Almost three decades after Garbage released their acclaimed self-titled debut, frontwoman Shirley Manson has reflected on the state of the music industry today.
There’s very little the Scottish-American alt-rock band – comprised of Shirley, Butch Vig, Duke Erikson and Steve Marker – hasn’t faced during its turbulent music careers from near extinction to ‘gutting’ backlash.
In an ‘overpopulated’ industry shaped by cutthroat social media stans, the toxic allure of streaming numbers and ‘conservative’ artists diluting the pool of creativity – Garbage has fought hard to maintain its authenticity.
The Scottish-born musician, 57, moved to America on the eve of the band’s flourishing career in 1994 and hasn’t returned since.
But the UK still holds a special place in her heart as the band undertakes their first European tour in years, telling Metro.co.uk it was ‘fantastic’ to be back and has been ‘nothing but pleasant’.
She recently performed in her hometown, Edinburgh, to a ‘fantastic welcome’, although there was one notable absence in the crowd after her dad, who still lives in the city, caught Covid.
‘It’s always emotional to go home,’ she said as Garbage gears up to play at London’s Wembley Arena later this week.
‘[My dad has] been to every single one of my shows since I was 18 years old with other bands. So this was the first one he has ever missed.’
But with a crowd bursting with friends and family, ‘it was quite a magical evening in the end’.
This tour holds particular significance for the Stupid Girl hitmaker as she comes to terms with growing older and entering a new phase of her professional journey.
It comes after a difficult decade marred with health troubles (for which the singer had to undergo a hip replacement in 2023) and heavy grief after she lost her dog which she has previously said ‘ruined [her] life’.
‘As I get older and older, I realise I don’t know how much time I have left,’ she explained.
‘It’s something that doesn’t cross your mind when you’re 18 years old. But now every show feels really precious to me.
‘When I used to come and play shows, I’d be like, “Oh, we can come back and get them next time”. Whereas now, I’m like, “I don’t know if I’ll ever come back to play.”
‘It adds a certain gravitas to the experience, but it also peppers the tour with magic because I feel I must enjoy it and revel in it.’
The band has collected plenty of memorable tour moments over the years. Most recently they were left stunned when a random man wandered onto stage during Glasgow’s TRNSMT festival which Shirley called ‘absolutely hilarious’ and ‘so bizarre’.
Looking back at other standout moments, Shirley reminisced on the time the band supported a proposal between youngmen at one of their shows in Detroit.
‘Of course, as huge supporters of the LGBTQ community, we jumped at the chance. We brought them up on stage and they are still married to this day. It’s such a beautiful, amazing memory,’ she said.
Although not all her stories are quite as peachy.
‘At Christmas time, I broke up a big fight in Los Angeles between two girls who were truly slugging out, like full fists at each other.
‘That was quite a situation because I believe I swore at them an inordinate amount of times within two minutes,’ she added with a laugh.
Despite the ups and downs, it’s all part and parcel of the artist experience.
‘Human beings, you put them in a room together, they cause chaos, it’s just how it goes. [These fans] have chosen us out of all the bands in the world. Sometimes they’re weird about it.
‘Sometimes they look absolutely abjectly miserable in the room. Other times, they’re ecstatic. I just always have to try and remember that they’ve connected with us for a reason,’ she concluded.
The band boasts a critically appraised discography, including hits such as I Think I’m Paranoid and Push It. And, of course, their beloved 2021 album, No Gods No Masters.
Although Garbage has a devoted fanbase, when asked if the band was evolving to appeal to new generations, Shirley emphasised their music would always come above appeasing the masses.
‘The new music industry is very fixated on numbers and connecting with the youngest members of society because that’s the source of their economic growth. I don’t really look at it that way,’ she explained.
‘I’m old school. The band has been going now for 30 years and in order to maintain our own sanity, we separated ourselves from the corporate nature of the music industry and focused solely on just being artists.’
Garbage’s biggest challenge came in 2005 after the release of the studio album Bleed Like Me. Their record label, Interscope, dropped them (with Shirley claiming they only wanted to promote one female rock and landed on No Doubt).
