MUSIC: Supergrass - They’re still alright

Mar 7 2008 by Laura Davis, Liverpool Daily Post

The new group’s original name “Theodore Supergrass” was quickly shortened.

“What we put the band together for in the first place hasn’t really changed. We still enjoy just setting up and playing in a room together, just making as much noise as possible,” says Quinn.

“The music industry is quite different to when we started out, even in the studio.

“I think there was one computer there when we started and now all the recording is done on computers and even the selling of records is done on computers.

“There are still certain mystiques, though.

“When MP3s came out, that format kind of reminded me of when we had C90 cassettes – the sound quality. I had all these cassettes I used to listen to for years on end and then you put the CD on and it sounds miles better but you still preferred the cassettes.”

When Supergrass’s new album, Diamond Hoo Ha Man, is released later this month, it will be the band’s sixth.

There have also been six Top 10 singles and numerous others.

Quinn believes their ongoing success is due to enjoying the experience without getting caught up in the fame: “You get a lot of casualties, a lot of bands that just can’t hack it. I think nine times out of 10 it’s nothing to do with the music it’s just people can’t handle it.

“You need to take the music seriously but not the rest of it, and that’s what’s kept us going I think,” he says.

But perhaps the main lesson he has learned during his 15-odd years in the music business, is a simpler one again: “I’m not going anywhere near any windows and I’ve been thinking about sleeping on the ground floor for a while.”

* SUPERGRASS are playing the Carling Academy Liverpool, on March 12.

lauradavis@dailypost.co.uk