Fireproof depository

Q Magazine, date indecipherable

You pestered him about Blur, alluded to child sex and sales slumps. Touché! The Suede singer skipped adroitly around your heroine probes and parried your weight jibes. Threeche! Meet the people albeit gingerly, Brett Anderson.

"Give me a minute", says Brett Anderson. Just back from doing a day's promo in Sweden, he will leave tomorrow morning for a tour of Japan. His upmarket London house is a recent purchase; framed portraits of Victorian couples hang on the walls of the living room – "the previous owners" he smirks - and there's no orange juice in the fridge. While he fetches two glasses of water, Q peruses his CD collection; a preponderance of Prince and The Fall, funk and reggae box sets, Suede works-in-progress. "Its a funny market in Britain at the moment" he says, batting away suggestions that Head Music has, despite charting at Number 1 in its first week, sold sluggishly since then. "The UK market is a tiny percentage of our market, to be honest". Spoken off-handedly, as if the concept of commercial plateaux hadn't occurred to him, it’s a typical Andersonian response to any question he deems tricky or impertinent, as we shall see.
A black cat wanders in, pads around and vanishes. Perhaps he could pose for some photographs later with its owner? "Nah," says Anderson. "He doesn't get out of bed for less than fifty grand".

Talking of which...
- Do all Suede members get paid the same? (Sally Edwards, Cardiff)
No. We're pretty democratic about things, but it all comes down to writing. However a song is written - if anyone has contributed to any part of it - then they get an amount. We take each song as a separate case, we don't just split it equal ways. If tomorrow, Richard wrote all the words and everything else, then he'd get more money than the rest of us.

- How many times over the years have you sung "Aaa-howww" in a song? (Jock Mooney, Borders)
Probably most of them I should think. It's just a little device that I have. It's one of the trademarks I suppose. It probably gets a bit boring after a while. There's probably a bit of a fine line between developing a style and it becoming laboured. Maybe I've trodden over that point sometimes, maybe I haven’t.

- Could you explain the fascination with fuel in your lyrics? The theme of diesel, gasoline and petrol runs through various Suede tracks. (Serena Burns, Dorset)
I think I use it as a sort of metaphor more than anything. When I talk abut being "high on diesel and gasoline", its more the rush of the city being something that gives you a high. That's how I use it.

- In ‘Savoir Faire’ you mention a female who smokes crack and is a "fucking machine". Is this someone you really know, or were you just looking for some good lyrics that sounded good? (Johnston Farrow, USA)
Most of the songs are based around people I know, but they're not specific to anyone. It's always very neat to attribute the words of a song to one particular person, but I don't tend to do that with my writing. When I am writing about characters, it tends to become an amalgamation of different people. Bits of real people, and bits of fantasy. I've rarely written songs about specific people, apart from a good friend of mine called Alan, who I wrote ‘Lazy’ and ‘High Rising’ about.

- On Radio 1's All Back to Mine, you said that track 7 on any album is the best song. Can you tell us some songs that prompted this observation? (Martin O'Brien, Newport)
Certainly can. I've got a whole list of them. (Getting up) I'll go through my CD's right? That's such a good question. . (Leafing through CD's). ‘Here comes the sun’ is number seven on Abbey Road... It generally works... Here's one: ‘Play it Cool’, of the Super Furry Animals' Radiator... ‘Our Lips Are Sealed on Waiting’ by Fun Boy Three... ‘Pop Life on Around the World In A Day’. Lots of them. Everyone should go through their favourite albums and see which track is number seven (sits down again) Its a magic number isn't it?

- Did you have sex with a 10-year-old? (Tori Johnne Lau, Underlia)
No, I didn't.

- Have you ever taken revenge on someone, and if so, what did you do? (Michaela Heidrich, Hamburg)
No, I've never taken revenge on anyone. I've never been that way inclined. I think by taking actual, bitter, aggressive revenge on someone, its like taking revenge on yourself. The only revenge you can take on some one is to transcend wanting to take revenge on them, I suppose, and succeed in your own way. So no, my mind doesn't really work that way.

