RedHanded: Do you still get excited seeing a new record of
yours for the first time?
Nicky Wire: Oh, God yeah – especially this one because this is beautiful.
It’s lovely (points to the limited edition CD book clutched in his hands).
It’s all the artwork Richey left, all the collages and all the original
lyrics that we used for this album, from the ring-binder he left me.
Is it true that when you wrote the new album
it’s the first time
you actually looked through the lyrics he left behind?
Yeah, it’s the first time I’ve looked at it properly. I think James
[Dean Bradfield] has done a lot more [looking] than me. I guess I must have
looked at it, at the time he disappeared - but everything gets so confusing,
you know? I looked at all the artefacts, shall we say, but I never studied
the lyrics. I don’t know what it is; it’s just a psychological
flaw, I guess. I didn’t really want to face those things.
What was the catalyst for making you look at
the lyrics he’d left with
you?
It was James. I had the original and James and Sean had, sort of, copies. But
I think, luckily, because Send Away The Tigers was such a comeback and reaffirmation
of the band - I think that’s kind of a glorious, pretty much straightforward
rock album - it gave us the confidence and the desire to think, ‘Well,
no one’s going to think we just want to revive our career by using Richey’s
lyrics’ – because we’d already done that ourselves.
It seems like there is an edge to your music
again, because of his lyrics…
Yeah, there is because I could never write as well as him. But, with all respect,
I don’t think Richey could have written the lyrics to A Design for Life,
because of their simplicity and social history. I don’t know, when we
were sat around James’ table, writing music for this album, it just flowed.
It’s like we were guided by the lyrics! So, you do have that edginess
to it, but there are also acoustic moments in there as well – they’re
just not as full-on!
In hindsight, were there any warning signs about Richey?
Oh, I don’t know. Towards the end - sort of post-Holy Bible - you could
see that something wasn’t right but you just can’t understand,
because he’s going through so much process. It was getting harder to
communicate with him and he’d lost the ability to sleep, or shut-down.
You know, we all have our ways of [switching off], whether it’s drinking,
watching sport, for me it's watching films... but I think he just didn’t
have the ability to be calm. He was creating all the time: he was either painting,
writing, reading, typing…and you just can’t keep up with someone
like that. But it was hard, because you could see that that was causing him
stress, really.
You were once a cult band but are now the granddaddies of Welsh rock. Is that
why you decided to up the ante with your last album, Send Away The Tigers and
also this one?
I think so. I think we got to a point, with Lifeblood, where although there are
some songs on there which I think are genuinely the best, pure song-writing we’ve
ever done, there’s such a lack of energy and a lack of connection with
ourselves. We literally didn’t go into the studio together - we all recorded
separately. But it wasn’t that we weren’t getting on, we just saw
it as an experiment. And I think from Know Your Enemy to Lifeblood it’s
just a pretty confused, midseason lull. But I think the trick is getting out
of it and I think we have managed to get out.
Do you think you’re still relevant then?
Yeah, I do. I mean, all bands make bad records – we’ve done it – and
anyone who denies that are just idiots. All bands make average records and some
make blistering ones. But, there aren’t that many contemporaries, from
when we started, that are still – even the ones that are going – as
relevant or as vital as we can be at times.
There’s always been a political edge to your music, so how do you feel
about the fiasco over MPs’ expenses?
I think what they’re doing with expenses is terrible. It’s just rubbish.
But also I think if every one of us was put under the same scrutiny, as politicians,
we’d all be screwed! I’m not defending them, because they do a lot
of terrible, petty stuff, but I think the fear of them being found out, for the
tiniest thing, actually hampers them from doing their job properly.
Has what’s happened ended your love affair
with New
Labour?
Well, it was something I was never sucked into in the first place, actually.
We were never invited to Downing Street that year [when everyone else was] even
though we were probably the biggest band in Britain, bar Oasis. I was always
amazed that people were disappointed [by New Labour] because that means they
fell for it in the first place!
It sounds like you’ve gone off politics…
No, I’m one of the few – despite Labour and all that’s been
going on recently with expenses – who enjoy politics on many different
levels. I enjoy it at its grittiest - as a spectator sport! I know people are
so disillusioned by politics – they just can’t see that it can do
any good – but if you go back to, say, the Northern Ireland peace process
it was politics that solved it. It was the same with devolution for Wales: it
was still done through voting, democracy and politics. So, whether it’s
for good or bad, I kind of still believe in politics more than I do, say, charity,
because I still think politics is the one thing that can do good things, like
that.
