Plagued by critical animosity and tiptoeing around the news that
Neil Codling had ME, it seemed like Suede spent 1999 on the run.
No sooner was the album on the shelves than they sped off to play every
long-haired European rock festival, consolidating their continental fanbase,
while sending long distance mortar singles into the Top 30. There was no
British tour until October. Scared of us, were you?
"Nah, not at all," Brett says firmly. "That's the last thing we were.
WE were chomping at the bit to play here. We couldn't wait for V99.
Every gig we've done in the UK this year has been exciting. V99 was ridiculous.
It was purely to do with contracts. IT's been quite frustrating because
people have assumed that we were ignoring the UK, but it's been nothing like
that. Our hands were tied by contracts."
Mat: " It was a bit unfair, to be honest, because by the time we'd done about
six or seven festivals, everything was sounding really good, and we just
wanted to get back to England."
Brett: "It was purely a business thing. It had nothing to do with anything else,
except that we had already agreed to do V99. When you do big festivals like
that, there are restrictions on your own tour dates."
Forced into contractual exile, then, Suede took refuge among
the mysterious pleasures and dubious smells of the tour bus. They chased
hurricanes around the Far East, dodged nuclear disasters in Japan,
skipped over war zones and met Australians, but they truly felt at home
while crowded around Michael Stipe's four-track.
"We toured with REM and they were brilliant," Mat enthuses.
"They were playing 30 songs a night and changing the set each time,
playing stuff they'd never played before.
Then they were writing new stuff in the sound checks . And they had
a little studio set up in the dressing rooms."
"They were a really open band," Beret grins, "really friendly,
inviting us to pop in and contribute stuff to their four-track recordings.
IT was a spirit of invention, being constantly creative and constantly
inspired. That's how I want to approach the next Suede album."
--
So give me Coffee and TV History
I've seen so much I'm goin blind And i'm braindead virtually
Sociability It's hard enough for me
Take me away form this big bad world And agree to marry me
So we can start all over again
--
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