- Quite a few years ago, Q printed a photograph of you siting on your bed surrounded by lots of LP's. I noticed that one of them was Bruce Springsteens's The Wild, The Innocent And the E Street Shuffle. Are you partial to a bit of Bruce? (Louise Obeirne, Havant)
I love Bruce Springsteen. He's made some great records. I used to love born in the USA when I was 15 or 16. There are a couple of really good tracks on that, Darlington Country and I'm On Fire. And I like some like The River, Hungry Heart... That album, The Wild, The Innocent And the E Street Shuffle, is one of those perfect albums that you can just listen to as an album. So yeah, I think he's excellent.

- Have you ever been seriously stalked? (Ivanvajellos De Frutos, Madrid)
Well, Sort of. I had some problems a few years ago when I was living in Ladbroke Grove. Someone got hold of my address, and for some reason they decided to daub my address everywhere - up and down the street, all round the tube stations in London "Brett Anderson lives at this address, go and bother him". I'm not really sure who it was, but I've got a few ideas. Things do get out of hand sometimes.

- If you were stuck on a desert island with the rest of the band, who would you eat first? (Joanne Fowler, Cambridgeshire)
Ha, ha... I think Richard's got the most meat. I don't think I'd eat Mat. Mat would be very stringy and he's also got very bad levels of personal hygiene. Mats got the worst looking feet you've ever seen in your life. So Mat would be last, Mat's safe.

- Bernard Butler once said that if Brett is ever asked his opinion about a band he really dislikes, he makes a point of saying, They're alright. What do you think of Bernard Butler's solo career? (Phil Redmond, Glasgow)
It’s alright.

- You always wear a really cool black and silver ring. Who gave it to you? (Ida Angelica Taralsden, Tromso)
(Holds up knuckle) That one? I bought it. It's silver and green. Actually I bought it from a shop called Agnes B. It's a very standard, run of the mill, high-street ring. I'm not sure if you can still get them, but you are very welcome to try.

- Is it true that when you were doing Dog Man Star, Bernard Butler moved into another studio and sent his parts on tapes that included taunts?(Sandra McClean, Swansea)
Yes, it is true. Oh... Taunts? There was some whispering on it. I'm not sure if they were taunts.

- How long did it take you to rhyme "she live in a house" with "she stupid as a mouse"? (Carl Luprella, Park Ridge)
Absolutely years and years, It's one of the cleverest rhymes I've ever written. No, I mean, I keep getting stick for this thing and it's starting to piss me off a bit. I've spent so many years writing lyrics and pouring over them, and the second I write a really throwaway lyric, I get jumped on. I just don't believe that every single moment of pop lyrics should be looked into like that. Lyrics don't necessarily have to have a meaning of their own. Lots of Prince's lyrics are really throwaway - "baby, yeah" and stuff like that. Its just using the voice as another instrument, and that's what I am doing there. It's just a series of sounds.

- If heroin is good enough to write a song about, why did you stop taking it? (Charlie Thorley, Wiltshire)
Well, that's a strange question. For a start, the song isn't actually about heroin the drug - if they're referring to Heroine on Dog Man Star. I write a lot of song that aren't particularly nice, but that doesn't mean... I don't know I don't see the point of the question.

- Espresso Machine, cafetière or Jar of Mellow Birds? (Julie Squire, Reading)
Espresso Machine, without a doubt. I'm an absolute coffee addict, the stronger the better. I love shots of espresso.

- Was it daunting taking the stage at V99 after the stereophonics, bearing in mind that they are now more successful than you? (Lisa Davidson, London)
Not particularly. I didn't have a problem with the stereophonics. I like their songs and I've spoken to the blokes a couple of times, so it wasn't a big antagonistic thing. I knew they were a popular band and I thought what they were doing was good. But, honestly, I don't think anyone can compare to Suede on a good day. I was quite confident about it, and I think it was a pretty good gig.

- Richard Oakes. Is it glandular? (Paul Menzies, Merseyside)
(Laughing helplessly) I can't answer that one. I can't answer that one.

- Do you always dress like you're in Suede? (Jenny Pilling, London)
Emmm. . . no, I don't really. I wear lots of Parka's and stuff like that. When I'm just living my life, I don't ponce around in Suede-y clothes particularly. I like to sit around and eat curry and drink beer with my hood up.

