Oasis Interviews Archive

A shitload of interviews from all the various members of Oasis and selected associates from the start of their career right up to the present day. These transcripts have been taken from various websites, forums and newsgroups over the years. Credit goes to those people who took the time to put these words online.

Monday, October 30, 2006

Noel Gallagher - Q Radio - 30th October 2006

Interview with Noel and clips of his acceptance speeches for his awards.

http://www.savefile.com/files/210585

Friday, October 27, 2006

Noel Gallagher - Chart Attack - 27th October 2006

http://www.chartattack.com/damn/2006/10/2710.cfm

After 12 years of rock 'n' roll stardom, Oasis have officially announced that, after compiling their Stop The Clocks greatest hits album (due out November 21), they're taking a break.

Since emerging in 1994 with the release of their Definitely Maybe debut, the band have maintained a profile unmatched by any of their former Brit-pop rivals. Guitarist Noel Gallagher says that Oasis' longevity has more to do with the universal quality of the band's music than their ambition or tenacity.

"I think a lot of bands from 1994, particularly the English bands, were so British that you couldn't get it if you weren't British, you know what I mean?" Gallagher says. "The irony and the painful fucking trendiness of it all.

"Whereas Oasis, it's universal, man. Like 'Cigarettes And Alcohol' means the same to people in Brooklyn as it does in Burnage. The sentiments of those songs are the kind of feelings that young kids get every day. I guess all those bands from 1994 were just trying too hard. And I don't ever attempt anything unless I can make it look effortless."

So, what will Gallagher do while Oasis take their much-needed break? Don't expect any animated side-projects or self-indulgent solo albums. Gallagher plans to spend his time just hanging out and not doing much of anything at all.

"I have to get coaxed back into doing work," he says. "I don't aggressively pursue my muse.

"I'm not one that always has to be creating — if I'm not writing songs, I'm painting, and if I'm not painting I'm fucking trying to make a bottle out of a fucking table leg. I'm not into all of that. In that sense, I'm not very creative at all. You get some idiots that if they have more than a day off they start throwing fucking paint around the living room. I don't give a fuck about the creative process. I'll do it when I get around to it."

When Gallagher will "get around to it" remains to be seen. To most savvy music fans, "hiatus" can usually be translated as "we're breaking up, but we want to keep our options open just in case there's some money to be made in the future." In typical Gallagher style, Noel is staying cunningly cryptic about Oasis' future. While he consistently speaks of Oasis in the present tense, he won't speculate when — or even if — there will be another album of new Oasis songs.

"It would be wrong for me to say yes," he says when asked if the band will ever go into the studio again. "But I'd be lying if I said no.

"It could be a long time. To be honest, we've got 11 songs left over from the last album and, of that 11, seven are really good. And of that seven, four are really great. We've really got the starting point for a new album, so we could go and start a record and get half it done next week. So, there's not really any rush."

Gallagher pauses. "And if you believe that, you'll believe quite literally anything."

Tuesday, October 24, 2006

Ben Jones - BBC Manchester - 24th October 2006

Online Link

Q: What do LS Lowry and Oasis have in common? A: They cast no shadow (Take a look at a Lowry). Here’s another: Liam and Noel are the new matchstick figures in Lowry's paintings. The result could be a music video classic:

Ben Jones is dead chuffed. The video he made for Oasis’ The Masterplan had its first TV airing on TOTP2 on Saturday (21 October 2006). "It’s just great!" he says. "I mean, to have a video on Top of the Pops, it’s just one of those things you think: ‘that would be fantastic!"

Working with his partner Greg for production company Partizan, Ben wrote and directed the video in which a cartoon version of the Gallaghers wander through Lowry’s paintings of industrial Manchester and, along the way, tell the Oasis story.

Oasis fans can look out for: the house on Sandicroft Street where they were born; Noel’s first ever Man City game; Liam’s swagger; the gasworks where Noel wrote the songs for Definitely Maybe after breaking his leg; Johnny Roadhouse (where they bought their first guitars) and Sifters, where the Burnage boys used to buy their records.

