I was in one of the biggest Britpop bands of all time, but I quit fame to sell antiques

PULP became one of the staples of Britpop, but it moved through many incarnations – with band members changing as the years rolled on.

Russell Senior, Pulp’s guitarist, lives a wildly different life now after stepping away from the band in 1997.

Russell Senior quit Pulp the same year that Jarvis Cocker crashed Michael Jackson's BRIT performance

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Russell Senior quit Pulp the same year that Jarvis Cocker crashed Michael Jackson’s BRIT performanceCredit: Getty
Russell stands behind his bandmates Jarvis Cocker, Nick Banks, Candida Doyle and  Steve Mackey

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Russell stands behind his bandmates Jarvis Cocker, Nick Banks, Candida Doyle and Steve MackeyCredit: Getty

His departure was the same year as Jarvis crashed Michael Jackson’s Earth Song at the Brit Awards.

Nowadays, the 62-year-old spends his days selling and collecting antiques.

This was no new hobby, he’d actually worked with antiques before he quit Pulp.

In an interview with Select Magazine in 1994 – two years before he left the band, he said: “I used to be an antique dealer. I stopped dealing about two and a half years ago, because I foolishly believed we were going to become pop stars.

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“Our manager at the time was saying ‘You’re doing to be on Top of the Pops’ by Christmas’. I sold my car and we just sat around waiting for the records to come out that didn’t.”

A year later, the band released “Common People” which landed at number two on the UK Single’s Chart in 1995.

They also performed on Glastonbury’s Pyramid stage after they were announced to replace The Stone Roses.

After Russell quit the group, he ghosted his bandmates – so much so that he didn’t even know what they were up to following his departure.

“I put Pulp down big time,” he told The Yorkshire Post.

“Also, my car was broken into shortly after I left the band when I was staying at Candida’s (Doyle, also a Pulp member) house.

“My clothes were stolen as was my Filofax. I didn’t have a contact for anyone and I didn’t have any clothes, so it was like an enforced, monastic existence. I suddenly found I had this new life.”

He did reunite with Pulp for the band’s reunion tour in 2011 and released a book, ‘Freak Out the Squares: Life in a Band Called Pulp’.

Russell was in the band for 14 years, and decided that in his book he didn’t want to “be horrible” about Jarvis and the gang.

He explained that when you are in a band for that length of time, “to say all the nasty things would have taken too long”.

The rock band, which was initially started when Jarvis was just 15 years old, split up in 2002.

They have eight albums from 1983 to 2001 when their reunion album “We Love Life” made it to number six in the UK music charts.

Russell performing at Wireless Festival in Hyde Park in 2011

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Russell performing at Wireless Festival in Hyde Park in 2011Credit: B2839
Russell has since written a book about his time in the band after distancing himself

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Russell has since written a book about his time in the band after distancing himselfCredit: Getty
Russell Senior performing on the NME Stage at the Glastonbury Festival in 1994

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Russell Senior performing on the NME Stage at the Glastonbury Festival in 1994Credit: Getty

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