GUY MANKOWSKI

When my novel, How I Left The National Grid, was accepted for publication a scene that I considered important didn't make it into the book for contractual reasons. In it, the journalist Sam walks from the Hulme Estate, along the side of the motorway and into the heart of Manchester. It’s a perilous journey that I took myself on a wet Manchester afternoon to research this chapter. Two characters, both trying to ‘find’ the vanished singer Robert Wardner in their different ways, undertake a journey that takes them past the historical layers of the city. Their conversation covers topics as diverse as A Clockwork Orange,  Margaret  Thatcher, Brutalist architecture, the history of the synth and New Order. I’ve mentioned this scene in a few talks and lectures, and having had very kind feedback for it from some of the post-punk musicians I interviewed whilst working on the book I thought this might be the place for it- 13 The morning sky was the kind that Sam could im...

Helen Marnie might have made her name as the singer for the internationally acclaimed synth-pop band Ladytron, but in June 2012 she released a solo album, Crystal World, through Pledge Music. The album confounded expectation and quickly cultivated a passionate and devoted following, with many (including The VPME and Polari) giving it flawless reviews. In contrast to her work in Ladytron work it’s an album in which nature constantly pulses and throbs. In it Marnie undertakes a set of startlingly emotional journeys, drawing what some have described as ‘a map of the heart’- quite an achievement for such a pristine electro record. I caught up with Helen to try and dig a little deeper into the record, in a conversation that took in everything from the Piscean gift for swimming to her striking choice of outfit for the video to ‘The Hunter’.   In previous interviews you’ve talked about the state of transition you were in when you wrote ‘Crystal World’. Did writing the album help...