Tim Hughes gets a lesson in street smarts from Brian ‘Fast’ Leiser, of the Fun Lovin’ Criminals, on the 20th anniversary of their classic debut album

The Fun Lovin’ Criminals represent everything that is cool about The Big Apple.

Cocky, swaggering and effortlessly hip, they are, to misappropriate their own words, the Kings of New York.

But don’t expect to bump into them on a street corner in Brooklyn, because these days you are more likely to find them in a suburban supermarket or a south London coffee shop. Yes, the Fun Lovin’ Criminals have turned their backs on Manhattan and the Bronx, and settled down among the semis of suburbia.

“We love it over here!” says Brian ‘Fast’ Leiser, talking from his home in Beckenham, as he prepares for a tour to celebrate the 20th anniversary of the modern classic Come Find Yourself.

“Me and Huey [Morgan] both married Brits, had kids and got stuck here – in a good way,” he explains, in a glacially cool drawl which shows no sign of softening – and which is thankfully free of any trace of Estuary English. “It’s cheaper here than in central London, the schools are better and I’m happy,” he says cheerily.

It’s not the conversation I was expecting from the notorious motormouth, whose vocal delivery more than matches his nickname.

“I have a little studio here, whereas in London my studio was a laptop in the kitchen. And it’s near the dump in Bromley. I love it – especially when the trucks come by.

“When I was younger and went to New York I was like ‘Oh My God, I can do what I want!’” he goes on. “I worked in nightclubs – which is how I met Huey.

“But I’m older now, and I like writing and reading.

“I like philosophy and finding what the truth of the world is. I wonder why my five-year-old daughter is smarter than the leaders of most countries…” he trails off.

This heady domesticity should not really be a surprise at all. The Fun Lovin’ Criminals have never particularly bothered what anyone thinks of them. It is that confidence which has sustained them since they burst on to the scene in 1993, in an explosion of bluesy, jazzy hip-hop, Latin soul and dirty rock & roll.

They flitted between genres and defied pigeonholing. And still do.

Their classic Come Find Yourself came like a heady breath of fume-and-narcotic-filled New York air, dropping in the midst of Britpop, with the trademark calling card “stick ‘em up punk, it’s the Fun Lovin’ Criminal”, the Pulp Fiction–sampling Scooby Snacks and the swaggering King Of New York.

By turns, smooth and gritty, it became an instant hit, stayed in the album charts for more than 100 weeks and turned multi-platinum.

They became unstoppable. They followed up, two years later, with 100% Colombian (featuring the Barry White tribute Love Unlimited and the top 15 hit Korean Bodega) and then, in 2001, Loco – the title track from which became their biggest hit, reaching the top five in the UK singles charts. The album also hogged the top five Then came Welcome to Poppy’s, Living in the City and, showing they’ve still got it, 2010’s Classic Fantastic.

This month, Come Find Yourself will be released as a 3CD expanded edition and collectors’ deluxe edition box set, bursting with rarities, live recordings and alternative mixes unearthed by Fast, Huey and third bandmate Frank Benbini.

And they are celebrating with the tour which, on Thursday, sees them returning to the O2 Academy Oxford.

Fast is looking forward to it, and embarks on a breakneck-paced monologue about everything he needs to do first – which today includes uploading a mash-up video to YouTube. It’s not going particularly well, he admits. Apart from the technical issues, there are also problems over copyright.

“I edited it and put in all our favourite music video and film clips from New York,” he growls. “I wanted to show it on a big screen, but they are saying ‘no way!’ “They also said it had too much violence, but it’s all comical violence, and it’s not like any kids are going to come to the show who haven’t seen that stuff before. Come and sue us!”

“They are a bunch of pussies,” he snorts. “But I told them I was going to do it anyway and would upload it so people can see it. But it seems cursed and keeps freezing my computer.”

Oxford Mail:

It seemed a good time to steer the conversation back on to the band itself, and, with a last blast of expletives aimed at the lawyers, Fast speaks warmly of the group’s achievements.

“I’m so proud of what we’ve achieved with this band,” he says. “We’ve seen the world. And we are blessed that our fans want to come out and hear these songs.

“We are really very lucky. Twenty years is a long time – but everyone who grew up in the 90s is being nostalgic now.”

And, two decades on, are they still good friends? “My relationship with Huey is like Mick Jagger and Keith Richards – but without any money.”

And, he insists, they have got this far without selling out.

“We’ve said ‘no’ so many times when everybody else says ‘yes’,” he says. “But we have no regrets and the fans appreciate it.

“We knew what we wanted when we met, and are not going to change. When we were in our early 20s in New York, we were riding BMX bikes and being inspired by what was going on.

“It’s very different living in the suburbs in England, but we are still telling stories.”

And, he says, their work is still geared towards one thing: playing live.

“We are not going to get a fancy pants producer like Pharrell – as much as I love him – to work on our songs as we can’t play them live the same way. It has to be live. That’s the reason we make records every five years or so – and we are not going to do that if it doesn’t feel right.” So what can we expect in Oxford? “ We are really psyched!” he laughs. “Oxford is a great town, and we’ve got a great show.

“We’ll play our first set from 9pm, then break for 10 minutes to have a couple of tequila shots and a costume change, and then come back.

“It’ll be a long show. After all people are paying money to come and see us – and it’ll be a party. That’s why we are only playing Thursday, Friday and Saturday nights. Some of our fans have been coming for 20 years. We know it’s real and can’t do it any other way.

“We want people to have a good time all of the time!”

Where and when
The Fun Lovin’ Criminals play the O2 Academy Oxford on Thursday. Tickets from ticketweb.co.uk. Come Find Yourself is out this month