Indie
Interview: Shaun Ryder spills all on the first new Happy Mondays LP for 19 years and why he wants to be buried in a crisp packet...
Shaun Ryder spoke to Contact Music about the upcoming Happy Mondays tour marking the 35th anniversary of their album Pills 'n' Thrills and Bellyaches, why he's getting political on the band's first new album for 19 years and why he needs a new hip.
Shaun Ryder has been twistin' our melons with his music for 40 years.
As one British music’s most unpredictable and enduring frontmen, he first exploded onto the scene in the late 1980s as the lyricist and driving force behind The Happy Mondays, helping define the Madchester movement with debut album Squirrel and G-Man Twenty Four Hour Party People Plastic Face Carnt Smile (White Out) and era-defining hits like Step On and Kinky Afro.
After the band’s initial split, he formed Black Grape with rapper Paul "Kermit" Leveridge, scoring fresh success in the mid-90s, with the band's debut LP It's Great When You're Straight...Yeah going to number one on the Official UK Albums Chart.
Proving he could have hits in the 2000s, Shaun teamed up with Damon Albarn's group Gorillaz on the 2005 smash hit single Dare.
Shaun is still collaborating and experimenting now. Away from The Happy Mondays and Black Grape, he is part of super-group Mantra of the Cosmos along with his Happy Mondays bandmate Bez, Oasis and Ride musician Andy Bell and former Oasis and The Who drummer Zak Starkey, the song of Beatles legend Sir Ringo Starr and the man who formed the psychedelic collective. In 2025, they released single Domino Bones (Gets Dangerous), which was co-written by Noel Gallagher - who has described Shaun as "the British Bob Dylan" and "king of lyrics".
Away from music, Shaun cemented himself as a national treasure, finishing as runner-up thanks to the British public when he appeared on jungle reality TV show I'm A Celebrity... Get Me Out Of Here! in 2010. And his unique take on the world and on television has made him and Happy Mondays bandmate and best mate Bez permanent fixtures on Celebrity Gogglebox.
Seemingly as popular with aliens from outer space - Shaun has shared several extra-terrestrial experiences - as he is on planet Earth, Shaun and the Happy Mondays are heading out on the road to mark the 35th anniversary of their seminal 1995 album Pills 'n' Thrills and Bellyaches.
Contact Music's Philip Hamilton caught up with Shaun to talk about why the Happy Mondays' music is cross-generational, his inspiration for the band's first new album for 19 years, why he could never become a Tory, living with ADHD and what the American government is hiding from us...
Contact Music: Can you believe it's been 35 years since Pills 'n' Thrills and Bellyaches came out?
Shaun Ryder: No! Sometimes it feels like five minutes ago, it just depends on what sort of f***ing mood I’m in.
Does it surprise you that people still love that record so much?
Well, it still pretty much sounds like it could have been made last week, production techniques haven’t changed much. It’s a cool record.
Do you still enjoy touring with the Happy Mondays now as you ever did?
Oh yeah. The reality of it is we’ve been touring as the Mondays since 1999 when me and Bez and Gaz Whelan put the Mondays back together then. It’s not stopped since, really.
There's been talk of a new Happy Mondays album, how is it coming along?
I was back in the studio recording new Mondays stuff and then I broke off to do The Black Grape tour and now I’m back in the studio carrying on making the new Mondays album. Up to now, I think I’ve got about six tracks, so I need another six for the album. I’m in the studio with the producers doing the writing, the other members haven’t done anything yet. I’m just with the producers, but yeah we’ve got six new tracks.
With Mantra of the Cosmos I don’t have to structure because Zak just records everything and I leave that up to him. With the stuff I do with the Mondays, and Black Grape, I’ve got to do verse / chorus / verse / chorus and f***ing structure the songs.
I’m working in the same as we did Pills 'n' Thrills, basically. Get some beats up and then add basslines and guitars late when we’ve got the beats and I’ve written the lyrics.
Who are you working with on the album?
I’m working with the guy from All Seeing I who did Walk Like A Panther with Tony Christie (1999 single) - Richard Barratt, he's from Sheffield.
What’s on your mind with your lyrics Shaun?
Same old bulls**t! Same old b*****ks. My sort of songwriting is that I write cartoon, black comedy, f***ing songs, stories, you know?
