A landmark photography project
Photography by Beck McNally
Gary "Mani" Mounfield is a rock bassist, best known for being a member of The Stone Roses and Primal Scream.
Born in Crumpsall, North Manchester in 1962, Mani describes himself as Mancunian Irish and is a lifelong Manchester United fan. He attended Xaverian College in Rusholme, leaving aged sixteen. He joined The Stone Roses in 1987.
The Stone Roses were one of the pioneering groups of the Madchester movement. The band released their debut album, The Stone Roses, in 1989. The album received critical acclaim, and it is regarded by many as one of the greatest British albums ever recorded. The Stone Roses released their second album, Second Coming in 1994. Mani played on both of the band's albums and was in the band until they disbanded in 1996.
Gary "Mani" Mountfield
The Stone Roses
He joined Primal Scream shortly afterwards and was a full-time Primal Scream member until 2011 when following intense media speculation, the Stone Roses called a press conference in October 2011 to announce that the band had reunited and would perform a reunion world tour in 2012, including three homecoming shows in Heaton Park, Manchester.
In 2016, the Stone Roses released their first new material in two decades. Mani and the band continued to tour until June 2017, at which point cryptic remarks by Ian Brown indicated the band had split again, which was later confirmed by Johns Squire in 2019
Mani had a guest role in the movie 24 Hour Party People (2002), and was in a supergroup band called Freebass with bass players Andy Rourke (ex-the Smiths) and Peter Hook (Joy Division/New Order). Freebass disbanded before releasing its debut album, It's a Beautiful Life.
Mani on stage
Mani & Primal Scream vocalist Bobby Gillespie
THE SHOOT: Old Trafford football stadium
Fanatical Manchester United fan Mani, chose to be photographed at his beloved football club
Student reflection: Beck McNally
For the lead up to my shoot with Mani The Stone Roses bassist, I wasn’t too nervous as I’d met him before, he’s a nice man and easy to chat to which combined with my confidence behind my camera didn’t leave me with too much to worry about.
We only had a limited amount time with Mani as he chose to park on a nearby double yellow line. He was a great model, doing as I asked and with a great amount of swagger - he’s definitely confident in front of the camera. I feel the location he chose also made the shoot a lot more positive, as he was obviously pleased to be outside of his home football ground of Old Trafford.
It was a good day for a shoot, not too bright and thankfully it wasn’t raining, but I ran into trouble when after shooting about 10 shots on my camera I know so well, I got an error message which wouldn’t allow me to shoot anymore, which I later found out was because my SD card he been corrupted. So eventually I ended up using tutor Harry’s camera, which I hadn’t used before, therefore some things were slightly different and there was a short adjustment phase for me but in the end it worked out just fine.
Ultimately I’m pleased with my final outcomes. The shoot was fast paced (not my usual style) and unlike anything I’d done before, but I feel I did well given the circumstances, and I’d look forward to doing more shoots like this, however for the future I’ll definitely have to invest in a second SD card!