You’ve had a pop at rock stars in the past – any
regrets about it?
Yeah, of course, because some of the times I’ve [done that I’ve]
just been an idiot. I regret a lot – I’m not one of these people
who says, ‘I don’t regret anything about my life, it’s a journey’.
There’s plenty of stuff where I’ve just been stupid! But I think
the sense of fun – the sarcasm I use – when I’m saying something
doesn’t always come across. Besides, it’s just bedroom talk, or pub
talk. It’s what most people say, or musicians say to each other – but
not usually in public. I mean, we all know musicians are the biggest bitches
- apart from producers, who are the worst!
Journal for Plague Lovers is in shops now
It seems like there is an edge to your music again, because of his lyrics…
Yeah, there is because I could never write as well as him. But, with all respect,
I don’t think Richey could have written the lyrics to A Design for
Life, because of their simplicity and social history. I don’t know,
when we were sat around James’ table, writing music for this album,
it just flowed. It’s like we were guided by the lyrics! So, you do
have that edginess to it, but there are also acoustic moments in there as
well – they’re just not as full-on!
In hindsight, were there any warning signs about Richey?
Oh, I don’t know. Towards the end - sort of post-Holy Bible - you could
see that something wasn’t right but you just can’t understand,
because he’s going through so much process. It was getting harder to
communicate with him and he’d lost the ability to sleep, or shut-down.
You know, we all have our ways of [switching off], whether it’s drinking,
watching sport, for me it's watching films... but I think he just didn’t
have the ability to be calm. He was creating all the time: he was either painting,
writing, reading, typing…and you just can’t keep up with someone
like that. But it was hard, because you could see that that was causing him
stress, really.
You were once a cult band but are now the granddaddies of Welsh rock. Is that
why you decided to up the ante with your last album, Send Away The Tigers and
also this one?
I think so. I think we got to a point, with Lifeblood, where although there
are some songs on there which I think are genuinely the best, pure song-writing
we’ve ever done, there’s such a lack of energy and a lack of connection
with ourselves. We literally didn’t go into the studio together - we
all recorded separately. But it wasn’t that we weren’t getting
on, we just saw it as an experiment. And I think from Know Your Enemy to Lifeblood
it’s just a pretty confused, midseason lull. But I think the trick is
getting out of it and I think we have managed to get out.
Do you think you’re still relevant then?
Yeah, I do. I mean, all bands make bad records – we’ve done it – and
anyone who denies that are just idiots. All bands make average records and
some make blistering ones. But, there aren’t that many contemporaries,
from when we started, that are still – even the ones that are going – as
relevant or as vital as we can be at times.
There’s always been a political edge to your music, so how do you feel
about the fiasco over MPs’ expenses?
I think what they’re doing with expenses is terrible. It’s just
rubbish. But also I think if every one of us was put under the same scrutiny,
as politicians, we’d all be screwed! I’m not defending them, because
they do a lot of terrible, petty stuff, but I think the fear of them being
found out, for the tiniest thing, actually hampers them from doing their job
properly.
Has what’s happened ended your love affair with New Labour?
Well, it was something I was never sucked into in the first place, actually.
We were never invited to Downing Street that year [when everyone else was]
even though we were probably the biggest band in Britain, bar Oasis. I was
always amazed that people were disappointed [by New Labour] because that means
they fell for it in the first place!
It sounds like you’ve gone off politics…
No, I’m one of the few – despite Labour and all that’s been
going on recently with expenses – who enjoy politics on many different
levels. I enjoy it at its grittiest - as a spectator sport! I know people are
so disillusioned by politics – they just can’t see that it can
do any good – but if you go back to, say, the Northern Ireland peace
process it was politics that solved it. It was the same with devolution for
Wales: it was still done through voting, democracy and politics. So, whether
it’s for good or bad, I kind of still believe in politics more than I
do, say, charity, because I still think politics is the one thing that can
do good things, like that.
You’ve had a pop at rock stars in the past – any regrets about
it?
