ManGoneBlog, Interview: Metro Manilla Aide

Interview: Metro Manilla Aide - COMEBACK

My my my. Metro Manilla Aide (MMA). Where do I start? Well some (a lot) of you will remember these guys back in the day. Over 600 gigs, hardcore performances and a fan base that were just as insane as the band themselves! Then the worst happened, they split. I don’t know about you but Liverpool wasn’t the same without a poster as big a children branded with their name on every corner of Ropewalks. But alas, they were left with us merely as a memory…

Then came December 2011! The news that there is going to be an MMA comeback in January was announced! New line up, new tracks, new everything. My heart can not take this folly! I caught up with head angel and band figure head, Mr Saul Godman, to catch up on what’s been and what’s to come. Enjoy…

Joe ManGone: So yo, Metro Manilla is back! Where have you been? And why did you even go? You’ve been missed.

Saul Godman: Well first off thanks! I’ve missed it too!! I haven’t stopped with music but I’ve been to Amsterdam a couple of times. I must have done about a hundred gigs in the past year with different bands and a good few sessions but let me make it clear. It wasn’t my choice to put Metro on hiatus. One member left, then another member was a bit disappointed that happened so he also left. I can’t speak for them but I know I can’t leave. The band is a part of me, I can’t leave myself. I carried straight on gigging with the other bands I’m in and found myself gigging in LA about 3 months later. I never stop writing or appreciating other people’s music. I even stopped smoking dope to concentrate more on the music!

JM. That’s a major life tweak! And you’ve made a slight tweakage to the line up too. Who’s new?

SG: Well I am so proud to have these guys as new members. Not only are they amazing musicians that very much want the best for the songs but they are also some of the nicest guys I know. Really friendly and kind. Everything I’m not! (laughs). They literally have no ego to the point of asking me if they are doing OK. 99% of the time it’s better than i could have ever imagined!

So on drums we have Pete Roper from local band Arkaidence. A very hard hitting drummer who is beyond technical. He plays any style, teaches and even teaches me! He’s very cool and very humble and even a little shy until you give him a pair of sticks.

Then on guitar we have Frank Ryan an absolute monster! He is like James Hetfield incarnate! Things I alternate pick he does with all downstrokes. He sings, he writes and he’s very positive and very funny!!

Did I mention Pete also plays guitar and bass like a demon? Seriously, if he wasnt so nice I’d hate him!

Then also on guitar we have Adam Lucas who I first saw playing with MPC when he was only 19 and even then I was blown away by him. He has brilliant musicality brilliant presence and he’s such an ‘up’ person you cant help but smile around him!! He also plays with a band called ‘Always The Quiet Ones’ who have a brilliant American singer. As well as his non stop rifer he has lovely little effected bits and arpeggiated bits. He’s an all round legend!

On bass we have Kabir D’Silva. Now he cracks me up non stop. He riffs like a rampant rabbit and he is very intellectual, considerate and far beyond the stereotype of what a typical metal head is. And he’s not even a metal head! He knows everything about black metal, the darkest evilest low fi stuff he can get his hands on. He’s very involved with that whole movement and he’s going to be massive someday and I don’t mean fat! He also has his own band called ‘Black Magician’ and they are very stoner/doom. Very heavy and dark. His tone and heart is massive!

(Crowds going crazy for MMA. Hub Fest ‘08)

JM: You guys were huge on the local scene back in the day. Any pressure on the comeback?

SG: Well I’ve put on quite a bit of weight since then, especially around my top lip and ponytail area… But seriously, I do feel a bit of pressure. I’m happiest when im playing but its taken a year to get the band going again and although it is better than ever the whole world is in a recession. Everyone has to eat, I have gone hungry enough times since the band split up and I’m sure I’ll go hungry again if it means someone else gets to eat. What I’m saying is yes, I feel pressure but as soon as I say it out loud I am just thankful for everything I have.

JM: What’s the sound of Metro going to be? Are we to expect something new, the same Metro we know and love or a bit of both?

SG: Well, back then I was the youngest in the band and although I wrote the majority of the songs I had little or no say over the content. It was a very unmusical way to work, very frustrating and very dissatisfying! The only thing that got me through was giving it my all and hoping people appreciated it. I mean I used to punch myself in the face for effect! And that really hurts!! But I had to do it because I meant it, that was who I was. But right now I don’t mean that. I just love music more than ever and I don’t hate anymore. I don’t hate other people and I don’t hate myself. Smoking weed was a way for me to escape reality and in a way I loved that because I hated reality (laughs). But now I am loving reality and loving being sober and loving everything more than ever. What I’m saying is you’re going to get heavy music of course but heavy music isn’t necessarily about hate. You are also going to get reggae breakdowns, acoustic interludes, funk free for alls and a lot more singing than there was in the old stuff. Although there will still be a bit of the old romantic poetry (laughs).

(Saul Godman - Liverpool to Manilla)

JM: Giving up weed must have been hard? Has it affected you for good or for bad?

SG:It’s hard not smoking anymore because I had a bad habit for about 10 years. But after 10 seconds of stopping the cravings went. I want be a good example, I want to keep being strong because I get more enjoyment from sharing and caring and loving and giving! I think smoking weed was good for me, it’s a natural anti-depressant but if you take anti-depressants all day for 10 years they don’t have the same effect. At some point you have to choose life and I have.

JM: Take That’s come back was pretty big. What member of Take That would you be?

SG: I like Gary Barlow’s song writing but I also like working with other songwriters like Robbie Williams did. I think I’m going to say Mark Owen because we are both gay.

JM. What are Metro’s plans for the coming months and what have you been working on?

SG: I would love to tell everyone right now what’s coming up but I can’t say anything at the moment. Unfortunately I am under strict instruction with what I can and can’t say. Not regarding the music as much but more like the promo etc. and I know it’s for the good of the band in the long run. I gotta do it! But I can say it’s going to be a little bit like the old Metro except about 30,000 times better! Higher vibes, played better, better performance, better sound, wider range of sound and style and with even more heart! We’ve been really trying and we are going to give it all we’ve got!