Gene pool: ‘We are far more appreciative of each other and what we do’[Pat Pope]

GUITAR bands in the 90 weren’t just Indie – success during that period saw musicians immediately labelled part of the Britpop brigade.

From Pulp, Blur and Oasis through to Suede, Elastica, Supergrass and Verve, all were part of the Cool Britannia movement, a new wave of music and fashion that drew on a mixture of Mod styles, Acid House parties and celebrating the end of 18 years of Conservative Party rule.

But not every band wanted to be pigeonholed, despite the commercially beneficial kudos: and Gene, who had a series of hits through the 1990s, never really related their music to the type prompted by the Albarn v Gallagher contest.

In October, the band – now reformed after a two-decade hiatus – are returning to Britpop’s spiritual home in Camden Town to play shows at The Roundhouse. And for lead singer Martin Rossiter, heading to Chalk Farm brings back one particular memory of the 90s music scene.

“I don’t remember much from the 1990s,” he admits, “but I very much remember going to the Marathon bar, opposite The Roundhouse, after hours. We’d buy a bag of chips so we could have a beer. I remember hanging out with Johnny Vegas, who was becoming famous, there.”

Martin Rossiter live at The Beacon, Bristol, March 2026 [Jim Mitcham]

Martin was likened to Morrissey for his mixture of stage presence and lyricism.
He grew up in Watford but NW1 had a special cachet.

“There were gigs at the Bull and Gate – I remember seeing Transvision Vamp,” he recalls. “Can you imagine? A band of that stature playing a pub. I had a friend called Matt who was a couple of years older than me and had a car and we’d drive down into London a couple of times a week, go to The Falcon and see bands like The Weather Prophets and the TV Personalities – and they were superstars in my head.”

The Falcon, in Royal College Street, gave gigs to Blur, Pulp, Coldplay, Oasis, Suede and PJ Harvey. It was where the Barfly began as a club night. The pub closed in the early noughties after launching a wave of acts.

“It was the kind of place a band would come on, perform and then someone would come along and tell them to make records and their songs were then put on black gold,” he adds.

“For some people, Taylor Swift is a star. For me, it was the people we’d seen on stage at The Falcon, who could bring 25 people into the backstreet pub with a stage and a PA on a wet Tuesday night. They were stars.”

Martin joined the band in the early 90s and success soon followed. They won NME’s coveted best new band in 1995 and their debut album, Olympian, stormed the charts, as did singles gleaned from the LP. The band’s reformation this year is down to the fact it is the 30th anniversary of the album’s break-out success.

He also remembers the heady days of the early Blair government, and the sense of relief. Tony Blair famously invited Brit Pop icons to Downing Street, Vanity Fair ran a cover of Liam Gallagher and Patsy Kensit under a Union Jack duvet, and there was a sense that the UK as a cultural powerhouse was back on the world stage.

“It felt full of genuine hope – a hope that was the result of just years and years of Tory government finally ending,” he reflects. “Anybody who had the faintest tinge of red – even if it was a very modest pink – could fill people with a sense of hope. I was 27 in 1997 and this was my first experience of a Labour government.

“What was then so crushingly disappointing was the deliberate decision to ignore any form of ideology with a year of Labour winning the election. All that talk about a so-called Third Way, and then going to war.”

He says the lessons for politicians today must be the same – offer some principles, offer something for voters to be enthused by.

“We have seen in the USA with the election of Zhoran Mamdani that people do want principles and authenticity. The reason Mamdani in New York was exciting was because he provided authenticity. We are returning to a time when people do want to believe in something, rather than be run by technocrats. That has sadly manifested itself in people on the right. It horrifies me and the worldwide left needs to wake up very quickly and realise that people like belief, they like principles and they want a vision. There is the quote that Burnham was like Starmer but with TikToks. I just hope that is not true.”

And Burnham happens to be a Gene fan, he adds. “He came to see Gene Mark I – he is the first prime minister we can say was a fan. I hope his left-wing instincts are acted on.”

Gene’s first release came about when two music journalists saw them live and decided to set up a record label to promote a band they loved. The Olympian album followed to critical acclaim. Playing an album they wrote 30 years ago is a step back in time.

“It has taken a long time for me to listen back and be kind to my younger self. I have favourites, but they change from day to day,” he says.
“I look back at LPs and they are wonderful, and they are also flawed. I can be self-critical and think what was I doing? I hate that cliché – ‘the songs no longer belong to us’ – and I know some songs are better than others, and the ones that are good are wonderful.”
It also brings back the thrill of making a studio album in your 20s.

“I was just a little scroat from Watford,” he says. “I had never made a record before. I only moved out of home the day we signed for Polydor. I was very green, learning how to make a record was what was really important about the process for me. I remember little things – I was a child who had had piano lessons  but I had never heard a Hammond organ before. The record company brought in a string section and it felt really grown up. I was like – wow, proper musicians! They were in  a room playing my song – it was a lovely experience.”

Gene playing live at The Beacon in Bristol in March 2026 [Jim Mitcham]

And getting back with other band members – Matt James (drums), Steve Mason (guitars) and Kevin Miles (bass) – isn’t just a case of reliving past conquests but playing music with others who make sparks fly.

“ It has been far easier than I thought it would be,” adds Martin. “We have learned. We have a combined age verging on the Jurassic and with that comes a sprinkle of wisdom.

“We are being very kind to each other. All the little tensions you have when you are in your 20s have gone. We are far more appreciative of each other and what we do. And while it may go against my nature – and my so-called ‘brand’ of being fairly miserable – we laugh a lot.”

• Gene play The Roundhouse on October 9 and 10. See www.geneofficial.com