Nicky Wire talks to Hot Press about the Manics' Escape From History film, their new album & the bad-tempered Ireland v Wales game

Nicky Wire has been talking to Hot Press about the Everything Must Go ‘Making Of’ documentary, Escape From History, which premieres on Saturday night at 9pm on Sky Arts.
“It was just ultimate triumph and ultimate tragedy, really,” Nicky says of the period bookended by Richie Edwards’ February 1, 1995 disappearance and the Manics winning Best Group at the ’97 Brit Awards. “The joy of selling over a million records in the UK and playing huge gigs, always tinged with the sadness that Richie wasn’t there with us. His lyrics are on some of the songs, but onstage we were never quite the same gang. We became a really great band, but we didn’t have that element of chaotic danger that me and Richie used to provide.
“The film is produced by Kieran Evans who is such a talented boy. As I've said before, it’s like finding your own Anton Corbijn. What he is to U2, Kieran is to us, really. We’ve been making videos with him for years, and he did that brilliant film, Kelly + Victor. He brought it all together going through my archives and shooting new stuff as well.”
In a far-ranging interview, Nicky reveals that the follow-up to 2014’s Futurology should be with us before Christmas.
“We got kicked out of our studio six months ago because of urban sprawl in Cardiff, and have been building a new one, outside Newport. It’s the first time in about 15 years that we’ve not seen each other every day, so it’s been really weird. We need a basecamp otherwise we don’t function too well. We really want to get a record out this year, so I’m just writing millions of words at the moment and sending them to James through the post – he’s managing to do acoustic demos and stuff. We’re working very primitively, which is kinda good.”
He also has plenty to say about the recent Ireland v. Wales World Cup qualifier.
“It was like Roy Keane had given a good team talk,” he proffers. “It was such a horrible, dirty, destructive match. Obviously, I felt terrible for Seamus Coleman. It was a really awful challenge. Neil Taylor’s not a particularly hard or dirty player, but it got out of control, and that’s when bad stuff can happen.”
And that really is just the tip of the Manics iceberg. Read the full Nicky Wire interview in the issue of Hot Press out on Thursday April 27.

Manic Street Preachers: Escape From History - Teaser from CC-Lab on Vimeo.