National

With her red hair, see-through skin and built-in diffidence, Shirley Manson could only be Scottish. She tells Simon Stewart why Garbage is the ideal band to celebrate the opening of the country's new parliament N JULY 1, amid all the pomp and pageantry of the opening of the Scottish parliament, Edinburgh's Princes Street Gardens will play host to two celebratory concerts. One, at the gardens' east end, will be a festival of glorious tradition; an extravaganza of huge orchestras, stuffed shirts and genteel Edinburgh society politely heralding a new era of democracy. The other, at the west end, will see a slight, red-haired Scottish lass clamber onto a stage with three gruff Americans and give the performance of her life. She will howl, she will prowl, and she - more than anyone - will capture the spirit of the day. Deep in her heart she will know that tomorrow nothing will have changed; that the same grey men in grey suits will still be carving up power for themselves. But, just for a night, she will allow herself to believe that this is the future - that this, at last, is Scotland's glorious new dawn.

At the moment, however, Shirley Manson - the 32-year-old singer with transatlantic rock gods Garbage, and the woman chosen to help symbolise the rebirth of a nation - has more earthy concerns. She and the band have just performed on TFI Friday, and she's just had the shock of her life.

"Chris Evans appeared behind me stark naked!" she squeals, understandably still unnerved. "And he nearly made me f*** up my cue. I was so busy looking at his penis that I nearly didn't come in on time." It's a very Manson moment. This, after all, is a woman who's appeared, scantily clad, on the cover of a hundred magazines, and who's talked frankly about everything from massage to masturbation - yet who is happily married to a sculptor called Eddie Farrell, with whom she shares a house in Musselburgh. Half the time she's up-front and in-your-face and being propositioned by the likes of Brad Pitt ... the rest she's worrying about whether she's attractive and being frightened by Chris Evans's genitals. Slightly confused and vulnerable yet still forceful and go-getting - good God, she's a walking metaphor for Scotland. Manson seems reluctant to talk about what the band have got planned for July 1 - probably because she's still a little overwhelmed by the whole thing. "I feel very honoured to have been asked to do this - to bring my band to my home town for the first time and play something that's extremely important to me as a Scottish person," she says. She denies tabloid reports that she's promised "a raunchy night to remember" - "I did not say that! That's not something that would come out of my mouth!" - and is instead treating the affair with a healthy pragmatism. "We've been invited to entertain people, and I think we're perfectly capable of doing that," she says. "I would hope people will leave the show feeling they've had a blast - but that's for them to decide, not me." She's similarly measured in her attitude to the parliament and the new Scotland. "I'm excited about it, but I don't think it's going to be the answer to all our problems overnight. We should proceed with caution," she says. "But any say's better than no say in the way our country's run, and if it encourages people to be a little more pro- active and involved in the politics of this country, that's a good thing. "More importantly, there won't be the kind of situation that occurred during the Thatcher years, for example with the Poll Tax when we were treated like guinea pigs for the south of England. That was unacceptable, and it made a dreadful mockery of what's basically the socialist slant of our country. I think Scotland is generally a socialist country at heart, and I think therefore that some of the policies of the new parliament will lean a little more in favour of the community. And that's a great thing." Manson says she's proud of her country, but she's by no means an advocate of independence. She's happy to admit that in the parliamentary elections she voted Labour straight down the line. "I did that because I didn't want the SNP to win," she says bluntly. "I believe very much in the Union. I think it's important that we move forward while bearing in mind that we're part of a world order. We're not just a little isolated island, and the more we're integrated, the better." However, press her even slightly and it becomes clear she's no acolyte of Donald Dewar. Indeed, she maintains a healthy scepticism about party politics in general. "I voted Labour because I didn't want anyone else to get in,'' she explains. "I do believe New Labour are a little more left of centre than our previous government, and that pleases me. But I'm not stupid enough to assume that what we've got is going to be the perfect situation." So why, I suggest half-jokingly, if she's in favour of international socialist co-operation, didn't she go the whole hog and pledge her support for Tommy Sheridan and the Scottish Socialists? "I just feel ..." she begins, and then changes tack. "I wouldn't discuss my own personal preferences in public. Suffice to say, that's what I voted for." But surely if a celebrity is willing to stand up and support a devolved parliament, they should pledge firm support for a particular political direction? Not at all. "I think it's up to you as an individual," she says. "Personally I find politics so misleading and so truly diabolical that I'd just prefer to keep out of it. To be honest, I have no particular interest in any one party. They don't represent how I feel about the world, and I don't want to affiliate myself with any particular one." Manson's politics, she stresses, are much more about the personal. That's why she feels Garbage - a band made up of one Scot and three Americans - are the perfect choice for July 1. "In a way we represent Scotland's integration into the world. Scotland has to think in global terms, not just in national terms, and I think we're a good example of that." Unsurprisingly for a woman with such a prominent role in a male- dominated industry, she's keen to see more Scots women succeed - although, once again, she's thoughtful rather than fiery. "Our society is very patriarchal, and I do feel I have to prove myself every day,'' she says. "But I'm lucky in that I'm extremely aggressive and extremely pushy - and I'm not in the least bit shy at coming forward and vocalising my thoughts or my wishes, so I've been able to fight against the tide that favours men. But I'm aware that there are a lot of women out there who are extremely talented but are being held back because they're unable to find the drive inside them to fight the patriarchal system. And I think that needs to be addressed. "I'm not by any means a male-hater. I'm a big fan of men - I love men, I love working with men. I'm just very aware that our society's still a little imbalanced." These days Manson is a far cry from the way she was when Garbage started out in 1995 - a bundle of nerves and insecurity who covered up her fears by swearing and talking about sex. After five years of rigorous rock stardom, she admits: "My confidence levels have shot up." But underneath it all there's still a glimpse of the old Shirley. In a recent interview she spoke about how she took an AIDS test following the discovery that a former partner was HIV-positive, and talked frankly about how terrified she was before - and even after - she got the all-clear. This all happened more than three years ago, long before she married, but she still made the decision to come out and tell the world. Why? "We were talking earlier about a celebrity's responsibility," she says, slowly and deliberately. "And I know that when I was very young and very scared, and didn't feel comfortable talking to teachers or parents or any other adults, I found out about a lot of things and gained comfort from my rock star heroes, my musical heroes. And I'm very aware of our influence as a band on very young people, and I'm also very aware that there are many things in our society that are stigmatised, and that causes a lot of problems for a lot of individuals. ''So there are certain things I'll talk about freely because I'm now comfortable with them - I've lived through them, processed them and dealt with them - and because a lot of people will gain some kind of comfort or advice from situations I've found myself in." Sensible, measured, pragmatic - for all her protestations, these days she might not make a bad politician herself. Diplomatically, she even refuses to spill the beans about the size of Chris Evans's manhood. "No way," she laughs. "A lady never tells." Garbage play The Garden Party, West Princes Street Gardens, Edinburgh at 7.30pm on July 1. Tickets are #16.50 and #14.50. Call 0870 739911 for credit card bookings

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