Shaun Ryder has described himself as a ‘caricature’ during those infamous hedonistic days as frontman of the Happy Mondays.
Having been signed to Tony Wilson‘s Factory label, the Mondays spearheaded a new youth movement in their home city, living the rock n roll lifestyle to its extremes as late-80s Manchester became known as ‘Madchester’.
However, Ryder has told The Guardian newspaper the hellraiser now synonymous with the Hacienda, Factory, and all it entailed, was never the real him.
“The Shaun Ryder in the Happy Mondays isn’t the real Shaun Ryder,” he said. “It’s a caricature. Always has been. We really wanted to be rock ‘n’ roll, so we became rock ‘n’ roll. It’s a stretched, warped version of myself.”
Shaun Ryder is currently promoting his new autobiography Twisting My Melon, which documents his times with the Mondays and Black Grape and his subsequent struggles with drug addiction, while also looking at his new found fame after a spot on the UK reality series I’m a Celebrity…Get Me Out Of Here!.