Noel Gallagher has been interviewed by ‘Rock and Roll Hall of Fame’ while touring in the U.S., and this is what he said…Oasis was at the epicenter of the 90s Britpop explosion, which brought British “alternative” to the mainstream…
Apart from the very specific subgroups of music like reggae, and heavy metal, and jazz, everything else is really difficult to kind of sum up in one nifty phrase, and so it should be. You know what I mean? It’s all just music at the end of the day…. the way that I write a song, is just, if I write a song now in 2015, you know, I’m only re-telling the story for the next generation. I’m not doing anything different than Bob Dylan did or Neil Young does, or anything like that.
We’re just retelling the same stories, you know what I mean? I don’t think things should be summed up in one nifty phrase. And it’s a good thing that they can’t be. You know, because, it’s like when people say to you… ‘how would you describe your music?’ Well, I have no idea, do you know what I mean? It’s just music at the end of the day. I think alternative music comes from alternative thought, and that’s a very do-it-yourself attitude.
You’ve just recently released a new album, Chasing Yesterday. Do you prefer going into the studio as a solo artist?
The main difference is the personnel. You know… it’s a funny thing to write a song for someone else to sing. And it’s a great challenge to write lyrics that you as the writer, are meaningful for you; but like, a singer has to get behind as well, and to make it, to make it real to an audience. And I enjoyed that.
But I must say, once that was no longer an option, this is far better for me, because if I am writing a song about a girl, or a couple, or a situation, I know who that girl is. So I can put it across better than you giving it to a singer who’s very suspicious that you’re obviously writing a song about your wife, and ‘I’m not fucking singing that,’ do you know what I mean? So, it’s easier, I find this a lot easier now… and I can only say that with me coming out of the previous situation I was in [with Oasis].
Sounds like you’re more free to experiment with sounds and styles, no?
So, it was like a weight was lifted off your shoulders, so you don’t really have to worry about what the singer’s going to make of the lyrics anymore. So you’re … just letting it flow, you know what I mean The personnel that play on the records, there is no limitations now. When you’re in a band, if that bass player can’t play a certain way, then that’s just tough shit. And if that singer has only got a certain range, then that’s just tough shit. But as now, I don’t have a bass player. I don’t have a drummer. I don’t have anybody. So I just get the best that there is for that particular song, or project or whatever.
And that’s why I feel I’m kind of evolving a little bit. Not at a massive rate, I kind of like what I do anyway. But if songs fall out of the sky that can be treated in a different way, then I can call upon anybody… to get a particular sound or particular vibe. Like some of the guitar work on my new album or my last album would never have existed had I still been in a band because there’s three different guitarists on the record – none of them me. So, I can get people who are great, or better than I am, and who are better than anyone that was in my previous band to kind of play on my record, so, it’s all good for the listener.
Is it more pressure being the only singer?
What it means to be a singer… you’ve got a lot of responsibility, you’ve got to be on it from 9 o’clock. So there’s not really any room to let your hair down. But that’s alright. I have 20 years of doing this stuff anyway, so I’m not kind of messing with it.
Are you happier performing or in the studio?
Performing… I don’t really think about it that much. The records are the main focus to me. If you’ve made a good record, then really the people are coming to hear the records. For me… when I get off the bus, two in the afternoon, still wearing the same clothes when I go onstage. I might be the only person in the history of music right now, in this very minute, I don’t get dressed up for things. I can’t be bothered. People have said to me, ‘why are you wearing the same clothes you’ve got on already?’ It’s not about the clothes. It’s not about what it looks like. It’s not about me as a performer. I’m just delivering the songs to you, and you can see me do it. I don’t need tattoos, fucking bracelets or earrings, or dyed hair, or fucking dancers or any of that shit. I’m in a different school. That’s why Neil Young is such a massive influence. He’s just a fucking guy with an extraordinary gift.
Source: Rock and Roll Hall of Fame