ESQUIRE MAGAZINE DECEMBER 1998

Interview took place on the small venues 98 tour.

... Drummer Sean Moore doesn't like interviews - he'd much rather sit around and talk about why he's got a shiny silver Nokia mobile and three Game Boys - but he agrees to talk on the tourbus. Sean is very clear about his role in the band: he helps out with the songwriting and plays drums. He is a rock star by night and a normal bloke (that's what they think...!!) by day. He has always understood that separating the public and private keeps you sane. The most rock 'n' roll thing he's ever done is turn up for a radio interview drunk on his birthday. "I've already seen one person consumed by rock 'n' roll and I wouldn't say it's an experience I want to live through again. A nice, pleasant, polite human being turning into a... shell of his former self"

Sean wouldn't care if he never had to pose for a photo again, never again had to answer questions about the band. He has, he says, a life. "When I'm at home in Bristol, I go out on my Vespa. Ride down to Weston, have my tea on the beach and then ride home. I'm very solitary. I enjoy my own company. When James moved up to London, it was full-on parties every night. I'd rather be at home watching Sky Sports or films"

When he was still young, Sean's parents divorced and he moved in with James's family. He thinks that this might be why he enjoys his own company; not that he didn't feel loved, just that he had a different surname to James. I ask him what he'd do if the Manics split up. "I'd never start or join another band. Definitely not. When James and I wrote a little ditty for Kylie Minogue, it was four days of misery. It just seemed utterly pointless. If the Manics ended, I wouldn't ever play again. I don't feel like I could put the commitment in for anyone else except James and Nicky. The Manic Street Preachers is a collective. If you take one of the elements out, it becomes unstable. The last thing we want is James fronting the Manic Street Preachers with session players - like some dodgy Clash reunion" James comes and sits with us and Sean makes his excuses...