{"id":5210,"date":"2025-09-15T17:09:20","date_gmt":"2025-09-15T17:09:20","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/musictechohio.online\/site\/an-audience-with-brett-anderson-33396\/"},"modified":"2025-09-15T17:09:20","modified_gmt":"2025-09-15T17:09:20","slug":"an-audience-with-brett-anderson-33396","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/musictechohio.online\/site\/an-audience-with-brett-anderson-33396\/","title":{"rendered":"Brett Anderson: \u201cI\u2019m quite popular in odd places\u2026\u201d"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Suede have just released their latest album Antidepressants to stunning reviews (including Uncut, who called it their “most intoxicating, unhinged Suede album since Coming Up”). Now put Antidepressants on the stereo, turn it up and enjoy this classic An Audience With… Brett Anderson from the Uncut…<\/div>\n
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Suede have just released their latest album Antidepressants to stunning reviews (including Uncut<\/a>, who called it their \u201cmost intoxicating, unhinged Suede album since Coming Up\u201d). Now put Antidepressants on the stereo, turn it up and enjoy this classic An Audience With\u2026 Brett Anderson from the Uncut vaults.<\/strong><\/p>\n

Brett Anderson has some fans in odd places. This month, Uncut\u2019s email boxes are positively heaving with questions from adoring fans in Peru, Serbia, Japan, New Zealand, Belgium, South Africa, Slovenia and Russia.
\n\u201cI\u2019m quite popular in odd places,\u201d he says. \u201cSuede had No 1s in Chile and Finland. We were massive in Denmark. If asked why Denmark, my stock answer was that, well, I\u2019m a depressed sex maniac and so are most Scandinavians. We toured China long before most Western pop groups. I remember playing Beijing, to a crowd divided by armed soldiers facing the audience. That was pretty scary.\u201d
\nAnderson is currently back in the Far East, speaking to Uncut as he overlooks Kowloon Harbour, preparing for solo dates. Later in the year he\u2019ll be in London for a big O2 show with Suede (sans original guitarist Bernard Butler, although the two remain good friends).
\n\u201cI wanted to check out what the stage was like at the O2 Arena,\u201d he says. \u201cSo I went to see The Moody Blues with my father-in-law. Come on, you can\u2019t argue with \u2018Nights In White Satin\u2019. What a tune!\u201d<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

\u2013\u2013\u2013\u2013\u2013\u2013\u2013\u2013\u2013\u2013\u2013\u2013\u2013\u2013\u2013\u2013\u2013\u2013\u2013\u2013\u2013\u2013\u2013\u2013\u2013\u2013\u2013<\/strong><\/p>\n

I presume you\u2019re aware of the \u2018reallybanderson\u2019 Twitter account purporting to be by you. Amused or offended?
\nHelen, Birmingham<\/strong>
\nTwitter is one of those strange things, like Facebook, that I don\u2019t have anything to do with. But I have to grudgingly admit that the reallybanderson Twitter updates are rather funny [starts giggling]. And the guy doing it is obviously a bit of a Suede fan, because there are some very detailed references to b-sides and bla-di-blah. I can\u2019t exactly complain about it without coming across as a real tit. It\u2019s just fun and no-one really thinks it\u2019s me, it\u2019s a cartoon version of me reflected through some fairground mirror. I don\u2019t think anyone reads it and thinks, \u2018Oh, Brett Anderson has Jas Mann from Babylon Zoo doing his washing up, or Brett punched Damon in the street.\u2019 It is, ha ha ha, quite witty.<\/p>\n

Having shown them the picture inside the Best Of Suede CD, my kids would like to know why you refused to feed me for five years? Also \u2013 can my mum have her top back? And are you around for a trip to the Imperial War Museum?
\nBernard Butler<\/strong>
\nYes, what most fans don\u2019t realise is that we kept Bernard in a cage for five years, and fed him edamame beans and tap water. Regarding his mum\u2019s top \u2013 he should know that it\u2019s long been ripped up and destroyed by the front row of the Southampton Joiners, or somesuch venue. Now, the Imperial War Museum \u2013 me and Bernard were talking about getting older the other day and he said: \u201cAre you finding yourself increasingly interested in British military history?\u201d And I have become oddly fascinated with watching WWI docs on YouTube. It\u2019s not just the personal tragedies, but the sense of it being a shocking transition point between the Victorian world and modernity. The idea that they were going into war on horseback, and by the end of it they were in tanks. Blimey. So tell Bernard I will be going to the museum, soon\u2026<\/p>\n

