Stone Roses Star Rules Out Band Resurrection

As the massive success of the Blur reunion showed, there is a huge appetite for old bands to get back together and churn out those old hits again.

There must be something about it that makes us all feel young again.
But rather than wanting to be adored by thousands of screaming fans again, one man has instead decided to abandon music altogether, retire to the countryside and work alone, focusing his attention on his art.
The story of the Stone Roses' whirlwind rise to becoming Britain's biggest band at the turn of the Nineties is well documented.
Over the last few months there's been a fresh appraisal of the band, in light of it being the 20th Anniversary of their eponymous debut album, which still regularly lands in lists of the best records ever made.

But for guitarist John Squire, those giddy days are definitely over.
He insists he is 100% committed to his artwork, especially with a major exhibition currently on show in Oldham.
John invited Sky News to his home studio, perched on a quiet country hill in Macclesfield, next to the converted farmhouse where he lives with the wife and kids.
A rock star becoming an artist will always put some people out. So does he think the critics will give him a rough ride?
"Um, well if they do I think it's entirely justified," he smiles nervously. "Most of the work that former musicians turn out is drivel.
"I think it's getting older, you realise that you've got a finite amount of time and you need to manage it properly.
"I don't want to miss the children growing up and I don't want to divide my free working time between art and music, and have both suffer as a result."

John's new show, entitled Heat, Light, Death And Industry, features some impressively large scale steel sculptures, all based on oversized replicas of cardboard cartons and grocery packaging.
"I saw them as metaphors for waste and decadence," he explains, "for a system that relies upon us wanting things we don't need."
It's impressive, and a long way from his famous Jackson Pollock-inspired pieces that graced the Roses covers.
Later this year John will go on his own world tour, exhibiting his pieces in Austria and Tokyo.
But, inevitably, those theories that his old band are getting back together refuse to go away.
"I hear all the rumours," he laughs. "I even get pressure from members of my own family to do it again. They want me back on stage and out of the house.

"It's nothing to do with inter-band relationships. I want to do this and not play music. I've grown tired of it and don't see it as particularly challenging."
But surely after seeing how well Blur went down, and thinking of how much they have probably made, the thought of the Roses easily selling out stadiums again is slightly more tempting than ever?
"No, I would see it as a backwards move, I want to keep moving forward, whatever the rewards might be for a backwards step."
John's show runs at the Gallery Oldham until September 5.

For more info, go to www.johnsquire.com