Yeah, of course, because some of the times I’ve [done that I’ve]
just been an idiot. I regret a lot – I’m not one of these people
who says, ‘I don’t regret anything about my life, it’s a
journey’. There’s plenty of stuff where I’ve just been stupid!
But I think the sense of fun – the sarcasm I use – when I’m
saying something doesn’t always come across. Besides, it’s just
bedroom talk, or pub talk. It’s what most people say, or musicians say
to each other – but not usually in public. I mean, we all know musicians
are the biggest bitches - apart from producers, who are the worst!
Journal for Plague Lovers is in shops now
It seems like there is an edge to your music again, because of his lyrics…
Yeah, there is because I could never write as well as him. But, with all respect,
I don’t think Richey could have written the lyrics to A Design for
Life, because of their simplicity and social history. I don’t know,
when we were sat around James’ table, writing music for this album,
it just flowed. It’s like we were guided by the lyrics! So, you do
have that edginess to it, but there are also acoustic moments in there as
well – they’re just not as full-on!
In hindsight, were there any warning signs about Richey?
Oh, I don’t know. Towards the end - sort of post-Holy Bible - you could
see that something wasn’t right but you just can’t understand,
because he’s going through so much process. It was getting harder to
communicate with him and he’d lost the ability to sleep, or shut-down.
You know, we all have our ways of [switching off], whether it’s drinking,
watching sport, for me it's watching films... but I think he just didn’t
have the ability to be calm. He was creating all the time: he was either painting,
writing, reading, typing…and you just can’t keep up with someone
like that. But it was hard, because you could see that that was causing him
stress, really.
You were once a cult band but are now the granddaddies of Welsh rock. Is that
why you decided to up the ante with your last album, Send Away The Tigers and
also this one?
I think so. I think we got to a point, with Lifeblood, where although there
are some songs on there which I think are genuinely the best, pure song-writing
we’ve ever done, there’s such a lack of energy and a lack of connection
with ourselves. We literally didn’t go into the studio together - we
all recorded separately. But it wasn’t that we weren’t getting
on, we just saw it as an experiment. And I think from Know Your Enemy to Lifeblood
it’s just a pretty confused, midseason lull. But I think the trick is
getting out of it and I think we have managed to get out.
Do you think you’re still relevant then?
Yeah, I do. I mean, all bands make bad records – we’ve done it – and
anyone who denies that are just idiots. All bands make average records and
some make blistering ones. But, there aren’t that many contemporaries,
from when we started, that are still – even the ones that are going – as
relevant or as vital as we can be at times.
There’s always been a political edge to your music, so how do you feel
about the fiasco over MPs’ expenses?
I think what they’re doing with expenses is terrible. It’s just
rubbish. But also I think if every one of us was put under the same scrutiny,
as politicians, we’d all be screwed! I’m not defending them, because
they do a lot of terrible, petty stuff, but I think the fear of them being
found out, for the tiniest thing, actually hampers them from doing their job
properly.
Has what’s happened ended your love affair with New Labour?
Well, it was something I was never sucked into in the first place, actually.
We were never invited to Downing Street that year [when everyone else was]
even though we were probably the biggest band in Britain, bar Oasis. I was
always amazed that people were disappointed [by New Labour] because that means
they fell for it in the first place!
It sounds like you’ve gone off politics…
No, I’m one of the few – despite Labour and all that’s been
going on recently with expenses – who enjoy politics on many different
levels. I enjoy it at its grittiest - as a spectator sport! I know people are
so disillusioned by politics – they just can’t see that it can
do any good – but if you go back to, say, the Northern Ireland peace
process it was politics that solved it. It was the same with devolution for
Wales: it was still done through voting, democracy and politics. So, whether
it’s for good or bad, I kind of still believe in politics more than I
do, say, charity, because I still think politics is the one thing that can
do good things, like that.
You’ve had a pop at rock stars in the past – any regrets about
it?
Yeah, of course, because some of the times I’ve [done that I’ve]
just been an idiot. I regret a lot – I’m not one of these people
who says, ‘I don’t regret anything about my life, it’s a
journey’. There’s plenty of stuff where I’ve just been stupid!
But I think the sense of fun – the sarcasm I use – when I’m
saying something doesn’t always come across. Besides, it’s just
bedroom talk, or pub talk. It’s what most people say, or musicians say
to each other – but not usually in public. I mean, we all know musicians
are the biggest bitches - apart from producers, who are the worst!
