In the Land of the Nod

"When Fools Gold was sampled by Run DMC I thought, 'Here's Mister fucking Whitey being sampled by some black hip-hop monsters, man. I was like, come on. That for me was the ultimate buzz. I've always been into that kind of music and here was me, some white guy from Manchester, getting sampled by one of the biggest hip-hop bands in the world, man. It was amazing." Ask Mani if he and Roses drummer Reni deliberately set out to get people dancing and he'll look at you with disbelief: "That's what the bass and drums are for, aren't they?" he says, laughing and frowning at the same time. "That's what they're for." "I dunno but I think you look sexier with a bass around your neck than a fucking sampler, y'know what I mean? You can't beat the feel of a human playing. Humans play the machines and, like I say, it works well but people want to see..." he searches for the answer: "....me, pogoing around with a bass, gurning and going fucking mad and dropping licks."