Faced with the threat of becoming obsolete, Garbage decided they would have to make their mark on the industry on their own terms.
She continued: ‘We got dropped by arguably one of the world’s largest record labels and told it was all over and we believed that messaging for a minute.
‘But then we had the tenacity to just decide that we didn’t care if we weren’t successful. We needed to make music and that saved us from the abyss.’
Although the Grammy-nominated music artist has no qualms they are now in an ‘incredibly privileged’ position to stay authentic to themselves and is ‘proud’ of the ‘unique’ music they have created.
‘There are a lot of temptations in the music industry to sell out to make music so that you get played on modern radio,’ she added.
‘There’s a plethora of artists and bands all vying for the same spots, and a lot of them sound very similar to one another.’
But in the modern-day era, carving out a good reputation for yourself has never been more difficult.
‘These days there can just be a wave of opinions that decide whether music is good or bad.
‘That puts a pressure on artists that is hard to stomach sometimes,’ she explained, pointing to the backlash of pop artist Katy Perry’s recent single Woman’s World which has been fiercely criticised on social media.
‘I feel a lot of compassion for her. She’s getting it in the neck for this one particular song.
‘But the great thing for Katy is that she will endure her because she’s got a very strong body of work behind her and a lot of amazing pop songs so she’ll come out with something else and turn people’s opinions around.’
According to Shirley, the reactionary nature of the internet makes it ‘very difficult in this day and age’.
She continued: ‘Every single artist will, at some point, make a misstep. I think we’re living in a time when we’re not tolerant of any mistake which can be the death of art.
‘What you get is a whole generation of very conservative artists, who don’t want to take risks, who don’t want to push a little further than they would normally because they are scared of getting it in the neck on mass.
‘We’re seeing fewer and fewer esoteric artists who take real chances. The only place we really see it is maybe in hip-hop and rap.
‘In the 90s, it was difficult because the music press was very hard but I think maybe it’s tougher on artists today.’
Although Garbage is also no stranger to brutal backlash. In 1999, the band was asked to create the James Bond theme song for the Pierce Brosnan-fronted 007 outing The World is Not Enough.
It’s a coveted mantle also held by the likes of Adele, Billie Eilish and Guns N’ Roses over the years. But it was far from a smooth process, with Shirley labelling it ‘quite a scary enterprise’.
‘There was so much attention paid to the Bond theme we knew we had a big rock to haul up the hill,’ she said.
‘There were a lot of rules and regulations we were quite surprised by. We wanted to use a lot of classic Bond themes in the recording, but it turns out we weren’t allowed to.’
After working closely with the composer David Arnold and lyricist Don Black, the song was released to the world, to a ‘terrible reception’. Although that soon changed.
(Picture: Getty)
‘It was a public failure. We were gutted because we were really proud of the song and then everybody just basically said it was a dud. It was devastating.
‘I’m just so grateful that I’ve lived long enough to see that all come around. Now it’s always in the top 10 Bond themes of all time and my heart swells with pride.’
Now, as Shirley looks towards the future, the politically vocal artist wants to carve a more positive image for herself and their music – with whispers of an album also on the horizon.
‘I think people think I’m really angry and hard because I’m very outspoken, indignant, and passionate. But I’m also very kind and very loving. I don’t know if people know that,’ she admitted.
Garbage UK tour
Garbage will play at Wembley Arena on Saturday, July 20. More details here.
‘When I was younger, I was very aggressive because I really wanted to protect myself. Now that I’ve gotten older, I don’t really have any fear.
‘I couldn’t care less if you think I’m s**t. I’ve got nothing left to prove. If you want to take a shot at me, I’m big enough. I’m ugly enough. I can handle it.’
And during an era when society feels more divided than ever, Shirley leaves her fans with a clear, resounding message.
‘The world we’re living in right now is so cruel, and so unkind. When I meet people I just want to let them know, “look, you’re safe with me, I want the best for you. I want you to have a great f**king life.” I don’t mean anyone any harm.’
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