 Nichola: Sometimes I wish I was born a woman. There's just a certain side of me which longs for the gentleness and the sensitivity, the female side. I'm not saying it's easier being a girl. But sometimes I think that I might be better suited as a woman. James: Nick was wearing a dress last night with trousers underneath. He was wearing a kind of nurses dress last night. I don't know if he's going to wear it tonight or not, he's very spontaneous, he never chooses what he's going to wear until about 10 minutes before the show. It depends how sexy he feels. Alienated: Did the other Manics ever get distracted from playing at the sight of you jumping around in a short skirt? Nicky: They're more distracted by the horrendous noise of my bass. Sean: If I could isolate myself away from everything, then I would. Or even if I could successfully find a way where I could not see anyone except a few chosen people, I would. I'm disillusioned by everything. James: I remember we had an original bassist in the band called Flicker and he was a real hard core punk and he had a black Mohican and I remember he was on his way to see Husker Du in the Labour Club in Newport and I remember Sean just kinda like [ruffles hair] patted his head and ruffled his Mohican out of place and that was the beginning of the end, Flicker wanted to leave the band 'cause Sean had touched his Mohican and made it look messy. Nicky: (Fidel) compared Sean's drumming to the artillery. He was "Oh, you play the drums, boom, boom, boom". That's all he said about it, that we were louder than war, and he compared the drums to the artillery. My Guernica: It is about making a political statement through art and a huge admiration for Picasso in that he achieved this. His favourite colour of eye shadow: Light blue and light green by either Rimmel or Lanc�me, for special occasions! like a stunned fox with memory loss a sad, numb creature I worship the painkiller it is my epicentre His message to journalists who think he�s trying too hard with his lyrics: It's because I'm more f***ing intelligent than you, that's all. You just want to f*** me, well you can't! On himself: I'm like a dodgy punk who can hardly play. I could never have written a song like Yes or 4st7lb, but then again I don't think Richey could have written a lyric like Design For Life.  Nicky: I could hear him in the corner strumming away this brilliant song and he was mumbling. �James, have you written something?� I'd ask, to which he mumbled �yes� 
Nichola: Sean plays the trumpet solo on it, on the record, Sean the drummer but he couldn't do both at the same time. Jools: I had no idea that he was so multi-talented. Nichola: he is, he's a very humble man. He makes up for all my inadequacies. Jools: Stop going on about it, you haven't got any, er, inadequacies. Nichola: I can jump higher than anyone else. Jools: I don't believe that's true, come on then (starts to get up, Nicky grabs his arm to stop him) Nichola: not with this dress on. Jools: just testing. Has Nicky ever given you anything and you've taken a look at it and think... christ almighty I'll never make a song out of this. James: Erm... only once. A lyric called Anniversary To No One and it just felt like it was the end of the world. It was just him sitting in his bedroom going oh let's just drop the bomb. Do you ever write any words James. James: Er... my first ever lyric was called Jackboot Johnny so... you can understand why I gave up at quite an early age. I've just written one last year. Any plans to release a live album. Nicky: it'll have to be heavily remixed on the bass parts. Why do you make a lot of mistakes live. Nicky: just a few. I mean if you move and jump and POUT (!!) as much as me you're going to make a few mistakes. 
