Gary "Mani" Mounfield (born 16 November 1962Warshaw, Aaron
Mani
allmusic.com) is an English rock bassist, best known for being a member of

The Stone Roses The Stone Roses were an English rock band formed in Manchester in 1983. One of the pioneering groups of the Madchester movement in the late 1980s and early 1990s, the band's classic and most prominent lineup consisted of vocalist Ian Brown, ...

and

Primal Scream Primal Scream are a Scottish rock band originally formed in 1982 in Glasgow by Bobby Gillespie (vocals) and Jim Beattie. The band's current lineup consists of Gillespie, Andrew Innes (guitar), Simone Butler (bass), and Darrin Mooney (drums). ...

Career

Mounfield attended Xaverian College in

Rusholme Rusholme () is an area of Manchester, England, two miles south of the city centre. The population of the ward at the 2011 census was 13,643. Rusholme is bounded by Chorlton-on-Medlock to the north, Victoria Park and Longsight to the east, F ...

Manchester Manchester () is a city in Greater Manchester, England. It had a population of 552,000 in 2021. It is bordered by the Cheshire Plain to the south, the Pennines to the north and east, and the neighbouring city of Salford to the west. The ...

. He developed an interest in darts, a sport he went on to champion throughout his career. He left school aged sixteen in 1979 and joined the band

the Stone Roses The Stone Roses were an English rock band formed in Manchester in 1983. One of the pioneering groups of the Madchester movement in the late 1980s and early 1990s, the band's classic and most prominent lineup consisted of vocalist Ian Brown, ...

(part of the "

Madchester Madchester was a musical and cultural scene that developed in the English city of Manchester in the late 1980s, closely associated with the indie dance scene. Indie-dance (sometimes referred to as indie-rave) saw artists merging indie music ...

" music scene) in 1987. Playing on both of the band's albums, Mounfield was in the Stone Roses until they disbanded in 1996, shortly after the birth of his son, Joseph, also a keen bassist. Mounfield used a Rickenbacker 4005

Jackson Pollock Paul Jackson Pollock (; January 28, 1912August 11, 1956) was an American painter and a major figure in the abstract expressionism, abstract expressionist movement. He was widely noticed for his "Drip painting, drip technique" of pouring or splas ...

-influenced paint-splattered bass guitar in the period after the Stone Roses debut album. He joined

after Stone Roses disbanded. He claimed that Primal Scream were one of three other bands that he would be willing to join –

the Jesus and Mary Chain The Jesus and Mary Chain are a Scottish alternative rock band formed in East Kilbride in 1983. The band revolves around the songwriting partnership of brothers Jim and William Reid. After signing to independent label Creation Records, they re ...

and

Oasis In ecology, an oasis (; ) is a fertile area of a desert or semi-desert environment'ksar''with its surrounding feeding source, the palm grove, within a relational and circulatory nomadic system.” The location of oases has been of critical imp ...

being the others. In 2003, with Damon Minchella having left

Ocean Colour Scene Ocean Colour Scene (often abbreviated to OCS) are an English rock band formed in Solihull in 1989. They have had five top 10 albums including a number one in 1997. They have also achieved seventeen top 40 singles and six top 10 singles to dat ...

, he toured with the band supporting the Stereophonics, and he also did a DJ set for Ocean Colour Scene at their December 2008 Manchester gig. He was a full-time Primal Scream member until 2011 when he left to rejoin the Stone Roses. Mounfield has often been viewed as the most amiable member of the Roses, both while the band were still together and following their break-up. Whilst in the past he had claimed that the band would reform only after "

Manchester City Manchester () is a city in Greater Manchester, England. It had a population of 552,000 in 2021. It is bordered by the Cheshire Plain to the south, the Pennines to the north and east, and the neighbouring city of Salford to the west. The t ...

won the

European Cup The UEFA Champions League (abbreviated as UCL, or sometimes, UEFA CL) is an annual club football competition organised by the Union of European Football Associations (UEFA) and contested by top-division European clubs, deciding the competit ...

", he was also viewed as the most likely member to be up for a Roses reunion. During the band's split, he occasionally joined

Ian Brown Ian George Brown (born 20 February 1963) is an English singer and multi-instrumentalist. He was the lead singer of the alternative rock band The Stone Roses from their formation in 1983. Following the split in 1996, he began a solo career, r ...

on stage for renditions of songs by the Stone Roses ("Waterfall", "Made of Stone", "I Am the Resurrection"), as happened in 2008 at Summercase Festival (in

Madrid Madrid ( , ) is the capital and most populous city of Spain. The city has almost 3.4 million inhabitants and a metropolitan area population of approximately 6.7 million. It is the second-largest city in the European Union (EU), and ...

and

Barcelona Barcelona ( , , ) is a city on the coast of northeastern Spain. It is the capital and largest city of the autonomous community of Catalonia, as well as the second most populous municipality of Spain. With a population of 1.6 million within c ...

), when both

and Brown were playing on the same day. Mounfield and ex-Stone Roses drummer

Reni Reni may refer to: Places * Reni, Alwar, Alwar district, Rajasthan, India * Reni, Chamoli (also ''Raini''), Chamoli district, Uttarakhand, India, devastated by the 2021 Uttarakhand flood * Reni, Churu, Churu district, Rajasthan, India * Reni, U ...

were interviewed for the Manchester Music show on BBC GMR whilst attending a gig by the Coral. Mounfield toured with the Enemy on their UK tour, which involved a rare partaking in backing vocals. Mounfield has a guest role in the movie ''

24 Hour Party People ''24 Hour Party People'' is a 2002 British biographical comedy-drama film about Manchester's popular music community from 1976 to 1992, and specifically about Factory Records. It was written by Frank Cottrell Boyce and directed by Michael Wint ...

