Suede's last waltz Andy Murray http://www.manchesteronline.co.uk/entertainment/music/indieandrock/ stories/Detail_LinkStory=74864.html BRETT Anderson and Mat Osman, the founder members of Suede, are jokingly casting a film of the band’s story. “Mat would obviously be Nicolas Cage,” smirks Brett. “Who would play Richard? Someone who looks like an owl. Billy Idol would have to play Simon… and according to Mat, Peter Egan would be me.” “Actually,” pipes up Mat, “I’ve changed my mind about that now. I think that the barman from Eastenders should play you.” “Which barman?” cries Brett. “Alfie?” Shane Ritchie, slapping his arse with a microphone and belting out Metal Mickey? Well, stranger things have happened. Especially to Suede. Thing is, City Life’s summit with the one-time ‘Best New Band in Britain’ took place early last month while they were promoting their career-spanning Singles collection. In the weeks since, they’ve announced that their current tour will be their last. From the New Year, it’s individual projects ahoy. Theirs has been quite a tale, and now the final curtain’s been called, their reflective comments look rather poignant. It’s not surprising they’ve been taking stock. Besides Singles, they’ve recently overseen the publication of Love and Poison, a genuinely unflinching band biography. As Brett promises, “It’s as open as it gets. I don’t want to show it to my girlfriend’s mum, put it that way…” He’s not kidding. You’ll never listen to So Young the same way again once you know it’s about Brett’s 16-year-old Indian girlfriend of the time overdosing. And it pulls no punches about their low periods, particularly Brett’s spiralling heroin addiction. “There are lots of points in it where we look weak and useless and stupid,” admits Brett. Pretty picture “It’s not particularly a pretty picture, but it was really important for me personally not to veto any of it, and to get over some of the truth about the band. "There’s been a lot of rumour and chat and bulls**t. I wanted to say, this is actually what happened, and these are the things that the songs were actually about. "It’s a story of extremes, but it’s a story of a rock band and that’s all about achieving extremes really.” Perhaps surprisingly, the band claim to have enjoyed a special relationship with Manchester. They’ve always worshipped local bands, from Joy Division and The Smiths to Happy Mondays, and Brett even had a spell living here as a Town Planning student in the late ’80s. He packed it in after a year - was it not a period he enjoyed? “I did, actually. I just hated student life. I lived in Owens Park, in Fallowfield, and I hated it. It was full of absolute f**king w**kers. But that wasn’t the fault of Manchester - it’s the fault of students. "After I’d quit the college I stayed on and moved to Daisy Bank Road, just off Plymouth Grove, for about a year. "The Cyprus Tavern isn’t there any more, is it? I used to DJ there. And I spent a lot of nights in the Hacienda. "I’ve got fond memories of Manchester.” Mat concurs. “Funnily enough, for a band who are always seen as a London band, it was like a second home to us for a long time.” Manchester For Brett, Manchester music continues to exert an influence. “I love Badly Drawn Boy. That first album I though was beautiful. A really special, warm, little album. "In a funny sort of way it’s sort of how I wanted (Suede’s ill -starred last album) A New Morning to be, more intimate and folky and personal and warm - all those things that Suede aren’t really associated with.” Recently Brett’s been listening to the likes of Peaches and Black Rebel Motorcycle Club. “Martina Topley-Bird, as well. She’s got a certain kind of presence that’s nothing like guys with grubby guitars. I saw the Yeah Yeah Yeahs, and they were one of the best live bands I’ve ever seen.” Mat, meanwhile, speaks highly of The Vines and Colder. It’s been suggested that the band have no interest in their own retrospective Singles album, but as Mat explains, “it’s the process of it that none of us are particularly bothered with, spending a couple of months of your life looking back. "Singles and the book and all these things came up at the same time and we spent about a month purging ourselves. "It’s like bulimia or something, eating the past, and hopefully we’ll throw it all up and get back to doing something new soon. "The plan at the moment’s just to write and get a record out quickly, but we’ll see how it goes…” Sadly, it’s not panned out that way. It’s easy to speculate about what finished Suede off. Many still subscribe to the (incorrect) notion they were over when Bernard left (and Brett advises against expecting “any big reunion”). Their reluctance to be aligned with Britpop, which they were vital in instigating, meant they were tarred as unfashionable outsiders. In due course, fluctuating band line-ups, plummeting album sales and those crippling drug problems eventually destroyed their momentum. Demon Once the split was announced, Brett posted a statement on the band’s website, insisting “I need to do whatever it takes to get my demon back." Until now, Suede survived because the members shared a rock-solid purpose. “We’ve always known what kind of band it was supposed to be - this kind of twisted pop band,” asserts Mat. “We’ve always wanted to make pop records that competed with the greats. We grew up in a time when the coolest bands on the planet were also having number ones, and I think at the height of the ’90s that was true again. "It’s something that runs to the very heart of Suede, the idea that you can make a f**king cool record that should be up there in the charts and in people’s hearts.” At times, the Suede soap opera has obscured the fact they’ve made some of the most arresting, beautiful music of recent times. So quick, pay your respects before they become the best ex-band in Britain. Suede play Manchester Academy on Monday, December 8. Sold out. --

※ 发信站: 批踢踢实业坊(ptt.cc) ◆ From: 61.230.143.147