Growing up as a little kid, going to infant school, growing up with I Am The Walrus, Bungalow Bill, Octopus’s Garden, The Beatles, all that sort of stuff going on, that’s where I come from with songwriting. I take a few things from the news, mix it in with a bit of real life and then add all sorts of cartoon bulls**t.
As you're watching the news, any politics influencing the tunes?
Yeah, that f***ing orange w***er [Trump]. It’s certainly influenced by him. I hate him. He’s a ****!
What about British politics does the Prime Minister Keir Starmer come into your thoughts?
Well, I’m Labour, you know. I was born Labour, even though I shouldn’t really vote Labour because of the f***ing tax. I get f***ing taxed enough as it is. But I just bring myself to be a Tory, I just f***ing can’t.
When can we expect the Mondays album to come out?
Hopefully that should be out either towards the end of the year or 2027, whenever Alan (McGee) thinks is the best time to release it. I can’t see it not being finished well before the summer.
Happy Mondays / Credit: Creation Management
You’ve spoken about your ADHD diagnosis at the age of 50 in the past few years. Do you think your ADHD has helped you as a songwriter and a musician?
Do you mean like having a f***ing brain like a watering can? I suppose so.
This super-power stuff, which is the in thing at the moment, that ADHD is a super-power, it sort of is and it sort of isn’t. There’s good things and there’s mad things about it.
The medication really helps. One of the f***ing reasons I self-medicated as a kid was because of ADHD, it was to make me feel f***ing normal and help me remember stuff. Learning is all about remembering and I could never remember f**k all in class. The medication helps me focus, and I can focus on s**t now.
But when the meds start wearing off - they should last longer but they wear off after a few hours - when the meds start wearing off I start flying off in about 19 different directions at once, forgetting what I’m talking about.
Is it a diagnosis you wish you had gotten earlier in your life?
No. What happens and what you go through just makes you who you are, so I’ve not really got any complaints about that. I’m really f***ing lucky.
Away from the Mondays what’s happening? Anything happening with Mantra of the Cosmos?
Well, Andy Bell went off doing Oasis, and then we had things to do. Now Oasis are having a bit of a break, I don’t know what they’re doing, but they’re not doing any shows. I don’t know if Andy is going out on the road with Ride. Whenever Zak gives us a shout I’m sure we’ll all be back at it again.
Zak has got enough, he’s got at least 12 tracks for a Cosmos album. I think he’s looking for a label to get it released. As soon as I get a shout I’ll get down to his studio. But he’s got enough there to make an album. I think he’s focusing on that.
You mentioned Andy doing the Oasis reunion, did you get to any of the shows?
Yeah, I went to the Manchester ones. There were f***ing better than ever, actually. More professional, still rock and roll. Liam was singing better than ever.
My youngest kids who are 17 and 18, they are into all the f***ing grime, but they still wanted to go the Oasis shows and so did all their mates because from being little they’ve listened to all those songs on the radio and whatever. So all the young ‘uns wanted to go. They were just great shows.
You mentioned Liam was singing better than ever, everyone agrees, He's got a few medical conditions like Hashimoto’s Disease so he made sure he was in the best of health for that huge tour…
He’s got two f***ing false hips and all! I’ve got one false hip but I’m a good few years f***ing older than him!
I’ve got one false hip and the other one has gone. I was supposed to have that one done last year, actually, but I just haven’t had enough time. I still can’t get the time to go and have another f***ing hip operation and be laid up in bed for god knows how long.
Could you get your hip fixed after the tour?
Maybe, but my missus will find something for me to do after this tour.
Did you get to hang out backstage with Liam and Noel when you went to the Oasis shows?
I saw Noel, but I didn’t see Liam. But I saw Noel hanging around with a few Man City players and that. He was good. It was a really good atmosphere there.
You must experience a similar thing at the Mondays shows? Different generations in the crowd…
Our fan base now, no bulls**t, goes from about eight to 80. At festivals you get whole families, mum, dad, the f***ing granddad, grandkids, the lot, all together.
Shaun Ryder performing at Camp Bestival in 2019 / Credit: AVALON
That must feel amazing, and something you could never have imagined 30 years ago when you were making those records?
Especially when you’re 18 and you’re starting off a f***ing band, you can’t imagine having whole families coming to see you.
You should sell family tickets for the tour, like a Legoland ticket, two adults and two kids, one set price…
Good idea! Is anyone else doing that? F**ing hell. You got anymore good ideas? Let me know!
