ‘We gotta get away, it’s gotta be boot camp, it’s gotta be nasty, like Michael-Caine-in-Mona Lisa naasty!’ And it was a touch of Method, recording it in the red light area in Wales.” |
<BR> | <BR> | ||
<BR> | <BR> | ||
Line 121: | Line 120: | ||
<BR> | <BR> | ||
<BR> | <BR> | ||
− | “That’s a good question,” says James. “The genesis of the record was Nicky’s idea, and the motivation. I really wanted to do a lot of my John McGeochisms, from Magazine, I was getting fed up with trying to ape Slash because it was obvious the world only wanted one Slash and they didn’t want a five feet two bloke from Wales doing | + | “That’s a good question,” says James. “The genesis of the record was Nicky’s idea, and the motivation. I really wanted to do a lot of my John McGeochisms, from Magazine, I was getting fed up with trying to ape Slash because it was obvious the world only wanted one Slash and they didn’t want a five feet two bloke from Wales doing it...” |
<BR> | <BR> | ||
<BR> | <BR> | ||
− | “And the drumming is extraordinary on there,” says Nicky. “You listen to ‘White America’, it’s fucking unbelievable. I think Sean was tired of trying to be a stadium | + | “And the drumming is extraordinary on there,” says Nicky. “You listen to ‘White America’, it’s fucking unbelievable. I think Sean was tired of trying to be a stadium drummer...and his little frame was going ‘Fuck, can’t I just pretend to be a post-punk drummer?’” |
<BR> | <BR> | ||
<BR> | <BR> | ||
− | “Undoubtedly Richey’s personal maelstrom was fed into the lyrics. A song like ‘Yes’, the noble notion of artistic bravery, perhaps forcing himself to go to places in his | + | “Undoubtedly Richey’s personal maelstrom was fed into the lyrics. A song like ‘Yes’, the noble notion of artistic bravery, perhaps forcing himself to go to places in his lyrics...” says James. “Singing Richey’s lyrics was like a set of sarcastic commandments. It just felt like sin to sing them.” |
<BR> | <BR> | ||
<BR> | <BR> | ||
Line 133: | Line 132: | ||
<BR> | <BR> | ||
<BR> | <BR> | ||
− | “I remember feeling incredibly superior at that point,” says Nicky. “When we’d turn up at festivals and we’d see all these fuckwits in their Fred Perry shirts and two-tone jackets, the Britpop fucking look, and we were dressed like Apocalypse | + | “I remember feeling incredibly superior at that point,” says Nicky. “When we’d turn up at festivals and we’d see all these fuckwits in their Fred Perry shirts and two-tone jackets, the Britpop fucking look, and we were dressed like Apocalypse Now...At Glastonbury, there was just pure enmity from us to them and them to us. I felt powerful. I was fucking spitting in the camera - ‘Build a bypass over this shithole! Wi-ire! Wi-ire! Wi-ire! Wi-ire!’” |
<BR> | <BR> | ||
<BR> | <BR> | ||
− | Richey’s subsequent disappearance on February 1, 1995 (he was declared legally dead on November 23, 2008) stopped the band hard for six months. And then, says Nicky. “James phoned me up and said I think I’ve got this REM, Enno Morricone | + | Richey’s subsequent disappearance on February 1, 1995 (he was declared legally dead on November 23, 2008) stopped the band hard for six months. And then, says Nicky. “James phoned me up and said I think I’ve got this REM, Enno Morricone classic...” |
<BR> | <BR> | ||
<BR> | <BR> | ||
− | There is no greater comeback single than 1996’s “A Design For Life”. The definitive Nicky Wire lyric, which James distilled from two of Nicky’s poems, it’s an epic Spector waltz that’s part terrace anthem and part demand for the empowerment of the working classes. From its opening line | + | There is no greater comeback single than 1996’s “A Design For Life”. The definitive Nicky Wire lyric, which James distilled from two of Nicky’s poems, it’s an epic Spector waltz that’s part terrace anthem and part demand for the empowerment of the working classes. From its opening line - “Libraries gave us power” - to Sean Moore’s crashing drum exit, “A Design For Life” marked the beginning of the Manics’ second wind. |
<BR> | <BR> | ||
<BR> | <BR> | ||
Line 145: | Line 144: | ||
<BR> | <BR> | ||
<BR> | <BR> | ||
− | “Constructive anger” led to something never seen before | + | “Constructive anger” led to something never seen before - the first positive Manics record. |
<BR> | <BR> | ||
<BR> | <BR> | ||
− | “That first line is pretty startling. It’s a hard one to sing.” He demonstrates. | + | “That first line is pretty startling. It’s a hard one to sing.” He demonstrates. “‘Lib’ries...Libraries!’” |
<BR> | <BR> | ||
<BR> | <BR> | ||
− | “It is very strange how you go from ‘Faster’ to | + | “It is very strange how you go from ‘Faster’ to ‘...Design’,” James says to him. |
<BR> | <BR> | ||
<BR> | <BR> | ||
− | “How you actually taught yourself to write less. Every line in that song does | + | “How you actually taught yourself to write less. Every line in that song does matter...” |
