Current
Primal Scream line up: Gary "Mani" Mounfield (bass), Bobby Gillespie
(vocals), Andrew Innes (guitar), Robert Young (guitar), Martin Duffy
(keyboards)
Gary
"Mani" Mounfield was born in Crumpsall, Manchester, in November
1962.
When
Pete Garner joined The
High,
Mani replaced him as the bass player for The
Stone Roses
in 1988, where he stayed, enjoying massive success and praise
until their Reading Festival demise in 1996.
He
made the following statement in 1996 confirming the split of The
Stone Roses:
"After
much speculation I've decided, along with Ian
Brown,
that it's time to end the Roses
saga. I will be joining Primal Scream, who are one of only three
other bands I would ever consider joining.
"I'm
absolutely delighted and am relishing the opportunity of playing
with Bobby and my friends. I wish Ian,
Robbie, Nigel and Aziz
all the best and hope that we will work together again in the
future. I take the opportunity to thank our record company who
have stood by us through thick and thin and also to our fans worldwide
for their total 100% loyal support. It's been a privilege to give
these people a buzz and it wouldn't have been possible without
them. I wish Johnny and his new band [The
Seahorses]
a fruitful time, I hope they go on and smash it".
Interestingly
he later revealed the other two bands that he would have considered
joining were the Jesus and Mary Chain or Oasis.
It was no surprise that the Glasgow rockers, Primal Scream, would
be Mani's first choice as he had been friends with Bobby Gillespie
since meeting in The
Hacienda in
1989. They both share the same political beliefs, similar interests,
and are both die-hard football fans (Mani a Manchester
United fan,
Bobby a Celtic fan). Together they have since had massive success,
Mani's contribution signalling an upturn in Primal Scream's good
fortune, mainly due to their reinvention as a Madchester-style
dance act and his focused influence.
The
dance-rock fusion of Primal Scream's successful 1997 "Vanishing
Point" album saw Mani at his very best on the two tracks "Kowalski"
and "Motorhead". The album produced hit after hit
including "Kowalski", with Mani's machine-gun like bass,
reaching Number 3 and became the Scream's biggest ever hit.
Although
Mani did not appear on it, the album also included the track "Trainspotting"
which was later included as the theme to Danny
Boyle film
of the same name.
Not
long after Mani joined Primal Scream, drummer Paul Mulreany left
days before the band's Glasgow concert which was the scene of a
bizarre multiple-stabbing (a member of the crowd jabbed 14 other
fans with a hypodermic needle).
1999
saw Mani and Primal Scream hard at work: They contributed a track,
"Insect Royalty", to the film, "The Acid House"
and Bobbie Gillespie appeared with New
Order's Bernard
Sumner on the Chemical
Brothers' track,
"Out Of Control".
The
single "Swastika Eyes (War Pigs)", with the help of
The
Chemical Brothers,
reached
Number 16 in the UK in November, marking a move to more techno-orientated
output.
The
brilliant album "XTRMNTR" was released in February 2000
and is the first to feature Mani's full input.
Whilst
Mani has returned as a guest on Ian
Brown's
two albums, it is no surprise that Primal Scream have described
Mani's decision to join them as "the
best signing since Cantona!"
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