WHAT ARE NORTH LONDON’S TERRIBLE TRIO MAN LIKE ME MADE OF? SNAKES AND SNAILS AND PUPPY DOG TAILS? WELL, YES. AND A WHOLE LOT MORE. CLASH ASKS THE HARD QUESTIONS.
Who?
Man Like Me.
Yeah, but who?
Johnny, he’s the main man. He does production, sings and adds the razz. Then bringing up the rear are Pesk and Ed Laliq who between them provide backing vocals, sampler sounds, kazoo and dance routines.
Man Like Me is a silly name. Explain yourselves.
Pesk: I had a friend from school I won’t name him because I’m still scared of him who I bumped into on the street one day. He was trying to convince me that he wasn’t stealing mopeds any more and was turning his life around. And he’d start every sentence with “Man like me, yeah, blah blah blah” I told Johnny about it and it became our joke for about a week.
Gosh. Did this friend of yours come good like he promised?
Pesk: No. He tried to break into th – Johnny: [Interrupting] Shhh!
So what do they sound like, then?
Think Prince meets The Prodigy. Think SL2 meets The Specials. Think Justin Timberlake meets Frank Zappa. Think music to pounce to.
Can they cut it live?
Yes, they can.
Johnny: It s a pantomime. We perform to a backing track so it’s like we’re acting it out.
Pesk: There’s very little substance and a lot of style.
Johnny: It’s glorified karaoke.
Ed: Glorified?
Johnny: Okay, it’s just karaoke!
Suppose they’ve got loads of crazy tour tales, then?
Think Prince meets The Prodigy. Think SL2 meets The Specials. Think Justin Timberlake meets Frank Zappa. Think music to pounce to.
Er, no, not really. Pesk: I had a panic attack in Barcelona. That s properly not glamorous. Ed: When we did a gig in Rome, Johnny got off the stage and I saw a whole load of people running over to him. I thought they were going to beat him up until I realised they all had money in their hands to buy our band t shirts.
Songs. Talk about the songs.
There’s their next single Fruit ( Don t trust Cadbury’s / Don t trust Dairylea / And whatever you do keep well clear of Sunny D ), Doughnut ( Yeah I fell for you real hard / topped up your Oyster card ), Single Dad ( All I did was bang her / I’ve made a slight clanger ) and if you haven’t heard their electro banger Oh My Gosh yet then you’re really not getting out enough.
Impress us with a Man Like Me fact.
They were chosen by the Tate, alongside the likes of Graham Coxon, Roll Deep and Basement Jaxx, to pick one work of art from the museum and write a song about it for Tate Tracks. Johnny: I chose Marcel Duchamp’s Fountain and the song’s called Taking The Piss . He’s taking the piss and I’m taking the piss.
That is impressive. Okay, last question. Do they have a band motto?
No, but they do have several rather bad suggestions.
Ed: The show must go on!
Pesk: Heal the world!
Ed: One for all and all for one!
Johnny: Like . Just Like . I quite like Like . Because like, we always say like. It’s Man Like Me, like. We’re lovin’ it like that.
By Jo Metson Scott
Image 1
Pesk wears wicker baseball cap and silk scarf his own. Vintage D&G string vest from Bang Bang.
Image 2
Ed wears vintage hooded fur poncho, Rellik. Blue t shirt by American Apparel.3D glasses his own.
Image 3
Johnny wears gold jewellery by Otazu. Jeans his own.
