PAUL DRAPER - vocals, songwriter, guitar, piano, producer birthdate: September 26 1972 starsign: Libra birthplace: Wavertree, Liverpool. He has lived on Garmoyle Road, a street where John Lennon lived years earlier.
before the band: He moved to Deeside when he was 11, he described it as a horrible place to live with much violence. Around that time when he was 11/12 he started writing poems/songs - he wrote Naked Twister when he was 13/14 - and he had already been playing acoustic guitar for a couple years. Because it wasn't seen as 'cool' where he lived to play guitar he once got attacked by a group of older boys when he walked around with his acoustic guitar and smashed it into pieces against a brick wall, he has been angry about it for years. He suffered from migraine alot in his youth. He went to Wrexham Art College but got kicked out of it for making his paintings with a ruler. He has worked in a few shops and as a photo-retoucher in Chester.
favourite bands/artists: Magazine, David Bowie, Prince, Manic Street Preachers, The Clash, Suede....
inspiration: His main inspiration is 'the absurdity of existence'. Many of his earlier lyrics are inspired by TV-shows from his youth (and British humor) like The Goon Show, Monthy Python and Dr. Who (Dr. Who actor Tom Baker narrates Six-interlude Witness To A Murder). Around the Six-period he was addicted to television and especially Sky News (see Six-track Television) and he;s a big fan of sci-fi shows like The Prisoner (also a big influence on Six) and The X-Files. Thanks to Chad he got into Taoïsm which also influences many of his lyrics. But, apparantly Chad inspires him even more because a soundengineer once said that he wrote Electric Man about him, and probably many more songs....
DOMINIC CHAD - guitar, backing vocals, songwriter, piano birthdate: June 5 1973 starsign: Gemini birthplace: Cheltenham. Gloucestershire.
before the band: He grew up in Maidstone, Kent and started to play guitar when he was 16. He studied Russian and French at the Bangor University in Wales but quit before the first year was finished because he realised studying isn't his thing. He then worked as a bartender in the Fat Cat Pub in Chester and became the manager....and an alcoholic.
favourite bands/artists: He likes guitarrock like Jimi Hendrix, The Smiths, Rage Against The Machine, Velvet Underground, Mick Ronson and Brian Jones.
inspiration: Chad's very interested in philosophy/psychology and Taoism (and he's a big Winnie The Pooh fan).
solo album? There have been rumours about Chad recording a solo album called 'Parrot', Paul once said in an interview that the album was finished but wouldn't be released for as long as the British music media would slag everything Mansun do off, no matter what they do. But Chad himself said in the questionnaire for this website that the album was just a bit of a rumour.
STOVE KING - bass
birthdate: January 8 1974 btarsign: Capricorn birthplace: Ellesmere Port, Merseyside
before the band: One of his jobs was milkman. Just like Paul he went to Wrexham Art College and has been a photo retoucher. He had never touched an instrument before he joined Mansun and started playing bass because he wanted to be in the band, he bought himself a bassguitar (that you'd expect to see on stage with Iron Maiden) and learned himself to play. favourite bands/artists: He's a fan of The Bee Gees disco period, The Muppets (he's got an Animal tattoo on his arm and Ernie & Bert on his butt) and James Bond.
mansaphone: Stove seems to be the one who keeps in touch with the fans most by doing interviews with fansites and always updating the Mansaphone with new messages to tell us what the band are up to at the moment. And when you leave your phone number there's a small chance that he calls you back! +044 1244 403 111
ANDIE RATHBONE - drums birthdate: September 8 1971 starsign: Virgo birthplace: Blacon, Chester.
before the band: He started playing drums when he was only 3 years old. His first job was in an abattoir when he was 16, and at the time of joining Mansun he was an Audi car salesman. At first he didn't want to leave the band he played in before Mansun (Wondering Quatrains, a coverband) to join Mansun because he thought they'd play 'britpop-shit'. But changed his mind after hearing a demo of Wide Open Space.
favourite bands/artists: Red Snapper and The Beastie Boys. His favourite drummer is John Bonham (Led Zeppelin).
kinky: He has got a piercing in his penis and eyebrow and wears nailpolish. He used to live in a former brothel but now lives on a farm with his girlfriend and 2 kids.
