Noel Gallagher interview - the long version

Before he even gets on the phone backstage at an arena in Oakland you can hear Noel Gallagher swearing up a storm. Oasis is big enough and powerful enough that neither Noel nor brother Liam has had to censor themselves while speaking.
But he wants to speak, as he's proud of the new album, Dig Out Your Soul, a focused, hard-rock album unlike anything Oasis has done in the past.

It's not all smooth. Gallagher was injured in Toronto earlier this year when a fan got onstage and violently knocked him off of it, sending him to the hospital and causing a YouTube sensation.

You're backstage a few minutes before the first night of your tour kicks off. Do you ever get nerves anymore?
"No. I feel sorry for the people who buy tickets for the first couple of nights because you're always a bit rusty. We haven't played now ...we've only played three times in the past month. The first couple of gigs will be rough. But what's the worst thing that can go wrong?"

You found that out in Toronto, didn't you?
"Well, yeah, all right. Other than being violently attacked, right? It's probably a million-to-one that'll happen again. Apart from that what can go wrong? People start slow hand-clapping and walk out. (Expletive) that. I don't give a (expletive).
You had to change drummers from Zak Starkey to Chris Sharrock. Was that a problem?
"Major (expletive) pain in the ass. It's a major pain in the ass. But every time we've gotten a drummer they've been slightly better than the last one. Chris, I hope he just sticks around. I think he will, to be honest. He's from the same part of the world as I am, from the northwest of England, so there's already that. He hasn't got that much of an ego. He just feels like he's right for the band. As for drumming skills they've each got their strong points. Zak was on the (expletive) money every night. Chris is a little bit looser but he plays in a bit more Oasis style. Chris is great to watch, believe you me. There's no point in comparing the two."

Dig Out Your Soul seemed very focused. Was that the intent going in?
"The big difference was I gave up the control of co-producing. I always co-produce the records. I don't' trust anyone else. I trust Dave (Sardy) now. Here you are. You (expletive) tell me what to do. I can't be bothered with it anymore. Instead of sitting by the mixing desk.... I could focus on what I was going to drink that night. It's a big deal for me because usually I'm (expletive) twiddling knobs till 6 in the morning."

The other guys in the band are writing more songs. How did that come about?
"I'm more comfortable with the band having everybody contributing songs. That's what bands should be about. I was sick of all the writing, all the recording, all the (expletive) producing, coming up with ideas for the artwork, all that (expletive). My name's not on the front of it, so (expletive) that, know what I mean? I said to Gem (Archer) and Andy (Bell) when they joined they'd better be prepared to write songs. If you're going to be a (expletive) session musician then I'm going to pay you like one. If you wanna be in the band you'd better start contributing. The first year was a bit difficult because they were kind of writing songs like what I write. I remember having to say 'Look, you have to write how you write, don't worry about me. You can't write songs like I write. That's what I do. Don't do my thing, do your own thing.'"

You've done rich, famous, stadiums, honors, awards. What gives you satisfaction in music these days?
"(Long pause). Eh...it's quite diminishing returns once you've done it all, I have to be honest with you. Um...I don't know. I just don't know what else to do. Don't get me wrong, I love (expletive) getting up onstage and playing the guitar in front of (expletive) thousands of people. Who wouldn't like that? It's glorified showing off, do you know what I mean? This record has given me a great deal of satisfaction. I don't really analyze it that much. I get up in the morning and I'm having a shave, am I happy with what I'm doing? I absolutely am. If I'm not happy I'll go and (expletive) do something else. That day's not come yet."

Do you need a record label anymore?
"We don't' have a record label in England. We do it ourselves. In America we're on Warner Brothers or reprise simply because we don't live here. What are we going to do, mail-order records all over the (expletive) world? That'd be insane. In England we look after ourselves. Around the rest of the world we picked whatever labels gave us the best deal. We're on various record labels now. It's insane."

Does that arrangement give you more power?
"I couldn't tell you. I won't pay my manager 20% of everything I earn then do his job for him. You look after this, I'll look after getting (expletive) drunk, writing songs and being cool."

