{"id":816142,"date":"2026-10-28T04:04:18","date_gmt":"2026-10-28T04:04:18","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/816142\/"},"modified":"2026-10-28T04:04:18","modified_gmt":"2026-10-28T04:04:18","slug":"clint-boon-interview-music-manchester-and-inspiral-carpets","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/816142\/","title":{"rendered":"Clint Boon interview: Music, Manchester and Inspiral Carpets"},"content":{"rendered":"

Clint Boon has been part of Manchester\u2019s soundtrack for the best part of half a century.<\/p>\n

As keyboard player and songwriter with Inspiral Carpets, he helped create one of the defining sounds of the Madchester era<\/a>. He went on to front the Clint Boon Experience, became one of Manchester radio\u2019s most familiar voices<\/a> and remains one of the city\u2019s busiest DJs and most enthusiastic champions of new music.<\/p>\n

Now he can add author to the list. His first book, The Manchester Chronicles: True Tales of Music, Madness and Mayhem 1976-2006, tells the story of Manchester music through the people, places and moments Clint experienced first-hand.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

We caught up with him for our latest Worker Bee interview to talk about where it all began, the career he never planned, life away from music and the Manchester places that mean most to him.<\/p>\n

What first got you into music?<\/p>\n

It started with hearing the radio in the 1960s. Radio was a massive thing for people like me.<\/p>\n

I can remember hearing Manfred Mann, Dylan and The Beatles. My mum and dad, like a lot of people, had a very basic record collection. I always say they probably only owned about 20 albums, but there were records in there that really inspired me from an early age. Shirley Bassey, Tom Jones and Gary Lewis & the Playboys.<\/p>\n

My mum and dad had a stereo record player in the front room and I used to sit between the speakers, amazed at the spectrum of sound and hearing different things coming through the left and right channels.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

Then I fell in love with Elvis and all the rock and roll stuff.<\/p>\n

By the early 1970s that was my world. Elvis, Jerry Lee Lewis, Little Richard, Eddie Cochran, Gene Vincent.<\/p>\n

Then glam rock came along. Glam had a very strong 1950s feel to it. A lot of it was basically rock and roll played by blokes in platform boots, sequins and a bit of eyeliner.<\/p>\n

But when punk happened, I was at art college. It just hit me that this was rock and roll for now.<\/p>\n

This was something I could actually be part of.<\/p>\n

I\u2019d never really learned an instrument properly. I\u2019d dreamed about being a musician or recording artist, but I\u2019d never done much about it. Then I saw these punk groups and none of them were great musicians. They were all just blagging it.<\/p>\n

I thought: I could do that.<\/p>\n

That\u2019s when I dropped out of art college and got stuck into being around music and, ultimately, being in a band myself.<\/p>\n

Who have been the biggest influences on you?<\/p>\n

Early on it was Elvis and all those rock and roll artists. Jerry Lee Lewis, Little Richard, Eddie Cochran, Gene Vincent.<\/p>\n

Then glam came along, and Showaddywaddy became my favourite band from the moment I first saw them.<\/p>\n

But punk completely changed my life. That was the thing that made me decide I was actually going to get into a band.<\/p>\n

Tell us something about yourself people might be surprised to hear.<\/p>\n

I\u2019ve only got one kidney.<\/p>\n

Well, I\u2019ve got two kidneys that are joined together. The layman\u2019s term for it is a horseshoe kidney.<\/p>\n

So I\u2019ve basically got one decent-sized kidney.<\/p>\n

I don\u2019t think that\u2019s even in the book!<\/p>\n

What are you proudest of?<\/p>\n

I think the records I\u2019ve made.<\/p>\n

Songs like This Is How It Feels and Saturn 5. For me, some of those are my finest moments as a writer.<\/p>\n

And I\u2019m proud of the radio career I had as well. I never set out to be a radio presenter. It happened completely accidentally and then I ended up doing it for more than 20 years, five or six days a week.<\/p>\n

For a kid from Oldham who never really liked my own voice that much, ending up broadcasting to Manchester five or six days a week was quite a thing.<\/p>\n

And I\u2019m proud of the fact I\u2019ve made a book as well. Releasing a book is quite big, isn\u2019t it?<\/p>\n

What does a typical day look like for Clint Boon these days?<\/p>\n

When I was writing the book, I\u2019d try to find three, four or five hours where I could sit in the dining room and get stuck into it, in between all the domestic stuff, my DJ work and everything I\u2019m doing with the Inspirals<\/a>.<\/p>\n

It was always a bit chaotic.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

Occasionally I\u2019d be driving somewhere and have to pull the car over because a memory had suddenly come back to me and I wanted to write it down.<\/p>\n

Outside of the book stuff, I\u2019m a family man. I get a lot of DIY done.<\/p>\n

We\u2019ve got an old Victorian house, so there\u2019s always something to do. At the moment we\u2019ve got a bit of damp coming in because one of the gutters got damaged in the storms.<\/p>\n

I don\u2019t mind it. I like getting my tools out.<\/p>\n

Very rock and roll.<\/p>\n

And what do you do when you\u2019re properly off duty?<\/p>\n

Just me and my wife watching telly and films.<\/p>\n

Because I spend so many nights out of the house working with the band or DJing, I really value every evening I get to stay at home.<\/p>\n

