The 'Alternating Currents' Legacy Interview: Richey Edwards of Manic Street Preachers

Even early on, they weren't afraid to be confrontational.

Prologue

Overall, 1991 was a year of laying the groundwork for Welsh rockers Manic Street Preachers. They were a band with a distinct sound, a rebellious attitude, and the potential to become major players in the alternative rock scene.

They were gigging around the UK, building a loyal fanbase and drumming up attention in the music press. The image was confrontational, with a working-class aesthetic and a DIY approach. Their music was a blend of punk energy and alternative rock, with Richey Edwards' often scathing and political lyrics.

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There are very few bands I have heard of who define life in the fast lane. The Eagles may have sung it, but there's a group in the UK who have every intention of pushing themselves to the abyss, then teeter on the rim and have you decide where they will fall – Manic Street Preachers.

It was with some uneasiness then, that I found myself on the phone with Manics' guitarist Richey Edwards late last year. I said uneasiness only in the fact that I just finished reading a New Musical Express article on them and concluded I would be talking to a wall. They seemed to hate EVERYTHING and EVERYBODY and Edwards was the epitome of this: during an NME interview in early '91, he had carved “4 REAL" into his arm with a razor blade in full view of the reporter. The kid had no trouble dealing with pain, I thought.

"We really do hate all this British indie scene," he said over the phone from the Sony Music offices in London. "Just wallowing in it and it really does offend us." I didn't detect any venom in his laconic Welsh tongue, just a matter-of-fact opinion. "We’ve never got a problem with people just having a conversation. You just get your point across."

If you're wondering about the razor blade incident, Edwards continued on: "It's when it starts getting aggressive, like the interview we did with NME this year. They said things like I don't believe your town was really boring. Every day's a good laugh when you're young; it's cool. There's always things to do. And that's when it starts getting really nasty, because they didn't live where we come from. There's nothing there! All you've got is boredom and it's hard for people to understand that, especially a journalist. It's an easy life for them."

This may be considered bad form, but his present success in the UK underscored the story. The Manics are a young quartet, originally hailing from Blackwood, a small mining town in southern Wales. In the short time, since they exploded onto the UK music scene, they have created controversy, gathered breathtaking accolades and have just signed to Columbia for their major label debut. Edwards was in the middle of recording their double album – a rarity for a debut – which should see the light of day in February or March.

"We just wrote all these songs and we liked them all, so we thought we might as well do a double," he explained. "We were supposed to do an LP in eight weeks but we'll be up to 24 weeks by the time we finish. We're way over budget – massively.”

It hasn't seemed to bother anyone at the label, since the band has been given free reign with their image and creative output. The controversy has stemmed from the fact that they are ‘smashers,’ taking on the legacy of The Who and trashing their equipment and themselves on stage. They have refused to play it safe in a time when 'planning your show' and 'being nice' has become the norm.

“We started in January of this year (1991)," Edwards said. “We went out on tour then and we were smashing up stuff mostly every night, but smashing ourselves up as well. And people were so offended by it like it was a material thing that was trashed - like it was a waste of money. Yet there was people coming back from the Gulf War with their legs blown off and they could accept that. But they see a broken guitar and it was like the end of the world."

Although the Preachers have drawn up the ghosts of Johnny Rotten and Pete Townshend, it seems a shame they have to justify this kind of existence and personal expression.

"We've had to do that all year, really," Edwards said. "Because we are so different from every other band. It's like justifying wearing tight trousers: 'Why you wearing them? Why aren't you wearing baggy flairs?' Like every single thing that appears in our music, we have to justify!” He then switched to a calmer tone. "Which we don't mind. We don't care, really."

By now you must wonder what's in the grooves, what’s in the music that has people gasping all over the UK? Well, the CD-5 entitled Stay Beautiful has all the careening recklessness of a car crash and all the intensity that befits a band whose influences range from The Stones to The New York Dolls to the Sex Pistols to Public Enemy and Guns 'N' Roses. It has a defiant air that goes against the grain of what is 'politically correct' on the British music charts, in essence, what is safe for the masses.

To describe their style is like trying to contain an angry hornet. Vocalist and lead guitarist James Dean Bradfield shouts and demands on the title cut; bassist Nicky Wire and drummer Sean Moore are all over the place, à la early Buzzcocks on "Motown Junk" and "Sorrow 16" while Edwards screams away on every note. In that context, it's interesting to hear that they sound like their influences. I made mention of the fact that Bobby Gillespie from Primal Scream was also equally passionate about groups like those mentioned, but his band hovers in the sampled/house/dance genre.

"I think those kind of people are almost lying to themselves," Edwards opinionated, noting Gillespie could like The New York Dolls but ends up making dance records for commercial acceptance. "They want the best of both worlds, which I don't think is very healthy." How then did The Manics stay true to themselves? They left home for good.

"All of our teenage years were spent in James' bedroom, watching TV and videos and reading anything we could get our hands on. We never ever thought about Wales at all. It's like we're in this town and it's shit. It meant nothing to us. We wanted to leave.

"When we started the band up, we never played in Wales. We've played just one concert, but I thought, 'What's the point in this?' And then we left and came to London. We've never been back since and we never will.”

You don't think you'd ever change your mind? His answer was cut and dry. "No. Never."

Then what of a trek to America, in all its sex, glamour and young ordinary kids, waiting to mosh at a Manics show? It seems to be the place they want to see most. “America is the only country we've ever really wanted to go to,” he said.

It's confusing, it's a rush and lest you see Edwards in the flesh, it's '4 Real.'

Epilogue

The Manics’ debut album Generation Terrorists was released in February 1992.

Edwards disappeared on February 1, 1995, on the day he and James Dean Bradfield were due to fly to the US on a promotional tour. It’s widely believed that Edwards took his own life sometime after that by jumping off the Severn Bridge, which connects England to Wales.

Edwards was legally "presumed dead" in 2008, to enable his parents to administer his estate. The Manics continue to honor him by setting up a microphone at every live concert.