Justine Frischmann says her ex Damon Albarn thought his band Blur was more "important" to him than she was.
Damon Albarn
The Elastica singer dated the 'Song 2' hitmaker between 1991 and 1998 and during the height of their careers she admits they were both more consumed by their music, but Damon found it "hard" when the 'Never Here' hitmakers made it in America in the mid-90s.
Speaking about their rivalry during the Britpop era to the latest issue of Uncut magazine, she said: "I think it was hard for Damon when Elastica started getting some success in America.
"It's funny because both thought we were too evolved for classic gender roles, but looking back he thought his band were more important because he was the guy. And on some level I did too."
The 47-year-old musician - who is now an artist - is "grateful" that she got to be part of a group that hit the big time with 1995's indie classic 'Elastica' but she looks back and feels like it all happened "too much, too soon".
She said: "Honestly, I don't think many people get to experience that kind of trajectory and I'm so grateful to have experienced that feeling. But the cons were that we did way too much too soon and it got bigger than any of us were ready for, or wanted. One minute we were touring in a van, lying on top of the amps and it was us against the world. The next, we had buses and trucks and catering and so many crew we didn't even know who half of them were."
Despite their past success, Justine has no plans to reunite with her former bandmates who earlier this year were back in the studio together with Abbey Road Studios' mastering engineer Sean Magee working on a new project.
Elastica officially split in 2001 and since then Justine has retreated from the public spotlight only returning to music in 2003 to co-write two songs for her former flatmate M.I.A. for her debut LP 'Arular', which was eventually released in 2005.
She previously said: "I really feel I've found my medium [with painting]. Also I think I'm a socially anxious person. I kind of deal with it but actually I'm really happy on my own. When I'm in the studio and things are unfolding and exciting I have that feeling that I'm exactly where I'm meant to be. I don't think I ever really had that with music, it always felt like a rollercoaster ride and there was going to be a horrible smash."
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