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"I like dealing with contradictions," laughs ManBREAK frontman Swindelli. This is good. Because today we're going to take his band - five highly-charged, proudly scuzzy lads from Liverpool - for a cruise around London in a white stretch limo. Dressed in smart black suits. For no good reason at all.
The irony of this fiercely political group acting like rock atristocracy is not lost on Swindelli. This is as close to to a bloated, pampered rock star that he wants to get. But it looks cool for an afternoon,so what the hell.
At midday, we pick Swindelli, guiarists Mr Blonde and Snaykee, bassist Roy Van Der Kerkoff and drummer Stu Boy Stu up outside the Columbia Hotel. They're amused to discover that there is enough room in back for a snooker table and that the driver Ray looks like an extra from 'The Godfather'. Swindelli cracks open a beer and slouches back into his comfy seat as we pull away.
"I don't think that I would be overly seduced by the lifestyle when we're successful - God-willing," he says, "because we all make a conscious effort to keep our feet on the ground. It stops you from thinking that you're something you're not. Just as long as you don't get drug-addled and cynical, you'll do alright."
As members of politcal rap/pop band The 25th Of May, Swindelli and Snaykee picked up a valuable experience touring as openers for Public Enemy and the Beastie Boys in 1992. Putting this knowledge to good use when they formed ManBREAK, it wasn't long before they'd secured a deal with One Little Indian (home of Skunk Anansie) and recorded their debut album, 'Come And See'.
Mixing together rap, rock and pop, ManBREAK are the ideal sound for these genre-busting times. The band recently returned from a lengthy tour in the US with multi-million-sellers Live and had no problems winning over the strictly hard rocking crowd.
"A good percentage of Live's audience were young kids, and that's the kind of audience that's open to absolutely anything," opines Mr Blonde. "As soon as they see a band come on, leap around like idiots and give it everything from the word go, they're bound to act up whether they have heard of you or not. We've got that edge to what we're doing."
"That tour was amazing," agrees Swindelli, re-adjusting his tie. "When we were in Sacramento, we did this big show with Sugar Ray and we went on after them. They'd just had a huge hit ('Fly') a couple weeks before, and when we came on people started throwing stuff at us...But I did goad them a little bit: I turned to the crowd and said, 'What's the matter with you lot - too tired from shagging your mothers last night, you bunch of cock suckers?!'.
"And because we had this audience baying for blood, I thought how cool it would be to pull out a gun and fire off some blanks into a crowd. We'd have sold a hundred thousand albums with the press and we'd have got from a story like that!"
"That could have been nasty," points out Roy resonably.
"Nah, they'd have loved it," sneers Swindelli. "They'd have it all over MTV and I'd be in jail."
As we sweep along Central London's streets, Swindelli decides it would be a good idea to start dragging members of the public into the back of the car, so they too can enjoy the exclusive ride. He's been watching how passers-by strain to see who's behind the darkened glass and winds down the window to call over to two girls walking by.
"Hey, you girls want a ride?" he shouts.
"Are you in a band?" screech the girls as they approach the car to get a better look. "What are you called?"
"We're a gay disco band called ManBREAK," replies Swindelli. "You should check us out. You getting in or what?" he barks, the rest of the band crumpling to the floor of the carin hysterics.
The girls, who look as if they've just been propositioned by Jeffrey Dahmer, make their excuses and leave.
"I just like talking to people," shrugs Swindelli. "I like trying to get them in my car."
Right. Fun-loving and relentlessly upbeat, ManBREAK are the perfect antidote to the whining, drug addled grunge stars of recent years.
"I hate musicians who moan about their lifestyles," snorts Roy. "I don't understand what you could possibly not like about doing this; what else would you rather do? You can either get up at five 'o clock in the morning and work for 12 hours, go home to bed, then do the same thing tomorrow. Or you can be in a band. It can be hard work, but it's one of the most enjoyable things you can do. What is the problem?"
"It's a major priviledge that there are people interested in your life," concludes Swindelli as the limo pulls up outside the band's hotel. "How many people are forgotten about in a society? I don't intend to be one of them."
-Written by James Sherry; from Kerrang!
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