Matt Osman Talks New Suede Album ‘Autofiction’ and Investing in Fanbase

After the 2010 reunion, it was important for members of UK alternative rock to keep the band as a forward-looking entity. suede.

Each of the four studio albums that followed blazed new territory and have always pushed music to exciting places.

the group’s latest album auto fictiontheir ninth goal is to record live in front of fans with minimal backing musicians or overdubs, capturing the essence of Suede’s raucous live set in the studio like never before. did.

The pandemic has made it difficult to include fans in the actual recording process, but the finished product hits the mark with new song “What am I Without You?” Explore the critical dynamics that exist between bands and fans to define the live concert experience.

“Brett has this. I think it’s a rare talent. On the surface, writing songs that look like pretty traditional love songs. Bassist Matt Osman said about the songwriting of Suede singer Brett Anderson’s new song: “It’s very easy to listen to as a very traditional love song, but I think that’s because we couldn’t do it live. “It’s the sudden realization that a band without an audience is nothing. We’re nothing without them. You’re just five guys in a room,” he explained. We just acknowledged that nothing we do would make sense if we didn’t tilt it.”

During a recent tour in Chicago, US run of rare co-headliners With Manic Street Preachers, Osman’s slap bass kicks off “The Droners,” while Anderson sings arm-in-arm with fans taking selfies on the floor of the Auditorium Theater, singing “Animal Nights.” Late” sent fans into a frenzy.

We spoke with Matt Osman about working to capture the spirit of the group’s frenzied live set auto fiction, Suede’s relationship with fans, and the business side since the reformation. Our telephone transcripts have been lightly edited for length and clarity.

I know that capturing live sound was the real goal this time around (even if it was a little hampered by the pandemic). Why is it important?

Matt Osman: I think it was two things. I think it’s partly because the last two records were so brainy and so complicated. There were orchestral and spoken word works. And I think we felt like we’d gone as far as we wanted to go down that road. And we didn’t want to go there.

But I think in general, as a person and as a band, we reset every few years. We go back to the beginning and try to figure out what makes this so appealing and what makes you want to do it.

And because we have this strange history. coming up It was kind of like your second debut album, right? It was basically like a new band.When blood sports, when I came back after being away for 10 years, it was starting all over again. Every few years disaster strikes and we have to start over. And this time, we decided to restart without disaster.

There was something about the idea of ​​trying to capture live sound that really blew me away. Ironically, we’ve come to an age where many bands rely on his tracks backing them onstage rather than actually utilizing additional musicians. How important was it for you to avoid it, whether on stage or in the studio?

MO: It has always been essential to us and very important.

One of the things we did when we got back was to see other bands that had reunited. . And it was revealed that what they were offering was a keepsake. It was an incredibly accurately played record with two session musicians and a backing tape. But you may have been in the previous room.

Again, we crashed and burned, so I think we had a lot to prove. And if the five of us can make eye contact and see each other, just play.

And one of the things that always annoys me is that we never really capture the drama and the power of it in the studio. And this time it was a very deliberate attempt to capture it. I think it has a certain rawness and raggedness to it. “She Still Leads Me On” ends about 5 BPM faster than it starts. There are mistakes. And I wanted to capture it. We wanted you to feel like you were in the room with us.

“What am I without you?” is read as a kind of love song for the audience. How important was it to hit that note?

MO: Brett has this. I think he is a rare talent. Writing songs that ostensibly look like fairly traditional love songs. But in their minds, something very strange is going on. And it was just that. It’s very easy to hear as a very traditional love song. But I think that’s because I couldn’t perform live. It’s a sudden realization that a band without an audience is nothing. We’re nothing without them. You’re the only five guys in the room.

These are all interrelated. One of the reasons we wanted it to feel live was to get the feeling that everyone was together. A great live show is as much about the audience as it is about the band. You can’t have a great gig with an as–t audience. It doesn’t matter how great a musician you are – it’s about exchanging energy.

I’ve noticed that people can be very disrespectful about what they’re listening to, especially in the beginning. There’s an audience there, and they assume they’ll buy your record and come to your show. But I think the older you get, the more important it becomes to feel that you’re actually making an impact and being part of people’s lives.

We formed a band for the same reason most people form a band. But that’s not the case in the 50’s. And suddenly the idea that what you do is woven into other people’s important moments in their lives becomes something truly beautiful.

We’re just acknowledging that nothing we do will matter if we don’t listen to people.

“Turn Off Your Brain And Yell” sounds like a pandemic anthem. Anyway, that kind of sums up my pandemic thinking at times.I know it was the last song written for auto fictionWas it a kind of reaction to what was happening in the world?

MO: Yes, the record is finished. But I don’t know – it actually ended when some kind of lockdown was almost over. That said, it’s pretty much the sum of the records. About that primal feeling of music, right? When you play songs like “Personality Disorder” live, it’s purely a physical matter. But there is something absolutely wonderful about it.

When we first came back, I realized that when the band regrouped and played at the Royal Albert Hall, we had completely forgotten about the physical. The physical: A huge f-ing band sound from a huge f-ing speaker and what it gives you physically. And that’s the song.

It’s brainless. It’s all a matter of body and mind.

Forbes detailsJames Dean Bradfield, Matt Osman, Rare Manic Street Preachers and Suede on US TourTo Jim Ryan

I’m looking at your band’s timeline here. You’re leaving just as the Internet-driven music industry upheaval was in full swing in 2003. It came back in 2010 and was in full swing at that point to have a major impact on artists. As someone who studied at the London School of Economics, do you think being in such a radically different industry would help you pay a little more attention to the business side?

MO: Oh yeah, totally. We are in charge now. For the first time, it was an almost harrowing lesson in what not to do.Assuming someone else was paying for everything. I had no idea that all the luxuries, all the after-shows, all the champagne would come back to you at some point.

I wouldn’t have changed it for the world. It was really great. But yeah, these days, we’re doing a lot more — we’re making our own records. I love doing it that way. It’s much more tense. And that means we have to think about financial things—none of us fit in. But it’s about control. We can make the records that we make.

we were insanely lucky. We sold a lot of records when we sold a lot of records and made a lot of money. And we’ve been to a lot of festivals where we can make money doing them. Both hit the sweet spot.

It’s very difficult for a young band. I can’t imagine what a band like ours would do now. I got a record deal with my first single and never worked again. We just played music. And you see big bands these days…and they work in bars during the day. And it seems totally insane to me. It really is.

How important has it ever been to continually find new ways to push music forward instead of relying solely on nostalgia?

MO: Otherwise, don’t do it. we really don’t.

One of the good things is that we always feel that we can allow ourselves certain things. coming up A 20th anniversary reissue of a tour or something, as far as most of what we do is looking forward.

It just makes us… I think we feel like it wasn’t quite right. And I think it was great that we broke up. Because I think we always had the feeling that we had to do better.You know what I mean?

I think this is the best record we have made in a long time. And all I feel is that maybe the next one will be.