ants in the pants
ant fans david barnett and suede fanzine’s bettina contemplate the adam ant/suede connection.

brh: i’ve always found it weird that there don’t seem to be too many bands around that have been influenced by suede. do you agree? if so, to what might this be attributed, do you think?

db: i think there are probably lots of bands influenced by suede but it’s not a particularly cool thing to admit to. as time passes, i think this will change.

brh: another band of whom that might also be said is adam and the ants, meaning that it’s not terribly cool to reveal them as an influence, although franz ferdinand clearly have some adam ant records in their collection. recognizing that the territory i’m now veering into may only be of interest to you, me and about three other people in the world, let’s nonetheless gallop boldy into the wild frontier. so you think that adam influenced suede in any way? how so?

db: i was always convinced that suede had completely ripped the ants off, but it seems that justine and simon were the only ones who were fans. according to mat, brett didn’t even own any ant records until justine bought him a copy of b-side babies around 95/96 or whenever it was they started hanging out together again.

brh: there are always so many comparisons made between suede and bowie, suede and t.rex, suede and the smiths. i think the suede/ants connection has really been overlooked. there’s a sense of theatricality, a kind of totalizing vision regarding image and sound and a very strategic use of the press that are common to both. that’s not really a question, is it? ok, i guess the question is how did these similarities get overlooked? i kind of place bowie, t.rex, adam and suede in a stylistic continuum. is mine an oddball opinion? do you see it that way as well?

db: you are right. i think adam is probably just too bonkers and arguably of wildly veering quality for people to take him seriously. but to me that is real genius.

brh: what adam ant song would you have liked suede to cover? for me, it would be “christian dior”, “greta x” or “whip in my valise”. oooh, that’s all very thematic, isn’t it?

db: it’s funny isn’t it? “we’ll marry soon, i’ll be the bride” - it sounds exactly like an early suede lyric. or “i’ll be your dog (just one flog)”. hang on, that is a suede lyric! i’d love to hear suede doing “press darlings”. it would be interesting to see if it sounded any different from “the drowners”.

brh: do you think that suede got the idea to release sci-fi lullabies from adam’s b-side babies, which came out a couple of years prior to sfl?

db: no.

brh: who has influenced your own band, the boyfriends, more, suede or the ants? i have to just interject that i haven’t seen any of you dressed in a girls’ blouses or spanking yourselves on stage. there has been some evidence of proud ant warrior face paint, though!

db: well richard writes the music and i don’t think he’s a big fan of either sadly.

brh: are your fellow band members also ants fans? i’m guessing that they are.

db: paddy is a bit. and i think martin has a passing fondness. i’m the only obsessive though.

brh: if you’d been offered a similar opportunity to work for adam and the ants, the way you’d been with suede, would you have agreed? (hypothetical question, of course. you wouldn’t have been old enough, i presume, unless you’re using really fantastic moisturizer and are fooling us all about your real age.)

db: adam once said “leave your heroes on the wall”. i think that’s probably a very wise statement.

brh: he also said “never trust a man with egg on his face.” that’s probably pretty sound advice as well.

brh: who was better live, suede or the ants? why doesn’t brett ever do high kicks live, you know, the way adam used to? he’s way taller than adam. surely, he could get those long legs really high up there.

db: ha ha. brett would have been great at the kicks, i agree. i never saw the ants. i saw adam solo twice. the first was my first ever gig at the age of 12. the second was at king tuts wah wah hut and quite possibly the best gig i’ve ever seen, though i’d have to admit nostalgia probably played a very large part.

brh: who was more sonically inventive, the ants or suede?

db: i think suede were much more a classic songwriting band with real tunes, whereas the ants were a kind of lunatic anything-goes kinda thing.

brh: are you/were you a bigger fans of the ants or of suede?

db: hard to say. they have both infuriated, delighted and embarrassed me a great deal!

brh: let’s settle this once and for all, shall we? who is really the best guitarist: bernard butler, richard oakes or marco pirroni?

db: hmmm, technically i think richard is possibly the most adept at playing intricate stuff, but i think bernard is far more inventive. he makes loads of mistakes but makes them sound amazing, if you see what i mean? i’m not really sure about marco. he makes a great racket, which is cool by me!