Mr. Lazy â fanzine interview with Alan Fisher, December 2004
intrepid suede globetrotters elina and sirje conducted this interview with alan fisher, the man about whom songs like âlazyâ, âhigh risingâ, âbeautiful loserâ and, according to the man himself, âthe most of the others as wellâ have been written.
(editorâs note: not to suggest that alcohol played any part in this q&a session, but it did take place in alanâs local. oh, and in other locations in the uk, plus morocco & finland, in both oral & written forms. anyway, surely worth all the so-called trouble.)
no animals, be they cats or terrapins, were harmed during this interview, but a considerable amount of wine bottles did get destroyed.
how long have you known brett? where did you grow up?
i have known brett since i was 16/17 â near on 20 years now. i grew up in sussex, near haywards heath.
how does it feel that so many of brettâs lyrics are about you? (did you ever get the feeling that brett was just kind of observing you or waiting around for you to do something flamboyant so that he could write about it?)
itâs very flattering to know that some lyrics are about me. however i was never aware of brett observing me purposely to get lyrics or ideas for songs. itâs funny because there are so many songs that are very personal to me, and you think some part of the song is about you, and they are not. over the years many friends who have been in close contact with brett and the music think that songs are about them, because of various lyrical content. i think brett has ability to take elements from friendsâ lives or chapters and create a story blended together, a fusion of characters in one song. i remember when i heard âthe big timeâ and the last line â ânow weâre in the big time and youâre in the wayâ i was extremely put out, i took it very personally. i thought it referred to me, but luckily it didnât. however iâm pleased to say that my favourite song has to be âlazyâ. the original version i think went like this â âhere they come with their make up on as lovely as the birds come and see themâ which i think is very beautiful. which changed to âhere they come gone 7 am bla bla blaâ, which was about being up all night, then putting on make up so as to hide the effects of being on a bender, and going down to off-license to buy cornflakes and bottles of red wine.
what was the best experience traveling with suede? (what happened in las vegas?)
difficult question, as iâve had many amazing experiences on tour with suede. two very contrasting escapades were one journey in japan, and one on the west coast of america. brett and myself had the fortunate experience of visiting a buddhist temple in japan called the âmoss gardensâ. we visited a temple that was so beautiful and peaceful, and the entire gardens were immersed in moss with beautiful ponds and waterfalls. we sat in the temple and wrote a mantra admist buddhist chanting, which i believe influenced the song âintroducing the bandâ. the other experience was a trip to la, san francisco and las vegas. i seem to remember i hadnât been to bed for a few days, and when i was there i didnât sleep much for various reasons. we stayed at a friendâs house in beverly hills called michiko, a house of pure opulence, with plenty of alcohol and other fineries. i seem to remember that towards the end (in vegas) brett wouldnât let me sleep â just more alcohol. and i think that when i went to bed brett checked to make sure i was alive.
what will/do you miss the most about suede?
the thing i miss the most about suede is being around when a great song is created. iâd come home and brett would say âiâve got it.â, some missing song on the album and consequently we would stay up night after night listening to the same song over and over â the poor neighbours.
at what part of his career was brett at his happiest?
when he was writing happy songs. actually i donât think brett ever made happy songs. only joking! i donât know when brett was actually the happiest. i think maybe when the band first started and the first album came out, thatâs when he realised his dreams were coming true.
has brett being famous ever bothered you?
brett being famous has never bothered me; in fact itâs been quite a relief; itâs taken the limelight away from me.
fame can and has certainly changed many people who obtain it. how do you think itâs affected brett over the years? has it affected your friendship?
i donât think fame has changed brettâs fundamental characteristics, obviously it has shaped his life aspects like walking down the street, or having a drink in pub. i think living with me for so long has definitely fucked him up.
is there a lot of divergence between brettâs public persona and the man underneath it all?
not really. heâs the same complex, passionate and artistic character at home and on stage, i donât know about the bedroom though!!
how were the new band members really welcomed?
some dreadful, unmentionable initiation ceremonies.
was brett & bernard getting back together a surprise for you? how do you like the new material? how about brettâs solo material?
not really; they had a magic chemistry together that never really fulfilled its potential. and the new stuff is absolutely great! wait and see!!
whatâs all this about brett meditating? it was mentioned in the love & poison book.
i havenât actually read love & poison, which is extremely lame of me, eventually i will. however, i think brett has some interest in meditating, maybe from visiting japanâs buddhist temples and being influenced by their way of living, zen and all that.
is brett good at pub quizzes?
