During the interview for the ‘Mastertapes’ series earlier this week, Noel Gallagher talked about the influence of Arctic Monkeys and Kasabian.
He was asked whether the British music scene is in good health and he answered:
“Well, you only have to look at the charts, what happened at the end of the ’90s, all those bands used to be in the Top Ten, like us, Manic, Pulp, The Verve, Suede and Blur, and I think bands like that have been marginalised and side-lined,”
“There’s X Factor and all that kind of thing, can you name me the last great band that came out of this country? There’s not really been any great bands in the last 10 years.”
When it was suggested that One Direction might be considered great because of their success and international fame, he replied:
They’re not a band, they’re a group and good luck to those lads, Arctic Monkeys and Kasabian, that’s ten years ago now and shame on those two bands for a start because they didn’t inspire anybody else, the working classes have not got a voice anymore, there doesn’t seem to be a noise coming from the council estates, you know what I mean?
He then went on by saying:
“Music is very middle class, I’d have eaten Bastille alive in an afternoon in the ’90s, one interview, destroyed, gone, never to be heard of again. Easy, had ‘em for breakfast. My bass player summed it up, we’re constantly saying, ‘Where is the next band coming from?’ and he rightly says, ‘Never mind the band, where are the people?’
“When I first started I wanted to get in the charts and wreck it, like stamp Phil Collins out and Wet Wet Wet, they’ve got to go, and all that ’80s gear, we don’t need that anymore, I don’t see anything from the working class, I just don’t see it.”
Noel Gallagher has been announced as the headliner of the Teenager Cancer Trust on Saturday 28th March 2015.
Source: NME
Photo: Getty