James Dean Bradfield, Mat Osman On Rare Manic Street Preachers, Suede U.S. Tour

With collective album sales of nearly 15 million worldwide, Suede and Manic Street Preachers stand as two of the more influential acts to emerge from the rich 90s U.K. alternative scene that birthed Britpop and more.

In the midst of a rare co-headlining tour, their first run together since 1994, Manic Street Preachers make their return to America for the first time since 2015. For Suede (or The London Suede as they’re dubbed here), it’s even longer, with the group heading stateside for its first outing since 1997 (and first American appearance since 2011).

Both groups continue to push the music forward, unwilling to rely merely on nostalgia. The Manics released their 14th studio album The Ultra Vivid Lament last year while Suede set out to capture the raucous spirit of their live sets on the brand new Autofiction, the group’s ninth.

“The idea was to kind of do it with a band that we have some kind of symmetry with. And we do with Suede,” said Manic Street Preachers singer and guitarist James Dean Bradfield. “We always felt as if we had a kinship with Suede for many reasons. Not even just for the fact that I loved some of their records – I loved the albums Dog Man Star and Coming Up. Dog Man Star especially, I absolutely loved that album,” he said.

“One of the things that I think has been fascinating is that, in 1993, if you had said, ‘Which two British bands are going to crash and burn? Who’s going to go down in glorious flames?’ You’d say, ‘Oh, it’s probably Suede and The Manics.’ And, weirdly, we’re probably the last two left standing,” added Suede bassist Mat Osman with a chuckle. “There’s something quite exciting about that. The stakes are raised a little bit I think. It’s not your average, ‘OK, we do this every couple of years’ thing. I think it will be an event.”

I spoke with James Dean Bradfield and Mat Osman about the common thread that connects Manic Street Preachers and Suede, touring together for the first time since the early 90s and a rare Manic Street Preachers/Suede tour which runs across America into late November before wrapping up November 24 in Toronto. Highlights of two separate phone conversations, lightly edited for length and clarity, follow below.

On getting back on stage following a two year layoff amidst pandemic…

MAT OSMAN: It’s been amazing. It’s been absolutely incredible. It’s one of those weird things that I didn’t think I’d miss as much as I did to be honest.

It’s why gigs tend to be quite celebratory and a community-minded thing. We have a kind of army of fans who are very close and follow us around. And the first couple of gigs we did after we came back, it was like someone had taken a vice off your head or something. There was just a sense of, I think, freedom that had been missing.

The new record is a very live sounding record. And we started writing it like three years ago. So to finally get it out where it’s supposed to be has been amazing.

JAMES DEAN BRADFIELD: There were a few moments where I realized that I’d been doing gigs quite solidly from the age of late 15 up till lock down – and then there was two years of not really doing it.

Sometimes it’s been good, sometimes it’s been confusing. Sometimes I felt as if I’d lost a bit of muscle memory – in terms of just the simple rudiments: changing your pedals, playing and singing at the same time, remembering the lyrics. So there was a bit of muscle memory atrophy. And it took a while to get back in the groove to be honest.

We’re back to normal now. But it wasn’t quite the Hollywood moment that people wanted it to be. It took a while to ease ourselves back into that I think.

On 1994 Manics/Suede European tour…

MAT: The thing that I used to love was just their dedication to putting their guitars back together. Because Richey used to smash up his guitars every night. And, I mean, we were poor – all of us! We didn’t have any money. So he couldn’t afford to kind of buy a new cheap guitar every night and smash it up. So it’d be incredible. You’d watch him, this kind of like undereyed kind of maniac taking this guitar apart. You’d see him very quietly afterwards with the techs as they kind of put it back together.

But I’ve always loved that. That sums up something about them: a kind of combination of like ordinary, working class band but with this real sense of theater at the same time. There’s obviously parallels there with them.

One of the things that I think has been fascinating is that, in 1993, if you had said, “Which two British bands are going to crash and burn? Who’s going to go down in glorious flames?” You’d say, “Oh, it’s probably Suede and The Manics.” And, weirdly, we’re probably the last two left standing. You know what I mean?

It seems so strange. It felt like such a fragile thing even then. To still be doing it now is kind of strange and wonderful.

JAMES: I thank you to Mat for giving us such a blue collar ticket of approval but it was probably the roadies that put the guitars back together, not us! (laughing)

But money was still in quite short supply on the third album. And some nights, things would get smashed. They wouldn’t get smashed every night. But, if the spirit took us, then auto destruction would make its appearance on stage with us. And you’d never know until the very end really.

But the thing that stuck with me when we toured with Suede was that they weren’t quite the beast that I expected when I toured with them in terms of how they appeared on stage. They were powerful on stage! Brett’s voice was so f–ing loud. Mat and Simon were just so locked in together as a rhythm section. And they were a bit more raucous when they played live. There was a real confrontational nature to how they played as a rhythm section, which I loved. And then just watching Richard bed in seamlessly from the gap that Bernard had left was quite inspirational actually.

So my memories of touring with them was being confounded by how powerful they were live and just seeing how they’d overcome something.

On Suede’s first U.S. shows since 2011 (and first U.S. tour since 1997) and first American run for Manic Street Preachers since 2015…

JAMES: It’s a strange experience for us coming back to America. Because it’s a place where it’s so easy to be anonymous for a band like us, let’s be honest. And people have been saying to me, “Oh god, those gigs are small!” And we’re like, “No! Those gigs are quite big for us in America actually.” And the idea was to kind of do it with a band that we have some kind of symmetry with. And we do with Suede. Because we were just coming up at the same time as them really.

We always felt as if we had a kinship with Suede for many reasons. Not even just for the fact that I loved some of their records – I loved the albums Dog Man Star and Coming Up. Dog Man Star especially, I absolutely loved that album.

And I think we had something else in common with Suede. We had both been through the schism of losing a very, very important member. And then people were standing in the wings to see if we could actually overcome that. So we’ve kind of both been through the experience of people waiting to see us fail after that initial salvo of what we were.

MAT: It’s going to be amazing. It was always wild. It was always a bit crazy. And for various reasons, we’ve not been back. But basically my social media has just exploded with Americans telling me where they’re going to be, what they’re going to do and what songs we have to play.

It’s a strange situation. Because, as individuals, we’ve all been to the States many, many times in the past 20 years. But, as a band, we haven’t. There’s something quite exciting about that. The stakes are raised a little bit I think. It’s not your average, “OK, we do this every couple of years” thing. I think it will be an event.

And the fact that we’re doing it with The Manics… We toured Europe with them back in 1993. And there was always a sense that those were quite special nights. There was a real kind of community amongst the fans. It was almost this army of dispossessed people who’d come out to see these bands.

So, I think the stakes are nicely raised.