While lovers of LS Lowry can enjoy paintings and characters including Man Lying on A Wall, Fairground in Daisy Nook and Going to the Match - all given a modern twist. Ben Jones explains all:

It’s a great idea. What was the plan for The Masterplan?
"Well, we were told that we couldn’t actually use the band themselves because they were in the middle of recording so we’d have to come up with another idea. eg use old footage; do a film that didn’t include them in it; or something else. Basically, we didn’t like any of the other routes, so we thought: how about animation? So particularly given the Yellow Submarine that was done for the Beatles, we thought: maybe there’s something in this."

Why set it in a Lowry landscape?
"To me the song is very much about Oasis’ past and the soul of the band. And to us, the soul of the band is Manchester. And Lowry is the obvious connection back to Manchester for us. So we went away, bought lots of books, and built up a narrative story of the band based on Lowry paintings. And that was all within a 24-hour period because we only got 24 hours to come up with an idea! Then we approached the band with it .. and they came back and said: 'We love it. Can you make it work?' "

How much help did you have from the Lowry?
"To be perfectly honest, we couldn’t have done this without them. They've been fantastic and very open-minded about the use of Lowry imagery. Basically, they realised that: here was a chance for a lot of the Lowry work to go to a completely new audience and get huge exposure, really. And I think because it was Oasis, and because it was Manchester, it just fitted really really well."

Who came up with the references to Oasis and Lowry?
"It was always our idea to layer the video with lots and lots of Lowry references, Oasis references and Manchester references. Because there’s no official biography of the band, we ended up with a huge list of stuff which we went to Noel with and said, we could potentially put into the video. Things like Sandicroft Street, which you see in the video, which is the street where they were born; you’ve got Hacienda in there, the G-Mex and so on…. We always said: what we want to do is to use huge chunks of Lowry paintings but add little bits on to give it a modern twist."

Was it difficult animating Lowry figures?
"We had to really try and interpret exactly how Lowry characters would move because we had no idea. But I think we tried to keep all the figures as basic as we possibly could in that fantastic Lowry style. If you look at it, there’s not a lot in there that have shadows. We purposely did that. Some things needed it like moving vehicles.. But a lot of the characters and the band don’t have shadows when they’re walking along the street. I think if we had done it would have probably looked very different. Lowry never painted in that way."

And what did Liam and Noel say when they saw it?
"Well, it’s interesting. The first thing we did was to animate Liam and Noel - and in particular Liam’s swagger! So we did a lot of drawings and showed them and said: look this is how you’ll walk, this is what you’ll look like on stage. So they kind of saw it bit by bit. Eventually we showed them what was nearly a finished version.. and they absolutely loved it. They just said: ‘This is fantastic! This is exactly what we wanted.’ And we were over the moon."

The video for ‘The Masterplan’ was first shown on TOTP2, Saturday, 9.05pm BBC Two, 21 October 2006
The Masterplan is featured on the Stop The Clocks EP (released 13 November) which is a preview of the first ever Oasis ‘Best Of’ of the same name, released on 20 November.

Sunday, October 22, 2006

Noel Gallagher - BBC 6Music - 22nd October 2006

The latest episode in this long running series was on today with Noel talking about his appearance on Parkinson earlier in the week.

Download Noel chatting away on Russell Brand's show here
http://www.savefile.com/files/184328

Thursday, October 19, 2006

Noel Gallagher - Associated Australian Press - 19th October 2006

http://www.smh.com.au/news/people/socceroos-you-are--gallagher/2006/10/19/1160851050654.html

Oasis frontman Noel Gallagher has let rip at the Socceroos, saying Australians should stick to sports they're better at.

The keen soccer fan saw the Socceroos play at the World Cup in Germany this year and says he wasn't impressed.

Gallagher, renowned for his controversial outbursts, said he did not have a great deal of respect for Australians playing soccer.

"Stick to the Aussie Rules and the tennis and the cricket and the rugby, you are good at that," he told AAP from the United Kingdom.

"Football is the game of the intelligentsia and you are shit at it.

"You will never win anything so give it up."

The 39-year-old is a keen follower of his hometown club Manchester City and was the unofficial mascot of Italian World Cup striker Alessandro Del Piero.

