Noel Gallagher’s High Flying Birds have already been named on this year’s Coachella line up, Lollapalooza Brazil, Chile and Argentina, not to mention locking down headline spots at Kendal Calling, the Victorious and Y Not festivals in the UK later on in the year.
The singer and guitarist lets slip that while the upcoming Australian shows surrounding this year’s Byron Bay Bluesfest will differ from those UK fans will have witnessed recently, the essence of the High Flying Birds shows as they have been rolling out through 2015 until now remains as passionate as ever.
“I beg your pardon?” Gallagher mocks, talking about the eclectic nature of this year’s Bluesfest. “I’m one of the foremost prominent blues artists of all time, I fucking am! I fucking tell you what, Eric Clapton‘s got nowt on me. The gigs are going to be great though, what can I say? I’m very much looking forward to it, I know it’s going be great. They’re going to be slightly different from the UK gigs because I’ve jigged the set around a little bit. All I can say is, fucking prepare to be dazzled!”
Unsurprisingly, the pressure that may surround a musician stepping out from under the cloak of a famous band in subsequently writing and releasing their own material has never been a factor when it’s come to any Noel Gallagher’s High Flying Birds material – this new album included. It would seem that this invigorated and fiery formula Noel has struck up on stage through recent tours has married perfectly with the new ethic he’s feeling out within the writing process. Forever not giving a fuck about what people think, Gallagher is still humble enough to comment on how quick he was to realise that other people’s opinions aren’t the be all and end all when it comes to producing music you, as an artist, are proud of.
“I don’t really get excited about projects when I’m on them,” he admits. “It’s just a thing you do. The end results are good, so that’s the main thing. I felt it [weight of expectation] once, after trying to follow up (What’s the Story) Morning Glory? In hindsight, I felt I struggled a bit with that. After that, it’s not really bothered me. If we take my solo thing in isolation, then not in the slightest. In this game or this particular field, you could make this job as difficult or as easy as you’d like. You can overthink virtually everything,” he says. “What fucking shoes you’re wearing, how your hair looks, what cereal you’re fucking eating, whether you’re too fat, to whether the songs are any fucking good. You can drive yourself mad or you can just do what you fucking do and let the people decide. I’ve always made records, I’ve put them out and I don’t give a fuck what journalists say about it. I truly don’t give a fuck. If the people like it, let’s go on tour. If they don’t like it, let’s not go on tour. That’s it.”
Source: AU