- What's the lightest and the heaviest you've been? (Paul Carter, Peterborough)
God, I don't know. There's lots of question about in here, isn't there? I really don't know, I don't have a pair of scales... I know I looked like a lump of dog shit for a while, and I probably weighed over twelve stone then. I only weigh ten stone now. Exactly ten stone. I probably weighed less than that in the past. I probably weighed about nine stone.

- I'm an ornithologist who's never had a bird watching experience. Doesn't this mean I'm not an ornithologist at all? (Terry Sullivan, Newcastle)
Yes.

- You studied architecture at University. Tell us about a really great building. (Yvonne Cascade, Southampton)
There's a church in Ronchamp, France, which was built by Corbusier. It's almost like this fairy-tale thing. Its got a huge, oversized roof which looks like its too heavy for the building, and these tiny little coloured windows. It looks like something out of Hansel and Gretel. Its a really charming design, and I'm sure architecture students who knew more about it than me about why its much more than a charming design. But Ronchamp is the pinnacle of architecture so far.

- Did you and Damon Albarn really leave love bites on Justine Frischmann as a weird form of communication? (Tony Dakers, Warrington)
No.

- What do you think of Elastica's new stuff? (Sarah Simpson, Morden)
I think the albums great. There's a couple of great track on the album. It's not so Fall-y at all. But I really like How I Wrote Elastica Man, I think that's a really vibey track. It's a funny one for them, coming back after years and years. They're never going to be able to slip back into it like they wanted to. It's always going to be a bit of a difficult one, but I think the albums really strong.

- You don't like to smile in photos. Is this for dental reasons? (Gareth Fitzpatrick, Cricklewood)
No, I've got a good set of Gnashers. My teeth aren't too bad. I just don't particularly like myself when I smile. I look a bit... a bit sad.

- What is your favourite blur album and why? (David Whelan, Woodbridge)
I don't know any of them.

- Do you think any PR is good PR? (Janne Egeland, via e-mail)
No, not at all. I think lot's of PR is really bad PR. In the early days of Suede, it was that whole thing about not being experienced enough and we did a lot of things that we should never have done. Lots of awful interviews, and lots of things that we were pushed into. But we'd basically walked off the dole and it was really exiting, so we did it. We were having a good time.

- What was the first rude word you learned? (Gavin Whitnam, Northampton)
Wanker.

- How much would you pay for the negatives of that first Suede picture with you in the stripey top and Justine wearing the tracksuit bottoms? (Nigel Harris, London)
Ha ha! Why, have they got it? Is that from a photographer? I don't think that photo is that bad. There are some worse ones. There's a cover of the Melody Maker where I was with the girl from Silverfish, and I'd pay quite a lot for those negatives.

- You're eating in tonight, what are you cooking? (Simon King, London)
My favourite thing to cook is blackened tuna. It's something I discovered in the Caribbean. It's one of the nicest dishes in the world. Put Paprika on the side of the tuna, and stick it in a grill.

- Have Suede officially given up on America? (Paul Hanrahan, Manchester)
Emmm. . . No, not officially. We've just got other fish to fry. No plans to go there this year.

- What's scarier: spiders or snakes? (Toni Partridge, Lancs)
Probably snakes. I have no fear of spiders whatsoever. But snakes can be pretty grim. It's quite scary to go swimming on the sea and see a sea snake. The idea of treading on one...

- Is it true that Mat has his tongue pierced like Mel G? (Gina Starlet, Stretford)
(Loudest laugh of the day) No, he's had his knob pierced, though.

- What's better, drugs or brown rice? (James Brown, Kidderminster)
Brown rice, without a doubt.

- In Haywards Heath Sixth Form College you used to swan around pretending to be David Bowie. Popular, were you? (Gavin Merchant, Maidenhead)
What are your readers like? I've never swanned around pretending to be anyone. I just used to wear a yellow suit. I think I looked more like Cliff Richard than David Bowie, actually. But yes, I was popular.

- Did you look at the photos of Kevin Rowland and think, ‘That's a bad idea’? (Fiona Wilkinson, Peterborough)
I don't know, it’s a difficult one, isn't it? He's trying to express himself and that's commendable, but it looks a bit creepy. If someone's going to dress how they want, then that's totally fine, but I'm not sure it's having the effect he wants.

- Have you ever been in an orgy? (Valerie Hunter-Jones London)
(Sniffs) Might have been.