It was the Italians that dumped the Socceroos out of the World Cup under controversial circumstances, thanks to a hotly disputed last-minute penalty.

"What do they call them, the Socceroos?"

"Do me a f---ing favour, you could come up with a better nickname than that."

Gallagher says he has a particular dislike for Socceroos midfielder Tim Cahill, who plays for Liverpool club Everton.

"I don't know, there is something about him. I would love to kick him right in the bollocks."

Cahill scored two goals for the Socceroos in the World Cup match against Japan and was widely considered one of the country's best players of the tournament.

"He has just got one of those faces," said Gallagher, whose brother Liam is also in Oasis.

"Don't you find his face really slapable? I can assure you, lots of people in England do."

Oasis toured Australia last December and next month release a "best of" album, titled Stop the Clocks.

The album features a selection of what Gallagher considers the band's best work, including tracks such as Wonderwall and Morning Glory.

Despite his outburst, Gallagher said he liked visiting Australia and that he was "gagging" to get over for the Ashes cricket series.

"The last time was just brilliant so the sooner the better for me," he said.

Liam Gallagher - BBC Radio 1 - 19th October 2006

Liam was on BBC Radio 1 on Thursday evening, chatting away to Colin Murray in a pre-recorded interview. It's a rare, lengthy interview by the man, around 30 minutes after editing out the songs.

http://www.savefile.com/files/175428

Wednesday, October 18, 2006

Bonehead - Manchester Evening News - 18th October 2006

Online Link

PAUL “Bonehead” Arthurs, one of the founding members of Oasis, is back on the Manchester music scene.

But he’s put his guitar to one side to become manager of Manchester-based singer songwriter Vinny Peculiar and his band, which include ex-Smiths members Mike Joyce and Craig Gannon, ex-Fall bassist Karen Leatham and ex-World of Twist’s Ben Knott.

It’s his first foray into music management, but Bonehead tells me he’s ready for the new direction. He says: “I’m good friends with Mike and over the summer he brought me a copy of the Vinny Peculiar album round and I just couldn’t take it off the system.

“I loved it, especially the lyrics, I’d not heard anything like it for a long time.

“Technically it is the first time I’ve managed a band, although in the early days of Oasis I was pretty much roadie, organiser, everything. It’s a learning curve for me but I feel so passionately about the music.”

Bonehead has been appointed in time for the release of their new album, The Fall and Rise of Vinny Peculiar, out on Monday.

And they are just as pleased to have the ex-Oasis star on board as he is. Vinny tells me: “We wanted someone who had the same passion for the band and the music as we do. Bonehead has a genuine belief in the band.”

Ex-Smiths drummer Mike says: “Bonehead has been in bands before, he’s someone who has been there and understands the music industry. We have a good banter and we’re mates more than anything.”

Bonehead, one of the founder members of Oasis, quit the band in 1999 to spend more time with his family. But he’s still in touch with his “best mate” and fellow band founder Liam Gallagher. In fact, Bonehead tells me he’s hoping to get Liam down to Vinny Peculiar’s gig in London tonight.

Still, if Liam can’t make it to that one, perhaps he could journey home to Manchester next month – as I hear the band will be playing a gig at Club Academy on Oxford Road on November 4.

Meanwhile, The Diary couldn’t resist asking Bonehead his thoughts on the release of the Oasis “Best of” album released next month. It has caused some debate among fans about the tracks selected – including early B-sides and album tracks at the expense of more recent hit singles.

Bonehead said: “It’s something we said we’d never do, as a band, but good luck to them.

“I’m on 14 out of the 18 tracks they’ve put on the compilation, so I’m happy. I think it’s a pretty good selection of tracks.”

But he added: “I got a bit worried when I heard they’d re-recorded Acquiesce as a single, and thought ‘oh no they’re going to re-record the whole lot’, but thankfully that hasn’t happened.”

Friday, October 13, 2006

Noel Gallagher - Inside Bay Area / The Wave - 13th October 2006

IF YOU PAID close attention to "Don't Believe the Truth" — last year's subtly scathing effort from Mancunian supergroup Oasis — the truth itself was obvious: Bandleader Noel Gallagher had had enough of his adopted hometown of London.