brett, i could imagine, is very good at pub quizzes if he entered them. they have a quiz at our local pub, i think brett and mat osman entered once, and came a very admirable second place, which is no mean feat, because itâs a very professional affair in that establishment.
have there been times when brett did something you wish he hadnât? musical decisions or anything.
i canât think of anything that resembles a mistake or regret in terms of musical direction. over the years, artists are faced with monumental decisions to make in terms of artistic development; single releases; band commitment and general themes for the forthcoming albums. however, i think brett has the ability to listen to other peopleâs opinions as well as his own, to come up with the best viable decision. considering the turbulent times of drug taking and various band members coming and going, i donât think heâs done too badly.
how posh is brett â what a strange question â in fact the hardest one iâve ever been asked! â not at all. crikey, well for somebody that came from a council house and bought second hand records/clothes. he now drinks tea at 4 oâclock in proper bone china tea cups â doesnât get any posher than that. oh! and he has a butler called jessica rabbit.
does he watch sports on tv?
well it has to be football, brett hates posh sports like cricket & rugby (un)like me. he is very obsessive over the england football team, ipswich and manchester united (because thatâs my team, and i always cry when they lose).
whatâs brettâs best quality?
brettâs best quality is having good taste in friends and good taste in music, i.e., suede.
i canât think of his worst qualities, but i remember the worst thing living with him, he would always become too comfortable on the sofa which would mean i would have to rewind the suede demos and go out and get another bottle of wine from the off-license.
weâre sorry this is all about suede/brett⊠when we start an alan fanzine weâll interview you about yourself⊠ok?
my favourite colour is black.
how much do suede lie in the interviews? (if you read them)
iâm too busy to read suede interviews, iâve got my own press cuttings to examine.
what do you think brett would have become without suede?
iâm sure it would have only been with some musical compaction. however, our living arrangements would have resembled something out of âthe servantâ.
what about you? how much has suede affected you?
suede were the most important thing in my life. as my girlfriend just put it a moment ago whilst i was writing this, itâs like going out with three people: her, me and suede. as i tell her, it could have been worse: i could have been friends with ronan keating.
do you love us? what do you think of suede fans in general? a lovely bunch on whole, or have you had some harrowing experiences with obsessed loonies?
well, iâm a suede fan myself, so i would have to say they are great. obsessed loonies? i am one; i have been stalking brett for 20 years, but he doesnât realise.
there are lots of mentions of yours and brettâs drug use in l&p. is this an accurate characterization of the state of affairs or did it get glammed up a bit for press?
itâs all a myth, i once smoked a joint with brett, it was really far out man! oh, and i snorted some glue at a dinner party once, it was so chic.
tell us something about suede that we donât know.
they are a figment of your imagination!!
tell us something about brett that we donât know.
i know something extremely juicy, real top gossip. but youâre going to have to wait to see whether he meets my blackmail demands.
if you were an animal, what kind of animal would he be? what kind of animal would brett be?
brett refers to me as an electrocuted rabbit, something similar to the mad hatter in alice in wonderland. i think brett would be a very feline cat.
speaking of cats, they tend to go missing, donât they?
we had a cat called meisk â when brett was on tour it went missing. when i found it on the street, i thought it had a cold because it had a funny meow â it turned out to be the wrong cat. i remember brett was extremely pissed off. we had another cat called sphinx that was an incredibly lively character, it had a long run up â then produced its claws and wham!!
have you ever been arrested?
yes! on several occasions, on suspicion of being sinister and bad influence on society.
dave thompsonâs yet-to-be-published suede-book, an armchair guide to suede, includes this:Â
ââyoung menâ developed out of lyrics written for a joke band, the bruisers, that anderson, his flatmate alan and a hairdresser friend named gary hatched one evening;â
can you tell us anything more about this?
after one crazy night early in the morning we had this inspiration to form a band based on idea of national front skinheads with the title song âbritish bulldogâ. brett and gary were both very amusing and inventive with songs like âsanta ainât a wankerâ etc.
besides that, have you ever been musically inclined or in a band yourself?
after hearing brett playing an instrument called the melodica, something like a mouth organ with a pipe attached to it, waking me every morning, it put me off music for life.
what other music are you into besides suede?
sigue sigue sputnik and mozart.
have you and brett ever had a fist fight? have you ever fought over who does the shopping or cleans the toilet or whose dirty plates are in the sink?
we have never had a fist fight in 20 years. however, we once had a duel at sunrise over who was the vainest.
thatâs it then. say something nice. or mean. whatever you like. thanks!
stop asking me questions about brett, and more about myself!
Source: Pornographic & Tragic, the official Suede fanzine, issue 2 (December 2004).
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