RUSSELL PULP: 'WHY I QUIT'
Russell Senior left Pulp in January this year simply because he was fed up of being in the band.
Speaking exclusively to NME from his Sheffield home, the violinist, guitarist and keyboard player said he made up his mind one night and quit the next day after 13 years with the band.
"There are many reasons why I left, but mainly it was just not wanting to be in the band any more," he said. "It didn't feel cool to be in a band. It's nothing to do with wanting to retire and potter round the garden in my slippers. I'm still friends with the band, I stay with them when I come down to London.
"In many ways, it's an incredibly stupid thing to do," he laughed. "Financially, for a start, to jump off something of that magnitude. But what the hell?... Since I left, it was great to realise I actually still liked music and that it didn't have to be extracted from my body in a painful process taking many months!"
He also revealed how he had started working with north London band Baby Birkin, whose debut single, 'Melo Melo', is released on November 10.
"Basically, they were a completely unknown pub band and they asked me to produce them," explained Russell. "You've got to admire their gall haven't you? So I went from this multi-million pound band to this!"
Russell said he was now working as "musical consultant" for the band and also plays on their debut album, 'Classé X', which is out early next year. He was quick to add he was not a member of the band.
"I just went in the studio with them a couple of months before the album was done and made some silly suggestions to zap it up a bit. But it always was and will be their thing. I'm not moulding them into my image!" Russell joked.
Russell said he was also considering other options regarding employment, but that he wouldn't go back to Pulp. He said he had made a clean break and doesn't feature on their forthcoming album,
which has the working title 'Hard Cord'."I left, I wasn't kicked out of the band, and I haven't changed my mind yet," he concluded.