<BR> | <BR> | ||
<BR> | <BR> | ||
− | Nicky hesitates. “Let’s face it, there was a freedom to making music that we had been constricted | + | Nicky hesitates. “Let’s face it, there was a freedom to making music that we had been constricted by...” |
<BR> | <BR> | ||
<BR> | <BR> | ||
Line 163: | Line 162: | ||
<BR> | <BR> | ||
<BR> | <BR> | ||
− | “ | + | “...which had been lifted,” finishes Nicky. |
<BR> | <BR> | ||
<BR> | <BR> | ||
Line 172: | Line 171: | ||
<BR> | <BR> | ||
<BR> | <BR> | ||
− | Another landmark single? Nicky: “I’d have to say ‘If You Tolerate This Your Children Will Be Next’ [1998] because it was a gigantic No 1. A fucking complex song about the Spanish Civil War with a massive title | + | Another landmark single? Nicky: “I’d have to say ‘If You Tolerate This Your Children Will Be Next’ [1998] because it was a gigantic No 1. A fucking complex song about the Spanish Civil War with a massive title - the longest title in pop history to get to No 1 until recently - and some lines in there which you would never hear in a No 1 record. And I think it must be the only pro-war song to be No 1.” |
<BR> | <BR> | ||
<BR> | <BR> | ||
Line 190: | Line 189: | ||
<BR> | <BR> | ||
<BR> | <BR> | ||
− | “I can remember being in James’ flat in Cardiff, hearing Jo Wylie play it on Radio 1,” Nicky groans. “And I knew as soon I heard | + | “I can remember being in James’ flat in Cardiff, hearing Jo Wylie play it on Radio 1,” Nicky groans. “And I knew as soon I heard it...what the fuck have we done?” |
<BR> | <BR> | ||
<BR> | <BR> | ||
Line 196: | Line 195: | ||
<BR> | <BR> | ||
<BR> | <BR> | ||
− | “Whenever you get told by your A & R man to sound like U2 and Depeche | + | “Whenever you get told by your A & R man to sound like U2 and Depeche Mode...” says Nicky, “You’re fucked if you try and follow that.” |
<BR> | <BR> | ||
<BR> | <BR> | ||
Line 208: | Line 207: | ||
<BR> | <BR> | ||
<BR> | <BR> | ||
− | Nicky: “‘Your Love Alone Is Not Enough’ [2007] is the next landmark because it’s everything throughout our career we wanted to be, really. Having Nina [Persson, from The Cardigans, who shared the lead vocal with James] in the band gives that sense of symmetry. There’s no way she replaced Richey, but having someone so glamorous and | + | Nicky: “‘Your Love Alone Is Not Enough’ [2007] is the next landmark because it’s everything throughout our career we wanted to be, really. Having Nina [Persson, from The Cardigans, who shared the lead vocal with James] in the band gives that sense of symmetry. There’s no way she replaced Richey, but having someone so glamorous and talented...and we are genuinely obsessed with the Cardigans. And that was No 1 all week on the midweeks and we only got overtaken by Beyoncé and Christina Aguilera together! On a Shakira song!” |
<BR> | <BR> | ||
<BR> | <BR> | ||
Line 214: | Line 213: | ||
<BR> | <BR> | ||
<BR> | <BR> | ||
− | The next album | + | The next album - 2009’s Journal For Plague Lovers - was a sort of Holy Bible II, with lyrics taken from Richey’s old notebooks. Produced by Steve Albini (Nicky: “Richey had always wanted Albini”), it wasn’t raided for singles at all, so our next Manics landmark is the title track of their most recent album, Postcards From A Young Man. |
<BR> | <BR> | ||
<BR> | <BR> | ||
Line 220: | Line 219: | ||
<BR> | <BR> | ||
<BR> | <BR> | ||
− | + | ‘Postcards...’ is also an intensely crowded song, riff after tune after hook. | |
<BR> | <BR> | ||
<BR> | <BR> | ||
Line 241: | Line 240: | ||
<BR> | <BR> | ||
<BR> | <BR> | ||
− | “That would be fucking brilliant!” roars Nicky. He is serious again. “Shirley Bassey, Ian McCulloch, Traci | + | “That would be fucking brilliant!” roars Nicky. He is serious again. “Shirley Bassey, Ian McCulloch, Traci Lords...we’ve always enjoyed having a different voice. But if there is going to be a final phase of the Manics then” |
<BR> | <BR> | ||
<BR> | <BR> | ||
Line 248: | Line 247: | ||
<BR> | <BR> | ||
Time to go. The next time we see the Manics, who knows what they’ll be up to. I don’t know what your truth is, but here’s mine: 20 years on, my band is still smarter than your band. | Time to go. The next time we see the Manics, who knows what they’ll be up to. I don’t know what your truth is, but here’s mine: 20 years on, my band is still smarter than your band. | ||
+ | {{ConcertTableClose}} |
Latest revision as of 15:07, 29 September 2018
Title: | "There's Just So Much Hate Within This Band. Why Are We Still Like this?" |
Publication: | Uncut |
Date: | November 2011 |
Writer: | David Quantick |
Photos: | Sam Jones, Martyn Goodacre, Kevin Cummins, Pat Pope |
|
As they release an epic greatest hits, Manic Street Preachers remain as bright and furious as ever. Uncut joins them on a desolate Welsh beach to mull over the past two decades, and to draw a line in the sand. Next? "The third and final great leap forward..."
|