Rock icon Shirley Manson on new Garbage album and her ‘wild years’ in Edinburgh band

The band were formed in 1994, when Edinburgh-born Shirley met American bandmates Butch Vig, Duke Erikson and Steve Marker. They would go on to become one of the biggest musical acts of the '90s, selling over 15 million albums worldwide. Their best known songs include Stupid Girl, Only Happy When It Rains and the theme to the 1999 James Bond film, The World Is Not Enough.

Before finding world stardom with Garbage, Stockbridge-raised Shirley sang with Edinburgh indie stalwarts Goodbye Mr Mackenzie. So how much of a debt, if any, does Shirley owe to her former band?

I have a huge debt to Goodbye Mr Mackenzie. Without them I wouldn't have been prepared for the insane rise of Garbage that I enjoyed. I have a lot of love in my heart for them, and it's wonderful to see them get the kind of praise they deserve. I follow them on Instagram and to see them getting rave reviews, five out of five stars, and entering the Scottish charts is really gratifying. They are insanely talented, and yeah, I'm really proud of them. It's glorious. They are lovely, special people. And they are great artists.

You've said in the past it was a wild and decadent time that gave you a “spectacular education in the world of rock and roll”.

It was fantastic. EVERY. SINGLE. DEBAUCHED. GLORIOUS. MOMENT. It was a wild, wild ride. And I have zero regret. We were disobedient, untameable... and hey, that's what you're supposed to do when you're young, right? It was a riot. It was the first time I'd ever been outside of Scotland when Goodbye Mr Mackenzie played on the continent and it was glorious. To see the world for the first time while in a rock and roll band - it doesn't get better than that!

You famously took a call from Garbage and jumped on a plane to America to audition for the band. What would have happened if you hadn't taken that flight?

The great tragedy of Goodbye Mr Mackenzie is that we were severely mismanaged. It caused a lot of financial duress, and basically destroyed the band. And we had stopped functioning as Goodbye Mr Mackenzie by the time I got the phone call from the Garbage boys. I still think it's terrible... what I call the Swiss cheese effect... when certain things go wrong and you're involved with the wrong kind of people at the wrong time and the wrong place. And that basically hampered Goodbye Mr Mackenzie's momentum. We had run into the rocks basically. And I got this phone call... I don't know where I'd be if I hadn't. I probably would have had to go and get a job. I had no money, I was on the dole. I had no qualifications. And I didn't really know what I would do, so I got the call, and I jumped really cos I didn't have any other option. And I had no idea what I was jumping into. I literally just jumped into the void and it all paid off for me in the end. But I had no idea at the time that it would. I was like, 'ok, this is something to do. I'm gonna do it and I'll get to go to America'. And that's what happened.

Did it surprise you how big Garbage became - and how many records you guys sold?

Even if you'd talked to me after the success of the first three records, I would not have thought that we'd be enjoying a 30-year career. That's still astounding to me. Even today I'm still reeling from the fact I get to put new records out on a major label and be speaking to journalists like yourself.... that's still kinda wild to me. It just seems like the kinda thing that happens to others, so I don't take it for granted. And I certainly did not see it coming when I jumped on that plane.Even after making the first record... I was proud of the record we'd made, but I didn't think it had any legs, at all. I was really caught off guard. And then when we released the second one, and we sold as many copies as the first album, that shocked me. So yeah, it's just bizarre.

How much do you think the music industry has changed for female artists since your trailblazing early days with Garbage?

I think social media has encouraged the new generation of young women to speak out. I see that in the pop world. All these young women who are pop stars are now massively outspoken about things that they believe in - whether it's Olivia Rodrigo or Lady Gaga or Billie Eilish. They all have causes that they will speak out on - and in a forthright manner. They are way more switched on than my generation was. I was an anomaly really amongst female artists - and I'm not saying I'm the only one cos there were a lot of women in the 90s who were outspoken and talking about taboos. But as outspoken as our generation was, and as outspoken as my peers were, it's nothing compared to how women are now. And I'm so excited by it - it's thrilling to me.

