Supergrass: “When you look back at the lad culture and messiness of Britpop, we weren’t part of it”
Supergrass frontman Gaz Coombes has spoken to NME about the band’s upcoming UK tour to celebrate 30 years of their seminal debut ‘I Should Coco’, along with other Britpop reunions, the dynamic ticket pricing controversy, and plans for the future.
Last week saw the Oxford band announce details of a UK tour for May 2025, playing their 1995 album in full for the first time. Cockney rhyming slang for “I should think so”, ‘I Should Coco’ was released when Coombes was just 19-years-old, and his bandmates drummer Danny Goffey and bassist Mick Quinn not much older.
It featured the huge singles ‘Alright’ and ‘Caught By The Fuzz’, peaked at Number One in the charts, sold over a million sales worldwide, and became the biggest-selling debut album from Parlophone Records since The Beatles’ ‘Please Please Me’.
“Well, I should bloody coco!” Coombes told NME, looking ahead to the shows. “It’s cool, man. It’s been about a year in the making. It’s just such a great record and really means a lot of to us. The great thing about it, is that this record is part of our DNA. It’s mad that 30 years later, we’re still able to pull off that energetic, youthful chemistry on stage and read each other in that way. Although it’s a 30-year-old record, we all feel really connected to it.”
He continued: “It’s going to be exciting to get on stage and do that album as a whole for the first time ever. There are a couple of tracks that we’ve never performed live before, so that’s really cool.”
The Britpop legends split in 2010, before announcing their return in 2019 on a mission to “bring joy into a slightly disturbed world”. They’ve been on hiatus since 2022, when they played their last show at the Taylor Hawkins tribute show at Wembley Stadium. Supergrass were one of Hawkins’ favourite bands, who considered their self-titled 1999 album to be one of the best of all time.
Check out our full interview with Coombes below, where he told us about the legacy of ‘I Should Coco’, not fitting in with the rowdier elements of Britpop, touring the States with the Foos and Pearl Jam, and if new material is on the horizon.
NME: Hello Gaz. ‘I Should Coco’ doesn’t sound like anything else, but it really seemed to capture the energy and colour of the ’90s, if you catch our drift?
Gaz Coombes: “Yeah, I guess I do. It’s funny because before the album was released, Britpop hadn’t exploded and we were on the tail-end of something like ‘the new wave of new wave’ – probably invented by you guys at the NME! That was all about really sweaty little clubs with that young punk energy. ‘…Coco’ was a product of a few years of just being in a room together and just playing and playing and playing.
“Any debut, to some degree, is just the raw power of a band finding their voice.”
How do you feel about ‘I Should Coco’ going on to become a ‘definitive’ Britpop record?
“It’s probably ‘Alright’, you know? It’s a single that hit so hard in the summer of ‘95. We had no idea that was going to happen. We’d made a punk album, we were 19, and then we had a massive hit. We couldn’t complain. We loved ‘Alright’ and thought it was quite a kooky and weird little track, so we were quite taken aback by how massive it became.
“I think it was more ‘Alright’ than the album that had that Britpop feel, but to me ‘…Coco’ is about more than that. There could have been 11 singles from that record.”
When you were out on the road and bumping into the likes of Suede, Pulp, Blur, Radiohead, etc, were they just as bewildered by the runaway Britpop train?
“I don’t really remember it being like that, to be honest. Most of the band still lived in Oxford in those early days, until I moved to Brighton in ‘97. I was down in Brighton for all the early chaos and the rise of all that. I wasn’t hanging around in London, so I don’t know how all the other bands felt. We were just loving it and having a great time.”
You weren’t comparing notes over a mirror in The Groucho then?
“No, that wasn’t for us at that point! We were just having a total blast. We went to America really early on for a six week tour when I was about 17 or 18. It was the making of me in many ways and I remember it very fondly.”
How did America take to you? Did they appreciate you as more of a punk band than a Britpop phenomenon?
“I think they did. Our American fanbase has always been pretty hardcore. I think they understand the band. There was always such a big thing about breaking America. It’s always been at the forefront of anyone’s ambitions, but every time we went we’d play sell-out shows and have great tours with people like Foo Fighters and Pearl Jam.
“We’ve always felt the love from America, but it’s hard to know if the whole Britpop thing stunted that a little bit or whether Americans really gave a shit. We found that they really understood the music and got nerdy about it.”
Was it that around then when you became Taylor Hawkins favourite band?