 When you joined the band could you play at all. Nicky: I played guitar, I taught James his first D chord and then within a week he could play everything off Exile On Main Street and I was still stuck on a D chord. And they shoved me onto bass then instead. I thought you might have come in something more outlandish today... I mean jeans and a blue shirt. Nicky: You can't see it on the radio can you. Nicky: We're from a different generation when you used to make a fanzine in your bedroom and stick things down with pritt sticks. So I dunno how we'll deal with this. Do you think this will be your last album or will there be any more. James: You know it's hard to tell the british press do love speculating about when a band's going to split up, especially when they've been together for quite a long time, blur have had to endure all those questions for the last couple of years. I think we definately know that the next album will be a greatest hits, we know that, beyond that we don't know. It's hard to say you'll still be doing this job in 3 years. You might be doing a worse job or a better job. We don't know either. We're taking it more day by day at the moment definitely. Why are you rude to disco dancers on the album. Nicky: There's 2 sides to the song. There's a track on the album called Miss Europa Disco Dancer. The music is very genuine. James loves a lot of disco from Chique, even Dancing Queen, Abba, whatever. It's just the lyric is meant to be quite funny, ironic, it's a bit of a piss take, you know the lyric is... it's not so much about disco, it's about brits abroad on holiday sort of thing. For us it's like a funny song. The music is really genuine. The music is love and the lyrics are hate. Do you have any girlfriends. Nicky: I've been married for 8 years now. I married very young. But I'm very happy. James has got about 500. James: I kind of split up with my last serious girlfriend about 3 years ago. And since then there have been a couple of things that didn't really turn into anything serious. Nicky: A couple?! (laughing) James: Stop it.  If you were a book, which title would you have and why? Nicky: "Fabulous disaster" since the Manics was always a band, which is very human, made many errors however nevertheless tried to let these appear in a colored and glamorous light. We have always tried to say our opinion - sometimes we failed, sometimes we achieved something. I think, one could also call the Sex Pistols "fabulous disasters". How long would you like to continue. Nicky: 35 was always my secret limit. What do you intend then? Nicky: Nothing (laughs) only watch television, work in the garden, with the dog, perhaps painting. I have always had a deep admiration for Captain Beefheart, that, when he drew a conclusion under the music, he went into the desert, became an artist, and never again gave an interview, but until the end of his life painted. A beautiful thought for me. Why did you start the band? Nicky: There were many reasons. We all already knew each other fortunately from childhood. At 13/14 we then have interest in same music/bands as Echo the and The Bunnymen, The Smiths, the early Simple Minds and then later The Clash, which discovers Sex Pistols and the Rolling Stones. In addition, Richey, Sean, James and I were always interested in the same books, same films. Our admiration for this music caused that we wanted to also make it. What at that time were your targets? Nicky: (sighs) we wanted to be a band, which is with four front men the most exciting Live band of all times. At first, if you are young and so full of enthusiasm, you think you could change people's lives. Certain things have also changed in my life since I was young. What is the best Manics song for you? Nicky: One of my ALL time favourites is "Motown Junk", since we at that time, when we went into the studio, were 19 years old and you can almost feel the energy with this song... we had mad ambitions. Then there is "Donkeys" a B side and I love "If You Tolerate This, Then Your Children Will Be Next" still one of our perfect moments. Which concert will you next see? Nicky: I visit concerts actually rarely. The last was Marilyn Manson. Everyone hates it and that is probably the reason, why I like it! Although you're a successful Pop band, you have retained your Working Class Spirit and a political Attitude. Do you believe that at all somewhat can change you? Nicky: Yes, even if I sound perhaps somewhat naive. When I was young, bands like the Sex Pistols or The Clash influenced my thinking, so that I saw some things simply differently. And exactly the Manic Street Preachers can do that also. We cannot change the world, but inspire some people with our ideas. Nicky: Intravenous is one of my favorites. It sounds like Dinosaur Jr. When we listened to it we knew that we went the right way. Nicky: In Japan, everything is hysterical teenagers. In Wales, only twentyish men. Those different approaches enrich us as a band. Wire is one of those that still thinks music can change the life of the people and, although less, the world. Nicky: To me the Smiths, Echo & The Bunnymen or The Clash changed it, with which I learned many things. Nicky: Everything has become so soft that I do not know if people want to listen to what we say at this point. 10 years ago we formed a group because we wanted to express our rage, sometimes in a political way, sometimes according to the patterns of the traditional and miserable punk. Nicky: Three years ago, when the Welsh Parliament opened, they invited to us to act in the inauguration, but we rejected it. I am glad to have done that and to have played for Fidel Castro. A Basque musician: "I learned more of Che than of the Stones" They subscribe to this the Manic Street Preachers? Nicky: Yes The Clash, for example. When I listened Allen Ginsberg recite in Combat Rock, that made me discover Jack Kerouac, to the beat generation... That was important, but also I studied politics in the university, so I learned much of Marx and Engels. For me it is 50% and 50%. Che Guevara, in any case, was a great star of the showbiz. Another rumor is that you're going to separate? Nicky: They say it all along! With Blur it happens equal, everybody thinks the same. And with Oasis. We do not have any intention to separate. I do not say to you that we continue within five or ten years because we are too old. Simply the moment will arrive for leaving it. When we were young we did plan to dominate the world, but now we live day to day. The boxers who continue lose what made them great. While we continue being excellent, that I believe that we are at the moment, we will continue. |
