Gary "Mani" Mounfield (born 16 November 1962)Warshaw, Aaron
Mani
allmusic.com is an English

rock Rock most often refers to: * Rock (geology), a naturally occurring solid aggregate of minerals or mineraloids * Rock music, a genre of popular music Rock or Rocks may also refer to: Places United Kingdom * Rock, Caerphilly, a location in Wale ...

bassist, best known for being a member of

the Stone Roses The Stone Roses were an English rock band formed in Manchester in 1983. They were 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 I ...

and

Primal Scream Primal Scream are a Scottish rock music, rock band originally formed in 1982 in Glasgow by Bobby Gillespie (vocals) and Jim Beattie (musician), Jim Beattie (guitar). The band's current lineup consists of Gillespie, Andrew Innes (guitar), Simon ...

Career

Mounfield attended

Xaverian College Xaverian College is a Roman Catholic college located in Rusholme, Manchester, England, approximately south of the city centre. Established in 1862, it is recognised as being one of the most oversubscribed sixth form colleges in Greater Manches ...

Rusholme Rusholme () is an area of Manchester, in Greater Manchester, England, two miles south of the Manchester city centre, city centre. The population of the ward at the United Kingdom Census 2011, 2011 census was 13,643. Rusholme is bounded by Chorl ...

Manchester Manchester () is a city and the metropolitan borough of Greater Manchester, England. It had an estimated population of in . Greater Manchester is the third-most populous metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, with a population of 2.92&nbs ...

. He developed an interest in

darts Darts is a competitive sport in which two or more players bare-handedly throw small projectile point, sharp-pointed projectile, projectiles known as dart (missile), darts at a round shooting target, target known as a #Dartboard, dartboard. Point ...

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

(part of the "

Madchester Madchester was a musical and cultural scene that emerged in the English city of Manchester during the late 1980s, closely associated with the indie dance movement. Indie dance (also referred to as indie rave) blended indie rock with elements o ...

" music scene) in 1987. Playing on both of the band's albums, Mounfield was in the Stone Roses until they disbanded in 1996. Mounfield used a Rickenbacker 4005

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

-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, who are the two founders and only consistent members of the ...

and

Oasis In ecology, an oasis (; : oases ) is a fertile area of a desert or semi-desert environment In 2003, with Damon Minchella having left

Ocean Colour Scene Ocean Colour Scene (often abbreviated to OCS) is an English rock band formed in Birmingham 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 d ...

, he toured with the band supporting the

Stereophonics Stereophonics are a Welsh pop and rock music, Welsh rock band formed in 1992 in the village of Cwmaman in the Cynon Valley. The band consists of Kelly Jones (lead vocals, lead guitar, keyboards), Richard Jones (Stereophonics), Richard Jones (n ...

, 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. Primal_Scream_2009

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 City Football Club is a professional association football, football club based in Manchester, England, that competes in the Premier League, the English football league system, top flight of Football in England, English footbal ...

won the

European Cup The UEFA Champions League (UCL) is an annual club association football competition organised by the Union of European Football Associations (UEFA) that is contested by top-division European clubs. The competition begins with a round robi ...

", 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 musician. He was the lead singer and the only continuous member of the alternative rock band the Stone Roses from their formation in 1983. Following the band's initial split in 1996, he be ...

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 List of largest cities in Spain, most populous municipality of Spain. It has almost 3.5 million inhabitants and a Madrid metropolitan area, metropolitan area population of approximately 7 million. It i ...

and

Barcelona Barcelona ( ; ; ) is a city on the northeastern coast of 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 were interviewed for the Manchester Music show on

BBC The British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) is a British public service broadcaster headquartered at Broadcasting House in London, England. Originally established in 1922 as the British Broadcasting Company, it evolved into its current sta ...

GMR whilst attending a gig by

the Coral The Coral are an English rock band, formed in 1996 in Hoylake on the Wirral Peninsula, Merseyside. The band emerged during the early 2000s. Their 2002 debut album ''The Coral (album), The Coral'', from which came the single "Dreaming of You (T ...

. Mounfield toured with the Enemy on their UK tour. 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 Freebass were an English rock supergroup consisting of, originally, three bassists - Andy Rourke (formerly of The Smiths), Peter Hook (formerly of Joy Division & New Order) and Gary "Mani" Mounfield (of The Stone Roses and Primal Scream) - ...

with bass players

Andy Rourke Andrew Michael Rourke (17 January 1964 – 19 May 2023) was an English musician best known as the bassist of the 1980s indie rock band the Smiths. Regarded as one of the greatest bassists of his generation, he was known for his melodic and funk- ...