At the moment we\u2019re watching Ricky Gervais\u2019s Alley Cats. I think it\u2019s brilliant.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

And we revisit old films. We watched Grease again the other night.<\/p>\n

When I first met my wife Charlie, I wasn\u2019t really into watching films I\u2019d already seen. She was. She said, \u201cYou listen to your favourite album again, don\u2019t you?\u201d<\/p>\n

And she\u2019s right.<\/p>\n

Just because you\u2019ve seen Grease once 20 years ago doesn\u2019t mean you can\u2019t watch it again.<\/p>\n

If music hadn\u2019t worked out, what could you have seen yourself doing instead?<\/p>\n

At the tail end of school I was talking about either becoming a vet or getting into architecture or graphic design. Something drawing-related.<\/p>\n

I think the vet thing might have been a path I\u2019d have gone down.<\/p>\n

We\u2019ve got a dog now, but until a few years ago we had about 12 different animals. Guinea pigs, hamsters, a lizard, these massive giant rabbits.<\/p>\n

I\u2019ve always liked animals.<\/p>\n

So in a parallel universe, I reckon I\u2019d probably have ended up being a vet.<\/p>\n

I also spent some time in the furniture trade, so if I ever got really desperate I could probably get back into that world.<\/p>\n

But whenever I\u2019ve managed to stick to the creative stuff, it usually works out. I find my little niche and do all right out of it.<\/p>\n

Red or blue?<\/p>\n

Neither!<\/p>\n

I appreciate the game, but I don\u2019t support a team.<\/p>\n

I recently did a little thing for Stockport County when they launched their new kit. It might sound random to some people, me being an Oldham lad, but my postcode for the last 20-odd years has been SK1.<\/p>\n

I\u2019ve got a connection with Stockport. I love the place.<\/p>\n

It\u2019s my home and it\u2019s where me and Charlie have raised our boys. They\u2019re very much grown up and made in Stockport.<\/p>\n

Name your three favourite places in Greater Manchester.<\/p>\n

Tampopo has been on our list for a long time.<\/p>\n

When Charlie and I first met, we\u2019d go there on dates. Then when we got married, we had our wedding meal there and hired the place out completely.<\/p>\n

So Tampopo is always high on our list.<\/p>\n

Then Dukes 92 still appeals to me. Not just because it\u2019s a beautiful location, but because of all the memories I\u2019ve got from going in there over the years. I even mention Dukes 92 in White No Sugar, which I released with the Clint Boon Experience.<\/p>\n

And number three would be Afflecks.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

Again, partly because of the memories, but it\u2019s a constant. Even today, you go in there and there are no knobheads.<\/p>\n

It\u2019s culture. It\u2019s feel-good. It\u2019s inclusive. It\u2019s a great little snippet of Manchester surviving.<\/p>\n

And the memories of going there at the peak of the Madchester thing<\/a>. Oldham Street and Afflecks, that whole area was very much the epicentre of everything that was going on.<\/p>\n

More so than the Ha\u00e7ienda for me.<\/p>\n

The vibe on Oldham Street on any given Saturday, that\u2019s what Manchester was all about.<\/p>\n

If you could change one thing about Manchester, what would it be?<\/p>\n

I\u2019ll go with what Ian Brown said.<\/p>\n

If it had a beach, that\u2019s the only thing that could make it better, isn\u2019t it?<\/p>\n

And finally, what do you love most about Manchester?<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

It\u2019s the people. Definitely the people.<\/p>\n

Without that warm spirit, a band like ours wouldn\u2019t have been allowed to flourish and develop as we did.<\/p>\n

And that\u2019s what happens with anything creative here.<\/p>\n

It\u2019s like what you\u2019ve done with the I Love Manchester brand. The city and the community have helped you do that.<\/p>\n

It\u2019s encouraging. It subscribes to what you do.<\/p>\n

I think the people are what make it a magical place, really.<\/p>\n

It\u2019s a great place and I\u2019ve got no plans of moving away yet.<\/p>\n

I\u2019m a proud Mancunian, but I\u2019m a proud Stopfordian as well.<\/p>\n

Meet Clint in person<\/p>\n

Waterstones Manchester, Deansgate<\/a>\u00a0\u2013 1st\u00a0September<\/p>\n

The Salty Dog<\/a>\u00a0\u2013 event and signing \u2013 17th September<\/p>\n

Salford Lads Club<\/a>\u00a0\u2013 signing \u2013 19th September<\/p>\n

Wax & Beans, Bury<\/a>\u00a0\u2013 event \u2013 22 September<\/p>\n

Louder Than Words Festival<\/a>\u00a0\u2013 Manchester \u2013 Friday 13th\u00a0November at 6.30pm.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Clint Boon has been part of Manchester\u2019s soundtrack for the best part of half a century. As keyboard…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":816143,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[28],"tags":[267807,96,87,128,56,54,55],"class_list":["post-816142","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-music","tag-clint-boon","tag-entertainment","tag-featured","tag-music","tag-uk","tag-united-kingdom","tag-unitedkingdom"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/816142","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=816142"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/816142\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/816143"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=816142"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=816142"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=816142"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}