Six Q&A Chat - post here!

[claireski]

Hey guys - as a devoted fan of many years I was pleased to see your appearance on the likes of Facebook.... one question is though, mostly directed at Paul, is it your own personal profile or is it run by someone else as I got freaked out when they tried to talk to me on the chat!


PS - you guys need a proper chat applet! Ahh anyone remember the old IRC chat?? Battles between Suzi and Natts... ahh those were the days!!!

[newtonite]

When fans say to you "six" is the best album ever,what do you think being the artist and all that.

newts
x

[clonetheory]

Hello!

Who decided what guitar effects were to be used for the songs on Six? You or Chad or both together?

Did you know exactly what sounds you wanted or was it trial and error?

Thanks!

[Sorry i think i posted this in the wrong area before]

[divjoy]

Hopefully It's letting me post now!

Andie, which drummers (alive or dead) do you really respect/look up to?

Steve Morris from Joy Division and the bloke out of Fear Factory imo are amazing, 2 very different styles but the speed they can drum is amazing!
Who did you take your inspiration from when you were younger?

[prktz]

Hey guys - as a devoted fan of many years I was pleased to see your appearance on the likes of Facebook.... one question is though, mostly directed at Paul, is it your own personal profile or is it run by someone else as I got freaked out when they tried to talk to me on the chat!


PS - you guys need a proper chat applet! Ahh anyone remember the old IRC chat?? Battles between Suzi and Natts... ahh those were the days!!!

Yeah I got a PM and I asked, apparently it is PD himself....!

[Andie Rathbone]

Hi guys, hope you're both well
Reading the blog made all sorts of memories come flooding back after 10 yrs so thanks for that guys.

I'd like to ask you both, was there any point while recording Six you just sat there and thought ' fuck this, it's too fucked up to make sense'?

Thanks again
Lots of Love, Luck and Happiness Nic xxx

Hi Nic.

At the time it all made no sense at all as a full album. I think it all comes together in the end like anything. You have to have the determination to get through the work to arrive at the fun stuff. It was an amazing time. I spent most of my time playing the playstation to be concerned with the mess. Paul, god bless him took charge of all that.

[thelma_viaduct]

Hello! At the start of Mansun's career you wore a lot of crazy outfits, what happened to them? I loved the orange boiler suits myself, bet they're really handy if the heating ever packs in during winter.

[Paul Draper]

Hello!

I've been a fan since Attack of the Grey Lantern. I'd just like to ask, how do you feel today, looking back [10th anniversary of Six!] - and seeing that so many of your fans have grown up with your music?

Well I didnt think the band would split, but events overtook us I guess so I didnt think we would be looking back on things just yet. As its happened its quite amazing that theres still so much good will towards the music. I think a lot of it is word out mouth from you lot, passing the albums on to new people. I meet very young kids who are just getting into the records, and once they get into the albums, then theres the b sides and kleptomania to discover and also the internet community which keeps it all going. Dave who originally started the bands website way back in 1996 I think first alerted us to the internet to connect with fans and I think this helped the band to flourish as on one the first bands using the internet to communicate by connecting all the various pages into the taxloss webring

[LucyOne]

Hi Paul,

basically, I just want to thank you for making Six.

I've been listening to Six since its release and it's become my most favourite album of all time. There's no other album I have been listening to over the years without it getting boring or sounding old. I know it by heart and still I keep finding new aspects. For example, it took me months (or years?) to start liking Cancer and now I just love it.

Ok, I do have some questions:
Since I studied literature, I've always been wondering about the line: "Reading novels is banned by the Marquis de Sade". What does it mean?

Do you have any favourite books?

In the blog you mentioned that you didn't listen to Six after it was done. How come? (You missed a really good album! )

[bftnc]

Hi guys,

First of all congratulations on making what remains the finest album ever made by any band. I thought that when I first heard it, and I still believe that to this day...

The album has been criminally ignored during it's lifespan and I've always felt it was years ahead of it's time. Do you think a day will ever come when it finally receives the recognition it deserves? Occasionally I do hear a new band who seem to be influenced by Mansun and I believe that in 20 years time you might be considered another Velvet Underground and finally get some recognition based on people you inspired.

[claireski]

Hey guys - as a devoted fan of many years I was pleased to see your appearance on the likes of Facebook.... one question is though, mostly directed at Paul, is it your own personal profile or is it run by someone else as I got freaked out when they tried to talk to me on the chat!


