His first appearance for Suede took place in Hanover Grand, on a secret fanclub gig. It was January 27, 1996. However his first public performance with Suede was later in 1996, at the launch of Trash. On stage he often looked bored. Sometimes he even smoked between his turns to play, like when the band's playing an old song of theirs. He admitted that to be a kind of image for him. However in studio he's not as relaxed as he looked on stage: he did work hard for the band.

Before he came, Suede were composed of Brett Anderson (vocalist, founding member), Mat Osman (bassist, founding member), Simon Gilbert (drummer, Neil's cousin), and Richard Oakes (guitarist). No album was recorded with this formation, as the previous one (Dog Man Star) was recorded with their former guitarist Bernard Butler and their next one (Coming Up) was in progress when Neil walked in.

Officially, he held the keyboardist position in the band, but in practice, he also played guitars, piano, synthesisers, and sang to back Brett Anderson's crisp vocals. In time, he spread his influence in Suede's musical direction during his career with them. Not only that he co-wrote songs, he also wrote - and perform - several songs by himself. And for songs he didn't write, his instrumentation was able to give a distinguished sense to the songs.

Not only musically but his personality is... very Suede-ish. Mysterious, sexy, elegant, and witty. He just blended naturally with the band.

The last gig he performed with Suede (for now) was in Iceland Airwaves Music Festival, at the Reykjavik Kaugardalsholl Stadium on October 21, 2000. There, Suede premiered 9 new songs and featured yet unrecorded three-way vocal harmonies between Brett, Neil, and Richard Oakes.

He announced officially to leave the band on March 24, 2001, due to chronic fatigue syndrome. Again, some unworthy human beings with deficiency of knowledge and heart, took his departure cynically. Haven't they learned, how wrong it was when they took his entrance to Suede cynically? What he needs most is rest, and that's just what he's going to get now.

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