Noel Gallagher On Fame, Liam, Childhood, Oasis' Future And More

Hours before the show at River, the brains of the British band talked about everything with La Nacion: his brother, his childhood, fame, money, Oasis' future and his life as a rock dad.

The door of the Duhau Palace's conference hall opens, and sitting there, looking towards the light of the window, a thoughtful Noel Gallagher appears. He seems completely immersed in his private world, maybe wondering what he's doings so far from his home in a hotel surrounded by teenagers that for the past ten hours repeatedly howl his and his brother's names: "Noel! Liam!".

Maybe he's re-thinking the text a he'd write in his official blog a few hours later, which has the apocalyptic title "Tales from the Middle of Nowhere" - in which he announces "a storm on the horizon" of the South American tour that took Oasis to this country for their fourth time. Or perhaps he is remembering the melody he wrote in a room of the Buenos Aires Hotel in La Recoleta that very morning (yesterday).

In either case, the man, one of the most popular British rock stars of the last fifteen years, looks really immersed in some kind of inside thought, surrounded by a bucolic aura, waiting for his face to face meeting with La Nacion, in the middle of a large hall of beige walls. In the middle of nowhere, by the way.

The "hello" in Spanish brings Noel Gallagher back to this dimension, and for half an hour he will show his more thoughtful side, leaving a glimpse every now and then of his working-class origins (from Manchester, England, in this case) but without losing his natural witticism and good humor that made him become one of the musicians who best understood (and manipulated) the media in this media age.

Do you still enjoy this kind of marathon tours?

I enjoy the hour and a half on stage, that's great, I enjoy the interviews, being in sunny places, I enjoy being quiet in the hotel, I have small children in England, you know? To rest, lay down and watch a bit of television, that relaxes me and is very good. Unfortunately, there's a lot of trash in this kind of tours, things behind the scenes, which are necessary and I can't change.


If we consider the fights with your brother, the world tours and the passion around them, now Oasis is more like the Rolling Stones than the Beatles...

Yes, maybe we'll look like the fucking Rolling Stones, but that's what happens, it also happened to U2, who spends more time touring than in a studio making music. You have the choice and I love playing in stadiums.


Do you usually write music during tours?

(Surprised) I wrote a song this morning, actually ... Have you been spying on me? I don't write during tours, I don't know why, but in this particular tour, in the last two months, I've been writing some songs. They are the first in a long, long time. Maybe that means something, I don't know.

A future solo career?

Not a career, but I'll definitely make an album alone. I have nothing planned yet, I don't want to pressure myself. In October this tour will end and the band and I will take a long, long, long, long vacation. So you could say next year would be a good time. Although I'll do it when I really feel it.

And how is the always unstable relationship with your brother Liam?

(Long silence) It's obvious that when we grew up we become two totally different people. But that happens in any relationship, with your best friend or your wife or your girlfriend or your child. As for our relationship ... it's not the best but not the worst either. We can make it work for a while, for the fans, as we will do tonight, actually.


And so it was on Sunday night. Each of the Gallaghers fulfilled their role and more than 40,000 people thanked them passionately : Noel carried the rock pulse of the band with his guitar and kept for himself the key moments of the show, with a pair of those irresistible ballads he wrote in the 90s; Liam stood in front of the microphone with his grim face and his hands behind his back and was pure visual impact (girls go mad when they see him on the screens) and auditive (without a doubt he has one of the most personal voices of the British scene).

"I'm fascinated with how a lot of people can make a big issue with our relationship- Noel continues- because it's totally irrelevant to Oasis' music. Most people think that because I make music and Liam writes lyrics, if we would write together the songs will be great, but it's not like that".

What memories do you have of your teenage years in Manchester?

I was really obsessed with music and football. Most of my friends were obsessed with football and cars, but I was obsessed with music. It was the best and the worst time of my life. I was a teenager, had nothing to do, it was only girls, drugs, music and football. But on the other hand, I had no job, we were quite poor.

What was the first thing you did when you suddenly become a rich man?

I really... Money is not... I don't See myself like that. In monetary terms, of course, I can't convince you that I'm not saved because I am, but in other aspects I was already saved before I became financially well: I have a great spirit, I'm determined, I love music and I'm very open and honest with my love for music. My house doesn't look like is a ridiculous and embarrassing rock star's house. My family lives a very normal life, I really did nothing when I became a wealthy man. Well, I bought a lot of drugs, something any new rich man must do. During three years, I spent a lot of money on drugs. But I left all that behind and I haven't do drugs in eleven years.

Did being a parent change your idea about the rock lifestyle?

I never took drugs while being a father. I never had that problem and I don't think it's fair to be taking drugs while the kids are around. It all depends on how you perceive the rock and roll lifestyle. The thing is that if your photo appears in a magazine coming out of a club at night, drunk, the perception is that your life is the one of a fucking Keith Richards, but that was probably the only night you went out in all week. I don't have a problem with that, if I have to leave the kids with a babysitter, I do it, and if I prefer to stay at home, I do that too. In any case, I am the father, not the mother.

Noel and his music of the soul

"For me music is something very personal and spiritual, it comes from somewhere in my soul, it's in the air ... I'm not going to the studio to prove that I'm a better guitarist that Graham Coxon [of Blur] or a better composer than Thom Yorke [of Radiohead]-the older Gallagher brother maintains-. I think I'm good in many things, but not brilliant. I'm a good guitarist, but not great, I'm a good lyricist, but not great, I have a good voice, but no big deal. I don't know why there's such a special connection with the people, I can't explain why those kids were all day in front of the hotel screaming my name. I can't judge them either. I find it fascinating, because I don't see myself reflected in the person they see in me. They see me as a rock star, but I see myself quite normal."

Translation: Thanks to Eva

Source: www.lanacion.com.ar