(ex-

the Smiths The Smiths were an English Rock music, rock band formed in Manchester in 1982, composed of Morrissey (vocals), Johnny Marr (guitar), Andy Rourke (bass) and Mike Joyce (musician), Mike Joyce (drums). Morrissey and Marr formed the band's songwrit ...

) and

Peter Hook Peter Hook (born 13 February 1956) is an English musician. He was the bassist and co-founder of the post-punk band Joy Division and its successor New Order. He often used the bass as a lead instrument, playing melodies on the high strings wi ...

(

Joy Division Joy Division were an English Rock music, rock band formed in Salford in 1976. The group consisted of vocalist, guitarist and lyricist Ian Curtis, guitarist and keyboardist Bernard Sumner, bassist Peter Hook and drummer Stephen Morris (musici ...

New Order New Order may refer to: Politics * ''L'Ordine Nuovo'' (''The New Order''), a socialist newspaper edited by Antonio Gramsci in the early 1920s * ''New Order in East Asia'', propaganda term for Japanese-dominated East Asia announced by Japanese ...

). Freebass disbanded before releasing its debut album, '' It's a Beautiful Life'', in 2010. He appeared at the "Manchester Versus Cancer" event on 30 March 2007, performing a

DJ set A DJ mix or DJ mixset is a sequence of musical tracks typically mixed together by a DJ to appear as one continuous track. DJ mixes are usually performed using a DJ mixer and multiple sounds sources, such as turntables, CD players, digital audio ...

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 ...

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

Paul Weller John William Weller (born 25 May 1958), better known as Paul Weller, is an English singer-songwriter and musician. Weller achieved fame in the late 1970s as the guitarist and principal singer and songwriter of the rock band the Jam, alongside ...

's performance at the Manchester MEN arena on 4 December 2010, playing tambourine. On 18 October 2011 Mani announced that he had left Primal Scream to reform the Stone Roses.

Personal life

Mounfield is a supporter of

Manchester United Manchester United Football Club, commonly referred to as Man United (often stylised as Man Utd) or simply United, is a professional association football, football club based in Old Trafford (area), Old Trafford, Greater Manchester, Engl ...

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 music and comedy television channel broadcasting in the United Kingdom as part of the UKTV network of channels. Play UK broadcast 24/7 on digital platforms, but on the Sky Analogue platform on the Astra 19.2°E satellite system, ...

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

Ireland Ireland (, ; ; Ulster Scots dialect, Ulster-Scots: ) is an island in the North Atlantic Ocean, in Northwestern Europe. Geopolitically, the island is divided between the Republic of Ireland (officially Names of the Irish state, named Irelan ...

. During the 13 month long recording of the second Stone Roses album "Second Coming" at

Rockfield Studios Rockfield Studios is a residential recording studio located in the Wye Valley just outside the village of Rockfield, Monmouthshire, Wales. It was founded in 1963 by brothers Kingsley and Charles Ward. Recording studios Rockfield is a two-stu ...

Monmouth, Wales Monmouth ( or ; ) is a market town and community in Monmouthshire, Wales, situated on where the River Monnow joins the River Wye, from the Wales–England border. The population in the 2011 census was 10,508, rising from 8,877 in 2001. Monm ...

, Mani met his wife Imelda. The couple have twin sons. His wife Imelda died of cancer in November 2023. Since 1991, Mounfield has resided in

Heaton Moor Heaton Moor is a suburb of Stockport, Greater Manchester, England. It is one of the Four Heatons and borders Heaton Chapel, Heaton Norris and Heaton Mersey. Heaton Moor has Victorian housing, built between 1852 and 1892, along affluent tree ...

Stockport Stockport is a town in Greater Manchester, England, south-east of Manchester, south-west of Ashton-under-Lyne and north of Macclesfield. The River Goyt, Rivers Goyt and River Tame, Greater Manchester, Tame merge to create the River Mersey he ...

. 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 British male bass guitarists English people of Irish descent DJs from Manchester Musicians from Greater Manchester People from Failsworth Primal Scream members The Stone Roses members Freebass members