Supergrass' Shanghai surprise

Talking Chinese karaoke and Orlando vacations with the veteran Brit-poppers

By Matt Rodbard

(Credit: Keira Vallejo)

For almost 15 years, Oxford’s Supergrass has quietly made some of the catchiest Brit-pop on the planet, blending sugary choruses, a driving rhythm section and mind-bending tales about man-sized roosters and naughty schoolchildren (focus on the bending). Although the band, which is led by brothers Gaz and Rob Coombes, has sold millions in their native U.K., the American reception has been relatively modest—an opening slot for Foo Fighters this summer may change that, but probably not.

But it wasn’t always going to be a small-ish time affair. In 1995, fresh off the success of their debut “I Should CoCo,” director Steven Spielberg approached the baby-faced band to create a Supergrass TV show, reportedly in the style of the madcap Monkees comedy series. Thankfully for all parties involved, the grass the band was smoking at the time wasn’t that super and Gaz declined the offer. He was more receptive to speaking with us.              

Your new album, “Diamond Hoo Ha,” includes a song called “Whiskey and Green Tea.” I’ve always wanted to try that mix.
The drink is quite nice, actually. It just gets you hammered so quickly. You’re having a nice evening out and before you know it you can’t stand up. I actually haven’t had it since the night the song is based on.   

Take us there…
Well, I remember Sebastian Bach was there! We were playing a festival in Shanghai and went out afterwards and started to get more and more pissed in this small karaoke room.

Are you saying you sung karaoke with Sebastian Bach?
We did “Come Together” as a duet. Funny thing about Sebastian Bach is that he talks just the way he sings. “Heeey maaaan, how’s it gooooing!” The whole thing was really strange. And so the next day we were in this forbidden city wandering around, completely hungover and started putting the lyrics to the song together.

You’re touring with Foo Fighters and I noticed they wrote about you in their rider: “[Foo Fighters] shall not be required to share dressing room with any other performer except Supergrass, Oasis or maybe Led Zeppelin.”
That’s a pretty amazing compliment. They’ve been really good to us over the years. We’ve toured with them a couple times, both in Europe and in the States. I remember this date years ago in D.C. where Dave [Grohl] was running around the balcony at full speed, with all this pent-up energy. It was like 5 p.m. He’s a real presence.

Your 1995 song “Alright” was used in a now-famous “Visit Orlando” commercial. Have you visited Orlando?
Orlando. Uhhhh. [long pause] I don’t believe I have. Maybe when I was a kid. The music makes that commercial. [laughs]

Are you OK with your song being used to sell waterslide vacations?
We lost that song years and years ago. It’s almost public domain at this point, so there is nothing you can do about it.

That’s kind of a bummer. How do you feel about that?
Well, like I said, there isn’t much you can do about it. On one hand it’s good because it’s a testament to how popular it is. On the other hand it’s a bit of a ball and chain. I still remember the day we wrote that and I am really proud of it, but we haven’t played that song in a couple of years. It’s frozen in time.