Gene set for American adventure 
Originally published Friday, August 30, 2002 
RRAIHALA@olympia.gannett.com 


It's been three years since the British quartet Gene has toured these 
shores and lead singer Martin Rossiter isn't quite sure what to expect. 

"I'm forever the pessimist," he said during a recent phone interview from 
his home in Brighton. "I'm prepared to be surprised. And hopefully that 
surprise will be a positive one." 

Whatever happens during the rest of the tour, Gene is all but assured a 
packed house when the band plays Bumbershoot in Seattle. They'll perform 
at 3:30 p.m. Monday at the EMP Sky Church. 

Gene emerged from the London club scene in 1994 when a pair of British 
journalists were so taken by the young group, they formed a record label 
specifically to release Gene's debut single, "For the Dead." 
The single sold out quickly and the subsequent buzz led to a major-label 
deal with Polydor. 
In 1995, Polydor released Gene's debut album, "Olympian," here and abroad. 
Some critics groused about Rossiter's striking vocal similarity to 
Morrissey, and Gene's songs of anguished love did little to sway that 
opinion. 
Fans didn't seem to care, however, and soon Gene built a legion of 
followers that looked a whole lot like those who had discovered Morrissey 
and the Smiths a decade earlier. 
Gene found much early chart success in England thanks, in part, to the 
then-current wave of acts such as Blur and Oasis storming into the 
mainstream. 
The band also toured the United States several times, establishing a 
small, but faithful, cult on these shores. 
The dramatic "Drawn to the Deep End" followed in 1997, but by 1999's 
"Revelations," Gene had fallen into conflict with its record label, who 
refused to release that record in this country. By the end of '99, Gene 
had split from Polydor and faced an uncertain future. 
Many bands in a similar situation would have called it a day. And Rossiter 
said that nearly happened to Gene. 

"I won't lie," he said. "I never really wanted Gene to be over, but 
sometimes you'd lie in bed and think, maybe no one likes us anymore. 
"Then you'd wake up the next day, look at yourself in the mirror and say 
'Don't be so stupid.' That's when you get a wet fish from the fridge and 
slap it across your face." 

In 2000, Gene played and recorded a handful of sold-out shows in Los 
Angeles for what would become the self-released "Rising for Sunset" disc. 

"I was surprised to see all these new faces in the audience," Rossiter 
said. "I think it was a case of being in someone's bedroom and being 
played a Gene record and wondering, 'What is this?' Then they had to come 
out and see." 

Encouraged by the response, Gene wrote and recorded its fourth studio 
album "Libertine" in 2001. The band self-released it in England and earned 
some of the best reviews of its career. New Musical Express called it 
"an album about emotional resilience and it's very strong indeed." 
One song from those sessions, "Let Me Move On," was not included in the 
original version of "Libertine," but ended up becoming a heavily 
bootlegged prize among Gene fans on the Internet. 
When the band finally released "Libertine" in the States last month, 
"Let Me Move On" ended up as the first track on the album. Three other 
new songs also popped up on the expanded version of "Libertine." 

"I think it's much better, actually," said Rossiter. "With the aid of 
retrospect and time-aided wisdom, we realized 'Let Me Move On' was a lot 
better song than we initially thought it was. When I listen to 
('Libertine,') I listen to the American version." 

After Bumbershoot, Gene will spend the rest of the month touring North 
America. 

"I hope lady luck is kind enough to shine on us and give us the 
opportunity to keep going," Rossiter said. "But as of right now, all I'm 
thinking about is what we're going to eat."


www.lewisslade.com/genemusic