''I didn't really grow up in Chester, I lived there for like six years, I grew up in the South of England, in a place called Maidstone, it's about 30 miles southeast of London in the county of Kent. I left there about when I was seventeen and moved up northwest to Chester. I started going to college in North Wales, cause Chester is just on the border of England and Wales. I studied languages, but kind of got fed up with that pretty quickly because I realized that I wasn't really cut out for full time studying. My attention span didn't suit it. (laughs) The first thing I did was to just get a job as a barman, and I got dangerously close to making a career of it as well. I stayed working there for quite a while. That's how I got to know Paul and Stove cause they used to come drink in the bar where I worked, and we became mates....''
WELCOME TO THE CHADSPACE!
Dominic Chad was born in Cheltenham on June 5th, 1973. He went to Maidstone grammar school in Kent, started playing the guitar at the age of eighteen then studied French and Russian at Bangor University, North Wales (where he later dropped out: ''Am I happy? Definitely. I was fairly anti-social as a kid; then, when I went to University, I went to the opposite extreme, and spent a whole year socialising. By the end, I was sort of... losing it.'')
He worked at the 'Fat Cat' pub in Bangor, before relocating to Chester and working in the newly opened 'Fat Cat' pub there. It was here he first met Paul and Stove who at the time, worked in design/photography. Mansun were then formed in the summer of 1995, under the name 'Grey Lantern', originally with a 15 year old schoolboy on beats (Mark Swinnerton), followed by Carlton Hibbert (who is said to have left the band after disagreements with an inebriated Chad, one allegedly involving the chucking of a pineapple!) followed by Andie Rathbone on drums. The rest as they say, is history. I have tried to keep this site focussed on Chad only, so for more general MANSUN information please visit:
Official Mansun Myspace (banner at bottom of page)
Paul Draper.info
St Chads Home for the Terminally Helpless
Mansun Heaven
Sci Fi Hi Fi
MansunMusicLovers forum
PaulDraper-Music forum (banner at bottom of page)
PLEASE NOTE THAT SOME OF THE ABOVE WEBSITES ARE NOW ARCHIVED DUE TO THE DEMISE OF MANSUN, BUT ARE STILL VIEWABLE AND AN EXCELLENT SOURCE OF MANSUN INFORMATION.
'The Fashions of the Chad!'
Arguably the most noticable aspect of Chad's attire has to be the frilly shirt. (as seen on 'Dr Who' actor Tom Baker who also appeared on the Six album narrating 'Witness to a Murder')
Chad has been seen sporting MANY a funky shirt, but the one he seemed to have a penchant for has to be the fluorescent pink frilly one which he wore during the tours in 1998 and 1999, coupled with a ripped two-tone blazer held together with safety pins. You will see many a picture of Chad sporting a frilly shirt of some description and of varying colours!
Flares were a staple item in Chads wardrobe. A leather jacket also made a frequent appearance as well as some quite odd pairs of patterned trousers, and various Doc Martens boots. (Oh, and he bought his boxers (black), from Marks and Sparks! :)
*Chad has stated that some of his clothes were actually hand-me-downs from his older sister!
Guitars and Equipment
Chad's most often used and seen guitar was a Gibson 335, although he did have various different guises of this (decals, as seen in the SMMNB video (crossbones over black) and AOTGL era (purple roses).
He has also used, amongst others, a Fender Telecaster, Fender Jaguar, and a Gretsch Country Gentleman. To create some of the stranger noises heard on 'Six', Chad used his arrangement of various guitar pedals (live, played through Vox AC3O and Marshall Bluesbreaker amps, running in stereo) and often played his guitar through analog synthesizers. Pedals and processors Chad has used include (but not limited to); Boss 'Me8', Lovetone 'Meatball', Lovetone 'Doppelganger', Boss Compressor, Coloursound 'Tonebender', Electro Harmonics 'Big Muff', 'Daddy-O', Eventide 'DSP4000', TC Electronics 'Fireworks', various flangers and distortion and even a 'Zoom' pedal (that makes me feel much better about having one!!) (photos to follow)
Chad also played the piano from a young age, and is credited with playing the harpsichord on the 'Six' album and 'Closed for Business' EP.
He is also credited with playing Bass guitar on the 'Kleptomania' sessions.
'Memories of Chad' by Dom/Draperette (misty watercoloured ones!)
Is there anyone out there who doesn’t love St Chad? Even the music press noted that he is adorable- “The most beautiful man alive?’’- Simon Price MM, “An angel in human form†-Steven Wells, NME.
Personally I’ve only heard of him being scathing about someone once; it was even a surprise to hear him use the F-word. He’s tactful – even denying his use of drugs whilst making ‘Six’ to alleviate the concerned look on my sister’s face (not that she’s that daft but bless him for trying!) and always gives the fans the time they need without making them feel like a tiresome chore. He’s one of the few people who must have a 3 mile wide pink aura-He makes people feel like gold because he just radiates loveliness!
That’s not to say he doesn’t have a naughty side- “Do you feel the need to be spanked during the sexual act?†–‘Loveline’, but generally he’s not so rude as to impose that on others.
Perfection would be strange though and he is beset with well documented issues that he doesn’t warrant.
Paul remained faithful throughout- as Chad did to him- and this closeness bred lusty speculation on the fans part; the more romantic factions wishing to see them married (in fact Chad once described living with Paul like a marriage as he does “All the cooking and the cleaningâ€... But generally everyone just wanted copious amounts of Mansun Porn! Ever willing to please, “Everyone knows me and Paul have always been lovers!â€- ‘Mansun.net’, the boys got saucy on stage (which I never got to see *despairs*) and without photographic evidence on public display fantasy had to suffice.
If Paul isn’t your bag however you could always concoct a threesome between Chad, Vic and Bob as Chad once claimed he fancied Bob Mortimer...
The non-meat eater “I eat fish†(?!) –‘MM’, totally unabashed at how completely and utterly in love with Paul he is, gazing at even the daftest picture with a beatified expression and hanging over the back of a sofa calling out “Night night Drapie!†with the tender look of a newlywed. That was until he caught everyone grinning at him then he did look a touch sheepish!
So not really telling you anything you don’t already know about Mr. Chad, he’s the best and we miss him!
Chad Quotes
"It's sort of metaphorical for your natural curiosity about what it's like to be someone or something else. It didn't have to be called being a girl. it could have been called being a zebra."
"A Wurlitzer. I always think they sound better than Hammond."
"Peter Andre. He was very nice."
"Just tell them you got there by mistake and don't know who Mansun are."
"Cover Bros in what?"
''I hit a wall and broke my hand and I couldn't use it for a couple of months. I had a pin through the bone...I say its a pin, but its more like a metal rod though the bone...and what they do is bend it round so they can pull it out when they need to''
''I'm a Mister Benn fan, me. Apparently, they're making a film out of it''
''Wash mine every day. That's how it keeps its bounce. I was half-skinhead about five years ago. When I shaved my hair into a mohican. A mohican and a ponytail''
''I usually take mine off. Well, it comes off, anyway. When I'm washing my hair. It makes sense to take off the make-up at the same time''
''I think Paul's about the only person who could cope with seeing me across the landing first thing every morning''
''There was one particular Dr. Who shirt, which was the best one. It was a frilly shirt but it was a zip up. I've never seen a frilly shirt with a zip, I haven't been able to find one, but I really want one. See what you can sort out''
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