Blur Recall Early Days

Blur bass player Alex James has revealed how the band struggled in their early days, living in squats to get by.

Blur might be British pop music royalty now, but in their early days the band struggled to get arrested. Originally named Seymour the group played awkward indie music, before allowing their psychedelic tastes to get the better of them.

Snapped up by Food Records, the swiftly re-named Blur then struck chart gold with early singles such as 'She's So High' and 'There's No Other Way'. Continually challenging themselves, Blur moved through several different phases yet always remained true to their own artistic beliefs.

Reforming earlier this year, the band warned fans at Scotland's T In The Park that a headline slot would be their "last show". Which would be a sad way to let Blur end, not least for Graham Coxon who was struggling with food poisoning at the time.

In a new article for The Observer bass player Alex James has revealed how the band struggled to find decent food to eat when they were in their early incarnation.

Studying at Goldsmiths College in London, the musician lived in a squat with Damon Albarn. "I was living in a squat after the first year at Goldsmiths, and I still remember the look on my parents' faces the first time they came to visit," he revealed.

"Damon, Graham and I lived on pasta sandwiches at college. All you needed was tomato purée, pasta and bread. Then we started adding garlic. And there was a lot of fried cabbage."

The bass player then revealed his parents' fury when he told them he wanted to drop out of education to focus on Blur.

"I think my mum worried about everything. Especially when I told her 'I'm leaving college to be in a band, but we're really good! This is Graham…' just as Graham fell over backwards."