(MACKENZIE - 2010)GUITAR HERO INTERVIEW: NOEL GALL

(MACKENZIE - 2010)

GUITAR HERO

INTERVIEW: NOEL GALLAGHER

By Marcel Anders

Oasis lead guitarist Noel Gallagher has been described as “the elder statesman” of British rock. Yet this is a description that he rejects, pointing out that, at the age of 41, he is still a young man, when compared with the likes of Mick Jagger, Keith Richards and even Paul Weller.

Gallagher, who has often been in conflict with the Oasis lead singer, his younger brother Liam, recently met with the press in order to promote the band’s latest album, Dig Into Your Soul. As he explained, some of its songs were inspired by his memories of LSD trips as a teenager in Manchester:

Noel Gallagher:

What do you write about when you’re 41? I don’t know. You know, __( I )__famous? Nobody wants to hear about that. __( II )__ in a band? That was kind of what Definitely Maybe was about. Women? Too boring, you know. Money? Nobody wants to hear about that. Politics? __( III )__, you know. Save the planet? __( IV )__. You know, I don’t know. So, the most __( V )__ thing is like, well, I remember when I was 16 and, you know, __( VI )__ acid, it was like, “Yeah, there’s stories to be told there, I think.”

BACK ON TRACK

Many critics say that Oasis are “back on track” with this album, but Gallagher has his reservations: Noel Gallagher: For me personally, I don’t know what anybody else in the band thinks, but when I sit down and write a song I don’t think: “Well, is this as good as what I’ve done?” I just write them, you know, and record them and other people decide. So, if other people decided that we were back, you know, after “Don’t Believe The Truth,” then great, do you know what I mean? But I… it’s not something that I would ever… I wouldn’t enter into a debate about it. How can I, you know? I don’t… I’m not a professional songwriter, do you know what I mean? I kind of… it’s what… I’ve been writing songs for as long as I can remember, you know, for fun, it’s just so now lots of people buy them, but if nobody bought the records tomorrow, I still wouldn’t stop writing songs, but I’d write songs just to play to my mates. It’s kind of what I do.

ABBEY ROAD

Dig Out Your Soul was recorded at London’s famous Abbey Road studios, whose previous occupants have included The Beatles and Pink Floyd. Rumour has it that Oasis had previously been banned from the studios on account of their unruly behaviour:

Noel Gallagher:

We had to pay the money upfront and promise to be on our best behaviour. We had to pay the money upfront, and so they said, “If… if you have to leave, then you’re gonna lose the deposit.” Well, it’s different now, you know, when we were in there in ’97, everybody was in their 20s and whacked out on drugs all the time, so it’s different now. Everybody’s got kids, you know. Everybody’s a little bit more… a little bit less mental, you know, but we still have a good time, though. We made a great record, that’s the main thing about it, you know, and it’s good for Abbey Road, that somebody’s finally made a great record there!

(Speak Up)

 

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