Garbage’s Shirley Manson on “No God No Masters”

Shirley Manson, who is the frontperson for the platinum-selling rock band, Garbage, has both learned and done quite a bit in the 25 years she’s been in the public eye. Garbage, which rocketed to fame with its self-titled album in 1995, was all over the radio and MTV airwaves with hit songs like “Only Happy When It Rains” and “Stupid Girl” in the mid-’90s. In the years between, the band have released a number of successful records and now the band is poised to release its latest, No God No Masters, this Friday.

No Gods No Masters was produced by Garbage alongside long-time collaborator Billy Bush. The album will also be available in a deluxe CD/digital version, which will feature covers of songs by David Bowie, Patti Smith, and Bruce Springsteen, as well as guest appearances by Screaming Females and Brody Dalle, among others.

Manson, who is Scottish, joined the band’s other three members—Duke Erikson, Steve Marker, and famed musician and engineer, Butch Vig—after an audition in Wisconsin in 1993. At first, the audition went disastrously. But nevertheless, fate intervened and Manson joined the band and the rest is history. We caught up with Manson to ask her when she first fell in love with music, how Garbage’s new record came to be and what she loves so much about Patti Smith.