Noel Gallagher On Amorphous Androgynous, Kasabian Paul Weller And A Future Oasis Release

Noel Gallagher spent much of the 90s proving that ‘Rock Stars’ still exist. His early days in Oasis are as memorable for their expletive-fuelled speeches, drug binges and public stoushes with brother Liam as they are for the band’s seminal album’s Definitely Maybe and What’s The Story Morning Glory.

These days Noel is all grown up, and you’d more likely find him spending time with his wife and children then having a public hissy fit. Since ending Oasis in 2009 – minutes before the band was due on stage in Paris – Gallagher has gone about doing what he has always done: writing songs. And the result is his debut solo album Noel Gallagher And The High Flying Birds.

While in Australia for the Big Day Out and a run of sold-out solo shows, FasterLouder sat down for a chat with the elder Gallagher brother, to find a surprisingly funny, self-deprecating musician who, while no longer caught up in the excesses of rock n roll, still enjoys a bit of a blag and the occasional swear.

How’s the tour gone so far?
Great. As well as I could have hoped for. I like Australia. I knew it was gonna be good.

It’s probably the longest tour you’ve done here as well, in terms of time span?
I dunno. We did the Livid festival a few years ago and that was quite long. It’s great and the gigs have been very well received. They’ve been my first festivals ever as a solo artist and I’ve enjoyed them a lot.

I was at your Sydney show and the thing that struck me was the crowd reaction. People were going beserk, singing along to not only Oasis songs but to the new songs as well. Has that type of reaction surprised you?
Part of me is thinking ‘Well it’s not a surprise because my new songs are fucking brilliant’ but another part of me, in equal measure, is surprised because those new songs are up against songs that are very, very, very famous and they’re very important to people. I understand that.

But have I been surprised? Yes and no. It’s great. I knew that Everybody’s On The Run and If I Had A Gun and What A Life and The Death Of You And Me are as good a songs as I’ve written. I knew that when I was putting them out there, but you can’t predict what other people are going to feel. They may have fallen on deaf ears. Many a song I’ve written, played it live and thought ‘this is as good as I’ve ever written’ and people have fucking all gone to the bar. So, you know, I am surprised a little bit.

You mentioned in your tour diary about the bra that got thrown on stage at the Enmore [show in Sydney].
It’s a wonderful thing.

Then, at the Big Day Out there was a bra and knickers…
And top hat! [Laughs]

Do you think you’ve started something?
I do hope so. I keep them all as trophies like a little serial killer. You know, ladies underwear is always welcome on stage in any capacity.

From where I was standing, the knickers came from behind and you saw them and had a slightly puzzled look on your face.
Well I was thinking ‘do the top hat and the knickers belong to the same person because I want to meet that girl and get a monocle off her’.

Are you enjoying being on this tour along with Kasabian?
Yeah, I was out with them the other night. Good lads. We’re not just showbiz mates, we socialise outside of showbiz, baby.

I’m surprised you’ve not played a song or two with them at some point.
I’ve not been asked. You’ve gotta be asked. You can’t just say ‘Right, I’m playing on Club Foot’. I’m available if asked.

You’ve just announced a new single, Dream On.
This album is turning into Thriller.

You mentioned a while back in your diary about shooting a video for it. Is it a continuation of the last three videos or is it something different?
No, no, it’s different now, we’ve stopped that. We were gonna carry it on but I think it was time for something different. The other three songs are slightly psychedelic and I do mean slightly. This one is a straight-up pop song. But it was the most fun, I have to say, I’ve ever had on a video shoot. I was fucking absolutely amazing.

Can you give us a bit of an idea of what it entails? Is there more acting from you?
[Laughs] Don’t refer to what I do as acting. All I’m doing is being in it. I’m in this one more. It’s a song that involves a man and a woman but I’m neither the man nor the woman.

An outside observer?
If you like. It’s good. I like it. It was a fucking great doing it I’ve gotta say. Such a good time.

It was also announced that the b-side is one of the Amorphous Androgynous tracks. Is it that one that’s being played at the shows?
Before we come on, yeah.

Is that one of the songs from the High Flying Birds album that’ll be on this next one?
That album is sadly been put on the backburner now because this album has become so successful, that the release date keeps getting put back. But yeah, that’s one of the three singles that’s on it. They’re not remixes, they’ve been completely re-recorded.

In the same way that they did the version of Falling Down?
The What A Life one is a bit like Falling Down. The If I Had A Gun one called Shoot A Hole Into The Sun, really if I’m not singing ‘Shoot a hole into the sun’ over it, if you take the vocal out of it, you wouldn’t know that it was the same song. It’s been completely re-worked. The Death Of You And Me sounds like something from Jack The Ripper times, it’s very vaudeville.

I can’t talk too much about that record because it’s yet to be mixed and the mixes that I have done of it or have been done of it, I’ve not been happy with and I’m all about the mixing. But that one is finished.

As you were saying, this album’s kind of barrelled along and in the next UK tour you’re going to have horns and strings added to the band – are you looking forward to have more musical augmentation?
I’ve got a 50-piece choir on stage with me as well for all the gigs. I always try not to do so much of that cause I always feel it’s a shame for people round the rest of the world when they see it on YouTube and they think, ‘Oh, fucking hell!’ But it’s just too expensive to bring 75 people all over the world. So unfortunately they’re only the kind of things you can do close to home.

I’m not one for the razzle dazzle and the razzamatazz and I think, in arenas, people now come to expect something a little more. So I decided to fill the stage with people and instead of looking at screens, look at people. What’s more interesting than looking at people? Nothing. Maybe animals. But until animals can sing, that ain’t gonna happen.

To read the rest of the interview click here.

Source: www.fasterlouder.com.au