“I think it was. He was playing with Alanis [Morissette] when we first ran into Taylor and heard about how much he was into us. It was really cool. There were these guys like Eddie Vedder who I really bonded with. He was always in our dressing room on the Pearl Jam tour. There was something quite cool about bands like Foos and Pearl Jam loving a smaller British indie band rather than something that got really massive. They just related to our energy, plus how we were a bit throw-away in interviews and didn’t take things too seriously.”
So, there’s an Oasis reunion tour on the way…
“Oh is there? I hadn’t heard about that!”
Yes indeed, keep it a secret. Anyway, Oasis are back, there’s reportedly a new Pulp record coming, Blur just had a big comeback last year. How do you feel about the hunger for bands of that era at the moment?
“It’s something I haven’t really worked out or thought about. Is it a post-pandemic thing of people looking for some comfort from something happy and familiar? The mid-90s were a wild time. For us, it was different to how it seemed. When you look back at the lad culture and messiness, we weren’t part of it nor did we really enjoy that side of it. In terms of the freedom we had to express ourselves, it was a magical time. The label backing us for six albums was crazy too. All that excitement is what I remember.
“Maybe people just want to hear something they love that meant a lot to them? I’m not really into nostalgia; I just think it’s important to mark a beautiful moment, and that was ‘I Should Coco’. Plus 30 years is a big one, and this could be the only time we get to do it.”
Will you be reissuing the album?
“No, there have already been a few already. It’s out there, so there are no plans for more.”
When you announced the tour, bassist Mick Quinn’s joked how “dynamic pricing would not be included”. Given the Oasis and Ticketmaster controversy, did you learn any lessons about how not to sell tickets?
“Yes, well, I don’t know. It’s never normally an issue, but it’s a hot topic at the moment! I can’t speak for other bands and what their intentions are, but it all seems like pretty straightforward common sense to me. Just do it right. There’s no need for overkill; it’s just about getting together with the fans and having a great night. We just need to make that happen in the best way possible and the fairest way possible.”
Online, there was a bit of a war of the generations over who should be able to go see Oasis – but younger audiences love them just as much. Did you find that true for yourselves on your last reunion tour?
“It’s all quite funny, isn’t it? People quite precious about what it means to them. But it’s a great meeting of generations, isn’t it? Our generation have had kids and they’re now in their mid-to-late teens. My daughter is 16 and loves Nirvana, Fleetwood Mac, The Clash and ‘I Should Coco’.
“It’s a wonderful crossover of a few generations being into it. Our first reunion tour saw such a mix of ages. There’s something about ‘…Coco’ that just creates this mad hurricane of cool chords, mad melodies and raw energy. That connects immediately with people.”
Has all that energy inspired the band to write or at least consider writing the follow-up to 2008’s ‘Diamond Hoo Ha’?
“This is about celebrating what we’ve done. We’ve talked about recording stuff before. No, there are no plans to record new music. Getting back on stage is the exciting part at the moment.”
Your last solo album ‘Turn The Car Around’ went down very well. Are working on more new stuff for yourself?
“Yes, definitely. It’s quite an interesting time for me, as there are a couple of other projects that are keeping me busy. I can’t really say what they are, but it’s more soundtrack-y things. That’s taking up all my time at the moment and will do until when we kick off with Supergrass. At the start of next year, I’m also planning some sessions to start writing for me.”
Speaking of movies, could we get a Supergrass documentary to go with the tour next year?
“I think the ‘Supergrass Is 10’ documentary [A Home Movie] was so great and thorough, that it would have to be a documentary about us now – and I’m not sure that would be interesting enough!”
Will we be seeing Supergrass at festivals next summer?
“Yes, I imagine there will be a decent run of festivals through the UK and Europe. I’m sure that’s on the way. There will be a few more announcements on the way in the months ahead.”
And are we to assume you’ve not been asked to support Oasis?
“I can’t say anything about that!”
Supergrass’ ‘I Should Coco’ 30th anniversary UK tour dates are below. Visit here for tickets and more information.
MAY 2025
Thursday 8 – Glasgow, Barrowland Ballroom
Saturday 10 – Nottingham, Rock City
Monday 12 – Sheffield, Octagon
Tuesday 13 – Newcastle, NX
Wednesday 14 – Birmingham, O2 Academy
Friday 16 – Manchester, Albert Hall
Sunday 18 – Cardiff, University Great Hall
Tuesday 20 – Leeds, O2 Academy
Thursday 22 – London, Roundhouse
Saturday 31 – Cornwall, The Great Estate Festival
The post Supergrass: “When you look back at the lad culture and messiness of Britpop, we weren’t part of it” appeared first on NME.
Andrew Trendell
NME
