The band comprised vocalist/rhythm guitarist Paul Draper, bassist Stove King, lead guitarist/backing vocalist Dominic Chad, and drummer Andie Rathbone.
[7] Grind released one 12" single in 1991 on the small "Whats in It For Me Records" label[8] and gigged around London at venues such as The Rock Garden and The Brain and also supported Beverley Craven at the Mean Fiddler.
Following the split of Grind, Draper, funded by a grant from The Prince's Trust, set up a music company called "Ambiance Productions" producing relaxation tapes to be sold in "hippie shops" across the north west of England.
[10] Chad had previously played with "Floating Bear"[11] formed whilst at Bangor University in 1990, where he had been studying French and Russian but was kicked off the course due to lack of effort.
[16] This resulted in the band signing to Parlophone, with whom they released the follow-up single "Skin Up Pin Up / Flourella" in November 1995 on sublabel Regal Recordings, although this time under the new moniker "Mansun" as they were forced to change the spelling due to threatened legal action from the Charles Manson Estate.
[17] The band gave several false accounts of this at the time, one being that they were named after The Verve B-side "A Man Called Sun",[18] and that "Manson" was simply a spelling mistake which accidentally went through to production.
The first lineup of the band alongside Draper, King and Chad had featured former Grind drummer Carlton Hibbert and drum machine programmer Mark Swinnerton.
These included punching his own reflection in a hotel mirror, being thrown out of a pub after attempting to drop kick the bar, throwing pint glasses out of a window in Sheffield, getting himself banned along with the rest of the band from every outlet of the now defunct roadside restaurant chain Happy Eater, all Hard Rock Cafes worldwide and every Holiday Inn hotel in the UK after drop kicking a statue of the Venus de Milo.
[23] Ex-Kinky Machine drummer Julian Fenton was temporarily drafted in for gigs and featured in the promo videos for "Take It Easy Chicken" and "Stripper Vicar".
In August 1996 Andie Rathbone joined, a well known drummer in Chester who had been playing regularly with several bands including DNA Cowboys,[24] The Wandering Quatrains and Jonti.
Suffering from writer's block, Draper took inspiration from books Chad had taken out with him on tour, such as 120 Days of Sodom by Marquis de Sade, The House at Pooh Corner by A.
A. Milne, and Dianetics: The Modern Science of Mental Health by L. Ron Hubbard, by quickly scanning them to get the gist of the books and then forming lyrics based on them.
[30] The original idea was to package the CD version of the album in a 12" gatefold sleeve to replicate the vinyl experience, but was abandoned due to possible issues with getting it stocked by retailers.
[44] Draper later revealed that he had been diagnosed with cancer during recording sessions at Rockfield Studios, after a blister appeared on his left hand middle finger that kept bleeding.
However, he was unable to play for several months after his finger swelled up following treatment[45][46] In April and May 2002 the band embarked on a low-key UK tour, which was initially planned to be secret and promoted under the pseudonym The Masons.
Further commenting on the band's split, Draper claimed that "one or two members did way too many drugs and a lot of people interfering, it wasn’t handled properly and it ended in disaster".
The tracks intended for the album were then released in September 2004, along with the non-album singles and a selection of B-sides (compiled by Draper from a top 20 voted for by fans on the band's official website) and rarities in a 3 CD box set entitled Kleptomania.
The CD also provided access to download the previously unreleased "South of the Painted Hall", which was originally set for release on Kleptomania, but the multitrack was incomplete, missing the lead vocal.
[63] In March 2008, on the prospect of a Mansun reunion, Draper stated that whilst he and Andie Rathbone were interested, "Dominic Chad would never do it, so it can't happen".
Following the split, Draper worked with ex-Skunk Anansie singer Skin on songs for her Gordon Raphael produced album Fake Chemical State,[65] and recorded demos for artists such as Komakino[66] and Catherine A.D.
[70] Draper responded to the petition and spoke of how he and DJ Marc Riley were literally overwhelmed with emails of support and questions about his unreleased project, following an appearance on BBC Radio 6 Music in October.
In the press release for Kleptomania, Draper claimed that he had started writing with Chad again,[76] but later admitted that he had only been helping him build up backing tracks and had stopped turning up to the sessions anyway.
[77] In 2005 it was revealed Chad was involved with the Nordoff Robbins Music Therapy charity[78] and was also rumoured to be working in a care home[78] and later a driver for St. John Ambulance in London.