March 19, 1993

         The Secret Life Of Pop's Wet Brett
         1993 interview with Brett's father from a small
         hometown newspaper

 Fast-living Brett Anderson, lead singer of pop
sensations Suede, has been hailed as the new wild
 man of rock. But Alex Bellos finds a different story
when he travels to his childhood home in Lindfield,
the tamest village in Sussex...
 

If a man invites you into his room to inspect his fossil collection,
you know he's after ONE thing... and that's not fossils.

Unless you are Brett Anderson. For Brett, gawky hunk and
frontman of supergroup Suede, has one of the best collections in
Sussex.

Dozens of ammonites and gastropods fill his chest of drawers in
his old room in Lindfield. And as if this was not enough proof of a
sheltered, conformist upbringing, a metre away on the windowsill
is an impressive array of antique bottles.

From the modest council house room, which is still full of teddy
bears, teenage pop pics, and Tin Tin books, there is little to link
the schoolboy Brett with the man they are now calling the new
wild man of rock.

Father Peter says: "I cannot remember him being rebellious at
all. He is a very very sensible boy. He has got a lot of common
sense."

"I think it was to do with his upbringing; we used to show him
lots of different things. I took him to castles and went fossil
hunting and bottle digging with him."

"He went through stages of dressing up as a Roman
soldier and a German soldier. He was like any other
boy."

Brett is now Britain's most hyped man. His effeminate and
moody looks have graced almost all the youth and music press,
making him the country's number one male pin-up.

Last year Suede were described as the best new band in Britain
by the influential Melody Maker. Their first single The Drowners
topped the indie music charts, and both that song and their
second single Metal Mickey were single of the week in Melody
Maker and the NME.

Suede's third single Animal Nitrate broke them into the
mainstream when they performed it during the Brit Awards last
month. They are the only band to have performed at the awards,
a showcase of British talent, in recent times without having being
nominated in any category.

Animal Nitrate then became the highest new entry in the charts
at number seven. All pop pundits predict their debut album, due
out soon, will shoot to number one.

Animal Nitrate is based on the legal drug amyl nitrate, or
"poppers", and Brett has courted controversy with the tabloid
press by eulogising his love of not-so-legal drugs like Ecstasy.

But his dad says this hard man act is pure fantasy. Peter says:
"In some of the articles he says the most outrageous things but
it is all part of the hype. I do not think Brett is rebellious, it is his
stage image."

"He might take some drugs but hopefully he has got enough
sense not to get hooked on them."

Wet Brett, the mild man of rock, is echoed by comments from
his school teachers at Haywards Heath College.

Senior tutor Maya Davis, who knew both Brett and Suede bassist
Mat Osman, said the pair were extremely pleasant and intelligent
young men.

They were involved in many school activities including a charity
fund raising week. She said Mat left the state sixth form college
with three As at A-level, and Brett managed two Bs and a C in
spod subjects Physics, Chemistry and Maths.

Both then went to University. Brett has a degree in architecture
from London.

*****

Brett was born in his parent's Lindfield home (his mother died
recently) and he went to the local primary school. He quickly
absorbed a love for the quaint Sussex village, a passion which
earnt him second prize in a Society for the Preservation of
Lindfield competition. (entry below)

The 'rebel' went to the local Oathall School, where he shocked
pupils and teachers by his good work. In one school report he
was given an A for effort in all but one subject. He even
represented his tutor group on the school's council.

Peter Anderson has recorded most of his son's television
appearances on video and keeps all the cuttings from magazine
articles.

Even though he says Suede is not his sort of music, he is keen
to vigorously tap his feet as he shows off some of the recordings.

Peter adds: "I said to my children I do not mind what you do
provided you are happy. I am very proud Brett has got where he
has got."

But there is one thing that irks Anderson pere: "I do not like the
fact that he never admits to coming from Lindfield. He always
says Haywards Heath, which is a grotty commuter town.
Lindfield is a beautiful village."

In interviews in the national press carefree Brett says he is rarely
in touch with his dad, although Peter says they are close and
speak every week.

Brett may want to distance himself from his quiet provincial
upbringing, but his early life in Lindfield with his father probably
helped his showy pop career more than he wants to admit.

Anderson senior has two obsessions in life: Lord Nelson and
Franz Liszt. He tells me with glee that Brett and Horatio have the
same birthday, a day on which he annually hoists a Union Jack
outside his council home.

His love of Liszt has caused him to make several pilgrimages to
his birthplace in Austria and earth gathered there hangs in a
locket on the walls of his living room.

Peter sees similarities between Franz and Brett: "Adulation of
stage stars is nothing new. It goes way back to Franz Lizt. He
had people taking his used cigar butts."

"It's like the way the girls try to rip the clothes off Brett."