I love a good power trio, and I always have. What’s more fun than a supergroup? There is something special about three people making amazing noise, especially when two of them are already in the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.
Don’t know Manraze? The band has been around for over twenty years, just released a five-disc collection of their work, and counts members of two legendary bands among its ranks: Def Leppard and the Sex Pistols. Manraze is Phil Collen (guitar, Def Leppard, Girl), Paul Cook (drums, Sex Pistols), and Simon Laffy (bass, Girl).
Manraze has put out music over the years, and I first discovered the band on their second record, “PunkFunkRootsRock.” The group kept making music during downtime from their respective main bands, and now all of that work is finally out.
Lock, Stock & Barrel
They just released “Lock, Stock & Barrel,” a five-disc set featuring the band’s first two albums, a disc of unreleased rarities, a disc of live acoustic performances, and a full instrumental disc. It’s massive Manraze. The music is scrappy, with a punk polish, an R&B infusion, and rock rhythm — all the influences melding together with master musicians.
I recently caught up with Manraze guitarist and vocalist Phil Collen and drummer Paul “Cookie” Cook for a fun hang on my Carr Stereo Podcast. We discussed how the band formed, whether they’ll tour, and how the “London lifestyle” has influenced music and pop culture over the years.
How Manraze Came Together
*Editor’s Note: Answers have been edited for clarity and length.*
Terrie Carr: Oh my gosh, my heart is so full. Being the rock fan that I am, I get to sit down with the one and only Phil Collen and, of course, Paul Cook from the Pistols — the guys behind the band Manraze. Wow!
Before we get into everything going on with Manraze, since you guys are doing a retrospective and every disc in this collection is a unique band experience, we’ll get into that. But first…
I have a vision of you guys meeting as young guys. If my vision is wrong, just “BS” me and go along for the ride. I’m picturing Phil in the band “Girl” and Paul in “The Pistols,” meeting as scrappy lads with a pub involved and maybe even a fight. Was it anything like that when you guys met, or no?
Paul “Cookie” Cook: No, well actually probably! it was. It probably was in a pub because we’d run into each other before we actually knew each other.
Phil Collen: Yeah, that was a pretty apt description of some of them pubs. Scrawny teenagers, you know, whatever they are, lorrying around and all of that stuff. Yeah, and other bands, lots of bands in the scene. There was just a great scene in London, And I think that’s where we would have probably run into each other in the first place.
Paul “Cookie” Cook: We crossed paths definitely along the way, but we were always kind of eyeing each other up with suspicion, you know, like we did in London. The cynical English: “Oh, he’s in that bloody heavy metal band” and “Yeah, and we’re the punks, you know. We’re not talking to them!” It was all a bit like that back in the day.
Phil Collen: Very territorial. Yeah!
Terrie Carr: You know, I got into you guys, Manraze, on the second record — that’s really when I discovered the band. I went back afterward and checked out the first one too. But my gosh, has it really been over twenty years since you formed?
Phil Collen: Yeah, it’s like 22 years, I think. Wow!
Paul Cook: We were really under the radar when we done this. You know, it was Phil’s idea, really. He wanted to do something outside of Leppard. And I think I’m right in saying that Phil and Simon (Laffy) on bass got the original idea together. They just thought it’d be great if we could get “Cookie” on drums, you know. And lo and behold, Phil bumped into me, literally. He was driving his car and nearly knocked me over in West London. And said, “Hey, I’ve got this idea for a band.” It’s true, a true story. “I’ve got this idea. Have a listen to this. Have a listen and see if you’re interested.” And that’s how it happened, basically. And when I listened to it I thought, “This is sounding interesting. Let’s get together and see where we go with it.” And like I said, it was really under the radar at the time. We put two albums out and nobody knew what was going on. And not that interested, to be that honest, but it’s good. It’s getting a new lease of life at the moment.
Finding the Manraze Sound
Terrie Carr: It’s interesting that you say that, because you say it was “interesting,” but people weren’t really interested. Interesting is an understatement, though, because there are so many flavors, textures, and feelings in this music. I am such a sucker for a power trio. You guys have a very unique feel with Manraze; there’s a little bit of a sprinkling of something for everyone in this band. So how did all of these flavors come together?
Phil Collen: I think you just summed it up. I mean, it’s a bit of all of those things. And I think the great thing is that you don’t have to paint yourself into a corner. We don’t have to sound like The Pistols or Def Leppard or anything, really. We could just open it wide open. So it was really creative and it was really artistically refreshing and inspiring to be able to just do that. And being a 3-piece, honestly, it was magical the first time we played. We were like, well, it just had a sound. It just worked. And you could go off on a tangent. And no one was saying, “Well, perhaps we shouldn’t do that?” It was none of that. It was like, this all works. So I think that was it, really. It, I mean, we we didn’t even know what to call it. Well, I still don’t know what to call it, but it’s it is eclectic. It’s it’s got a thing, it’s diverse, it’s culturally and musically genre diverse.
Will Manraze Tour?
Terrie Carr: Phil, you’re days away from leaving for the Def Leppard tour, but we need a Manraze show in New York City! This is custom-made for New York. Can we make that happen? How do we do this?
Phil Collen: I agree. We’re actually talking about if we get the time doing a tour of London, like, you know, do three places, two little, three little places around London within a week or so because we’d all be there, you know, so it’s not much of a stress. But yeah, depending on if we can pull that off and all goes well there, who knows? New York would be amazing.
Terrie Carr: Cookie, can you get on this? I’m thinking if anybody can make it happen, it’s Cookie. Paul Cook has got the clout!
Paul Cook: Well, it all depends on schedules, obviously. Like Phil said, he’s out on the road again and we are as well with the Pistols featuring Frank Carter for the rest of this year. If we get a bit of feedback and a bit of love of what’s going on at the moment with Manraze, it’ll be worth doing it and it’d be nice to do it because I don’t think we got the kudos, when we originally released the first two albums. We put a lot of work into it. And if, like I said, we get a bit of feedback, who knows? Strange things happened in this crazy rock and roll world, don’t they?
Want to learn more about Manraze? Check out my interview with Phil and Cookie, plus the “Lock, Stock & Barrel” five-disc set and their new single, “I Surrender,” which also features vocalist Debbie Blackwell Cook (and actually sounds a lot like Pink Floyd!). And a huge thanks to these two legends for the time to chat and the fun I had talking Manraze!
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