FROM RADIO ONE: Nemone

FROM THE HAPPY MONDAYS: Shaun Ryder

FROM GALAXY 102.2: Roger Sanchez

FROM MANUMISSION: Andy (promoter)

DJ: Lisa Lashes

Shaun Ryder. One of the most famous people in modern music today. Some see him as a sad shadow of his former self - others believe he is still a living legend. How he is still living, remains a mystery - given his immense drug use. "Me and Bez are still alive either because we are made of celluloid or a lot of the press you believe is actually fucking bollocks!, or we are just lucky fuckers". I'm thinking it's quite possibly the latter.

Shaun has only just seen a long running legal case come to an end, meaning he can finally release new material. However, he's closely guarded as to whether or not this will happen. "My legal bloocks will never end, but I can make album again" he says, "I don't want to say what I want to do as I am too supersticious".

Both Shaun and Bez both have grown up kids, and I wonder what they make of their fathers. "Our kids, some probably older than you, don't know or notice anything different or strange about our and their lives except when very young they thought everybody's dad was on the telly". I would love to ask his kids exactly what they do think of their father, who still lives next door to Bez.

As well as Shaun and Bez, another Monday's star has recently regained some fame. I'm talking of course, about X-Factor Contestant and Monday's backing singer Rowetta, who Bez once said was the reason the Mondays had no groupies. "It was Bez's little blag, he used to keep his ex of 16 years off his back. Although the backing singer did tend to attack girls that tried to get near the band, (psycho mother bunny boiler figure)".

Before interviewing Shaun, I had a look at some of the many books written about the band, and I wondered if, now Shaun's legal battle was over, any more would follow. "There are maybe four or so books wrote about me all bullshit full of false facts. One, which is a collection of magazine Melody Maker and NME interviews by some twat called Mick Muddles. There is some book called Halleluja that I endorsed written by my friend fellow Daily Sport writer, fat twat, stand-up comedian John Warbuton. Only Bez has wrote a book, a great piece of fiction written on glue and magic mushrooms we agree to disagree on dates, years and events and thoroughly enjoy our conversations".

The reason we've been granted this interview, is to plug the Monday's appearance at Global Gathering. However, Shaun clearly can't be arsed to plug it himself. When I ask what we can expect from their set, he replies "That we will make it to the gig", and when I ask what he's got planned after this summer's festival dates, his response is "I'm not telling you". Good to see his humour is still in tact if little else is.

Shaun and Bez (or as Shaun calls him, Bumble) are probably the only two members of the band most people could name. I question Shaun on how the other's feel about not doing publicity. "Me and Bumble have always done that shit, it takes up a lot of time and is often boring so the rest of the band tend to go missing when it's plug time".

The Happy Mondays are one of Manchester's more successful exports. I tried to push Shaun on his opinions of other Manc bands that have survived - Oasis for example. "I have stopped slagging other bands now I've grown up and wish everybody all the best. I haven't had a chance to hear the new Oasis stuff yet..... do your thing it's only rock and roll!".

In my research, I unearth a beauty of a quote from Shaun, which is made all the more genious given the fact that Bez won Celebrity Big Brother last year. Aledgely, Shaun once said "it's better than doing any of that washed-up reality TV bollocks! I've had offers but there's no way i'd do it. The only person who's come out of that and not looked a total knob-head is Johnny Rotten". On presenting this quote to Shaun, he claims he has never used the words "washed up" and adds, "Rotten is real, like Bez, both people's people. Bez was there for the doe and I told him he would win. Bumble always comes out looking good".

Shaun's offers include "Big Brother plus most of the other shit programmes like that doing the rounds, also the versions of them in different countries. I don't like those shows, I don't like meeting new people and the money doesn't bother me". Shame, cos I would offer my own money to have seen Shaun on "Celebrity Love Island".

When the Monday's went pair-shaped in the 90's, Shaun and Bez bounced back with Black Grape. However, they suffered poor reviews, and never emulated the success of the Happy Mondays. When I put this to Shaun, he disagrees. "Black Grape had a number 1 album - the Mondays didn't. We had quite a few problems with people associated with Black Grape - Managers, Tour Managers and general wankers from the music business hanging around and whispering in the ears of individuals new to the business which caused lack of effort being put into the second album because the team had falled apart". He goes on, "Black Grape finished before it began. The Monday's last album was Black Grape's first album - or should have been. But the ideas that became Black Grapes first album were rejected by the rest of the dickheads in the Happy Mondays".

While Shaun refuses to tour with the Happy Mondays again, he is clearly keen to play one off shows. I finish the interview by asking who he's looking forward to seeing perform at Global Gathering. I should have really predicted the answer that followed - "I don't know what's on at Global Gathering".

Happy Mondays play live at Global Gathering (http://www.globalgathering.co.uk), 29 July & Get Loaded in the Park (www.getloadedinthepark.com), 28 August