What\u2019s your favourite Duffy song?
\nKris Smith, Wembley
\n<\/strong>I thought \u201cRockferry\u201d was a very beautiful, stirring track. So that\u2019s the only one I know well, but I\u2019m really pleased for Bernard that that was a big success [Butler co-wrote and produced much of the album<\/em>]. He\u2019s an incredibly talented person and works incredibly hard, and he\u2019s one of those people who is just obsessed with music. People like that deserve success. Did I ask him to join the Suede show at the O2? No. I told him about it, but he\u2019s moved on so far from Suede that it would have been odd, and we\u2019ve had a completely different lineup since he left. I don\u2019t think he\u2019d want to be jumping around a stage again! He\u2019s much happier doing what he does now, I think he\u2019s really found his calling.<\/span><\/p>\n

Do you still have your cat, Fluffington?
\nClaire Vanderhoven, Holland<\/strong>
\nUnfortunately, he\u2019s ascended to cat heaven. He had 15 long years of adoration. Am I getting another cat? Well, I recently got married, and my wife brought two Italian greyhounds with her. I don\u2019t know if anyone is aware of them, but Italian greyhounds are like little cats. Ours are eight years old but look like miniature foxes, bonsai greyhounds. But incredibly fast, like little bullets. When they\u2019re not running they spend their whole life under the duvet. Someone once told me they were bred by the Pharaohs as bedwarmers!<\/p>\n

Brett, do you have a copy of the single I recorded with Suede: \u201cArt\u201d b\/w \u201cBe My God\u201d? If so, could I have one?
\nMike Joyce<\/strong>
\nMike, I think I destroyed my copy years ago. I\u2019m not one to keep memorabilia. They\u2019re about 100 quid on eBay. Mike was an early member of Suede. We were advertising for a drummer and listed The Smiths as an influence. Then at an audition, their drummer pokes his head through the door and says, \u201cHello, lads!\u201d Ha! It was a bit Jim\u2019ll Fix It. I don\u2019t think anyone thought it was going to last, Mike was far too big a name for us. But he just took us under his wing, guided us through the industry, and was so charming. I still keep in contact with him.<\/p>\n

What\u2019s the weirdest story you\u2019ve heard about yourself?
\n<\/strong>Badabingbadaboom
\n<\/strong>Someone once told me that they\u2019d heard a story about me wanting to shit in someone\u2019s mouth. But I also heard the same story about David Byrne, so I think it\u2019s one of those urban myths that gets transferred from one slightly kooky pop star to another. That\u2019s probably the most unsavoury thing I\u2019ve heard about myself. Maybe I should give it a go.<\/p>\n

Which actors would you like to play the lead members of Suede in a biopic?
\nJames Kumar, Manchester<\/strong>
\nThis is the kind of thing we talk about on tour. Matt Osman is convinced I should be played by Peter Egan, who was in Ever Decreasing Circles. I think Nic Cage should play Matt. Ars\u00e8ne Wenger reminds me of Bernard. That\u2019s what Bernard will look like when he\u2019s 60. Billy Idol could play Simon Gilbert, couldn\u2019t he?<\/p>\n

Would you ever consider working in musical theatre?
\nNeil Tennant<\/strong>
\nIt\u2019s funny he should ask that, because only the other day, I was listening to the album Neil and Chris did with Liza Minnelli in the late \u201980s. Results, I think it\u2019s called, with \u201cLosing My Mind\u201d. That sounded great, so emotive, and real. I\u2019m a big fan of the Pet Shop Boys, they\u2019re one of those amazing bands that almost created their own genre. But anyway, musical theatre. Yeah, I think I would. Sondheim? Rodgers and Hart? Definitely. I\u2019m always open to new ideas. Musical theatre sounds like it\u2019s going to have camp undertones, but I\u2019d love to do it in an interesting way.<\/p>\n

What\u2019s the worst song you\u2019ve ever written?
\nMark Catley, Christchurch, NZ<\/strong>
\nThat\u2019s a good question. I wrote lots of terrible songs that were never recorded in the early days. But there\u2019s a song called \u201cDuchess\u201d \u2013 a B-side to something from the Head Music era [actually to 1997 single \u201cFilmstar\u201d] \u2013 which is pretty rubbish. I\u2019ve often regretted the production on certain songs, like \u201cTrash\u201d and \u201cAnimal Nitrate\u201d, even though they\u2019ve been pretty good songs. But you can\u2019t go messing around with things like that. You start to interfere with what people originally liked about it. I also think people like your mistakes, as they give your work humanity. I quite like that about Prince. He seems to throw stuff out \u2013 some of it genius, some unlistenable \u2013 but all quite honest. I respect that.<\/p>\n