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What are your proudest moments as an artist?

Opening the Scottish Parliament. Absolutely. You have no idea what it feels like to be called up by your management and asked if you want to play at the opening of the first Scottish Parliament in 234 years - or however long it was. It was momentous. It was such a glorious evening and to sing in this spectacular setting underneath our ancient castle... it's etched in my memory and is something I am immensely grateful to have been a part of.

How much has Edinburgh changed since you were a teenager? And have the changes been for better or worse?

It's changed. Of course it has. You would want it to change. Nothing stays the same. The city has its own evolution, just like a human being does. Sometimes you lose some beautiful things, and sometimes you gain a lot by change. So I do see that. I personally enjoy a lot of the changes I've seen in Edinburgh - and also I'm a little heartbroken at the death of that amazing moment in time when Edinburgh just had a burgeoning club scene. My favourite was the Hoochie Coochie club. All these kinda places where all the outsiders - the freaks and the geeks - would meet... that seems to have been eroded across the whole globe. There are different clubs that now exist, but I feel like the global communities are much more homogenised than they were when we were young. And I miss that. I miss everybody dressing differently and expressing themselves through their style in wilder, more provocative ways. I miss all the punks and rockabillies and the rockers, etc etc. They used to congregate outside Bruce's Records and places like that. And those record stores disappeared for a while. But old school record stores are coming back, and I think that's wonderful. It's exciting.

The new album, Let All That We Imagine Be The Light, features a more optimistic tone compared to Garbage's previous work - would that be fair to say?

Going into making this record, I was determined to find a more hopeful, uplifting world to immerse myself in. The title of the album, Let All That We Imagine Be The Light is the perfect descriptor for this new record as a whole. When things feel dark it feels imperative to seek out forces that are light, positive and beautiful in the world. It almost feels like a matter of life and death. A strategy for survival. Our last album was extremely forthright. Born out of frustration and outrage – it had a kind of scorched earth, pissed off quality to it. With this new record however, I felt a compulsion to reach for a different kind of energy. A more constructive one. I had this vision of us coming up out of the underground with searchlights as we moved towards the future. Searching for life, searching for love, searching for all the good things in the world that seem so thin on the ground right now.

That was the overriding idea during the making of this record for me - that when things feel dark, its best to try to seek out that which is light, that which feels loving and good. When I was young, I tended towards the destruction of things. Now that I’m older I believe it’s vitally important to build and to create things instead. I still entertain very old romantic ideals about community, society and the world. I don’t want to walk through the world creating havoc, damaging the land and people. I want to do good. I want to do no harm.

You've said in other interviews that you were “completely cut off” from Garbage during the writing process for this new album, following hip surgery you underwent in 2023. Tell us about that.

I was in Los Angeles recovering from surgery and I had a lot of brain fog going on because I was on a lot of pain medication. And I was literally learning how to walk again. So I didn't have the fortitude to go into the studio with the band. I just didn't have it in me. So for the first time in 30 years, we were forced into a different way of working. Retrospectively it was actually a gift to be able to disrupt all these old habits of ours. It was actually amazing. It was magical. I wouldn't want to do it again, but I think it really worked for us at that moment.

One of the standout tracks on the album is the final track, The Day That I Met God. Tell us about that - did you meet the big man?

The idea came to me when I was recovering from major surgery and I felt so raw, vulnerable and scared. I was on the treadmill for the first time following an operation when I suddenly felt this powerful sensation of healing love around me - it was a moment that uplifted me. It took me out from what had felt like hell. The vocal you hear is the writing demo, the first take. Just me sitting on the edge of my bed, in recovery, singing into a handheld microphone. I was feeling so vulnerable and I think that’s what lends the song added poignancy. It’s really a song about mortality but it’s also an expression of gratitude. Gratitude for getting older, gratitude for the longevity of our band, for good health, for the great mystery and for the ongoing, creative adventure of life”.

Garbage’s new album, Let All That We Imagine Be The Light, is out now.