If one more obsessive fan approached him with a camera phone begging for a quick snapshot, he grumbled at the time, he would gladly dropkick said cellular straight up the street. So it's no surprise that the star has finally made his disdain official. "I've just moved out of London and back into the English countryside," Gallagher reveals. "I just moved into my new Buckinghamshire mansion."

The guitarist's bratty kid brother, Oasis frontman Liam, has just ditched his old digs, as well. "So he's living in a flat full of cardboard boxes at the moment," Noel chuckles, phoning from home. "Right now, he's in the pub'round the corner from my house, just drinking on his own. How sad is that?"

In reality, the Gallaghers were merely enjoying their post-world-tour down time, with no plans whatsoever of entering a recording studio in the near future.

But Oasis is still maintaining a high profile this fall. There's the long-overdue single release of its early B-side "Acquiesce" (which ships to radio this week), a new best-of anthology "Stop the Clocks" on Columbia and a full-length concert documentary hitting theaters, the aptly-titled "Lord Don't Slow Me Down."

Not to mention, of course, the current heavy TV/radio rotation of early chestnut "All Around the World," as heard in that steady stream of AT&T ads.

So how, exactly, does an artist of Noel Gallagher's stature suddenly change residence? Yard sales are simply out of the question when you want to jettison your belongings, he sighs.

But he hit on a unique solution. Over a laborious three-day period, he says, "I actually put all my junk and clothes and stuff I didn't need into black bin bags, we call'em, or refuse sacks. And then I called the local Oxfam, a charity shop, and I got someone else to be here when they arrived. Because if the guys had seen it was me, it would've all ended up in Sotheby's. So I gave it all to charity and nobody knows," he laughs.

"It's all out there somewhere — people are walking around in my old clothes, eating off my old plates, enjoying all the old bits that I don't need."

As he cleaned house, Gallagher stumbled on a few items he just couldn't part with. "Like loads of unmarked cassettes and CDs that didn't have any writing on'em. I'd stick them in, and a couple of'em were just me, sitting in my front room, playing acoustic guitar, just working out songs. And some of'em were songs that I've yet to record which I'd forgotten about, and that was quite special, just listening to all of those one night."

Gallagher wasn't finished rummaging. Carefully, he and his sibling combed the Oasis catalog to select the 18 classics for "Stop the Clocks."

They arrived at an interesting mix of U.S. hits ("Wonderwall," "Live Forever"), U.K. smashes ("Lyla," "Some Might Say," "Don't Look Back in Anger") and pet B-sides ("Talk Tonight," "The Masterplan," alongside the crowd-pleasing show staple "Acquiesce").

"All the choices for the album are quite obvious, so it's put together for the fans," says Gallagher. As a composer, he's most proud of his vintage "Slide Away" and "Truth's" recent "The Importance Being Idle," he says. "Simply because nobody writes songs like that anymore. I mean, 'Idle' is a song about being lazy, but it's very Kinks, very swinging'60s. And I love 'Slide Away,' because it should've been a single and never was, so it's the one song that hasn't been overplayed to death. I find big hit singles these days are all incredibly commercial. Even bands who claim to be punk like Green Day are anything but."

As Gallagher tells it, there was a three-year period shortly after the band's "Definitely Maybe" 1994 debut "where everything I wrote was fantastic."

"Acquiesce" and "The Masterplan" hail from that productive period. But if Oasis had saved those precious B-sides to release instead of its third coolly received "Be Here Now" album, he reckons, "We would've gone on to be possibly one of the biggest bands of all time. Uhhh, not that we're not anyway. But I think we would've been as big as U2."

Oasis — thanks to its media-fueled rivalry with fellow English outfit Blur — went on to launch, then practically define, the Britpop movement. Unlike Blur's chameleonesque Damon Albarn, though, Noel Gallagher never altered his trademark sound — pealing cathedral guitars propped by huge flying-buttress riffs and Liam's snippy, Lennon-inspired sneer. And persistence paid off.

The group would suffer several lineup changes, but go on to sell over 50 million records.

"All Around the World" was one of the few career coups that failed to make the "Clocks" cut. "Only because it was just too damned long and we couldn't find a place for it anywhere," Gallagher says. But thanks to AT&T, the track now receives more airplay than any other Oasis standard.

