and that’ll turn into a song in my head and I’ll start playing about with it and I’ll write it down from there. I never purposefully sit down to write a song, it doesn’t work that way for me. Is there a chance there might be some new Happy Mondays material recorded at any point? Oh we are going to! I’ve just dropped a sneaky 12” which you can download, and I’m doing one more of them and then my solo album comes out the start of 2016. Ten it’s a new Black Grape album, and then the plan is to have a new Happy Mondays album out the end of next year. Te Madchester scene was led by you and Te Stone Roses and the importance of the legacy of those two bands is unquestioned. Do you feel proud of what you’ve achieved as a band in terms of your musical influence for bands that have followed you?
“I wish it was me onstage with Taylor Swift instead of Mick Jagger!!”
I’ve not been listening to new music or going out to live gigs at the moment. I’ve got a lad who’s gone off to university and he’s come back all hip hop/raved up, and for me there’s been nothing new in those genres since 20 years ago! It’s a sad thing, but the only music I hear at the moment is the music that my six and seven year old kids listen to, like Miley Cyrus, who I think is brilliant, and Taylor Swift. At the moment I just listen to old Northern Soul tracks or Dean Martin. What did you make of Tis Is England 90? Well, my missus was in the opening scene of that! She did a bit of ad lib acting as a dinner lady! But what Shane said to me was if you look at that opening scene and the Roses and the Mondays are being played, well that was all happening in ‘87 and ’88, not 1990. But what Shane said was that was when it got to them, so it was from his perspective. So when he was on ’86, that was when we were starting raving. It’s like anything really; I didn’t get punk until 1977 but Johnny Rotten was at it in 1975. It takes
time to get to other places doesn’t it and become national. You’ve been involved in several projects and worked with a variety of people that are not always what people would expect of you, like Gorillaz or an album of punk electronica or Russell Watson. Who else would you like to work with? I get asked to do stuff all the time but I turn most of it down until something interesting comes up. I wish it was me onstage with Taylor Swift instead of Mick Jagger!! Is it true they’re thinking of making a TV version of your autobiography Twisting My Melon? What happened was Granada bought the rights and were trying to get it made. I wanted to do it as TV series not a movie. If a British movie is made, maybe 400 people will go and see it on a weekend if you’re lucky. Whereas television, on the right night of the week, you could get 10 million people watching. LI wanted to do something like the Cilla Black thing. But we couldn’t get it made so we got it to the people who made Nowhere Boy and Control, so they’re turning it into a movie.
Lizz Page
INFORMATION Happy Mondays will be playing Pills ‘n’ Trills and Bellyaches in full at the Nick Rayns LCR at UEA on 27th November. Tickets from
ueaticketbookings.co.uk.
14 / November 2015/
outlineonline.co.uk
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