Brett Anderson has opened up about his past relationship with Elastica‘s Justine Frischmann – crediting their split for the evolution and success of Suede.
Anderson and Frischmann were a couple in the late 80’s as they formed Suede together. She would later leave him in 1991 for Blur frontman Damon Albarn, before also parting ways with the band and forming Elastica.
Their relationship is discussed heavily in Anderson’s new memoir ‘Coal Black Mornings‘. This weekend saw the alt-rock veteran and accidental Britpop pin-up speak of his fondness for Frischmann in a new interview with The Guardian.
“One of my favourite things about Justine is the fact that she’s so interested in everyone,” said Anderson. “She’s not aloof in any way. It would be easy for her to be, given what she has and who she is. But when she’s talking to someone, she really cares about what their answer is. She’s fascinated and fascinating. I love that combination. And yes, I’m still very, very fond of her.”
Speaking of their split and Frishmann’s departure from Suede, Anderson said: “In lots of ways, it was a brilliant thing. Without it, I might be sort of working in some planning office in Darlington. But I was very happy, living with Justine. We had a fantastic time together, and young love is amazing. But it’s not conducive to creating interesting, tormented, passionate music, you know? I needed some sort of motor to get myself off my arse and have something to write about. The time between us splitting up and her leaving the band was a really odd, sticky, strange thing. Because she was asking lots of questions about the band, and there was a kind of disunity because of that.
“She wanted Suede to be a different kind of band. And as soon as she left, it suddenly just… it’s like magnets. It wasn’t the missing piece, it was the removal of the piece. Suddenly we just linked, and all four of us, it became a little bit telepathic.”
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Frischmann added that she had ‘no desire to make music‘. She also made headlines last year when she revealed how ‘pressure, alcohol and youth’ led to her and Damon Albarn splitting up in the ’90s.
Frischmann and the Blur frontman were in a relationship for seven years between 1991 and 1998.
“I think it’s hard for anyone to survive tabloid attention, and we were kids,” she said. “We were just kids and we didn’t know what we were doing.
“We were were under a lot of pressure and we didn’t see a great deal of each other once everything started up. And he was drinking a lot. It was chaotic and, looking back, we just couldn’t have survived it. We weren’t mature enough.”
Last year saw Anderson release the compilation album ‘Collected Solo Work‘.