suede, don't care what people say

This British group proved that they deserve compliments. They stay together and stay productive for 8 years. Why do many people envy them?

It was in 1989 when Brett Anderson (vocals) and Mat Osman (bassist), old childhood friends, made a band named Geoff. Soon after Brett asked his girlfriend Justine Frischmann to join. They changed their name to Suave And Elegant.

Lacking of members, they put on an ad for a guitarist. Came Bernard Butler who dropped out of London's Queen Mary College. Fifth member, Simon Gilbert was found selling tickets at London's ULU. He then became their drummer. The band were complete and they changed their name again to Suede.

Before releasing any albums, Justine walked out to get her degree. Later she formed Elastica. Suede did their first album (Suede) with 4 members.

Another trouble occured. After the successful first album, Bernard walked out. What a shame considering that Suede had begun to be noticed. They were even praised as "The Best New Band In Britain" by British press (1992). They looked for his replacement and luckily they met the talented young guitarist, Richard Oakes.

This formation of Brett Anderson, Mat Osman, Richard Oakes and Simon Gilbert fit with each other. They got really popular all over Europe. And their first album broke the record of the fastest selling album ever. In two days after its release date, Suede was sold 150.000 copies. Of course they got gold for it.

However they were not satisfied with that formation. "We need another form of sound, to make our music more various," said Brett, the vocalist who's also the songwriter and the spokesman of Suede. So they chose a keyboard player who happened to be a fan of Suede, Neil Codling.

The group known as The London Suede in America (to differ them from a country band) became more solid. Until now (after 8 years in the industry) they have made 4 albums, each one sold over 150.000 copies worldwide.

As a britpop band, Suede draw no less attention than boybands. Beside their great and selling music, their cuteness are often being exposed. These factors, according to the critics, are the amulets to their success. "We don't get it, what made them call us cute?" said Brett.

"People might say that Suede fans like us for our looks. They might say that Suede music is only a trend-follower. We don't care. The fact is not like that. Suede are liked for our music. But please don't call us posterboys!" revealed Brett, agreed by his bandmates. There are so many negative opinions about this group as Brett said. These opinions sometimes come from fellow musician, like Blur's Damon Albarn.

All those opinions fade away gradually. "We answered them by action. We don't need to say much, and in the end they're all proven wrong," added Mat Osman, the founding member of Suede besides Brett. Later Damon became a friend of Suede and worked with them in the Warchild album among other musicians. He also stated that Suede is the first band to move British pop in the 90's. What a change.

Brett and his mates has just finished touring North America (USA and Canada) and Asia (from Tokyo to Bangkok, March 3-8, 1997). "We want to meet Suede fans outside Europe. We did this tour also as a warming up before we get back into the studio (for Sci-Fi Lullabies)," explained Brett.

He might not sound serious, but their tour was successful. They're not only popular in UK and Europe. Each concert sees thousands of revellers watching. Not to mention their fans' behaviour who followed them wherever they went.

"Unfortunately we have got a very strict schedule, so we haven't got much time to chat with them. The truth is we really want to go sightseeing in every country we visit," regrets the long-haired handsome lad Richard.

How would they not gather so much fans, besides their great musical skills (definitely, they're musicians right?) they're also cute. Not to mention their concerts that are full of amazing stage acts, especially by Brett Anderson. There are three acts Brett always does: introducing his band's members and making the audience repeat their names. Really cool! Then he also likes to throw his microphone stand and catch it back like a marching band leader. He also likes to spin his microphone towards his bandmates. And of course, plus Brett's sexy voice, while he sings and talks. Clear enough why Suede concerts always go full-house?

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Some corrections...

• Simon got in after Justine walked out...
• Neil became a Suede member unintentionally...
• I don't believe the recording of Warchild album brought peace to Damon's heart...