The Last Word

Nicky Wire

Kerrang

The ultimate questions on life, sex and cross-dressing. This week, Manic Street Preachers' Nicky Wire bares all to Paul Elliott.

- Last time you made a complete arse of yourself?
Ha! The last interview I did, probably. That's when I usually do it. The last time I said anything about Terrorvision! No, I listened to their album and it's not bad, is it? The things I really hate are much more serious than bands. The Tory government. I don't spend my life thinking about Terrorvision.

- Last time you slagged off a band during a gig?
Terrorvision! But it was only because they were on the video screen when we were playing at Sound City in Leeds, and I thought that was insulting.

- Last book you read?
'Homage To Catalonia' by George Orwell. I got into the Spanish Civil War. It's fantastic. I went on holiday to Barcelona a couple of years ago and went to a few of the cafés where George Orwell stayed. All the Welsh miners went there during the Civil War to fight against the fascists of Franco. It's quite a journalistic book. Barcelona's amazing. I'm not much of a traveller but I love going there. The people seem so nice to each other.

- Last great film you saw?
'Trainspotting' wasn't great. Has this got to be a recent film? The last film that blew me away was 'Rumblefish'. The best modern film is 'Braveheart'. I thought that was absolutely fucking brilliant. Mel (Gibson) wasn't bad, and the cinematography was amazing. Oh, and 'The Usual Suspects' - that's probably one of my top three films of all time. It's so original and you couldn't tell what was going on until right at the end.

- Last time you exercised?
Well I played loads of golf last summer. That's probably the last concerted effort I made. But it's not getting fit, is it, playing golf?

- Last item of clothing you bought?
A Stone Island shirt, a designer shirt. It's khaki. Khaki's in vogue for me at the moment. It's kind of a luxury; it's not like I buy them every day. Before that it was my Glamorgan county cricket top. I get it every year, it's very important. I go to watch Glamorgan in the summer. I love cricket. It's beautiful. You take a picnic and just sit around. On the B-side of 'A Design For Life' there's a song called 'Mr Carbohydrate', and there's a line about Matthew Maynard who plays for Glamorgan and England.

- Last time you were in trouble with the law?
Officially, or for hitting security over the head at shows? Last time I was caught by the police was when I was 18 and I fell asleep in a car which my friend was trying to nick. I was pissed out of my skull and I passed out in the passenger seat. It wasn't too rebellious.

- Last time you wore a dress?
I still put the odd dress on, I have to say. In my private time. I always try the missus' clothes on. When she's out, so don't tell her. She's a bit petite, so they're a bit tight on me, but I'm always tempted. I still want to go in Miss Selfridge, but I always end up buying this lad's stuff.

- Last time you were so pissed you ended up singing in the streets?
The last time I got really wazzed was when we played the Cambridge Ball and we got chucked out. I tried to give James a blow-job on stage. I did! There's a picture of it and I'm kneeling down trying to undo his trousers. I was completely blotto, as you can imagine. He was looking at me like, "One step closer and you're dead!".

- Last time you were ill?
I don't feel too bad today, but virtually every day I feel something awry. I am a bit of a hypochondriac. It kind of comes naturally to me.

- Last place on Earth you'd want to go back to?
God, there's loads of places. I don't know if I should say really. Glastonbury. Let's just say that to piss a load of people off.

- Last weird dream you had?
As a rule I don't dream, but I've dreamt an awful lot since Richey went missing. The dreams are not very nice. It's obviously subconscious, but I don't think they mean anything. I dream about Richey a lot.

- Last time you were shitting yourself with fear?
When Wales lost to Romania and failed to qualify for the 1994 World Cup. Paul Bodin was coming up to take a penalty and I was going, "You're from fucking Swindon, you don't give a shit, you're not really Welsh, and you're a left-footer", and I never trust left-footers with penalties. I knew he was going to miss it. I was completely shitting myself. And yes, he missed it. Later that year, Paul Bodin said it was more important to him to keep Swindon up than getting Wales to the World Cup, and I thought, "You cunt!".

- How long can you last?
Who, me? Not very long. It depends how ill I am at the time.