Interview:BBC Radio Nottingham Nigel Bell Phone Interviews Paul Draper

Interview

Nigel Bell: Welcome all to Paul Draper, although on this sad occasion 'ex' of Mansun I suppose, Paul because the band is no more is that official now?

Paul Draper: Yeah, no the band split up about 18 months ago and we’ve basically just been working on a 3 CD box set which comprises the unfinished material we were writing when the band split.

Nigel Bell: So where did it all go wrong?

Paul Draper: Pretty much the usual standard, y’know things with bands, I mean the band went for nine years so it was a hell of a long time for alternative bands and then I think by the time we recorded the last album we were sick of it and we didn’t really have any perspective on what we were doing and decided that we’re all better off doing our different thing.

Nigel Bell: Was it the classic ‘musical differences’?

Paul Draper: No it wasn’t musical differences, I think we were all sick to death of each other being in the same room probably!

Nigel Bell: So what prompted you to getting together and putting out this box set?

Paul Draper: Well the box set originally came about as far as I know from a petition that was done on a Mansun fan website that went round to the record company and the record company came round to me with the idea of basically putting out the 4th album which we sort of recorded, 3 quarters of it recorded and they wanted to know if we would participate, and sift through the tapes and write some liner notes.

Nigel Bell: So what was the feeling with the band members then, because with the lost 4th album as it were, were the band happy with that and therefore are they happy with it coming out now if you weren’t happy with it at the time?

Paul Draper: Well at the time we didn’t really have any perspective on it at all really. I mean the band didn’t split on the musical side, it was more because we didn’t want to work together any more. After a year of the band being split up once the idea of putting this album out and the idea of putting out an album which has the 4th album sessions on it, that appealed to me a lot more because it’s not finished, it’s a CD of album sessions, and that’s basically how I look at it, I don’t have that emotional connection that I had when I was making it when you want everything to be perfect.

Nigel Bell: But I think the sad thing is, it does sound good, and Mansun fans will be out there saying, ‘if only they had kept together’.

Paul Draper: Yes there is that element but unfortunately the band wasn’t able to carry on, so it's y'know, literally the best we could do unfortunately. I think it’s good that the album has seen the light of day really.

Nigel Bell: So we’ve got that, we’ve got the lost 4th album and we’ve got non-album singles, some EPs and some rarities as well, what’s your highlights on it?

Paul Draper: Well I think for me the 4th album sessions because now I think we’ve put it together, I think we’re pleased that we’ve done it because we didn’t have our reservations and we haven’t really listened to the tape after the band had split and over the last few months we sifted through everything and thought ‘this will sound good, it’s a record of a band making an album’ you know, obviously the other tracks, the unreleased stuff had been floating around for a while and the second CD which is a collection of the best of the EP tracks we had recorded and they’ve been out for years. So the fourth album sessions are sort of the highlight of it.

Nigel Bell: I do like that but I do particularly like your version of ‘Shot by Both Sides' as well.

Paul Draper: Oh yeah, that was interesting because Chad, the guitarist, he sings on that and that’s the only record of him on lead vocals in the band so that’s why we put that on. Magazine were one of our big influences, it was the only cover we ever done really.

Nigel Bell: In your time Mansun were a hard working band, what memories do you have of touring, and specifically in Nottingham as we’re here on the Nottingham website

Paul Draper: Well y'know we played 'Rock City' quite a few times, that was really good and we played the uni and stuff and in fact I had a girlfriend who lived in Nottingham for 3 years so I spent half of my time in Mansun in Nottingham but no-one knew! (laughs)

Nigel Bell: What’s Paul Draper going to do with himself?

Paul Draper: I've just been, well pretty much when I left the band I took a hiatus from the music industry, took some time off and I'm just getting to work on a new project which I'm not sure will be a band or a solo album or whatever but I'm basically just demoing and writing all the songs at the moment.

Nigel Bell: And the rest of the members are they staying in music or are they going elsewhere, a new direction?

Paul Draper: I’m not sure actually. I think Chad, the guitarist, is gonna work as a guitarist and work with other bands and other artists. Andie the drummer I think has a new band together but I can't remember the name. The bass player we haven’t seen him for a while, we think he’s left the music industry.

Nigel Bell: I don’t want to seem morbid but it does seem sad that Mansun have been together for so many years but it seems now you’re not even keeping in touch.

Paul Draper: Well I see Chad regularly, me and Chad were always big mates, still are y'know but we all live at different ends of the country now and talk on the phone evey now and again but once you’ve been in a band with people for 9 years, the last thing you want to do is hang out with them. (laughs)

Nigel Bell: But when Kleptomania takes off and Is rocketing up the charts, would there be the temptation to ever pull the boys back together again?

Paul Draper: No, no, Mansun will never reform.

Nigel Bell: Never’s a long time – what about in the future? Ten years down the line?

Paul Draper: No, no the band would never reform, that won’t happen

Nigel Bell: Well listen, thanks for the memories, some great music and maybe the band won't get back together but let's keep our fingers crossed for Kleptomania

Paul Draper: Alright mate, cheers.