(Laughs) You’ve done some fantastic collaborations in the past, like the Gorillaz song Dare, any other collabs coming up?
I get offers every week. But it’s got to be something that I really think is good. I get loads of stuff sent to me that just sounds like it’s been done in the ‘90s. But if something stands out to me then I’ll do it.
The Lee Scratch Perry one grabbed me. So anything that grabs or sounds different I’ll do it.
Can you share any names?
The good thing is I can’t remember them! I’d tell you if I could! I did that tune with The Lottery Winners. I like them. But I can’t remember. It’s like when I get asked what new artists I like, I can never remember their f***ing names.
Shaun Ryder with The Lottery Winners
Away from your music, you’re still on TV all the time. How was it getting your own funeral planned by Bez for Channel 4's Celebrity Send Off? Did you like the UFO theme?
You know what? It would have been really funny if they’d given me the f***ing funeral that Bez wanted to do. Obviously that was all supposed to be Bez’s idea, what they filmed, but they had to scale his down because the one he wanted to make was absolutely f***ing mad!
Bez’s idea was just a bit too way out, he wanted all sorts of things, shall we say dwarves in glass coffins. He wanted to give mushrooms to the people behind the cameras, he wanted to do all sorts.
Why dwarves?
F**k knows. There’s no dwarves in my family, I'm kind of tallish.
It’s quite an unusual concept for a TV show, did it get you thinking about what you do want for your own final send-off?
For me, you could put me in a f***ing crisp packet and bury me under a tree. Even though I’m Catholic I’m not f***ing a**ed. Just bury me in the f***ing back garden!
You've become synonymous with UFOs, have you had any sightings lately?
“I’ve not had any for a while. Every now and then something just turns up.
We’ve had all this [alien] technology since the 1980s anyway, so who knows what’s f***ing what. I believe we’ve got loads of s**t and know a lot of s**t. Time travelers and all that s**t.
Did you read what those soldiers and security guards were saying about the American soldiers when they went over and snatched the President of Venezuela? They were saying that they had these guns that were firing hundreds of rounds a micro-second and technology where everyone fell to the ground because of this sonic weapon.
I think we’ve had this technology a long time.
Have you followed the news about the interstellar comet 3I/ATLAS? There's a theory that it’s actually an alien mothership?
It’s certainly possible that it isn’t just a rock floating about in space.
We were talking about your final goodbye, sadly just a few months ago we lost Stone Roses bassist Mani, obviously a legend in Manchester, what are your memories of him? What did he mean to you as a musician and as a friend?
He was just a beautiful person. Mani was just a f***ing lovely guy and a funny f***er. If Mani hadn’t have made it as a musician then he would have been a f***ing stand-up comedian. He was a wonderful, f***ing beautiful bloke.
I was gutted because I couldn’t go to the funeral. We got back home after the Black Grape tour, I got pneumonia on that and Kermit got it. I come home for the funeral and I just collapsed. Bez and the rest of the lads from the Mondays went but I couldn’t get there. I was f***ing gutted.
The Happy Mondays kick off their UK tour celebrating the 35th anniversary of Pills 'n' Thrills and Bellyaches in Newcastle on 13th March and end in Belfast on 24th April. The run of shows includes dates along the way at The Roundhouse in London (27th March) and a hometown show at Manchester’s O2 Victoria Warehouse (11th April).
For more information and tickets go to www.alttickets.com and www.happymondaysofficial.co.uk.Â
Happy Mondays UK tour all dates:
13 March - Newcastle, O2 City Hall
14 March - Leeds, O2 Academy
15 March - Nottingham, Rock City
20 March - Cardiff, DEPOT
21 March - Liverpool, Mountford Hall
22 March - Sheffield, The Octagon
26 March - Cambridge, Corn Exchange
27 March - London, Roundhouse
28 March - Southend, Cliffs Pavilion
29 March - Norwich, The LCR
02 April - Brighton, Dome
03 April - Bristol, Beacon Hall
04 April - Birmingham, O2 Academy
05 April - Bournemouth, O2 Academy
09 April - Margate, Dreamland
10 April - Guildford, G Live
11 April - Manchester, O2 Victoria Warehouse
16 April - Glasgow, Barrowland
17 April - Glasgow, Barrowland
18 April - Glasgow, Barrowland
22 April - Dublin, Vicar Street
24 April - Belfast, Mandela Hall