When he first heard of the offer, Gallagher quickly nixed the idea. "But Liam, bless him, said, 'Look — that song's 10 years old, we never play it, so why don't you just cash in on it?' And I said, 'How much is it again?' and the figure came back, and it wasn't a very difficult decision after that. But the advert has no presence in England at all. It's not shown anywhere. But you go to the States, and you're bombarded with our song, or the 10 seconds of it that comes on."

Oasis might be resting on its laurels this holiday season, but Gallagher himself is far from idle.

He just joined his pals Kasabian (also featured in Baillie Walsh's "Lord" flick, which follows the groups, plus Aussie upstarts Jet, on a nine-month tour) onstage at an NME-sponsored bash.

He also taped two Beatles covers for an upcoming BBC tribute to John Lennon, one with Stereophonics, another with Cornershop and Johnny Marr; as well as tracked a few new home demos, with 6-year-old daughter Anais singing along on a few. "She's got a fantastic voice — seriously!" dad enthuses. "But unfortunately, she does like Kylie Minogue, which is something that I'm not too pleased about."

Rich is the examined life, as they say. And reflecting on his illustrious career, Gallagher says, has been a quite pleasant experience indeed.

With, of course, a few minor glitches in the memory circuit.

For example, one time in Thailand in 1998. Gallagher laughs, "When we were out at some bar, and there was this incessant HI-NRG dance music playing in a bar across the street. And I was thinking 'Wait a minute! I'm sure that's a version of "Some Might Say"! So we went across the street and up to the DJ, and it was a HI-NRG disco version of our song, completely illegal, recorded by some Thai person.

"The DJ had no idea who I was. But I said 'Gimme that CD!' even though there were lots of British people in the bar going mad when he played it. And Liam and I were like, that doesn't sound like Oasis, that sounds atrocious! And that — not AT & T — is easily the weirdest place I've ever heard one of our songs."


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http://www.thewavemag.com/pagegen.php?pagename=article&articleid=26083

On the surface, all might seem quiet on the usually blustery Oasis front. The multi-platinum English outfit hasn’t recorded any new material since last year’s Don’t Believe The Truth, and has no plans to re-enter the studio any time soon. Dig deeper, however, and you’ll find their hive is actually buzzing with activity. Band Svengali Noel Gallagher just left London for rustic Buckinghamshire; joined his pals Kasabian onstage for a couple of numbers at an NME-sponsored bash; tracked two Beatles covers for an upcoming John Lennon tribute program (one with the Stereophonics, another with Johnny Marr and Cornershop); and just viewed the final cut of Lord Don’t Slow Me Down, an Oasis tour documentary hitting overseas theaters this fall. Somehow, he and his frontman/kid brother, Liam, also found the time to hand-pick 18 Oasis classics for upcoming Stop The Clocks anthology for Columbia, which kicks off with the long overdue release of early B-side single “Acquiesce,” one of the band’s best-loved standards. It also includes the recent Noel-sung smash, “The Importance of Being Idle,” although its composer is anything but these days.

Sipping afternoon tea in his new countryside mansion, Gallagher paused long enough to chat.

The Wave: So what’s the film’s story?
Noel Gallagher: I don’t know whether there is a story. I think that the guy who was making the film, Baillie Walsh, thought that his story would unfold across the nine months he filmed us. But I don’t think one ever did. The bulk of it is the American tour with us, Kasabian, and Jet, and then there are bits in England, bits in Japan, so it’s kinda broadly based all around the world. We weren’t in any hurry to let the cameras in to see what actually goes on backstage, and I think a bit of mystery in a band’s life is pretty much a good thing. But everybody was kinda on their best behavior. I think Baillie was expecting the drinking-champagne-out-of-cowboy-boots-at-seven-o’clock-in-the-morning-while-swinging-from-a-chandelier kinda thing. But he got onboard 10 years too late for that. So it’s the story of a band who are... errr... just kinda comfortable with where they are. I’ve seen the film once, and I thought it was great, beautifully shot. But, as for what it all means? Who the f--k knows? I don’t.