You're close with Russell Brand. Have you considered acting?
(laughs). To be honest he buzzes me on a regular basis about this, let's write a (expletive) sitcom, blah, blah, blah. I think I'd be too embarrassed. I've been on film sets and all that. When I'm in the studio I do it once, maybe twice. If I do a take for a third time it's because somebody (expletive) up and I'm not happy. If I'm doing the same (expletive) thing all day, 98 takes, I'd hang myself. I get in there, bang, get it done, get out."

Back to the attack in Toronto - what was that guy trying to do? What was his motive?
"This court case has been adjourned twice now, till January. Then we'll find out what his (expletive) explanation is for all this."

Does it affect the way you feel onstage now?
"Nope. Nope. Not at all."

What's it like playing stadiums in Europe versus arenas in America?

"In America it's more like a concert. It's all seats. Have you ever seen us in England? There's 60,000 people in the stadium and you all get carried away with it. (Expletive) knows what the gig is like. You're just in there an it's like whish, then it's over and you go 'Wow, what happened there?' In America it's a concert where people are listening. In England people don't listen. I'm not putting that down, it's a great thing, I wouldn't' have it any other way. People just let off stream and (expletive) go for it. In America they study you a bit more, which makes you play better, I think."

Do you run into creative dry spells?
"Oh (expletive) yeah. Just after Be Here Now till Don't Believe the Truth was a real uninspiring time for me. If I'm not inspired by the music around me I write (expletive) songs and I write songs for the sake of it. Standing on the Shoulders of Giants and Heathen Chemistry, there's kind of a few good tunes of my own but the bulk of it is fairly uninspiring. The one lesson I've learned from that is when it's not happening just (expletive) go on vacation. If I was to give anybody advice it's just don't chase it. Wait till it comes back. If your dog runs away don't go looking for the dog. The dog will find you when he's hungry, know what I mean? Who wants to go look for a (expletive) dog? That's mental behavior."

What's different about the new disc?
"It's an album. It's not a collection of (expletive) songs. I'm not putting us in the bracket with these bands, but it's an album the way Led Zeppelin and Pink Floyd used to make albums. Every track on a Pink Floyd album is (expletive) great, but they also have context within the album .... When you put it where it's supposed to be listened to it's amazing. Albums are supposed to be journeys. With the advent if iTunes and cherry-picking songs the album is dead. Now it's 'I'll have track one, track three, track seven and track nine.' (Expletive) all that. You wouldn't do that with Dark Side of the Moon. You wouldn't do it with Led Zep IV. You can't do it with Sgt. Pepper. What's the point? We tried to make an album in that respect where it's right. If some kid is gonna cherry-pick three songs, then (expletive) him. Know what I mean? That's his problem. If they don't make sense that's his (expletive) fault."

What's coming up musically?
"I've got a (expletive) of songs. It could be electronic. It could be folk. It could be psychedelic folk. It just depends on what I feel like. The next Oasis record is going to be a difficult one. We've been trying to make the album we've made this time for a long time. I love this album. ... it has a certain direction and certain sound, while some Oasis albums previously have been a collection of songs. This is a proper album. Out of those 30 songs I could make three albums, all vastly different. Or it could be space reggae."

What's the view of America now from England?
"It's almost become really cool again. ... you can't really generalize about American people because there's (expletive) too many of you. When people think of Americans they kinda generalize - fat, loud, driving a big car. If you've been over here it's not like that at all, you know what I mean? I don't mean to be condescending and use the word normal, but the bulk of the people are just like the rest of us. Unfortunately the people who have passports are (expletive) idiots. My own take on it is recently, since George Bush was in town, when the real crunch time came America didn't do the right thing. Whereas this time America has done the right thing. It's not because Barack Obama is black. It's because they elected a Democrat. That's the most important thing. The words he says about the environment are really powerful. If he gets on with what he says he'll do, it benefits America. And if it benefits America they say it benefits the world."

Mark Brown

via L4e / source: Rocky Mountain Music

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