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Equally hated and loved by millions, The Manic Street Preachers are one of the few bands from the last couple of years to really cause a stink...Sex Pistols style. Comparisons are pretty much irrelevant though, because with a band like this it really doesn't matter. Sure, they sound like hundreds of other bands, and they know that too. But the attitude and energy is just so refreshing, that this four piece Welsh band simply Rock.
Their last single, "Motown Junk" was an instant chart success and shocked, pissed off and surprised everyone, bringing the Manic Street Preachers one step further towards their goal. An ambition that is described later.
I spoke to guitarist Richey, after they'd just finished another tour of England. Their next single, "You Love Us" is out now and if you're after something with guts and some real Rock 'n' Roll, ignore what everyone else has said and just buy the record.
Were you surprised by the success of "Motown Junk"?
Not really, becasue we've always had so much belief in ourselves, It did its job really well and it's only on a small indie label, it did all it needed to do. It got the majors interested, so we're going to sign in a couple of days
What kind of major label have you got your eyes on?
At the moment we're really talking to C.B.S., but it all could change. We've got offers coming in all the time.
How do you feel about all the slagging you're getting in the music press at the moment and the amount of hatred you've managed to conjure up?
I really enjoy it, we always set ourselves up as such massive targets. I mean, we're totally prepared to be completely despised. We didn't start this band to be loved, we started it to be massive and I think to be massive you've got to be hated by as many people as love you. Especially where we came from, it's such a disgusting, obscene little town, that anything's better. We're just really happy when we don't have to live at home at all. Our music is powered by hatred not love, we're not into affection at all.
At least you've got a reaction, even if it's one the most bands would hate. But then again you're not most bands!
Yeah, exactly, most people seem so contented with their lives and they just think that everyone needs to be loved. We've just been so bored and alienated all our lives that we're just going to carry on like that. The best reaction is when we play infront of young audience and people are always accusing us of sounding like The Clash or whatever band, but that's not a problem.
Yeah exactly, who cares. The Clash aren't here anymore and there's always going to be a need for a bands like this. The music papers can whinge on saying "Oh we've seen it all before" but the kids are still going to see the Manic Street Preachers because they didn't.
The only culture we ever grew up with, in our tiny little town was just Rock culture. You know, The Stones, The Who, The Pistols and The Clash, but when we started to read about all these bands, they were just other people's heroes and they were just nothing to do with our lives. They just couldn't chage the fact that when I walked through my front door, it was just one big disaster zone. That's what our songs are about.
So, how long do you see the M.S.P. carrying on for?
We should be signed pretty soon, start recording the album about September and then whatever happens by then, I'll think we'll be gone by this time next year. I hate the fact that music's like a carrier, it really is so frustrating. All these bands in the past that have supposed to have been so glorious at the tail end of all their careers, are just so appalling. They all turn fat, they all get complacent and their music just turns into self-indulgent wank. We're never going to allow that to happen to us. We started a band to reflect our feelings, not to get into chord progressions.
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