1990's effete indie pop darlings Suede have got back together - but only to
tarmac their Bass player Mike Osman's driveway!
Mike takes up the story.
"With the hot summers and heavy rains of last few winters the driveway in my
privately owned council house has started to look increasingly shabby. But
earlier this month when a small strip of tarmac that had previously shown
signs of rippling, actually started to crack I knew something had to be done -
and soon." As news of Mike's plight spread like wildfire amongst the estate,
Suede's drummer Simon Gilbert heard the news and set about getting the whole
band back together to help out.
So on a sunny Wednesday in May the band turned up at Mike's with a small
truck full "of the Blackstuff", three shovel type spades, a "fire" barrel
and hired heavy roller and set to work on the driveway.
A neighbour (who cannot be named for legal reasons) witnessed the events
from his bedroom window and told us: "It was quite a scene. Five vibrant young
men wearing skinny shirts slashed to the waist and very tight jeans working
up a sweat in the dry heat."
But apparently not everyone was pulling their
weight, as Mike explained to us; "Brett wanted to be in charge of the barbeque
as he isn't that interested in tarmacking, which was fair enough, although
Simon did have to rebuke him when he had eaten more than his fair share of
hot dogs".
When quizzed on whether a Suede reunion could be on the cards Mike shrugged.
"Well it would be nice but we are all very busy doing other projects at the
moment. Me and 'Little Dicky' are currently training to be 'Meals on Wheels'
delivery drivers. Simon is a Chihuahua breeder. Bernard is something of an
internet entrepreneur as he has an ebay shop selling antique chisels and
mallets, and of course Brett is still heavily involved in the music
business".
We managed to have a quick phone interview with Brett despite his very busy
schedule, and quizzed him on whether Suede would reform. "Well as you know I
have continued at the very heart of the music business (I currently sell
advertising space for the bi-monthly South East Keyboard Player magazine)
and with those connections I have felt a real buzz within the industry for
Suede's music. For instance, I have heard that the boom operator on the TV
series "Life on Mars" used to be a Suede fan, and a freelance electrician
who does a lot of work at Capital Gold once saw the video for "The Wild
Ones" on ITV's The Chart Show and he really quite liked it. That's just a
couple of examples but the list is endless. So if the industry and public
wants us back then perhaps it should be made to happen."