'' (2002), and was in a supergroup band called Freebass with bass players

Andy Rourke Andrew Michael Rourke (born 17 January 1964) is an English musician, best known as the bassist of the Smiths. He is known for his melodic approach to bass playing. Career Rourke's father was Irish while his mother was English. He received an a ...

(ex-

the Smiths The Smiths were an English rock band formed in Manchester in 1982. They comprised the singer Morrissey, the guitarist Johnny Marr, the bassist Andy Rourke and the drummer Mike Joyce. They are regarded as one of the most important acts to eme ...

) and

Peter Hook Peter Hook (born Woodhead; 13 February 1956) is an English musician, best known as the bassist and co-founder of the rock bands Joy Division and New Order. Hook often used the bass as a lead instrument, playing melodies on the high strings w ...

(

Joy Division Joy Division were an English rock band formed in Salford in 1976. The group consisted of vocalist Ian Curtis, guitarist/keyboardist Bernard Sumner, bassist Peter Hook and drummer Stephen Morris. Sumner and Hook formed the band after atte ...

/ New Order). Freebass disbanded before releasing its debut album, '' It's a Beautiful Life'', in 2010. In 2006, Mani fulfilled a lifelong ambition by playing live the album he described as the "most influential of his life" in full at the

100 Club The 100 Club is a music venue located at 100 Oxford Street, London, England, where it has been hosting live music since 24 October 1942. It was originally called the Feldman Swing Club, but changed its name when the father of the current owner ...

, with two of the original artists when he played with

Rat Scabies Christopher John Millar (born 30 July 1955), known by his stage name Rat Scabies, is a musician best known as the drummer for English punk rock band the Damned. Career Millar was born in Kingston upon Thames, Surrey. He played drums with Tor ...

& Brian James of The Damned, at the 30th anniversary of their debut album, '' Damned Damned Damned''. Mounfield made a guest appearance on the STV fishing programme ''Trout 'n About'' along with former

guitarist Throb and presenters Gregor Rankine and Paul Campion as they go trout fishing at Drummond Trout Farm & Fishery in Scotland. Mounfield appeared at the "Manchester Versus Cancer" event on 30 March 2007, performing a DJ set and appearing with Ian Brown for the finale, the Stone Roses' "

I Am the Resurrection "I Am the Resurrection" is a song by the Stone Roses and the final song on the UK version of their debut album. The last four minutes of the song is an instrumental outro. The single was released on 30 March 1992, and reached number 33 on t ...

". He also appeared as a celebrity guest at the 2009 World Darts Championship. He made a guest appearance at

Paul Weller Paul John Weller (born John William Weller; 25 May 1958) is an English singer-songwriter and musician. Weller achieved fame with the punk rock/ new wave/mod revival band the Jam (1972–1982). He had further success with the blue-eyed soul mu ...

's performance at the Manchester MEN arena on 4 December 2010, playing tambourine. On 18 October 2011, after touring the album ''

Screamadelica ''Screamadelica'' is the third studio album by Scottish rock band Primal Scream. It was first released on 23 September 1991 in the United Kingdom by Creation Records and on 8 October 1991 in the United States by Sire Records. The album marked a ...

'' with

for most of that year, Mani revealed he had left Primal Scream to reform the Stone Roses.

Personal life

Mounfield is a supporter of

Manchester United Manchester () is a city in Greater Manchester, England. It had a population of 552,000 in 2021. It is bordered by the Cheshire Plain to the south, the Pennines to the north and east, and the neighbouring city of Salford to the west. The ...

and appeared on

Sky One Sky One was a British pay television channel operated and owned by Sky Group (a division of Comcast). Originally launched on 26 April 1982 as Satellite Television, it was Europe's first satellite and non- terrestrial channel. From 31 July 1989, ...

's programme ''Football Years''. He also revealed on

Play UK Play UK was a television channel broadcasting in the United Kingdom as part of the UKTV network of channels. Play UK broadcast all day on the digital platforms, but on the Sky Analogue platform on the Astra 19.2°E satellite system it broadcast ...

programme ''Nu Music'' that although he supports Manchester United in England, he is Mancunian Irish and was brought up to support

Ireland Ireland ( ; ga, Éire ; Ulster-Scots: ) is an island in the North Atlantic Ocean, in north-western Europe. It is separated from Great Britain to its east by the North Channel, the Irish Sea, and St George's Channel. Ireland is the s ...

. In 2019, Mani accepted the Made of Athy Award from his mother's hometown in Athy, Co. Kildare. Mani accepts award copy

Awards

References

External links

* Official websites
Primal ScreamThe Stone Roses

Official website celebrating the 20th anniversary of The Stone Roses' debut album
{{DEFAULTSORT:Mani 1962 births Living people Alternative rock bass guitarists British alternative rock musicians Madchester musicians English rock bass guitarists Male bass guitarists English people of Irish descent Musicians from Greater Manchester People from Failsworth Primal Scream members The Stone Roses members Freebass members