Do you enjoy art? Excited about Gauguin at the Tate?
\nKatarina Janoskova, London<\/strong>
\nAbsolutely. I\u2019m a big fan of Gauguin and the post-impressionists. My favourite visual artist, if I had to narrow it down to one, would be Manet, the pre-impressionist. Not Monet, who doesn\u2019t do it for me. But Manet had this revolutionary technique of painting on black, which gives his pictures a real depth, there\u2019s something very sumptuous about his paintings. And further back, the kind of medieval-style stuff like Holbein and Brueghel \u2013 they\u2019re so well observed and so real. You look at these pictures of people who lived 500, 600 years ago, you can imagine them walking down Tottenham Court Road now, the same face, they\u2019re so real. It\u2019s a little window into the past. I\u2019ve quite got into art recently. It\u2019s all part of expanding yourself and your education, appreciation of beauty in life, innit?<\/p>\n

Now that you\u2019re no longer coming to work in Bow, how are you coping without the salad pitta?
\nLeo Abrahams, musician and producer<\/strong>
\nHa ha! I\u2019ve been working on an album with Leo, in his studio, and I have an unhealthy obsession with East London\u2019s kebab shops. You don\u2019t get many good kebab shops in west London. It reminds me of being a student. I\u2019m surprised Leo\u2019s got the time to email you questions! He\u2019s far too busy producing Eno or Grace Jones or Florence & The Machine. He also does these bizarre things where he plays entirely improvised gigs, no rehearsals. And that inspired the latest solo LP I\u2019ve done with him. It was based on improvs. Me, Leo, Seb Rochford on drums, and Leopold Ross on bass just jammed for days, cut up them up and improvised, and did overdubs. It\u2019s a full-on rock record. I love Leo, he\u2019s great. He never takes the easy option. He pushes you a bit, which can be terrifying.<\/p>\n

Can you give us not-so-slim-in-2010 Suede fans some health tips?
\nSimon Quinton, Oxford<\/strong>
\nMy wife is a naturopath \u2013 she\u2019s conscious of what she eats, so we eat a lot of sushi and seeds. I\u2019ve got into cycling recently, particularly living in London, through the parks and the backstreets. It makes you fall back in love with the city. I cycled to Bow the other day from my house in Notting Hill. So that\u2019s staving off the fortysomething belly. I\u2019m sure I\u2019ll get it when I\u2019m fiftysomething. I\u2019m looking forward to that.<\/p>\n

What do you think of Gorillaz?
\nRuiz, S\u00e3o Paulo, Brazil<\/strong>
\nTo be honest, I don\u2019t know much about them. I like the drawings. I guess that\u2019s a veiled question about my relationship with Damon? Well, we don\u2019t have a relationship to talk about. We all have things that happened years ago, rivalries and so on, and people assume that they\u2019re still on your radar and part of your life. It\u2019s like some musical soap opera, often one that\u2019s been fabricated, without much substance. I have different issues in my life now.<\/p>\n

Is the art of songwriting dead? If it isn\u2019t, who is flying the torch?
\nPaloma Faith<\/strong>
\nOh, it\u2019s not dead at all. I\u2019m constantly inspired by new music. If you look on YouTube, there\u2019s a clip of me singing Christina Aguilera\u2019s \u201cBeautiful\u201d. When you\u2019re covering stuff it\u2019s interesting to try things that are out of your genre, which gives it a frisson. So I always try songs that aren\u2019t, you know, British indie, stuff like Blondie, or The Pretenders. That Christina Aguilera song is amazing. I try not to look at songs as the finished product, I look at it as the chords and the melody and the words, like sheet music to be interpreted. You\u2019ve got to keep moving with your musical appreciation. I loved the last Horrors record, I liked The National, The Drums, These New Puritans, lots of stuff. I never listen to the records I grew up with. Why bother? It\u2019s all in my head!<\/p>\n

Brett, you\u2019re from Haywards Heath. What\u2019s the deal with the swimming pool there? It\u2019s deep in the middle, not at one end. What\u2019s your take on that? And were you ever caught out by it?
\nP Newman, Brighton<\/strong>
\nI don\u2019t know what they\u2019re referring to at all, but funnily enough my dad used to work there as a swimming pool attendant. And I don\u2019t really know how he got the job because he couldn\u2019t swim. It\u2019s lucky there weren\u2019t any accidents. Every Tuesday, we had to troop down to the local pool, and everybody would be pointing at my dad saying, \u201cOh look there\u2019s your dad, he\u2019s working as a pool attendant.\u201d And I was hoping none of them would start drowning, \u2019cos my dad wouldn\u2019t be much use. Still, this was the early \u201980s, and I guess we all thought the world was going to end any second with a nuclear bomb. Ha ha.<\/p>\n

This interview originally appeared in Uncut\u2019s December 2010 issue<\/strong><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

The post Brett Anderson: \u201cI\u2019m quite popular in odd places\u2026\u201d<\/a> appeared first on UNCUT<\/a>.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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