DAZED & CONFUSED MAGAZINE 1996

Was carrying on with the band the only way to exorcise the memory of Richey? Was there ever a point where you felt like you might have to pack it in?

There was one point quite early on after Richey had disappeared that I thought we might not carry on at all. We had a meeting to discuss an American tour, and we came to the conclusion that we could either do it or maybe not do anything at all. At that point, with everything so fresh in our minds, I felt that maybe we could have gone either way. But we spoke to Richey’s parents and they told us that the best thing we could possibly do was to put a record out straightaway, as that might flush him out. Naturally, as parents, they were very, very optimistic that he was perfectly alright. I think that helped us realise we needed to carry on with the band.

Was there any point when you thought that, perhaps, the whole thing was driving you slightly mad?

Well not mad in the sense of going insane, but mad with frustration. The thing that actually maddened me the most was the speculation. All these strange and wild stories were being concocted by these so-called “close friends” of Richeys, who probably only met him for 30 seconds in a nightclub or a hotel foyer somewhere. But until there’s a conclusion, it’s still very hard to come to terms with. Until there’s an ending, or a beginning, or whatever you want to call it, we simply don’t know.

Has the recording of EMG made you feel a little saner? Are the days of an album as fraught as Holy Bible long gone, do you think?

Well, I personally can’t see us going in again and recording another album like Holy Bible, no. There’s been a continuity all the way through, from GT to GATS to the Holy Bible to EMG and I think in some ways they all follow on. The point about Holy Bible was that it was always going to be claustrophobic. It always had a private, insular feel about it; everyone wasn’t going to get it. It was very insular-sounding. But then we never really envisaged it as our world domination album. Or one to put on at a party, come to think of it.

Do you think if Richey re-appeared now there’d be any possibility of him joining up with the band again?

No, to be honest. There was an incident just before Reading (‘94) when we all went down to see Richey at this hospital in Cardiff, and we talked about the idea of him being a member of the group but just sticking to writing lyrics and providing artwork so he could stay at home whilst we toured. And he seemed quite into that idea. But then he phoned up saying he couldn’t do that and he wanted to be part of the band full time. In retrospect, I think that was the wrong decision, because touring, especially on that last European tour with Suede, proved to be very detrimental to his health and personality. So obviously he wouldn’t be cut out for it now.

You never normally give interviews. Do you feel the need to express your opinions has always been latent?

No, not really. I’ve always been quite happy letting Richey and Nicky explain what we’re doing to the press. It’s just that things are a lot different now. There’s only three of us left, so I think we all need to put our views across to make it as clear as possible what the band stands for. It’s not like a Joy Division thing, where the band changed their name and became something different entirely. We’re still the same group, and maybe by my doing interviews, as well as Nicky and James, that will become clearer to people. Nothing’s changed. The name is still the same. The group is still the same. We’re still the Manic Street Preachers.