Journal for Plague Lovers is in shops now
It seems like there is an edge to your music again, because of his lyrics…
Yeah, there is because I could never write as well as him. But, with all respect,
I don’t think Richey could have written the lyrics to A Design for
Life, because of their simplicity and social history. I don’t know,
when we were sat around James’ table, writing music for this album,
it just flowed. It’s like we were guided by the lyrics! So, you do
have that edginess to it, but there are also acoustic moments in there as
well – they’re just not as full-on!
In hindsight, were there any warning signs about Richey?
Oh, I don’t know. Towards the end - sort of post-Holy Bible - you could
see that something wasn’t right but you just can’t understand,
because he’s going through so much process. It was getting harder to
communicate with him and he’d lost the ability to sleep, or shut-down.
You know, we all have our ways of [switching off], whether it’s drinking,
watching sport, for me it's watching films... but I think he just didn’t
have the ability to be calm. He was creating all the time: he was either painting,
writing, reading, typing…and you just can’t keep up with someone
like that. But it was hard, because you could see that that was causing him
stress, really.
You were once a cult band but are now the granddaddies of Welsh rock. Is that
why you decided to up the ante with your last album, Send Away The Tigers and
also this one?
I think so. I think we got to a point, with Lifeblood, where although there
are some songs on there which I think are genuinely the best, pure song-writing
we’ve ever done, there’s such a lack of energy and a lack of connection
with ourselves. We literally didn’t go into the studio together - we
all recorded separately. But it wasn’t that we weren’t getting
on, we just saw it as an experiment. And I think from Know Your Enemy to Lifeblood
it’s just a pretty confused, midseason lull. But I think the trick is
getting out of it and I think we have managed to get out.
Do you think you’re still relevant then?
Yeah, I do. I mean, all bands make bad records – we’ve done it – and
anyone who denies that are just idiots. All bands make average records and
some make blistering ones. But, there aren’t that many contemporaries,
from when we started, that are still – even the ones that are going – as
relevant or as vital as we can be at times.
There’s always been a political edge to your music, so how do you feel
about the fiasco over MPs’ expenses?
I think what they’re doing with expenses is terrible. It’s just
rubbish. But also I think if every one of us was put under the same scrutiny,
as politicians, we’d all be screwed! I’m not defending them, because
they do a lot of terrible, petty stuff, but I think the fear of them being
found out, for the tiniest thing, actually hampers them from doing their job
properly.
Has what’s happened ended your love affair with New Labour?
Well, it was something I was never sucked into in the first place, actually.
We were never invited to Downing Street that year [when everyone else was]
even though we were probably the biggest band in Britain, bar Oasis. I was
always amazed that people were disappointed [by New Labour] because that means
they fell for it in the first place!
It sounds like you’ve gone off politics…
No, I’m one of the few – despite Labour and all that’s been
going on recently with expenses – who enjoy politics on many different
levels. I enjoy it at its grittiest - as a spectator sport! I know people are
so disillusioned by politics – they just can’t see that it can
do any good – but if you go back to, say, the Northern Ireland peace
process it was politics that solved it. It was the same with devolution for
Wales: it was still done through voting, democracy and politics. So, whether
it’s for good or bad, I kind of still believe in politics more than I
do, say, charity, because I still think politics is the one thing that can
do good things, like that.
You’ve had a pop at rock stars in the past – any regrets about
it?
Yeah, of course, because some of the times I’ve [done that I’ve]
just been an idiot. I regret a lot – I’m not one of these people
who says, ‘I don’t regret anything about my life, it’s a
journey’. There’s plenty of stuff where I’ve just been stupid!
But I think the sense of fun – the sarcasm I use – when I’m
saying something doesn’t always come across. Besides, it’s just
bedroom talk, or pub talk. It’s what most people say, or musicians say
to each other – but not usually in public. I mean, we all know musicians
are the biggest bitches - apart from producers, who are the worst!
Journal for Plague Lovers is in shops now
Lyrics to all 13 songs on the latest Manics album were written
by
Richey Edwards before he disappeared in 1995. It's proved a triumph. Nicky
Wire talks to James Logan
Words from
the past
