What are some of your best memories on stage throughout all these years?
We’ve had so many great live moments down the years but we take our live appearances a lot more seriously now. In the 90s a gig was just part of the continuous circus-cum-party that was our lives. Now they are the entire focus of our lives as Suede.
So taking that into account, I’d have to say that when played “Metal Mickey” at the Royal Albert hall in 2010, the standing ovation seemed to go on for about twenty minutes. It was total vindication of the reunion and proved to us that our career was worthwhile; that there was a demand for us to come back and a genuine emotional response to that.
Were you guys absolutely sure about another Suede record when you promised the fans at London Astoria in 2003?
Well, you never want to say never but we couldn’t actually see it happening in 2003.
You guys have been credited for having kick started the Britpop scene and are now definitely part of a more global music culture. What do you think of that?
Well, we started singing about British life, using British vocabulary and it got turned into a horrible beery cartoon that we hated and rejected. We weren’t a part of that and we didn’t want to be part of it.
Is rock barely surviving now?
I think it’s more than surviving. These things are always cyclical. You have an emphasis on dance music in the charts for a bit and then hip-hop or whatever and then it comes back to guitar music for abit and so on. As I write, the new Arctic Monkeys album has just become the second fastest selling album of 2013 in the UK, after Daft Punk. Foals, Vaccines, Maccabees and loads of others have been really successful over the past 18 months. You know… it’s ok.
Is Bloodsports loaded in terms of meaning?
It’s a wry look at the endless game of love—the fact that it’s got blood and sports in there together sums it up: a slightly cynical look at romance.
Has the routine toned down for Suede?
Yes and no. We don’t tour quite so much but we push ourselves harder when we do play. The writing and recording is probably more intense. It helps that our chemical intake isn’t as punishing.
One artist or band that you’d love to collaborate with?
Err… don’t know. Who have you got?
Going around so many cities and being away from home making you miss something?
Well, yeah. We all have lives and partners and families to come home to that are more more of a priority now than before. Of course it’s difficult to leave that.
What’s it feel like singing the same song again and again yet receiving that same roar of approval?
Yea, it’s great. How couldn’t it be?
What’s the meaning of life?
To gather together as many lizards as you can.
Suede performs at The Coliseum, Resorts World Sentosa on September 27, 8pm. Tickets at $115 from Sistic.