PS - you guys need a proper chat applet! Ahh anyone remember the old IRC chat?? Battles between Suzi and Natts... ahh those were the days!!!

Yeah I got a PM and I asked, apparently it is PD himself....!

Hmm I'm not sure - they were asking about my tattoo because it's a rose with mansun in japanese but I was like eeeerrr ook! Either way I'll just imagine it is to fullfil my teenage fantasies of him seeing me at least half naked!!!

[Nic_D]

Andie,
Thanks for the reply mate. Much appreciated.

This one's for Paul - what's it like to know that someone like Lightspeed Champion considers you the main influence for him to have picked up a guitar and start playing?

Also, who do you think were the best band that supported you on any of your tours?
I saw you twice in Wolverhampton, once supported by Gay Dad and once by King Adora and then once in Leicester by Athlete (who btw i thought were shite!)

Thanks
Love Nic xxx

[Dark Timmaah]

Hi Paul, Andie, hope you guys are doing well,

First of all, Paul, thank you so much for putting so much time and detail into the 10th Anniversary blog posts, which were so meticulously detailed to the point of making obsessive compulsive music geeks like myself need to reach for a fresh pair of underwear, and feel a little guilty for several minutes afterwards... The amount of insight into all the little decisions and quirks that went into to creating Six was so fascinating (not to mention pretty a darn impressive feat, considering the span of time that's passed), that I thought I'd venture to ask this somewhat bizarre random question:

The "Being A Girl"/"vinegar" question

Several years ago now, myself and Vicky Farrant (who I'm sure you remember well from Mansun fanzine days) were hanging out, shooting the fat, and listening to Six - and on listening to 'Being A Girl', we came to an interesting theory about the lyrics to said track. As was touched on in the blog, Being A Girl has lyrical connections to Shotgun, what with all the Taoism stuff - and there seems to be more references to the vinegar-tasters - or at least, the motif of "taste" being used as a device to imply dis-satisfaction/satisfaction ("...like sucking on a lemon", "my life never tasted sweeter"). What we found interesting was - in all the choruses of Being A Girl (part 1), the very last shout of "Being A Girl!" (only the very last one, just going into "yeah, a ho!") sounds like you're singing - not "Being A Girl", but "vinegar" - which then segues, lyrically seamlessly into "and my life never tasted sweeter".

Suffice to say, we thought that - if this really was the case - this was a really clever little way of pinging back to the vinegar-tasters idea first brought up in Shotgun, but also adding a kind of sarcastic self-critical undercurrent to the lyric. Kind of like this: Whereas being a boy is like sucking on a lemon (ie. pretty sour), being a girl is "vinegar" (again sour, but a different kind of sour). So both sides have their "sour" points - but it's being suggested that [the narrator] would happily embrace the "vinegar" the comes with being a female, and that it would - in concurrence with the vinegar tasters - be nonetheless a sweet existence, in comparison to what [the narrator] has now...?

So, now I finally get the put this theory to the man who sings it himself... is the last "being a girl" of every chorus in fact "vinegar"? Have we uncovered another secret lyrical reference/message buried in there? Or were we just a couple of bored kids with way too much time on our hands and way too few hobbies - and way off base?


Incidentally, Vicky got married in 2006 to her boyfriend of many years, James. The ceremony was in Leeds, and there was much Mansun being spun on the dancefloor at the reception - indeed there was!

As for me, I have since acquired real hobbies!

- Tim xx

[divjoy]

Hi, Lyn again.

I have always wanted to know how you did the effects for my all time favourite song, Everyone Must Win. It sounds so drastically different to other Mansun songs and I never could quite figure out how you made those effects!

[HeSpunksOutDreams]

Hey Paul and Andie,

I tried to post before but the bastard thing decided to give me an error message instead, grrr! Anyway...

1. In the vein of The Simpsons' Spinal Tap spoof episode where the band say "Goodnight Springton, there'll be no encore!" and they have the name of the Town on the back of the guitar, I'm sure you've said to many an audience they've been great but where were the best crowds and where did you enjoy playing live most?

2. What's been your strangest experience with a fan?

3. Any chance of a reunion tour?!

P.S. My girlfriend would love to know... do you prefer redheads or blondes ?!