TW: Oddly enough, “All Around The World” is not on the collection. And thanks to those endless AT&T commercials, it’s probably now your most famous song – at least, in the States, where you hear it every five minutes.
NG: The reason it’s not on the anthology is that it’s just too f--king long – we couldn’t really find a place for it anywhere. But the reason that that came about for the advert was, we got an offer, and blah, blah, blah, my manager’s going on about it, and it was something that I’ve never kinda considered before, and there was a lot of cash involved. But I was like, “Nah, it’s not really my bag.” But Liam, bless him, said, “Look – that song’s 10 years old, right? We never f--king play it. It’s not one of the big famous songs, so why don’t you just f--king cash in on it?” And I was like, “Well, fine. Fair enough.”

And I said, “How much is it again?” [when] the figure came back, it wasn’t a very difficult decision after that. And, of course, living here, we don’t get to see the advert ’cause it wasn’t shown in England. But I was in Mexico and I’ve been in New York quite recently, and I hear it twice a day, every day, when I’m in the States.

TW: It’s great that “Acquiesce” is finally getting a shot at the charts. It never really got a fair shake.
NG: It was the same as “The Masterplan.” I was kinda sent into the studio to write a B-side, and that’s what I wrote. And when I wrote ’em, people were going, “Oooh – they’re a bit too good for B-sides!” And I was like, “Look – you f--king put me in the studio; that’s what I’ve written. And if you don’t f--king like it, don’t put me in the studio.” There was a two- or three-year period where everything I wrote was just fantastic. And, of course, if all the B-sides for the singles off Morning Glory would’ve been what became the Be Here Now album, I think we would’ve gone on to be possibly one of the biggest bands of all time. Not that we’re not anyway. But I think we would’ve been as big as U2, because I had an idea in my head for Be Here Now – it was to be the most bombastic, f--king hugest-sounding record of all time. And I didn’t worry too much about the words or the arrangements. But the really interesting stuff from around that period is the B-sides – there’s a lot more inspired music on the B-sides than there is on Be Here Now itself, I think.

TW: You and your ex, Meg Matthews, were just in the news, denying custody-battle rumors about your daughter, Anais. How is Anais holding up under all this press scrutiny?
NG: Ah, she’s alright. She’s like any normal six-year-old – she’s a little too cheeky for her own good, but she’s alright. I see her on a regular basis. And she’s only six, but unfortunately she already likes Kylie Minogue, which is something that I’m not too pleased about. And actually, my girlfriend took her to see Kylie Minogue last year, before Kylie got ill. But Anais is into animals now – she’s obsessed with dogs, cats, sheep, horses, spiders, and all sorts.

TW: It seems like you got into being a dad much more than you ever imagined you would.
NG: Well, I never had any dreams to be. I mean, I love kids, but I don’t really dig being a parent, so I’m kinda learning as I go along about parenthood. Especially for a guy. It’s different for women, because they carry the child for nine months and all that. So they have nine months to prepare for a child being born, whereas guys get about 10 minutes. For the eight months, 20-some days, you’re thinking, “This is all gonna be some horrible mistake, and I’m gonna wake up in a minute, and I’m still gonna be a single guy, and there’s gonna be no kids involved!” So you get about 10 minutes to prepare for it. But I think it’s a challenge to be a cool parent. But I don’t know – my parents split when I was young and all that, so Anais is following in my footsteps in that respect. But I have good days and bad days, being a dad. But it’s one of those things – you’ve just gotta get on with it and take it day by day, week by week. And I do my best.

Sunday, October 08, 2006

Noel Gallagher - BBC 6Music - 8th October 2006

Another appearance from Noel on Brand's show earlier today. The usual nonsense talked. Noel revealed that Kasabian will be appearing at the benefit show at KOKO on 2nd November. Paul Weller is also a possibility.

Download here

Sunday, October 01, 2006

Noel Gallagher - BBC 6Music - 1st October 2006

Noel was on Russell Brand's BBC 6 Music show today (for about the 10th time), talking about the usual random things, revealing that he done a very drunken interview last week with Paul Weller for Esquire Magazine and talking about the inspiration behind 'The Masterplan'.

Download the interview here:
http://www.savefile.com/files/122693