A Macclesfield businessman has released an album which has become a sleeper hit in the Manchester music scene.

Michael Knowles is the frontman for rock band The Catchmen, and also runs a film production company from an office on Jordangate in Macclesfield.

The band formed in Stockport, as teenagers, in 1988.

The Catchmen: Michael Knowles with bandmate and best mate Ian Livingston in the early 1990s. (Image - The Catchmen)

The Catchmen gained momentum, even having legendary Britpop band Oasis open for The Catchmen in their pre-fame days.

The Catchmen were nearlymen of the booming Manchester music scene in the late 1980s early 1990s, not quite making it unlike their Gallagher-based contemporaries.

But fast forward to today, the band are having a modest second wave of success, in what has become a new dawn for The Catchmen.

Michael (left) and Ian (right) went to Prague to record strings for their new album, 30 years after first wanting to do so. (Image - The Catchmen)

This spring, Michael and his bandmates released Stockport Syndrome.

It has gained traction on streaming services, with over 60,000 streams on Spotify.

Macclesfield Nub News met with Michael Knowles at his Macclesfield office to find out more.

Macclesfield businessman and singer-songwriter Michael Knowles has got the band back together. (Image - Michael Knowles)

"The Catchmen is a partnership between me and Ian Livingstone, we have been writing with each other for over 36 years", said Michael.

"I tend to come up with the idea of the song, but I develop it with Ian. And Ian comes up with the most beautiful counter melodies."

The Catchmen's heyday was from 1988 to 1993. And a collection of songs recorded but never released in that era, did end up on an album in 2019.

The Catchmen once headlined a gig where Oasis were the supporting act. Yes, that Oasis!

However, Stockport Syndrome is the first full release of new recordings for the band. But many of the songs on the new album were penned in the band's first six-year stint.

"We met for the first time aged 16 at a bus stop on Heaton Moor. Ian had had a few drinks, and we got to talking," added Michael.

"One of my friends at school had played him a demo of songs he had done, and I thought 'bloody hell, that's great I have got to record something with him.' 

Click the red links in the article to stream the latest (or their previous) work.

"We played together in The Catchmen for five years, we got Radio 1 plays, Oasis supported us at The Boardwalk in Manchester. We played with The Rhythm Sisters, that Bruce Foxton from The Jam was in. 

"It really felt like we were gonna do it. We had a real big opportunity, but it was one of those sliding doors moments that we didn't quite make it." 

Michael also runs movie production company North of Watford Films, based in Macclesfield.

WHATEVER HAPPENED TO THE TEENAGE DREAM: The band always wanted to have classical music instruments accompany their guitars, but it was only in 2024 when they could realise their full vision for the band's sound.

His bandmate Ian Livingstone has a career doing scores for film and TV, so the pair were always collaborating together on projects, given Michael's career in film, despite The Catchmen's dissolution.

But now, 2024 is the first time in 30 years that new material has been recorded as The Catchmen.

Back in the day, Michael and Ian wanted to make big orchestral music for their band, but as 16 year olds from Stockport struggled to find an orchestra.

In another lifetime, The Catchmen were supported by Oasis, loved by Terry Christian and were courted by Adele's manager Jonathan Dickens. Despite having Radio 1 play, broader success did not follow. (Image - The original logo for the band credited to The Catchmen)

Fast forward to now and Livingstone is an Ivor Novello winning film and TV composer, and Knowles a multi award winning BAFTA nominated producer.

Finally after working together on the Sam Claflin film Book of Love, The Catchmen reformed to make the epic music of their teenage dreams.

'"We stayed together as mates, and over the years we have still done music together," explained Michael.

Michael performs a track from 'Stockport Syndrome' in his Macclesfield office. (Image - Macclesfield Nub News)

"Ian has wrote some music for my films The Messenger, and The Pebble and the Boy.

"And we would write songs together, but it wasn't until after the music for the film The Book of Love, that Ian asked if we'd like to get the old gang back together to record new material for The Catchmen."

The album tells the tale of a Stockport romance from beginning to end.

The new album has a big sound, but whizzes by with a runtime of 36 minutes. (Image - The Catchmen)

The lush orchestration on the album saw them working with the Blue Planet orchestra in Prague. And with the orchestra and both Ian and Michael having experience in film, the songs sound cinematic and huge in scope.

The 11-track album culminates in a track called Crack in the World, which serves as a anthemic closer, but also towers above the album's loose concept, and has an environmental message.

"Half of the tracks are older ones, Hangover and Heatbreak and Jealousy I wrote when I was 18," said Michael.

The strings for the album were recorded in Czechia, with a full orchestra. (Image - The Catchmen)

"We had this big supply of songs that either people had never heard, or had never been recorded.

"Ian picked the songs, and we threw some new ones in the mix as well with Crack in the World being one of them.

"My wife Jenny, who was a back-up singer for The Catchmen back in the day also sings on the album, as does my daughter Frankie. We also got our old bass player Dave Fryman, who lives in Switzerland now, to play with us."

Michael moved his award-winning film business North of Watford Films to Macclesfield in spring 2023.

"We are super proud of the album. I want people to listen to it and love it the way we do. We think the songs stand up.

"One of the big things in life is about creating beautiful work, whether it is film, music, television, or journalism.

"And it is about what you leave behind. For me to be able to do this, and work with people that I really care about, and songs that I really care about, feels amazing."

Ian livingstone also makes scores for films, games and TV shows, with his work aside from The Catchmen boasting over 40,000 listeners on Spotify. (Image - Ian Livingston)

Michael wants listeners to break the mould of modern music consumption and listen to the whole album.

Something of which, thousands of people have done. Streams have come from across Europe, which isn't a surprise given the continental connections to the album.

Hearing songs they penned almost 40 years ago, with the full orchestral sound they envisioned was a powerful experience for Michael.

Listeners from around the world are enjoying the album, with - alongside our area - the most common places people are listening from include Rotterdam, Amsterdam, Brisbane and Brussels. (Image - The Catchmen / Spotify)

"Even talking about it now makes me emotional", recalled Michael.

"We both loved the song Hangover when we were kids, and hearing the orchestra play the intro to it for the first time, we really did have a tear in our eye.

"It was like our pasts coming to life, but beautiful.

Michael in Prague, on the day of the recording of the album's orchestral instrumentation. (Image - The Catchmen)

And with a large pool of songs still penned but not put to record, perhaps it won't be as long until the next album.

"Thank you to everyone for support so far," concluded Michael.

"I don't know if this is the autumn or the late summer of our career, but we are overwhelmed by and grateful for the support."

The new album has over 53,500 streams.

Macclesfield: You can listen to the album for free on Spotify, via this link.

The full album can also be streamed on YouTube, by clicking the 'play button' at the top of this article.

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Who knew Stockport Viaduct could have such an influence on creativity? (Image - Stockport Nub News)

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