'Gary "Mani" Mounfield' (born
November 16,
1962,
Failsworth,
North Manchester,is an
English rock bassist, formerly of
Stone Roses and currently in
Primal Scream. He has a distinctive rich playing style that combines a fast moving rock style with a dance rhythm or dub groove. He is held in high regards by fans of the Stone Roses and music fans across the
United Kingdom.
Biography
Gary attended
Xaverian College in the
Rusholme district of
Manchester. At that time his declared ambition was to be a chef, something of a modest intention for a grammar school boy. He left school aged sixteen in 1979 and joined the band
The Stone Roses (part of the "
Madchester" music scene) in 1987. Playing on both of the band's albums, Mani was in The Stone Roses until they disbanded in 1996, when he joined
Primal Scream who he claimed were one of three bands other than the Roses that he would accept the offer from to become a member (the others are reportedly
The Jesus and Mary Chain and
Oasis, although some accounts replace the latter with the
Beastie Boys). He is a big fan of
Puressence, in 1998 he produced the song Standing In Your Shadows which appeared on their 1998 album
Only Forever. In 2003 he toured with
Ocean Colour Scene, who had sacked their own bassist, in support of the
Stereophonics. As of 2007, he is still with Primal Scream.
He has a guest role in the movie ''
24 Hour Party People'' (2002).
Mani has often been viewed as the most amiable member of the Roses, both while the band were still together and since their break-up. Whilst in the past he had claimed that the band would reform only after "
Man City won the
European Cup", he is also viewed as the most likely to be up for a Roses reunion.
Recently, Mani and ex-Roses drummer
Reni were interviewed for the Manchester Music show on
BBC GMR whilst attending a gig by
The Coral. It was revealed that the two would be willing to reform the Roses and that Reni is writing songs for the two to perform together. Mani has also gone on record as saying that he plans to force a reunion between Brown and Squire without them having prior knowledge to kick-start the reunion plans.
Mani is a massive
Manchester United F.C. fan and he regularly appears on the
Sky One programme "football years" giving his views of football seasons of the past and usually his Manchester Utd passion is often presented on a large scale during the show. He also revealed on
Play UK programme "Nu Music" that he supports
Celtic F.C. in
Scotland and although being English was brought up to support the
Republic of Ireland national football team. He has also appeared on the football programme
Soccer AM numerous times, earning himself a "Hatrick Ball" from the show as a result.
He is currently in a band called
Freebass with bass players
Andy Rourke (ex-
The Smiths) and
Peter Hook (
Joy Division/
New Order). He also hosts a regular radio show "Mani's Manic Monday" on
96.2 The Revolution, based in
Oldham.
Mani appeared at the "Manchester Versus Cancer" event on March 30th 2007 doing a DJ set, and appearing with Ian Brown for the finale which was the Stone Roses classic "
I Am The Resurrection".
Trivia
His favourite album of all time is Love's "
Forever Changes".
References
External links
★
Primal Scream Official site
★
Mani/Scream/Freebass/Roses latest
★
This Is The Daybreak Mani latest