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Noel Gallagher On Being An Independent Artist












Noel Gallagher reckons he makes less money and wins fewer awards as an independent artist with his band High Flying Birds then he did when he was signed to a record label.

But according to the co-founder of Britpop band Oasis, he's enjoying working as an independent artist.

With Oasis, who signed to Creation Records in the UK and had a worldwide deal with Sony, Gallagher said he didn't like the people he had to deal with at the labels.

"I enjoy not working with people in record labels ... it's nice to get away from that mob," Gallagher said on The Project on Tuesday night.

The British musician was speaking from Byron Bay where he performed over the weekend at Bluesfest.

Last year, his album Chasing Yesterday with his solo project Noel Gallagher's High Flying Birds reached number one in the UK, but in typical sardonic fashion he explained how he doesn't make much money or get many accolades for his music now.

"I enjoy the lack of money that I make. I enjoy the lack of record sales. I also enjoy the lack of recognition and the lack of awards that I receive because quite frankly my mantelpiece was chokka-block with the f*****g things, it's nice to take a backseat," he said.

By the time they split in 2009, Oasis had sold about 70 million records - they had also won a total of 37 awards for their music, including Brits, MTV Europe Music Awards and NME Awards.

When the band first broke onto the scene in the 1990s they were purveyors of the Britpop genre along with bands such as Blur and Pulp. It was a genre inspired by retro pop bands such as The Beatles and comprised of standard rock group instrumentation - guitars, drums and lead singer.

In the current production-led climate, it could be difficult to see where Oasis would fit in. Their closest comparison today might be Coldplay who work with dance producers such as Avicii, or The Arctic Monkeys who aren't afraid to mix it up with some psychedelic influences.

However, Gallagher reckons there would still be a place for them musically.

"There'd be some major differences the way the music business is - the music will remain timeless so I think it'd be the same but we'd probably have worse clothes and less of a drug habit, probably," he said.

While he's been performing in Australia with his solo project, he still plays Oasis hits on stage.

"I give the people what they want as long as I can play what I want, everybody goes home happy," he said.

Gallagher has three more gigs in Melbourne, Adelaide and Perth before he flies out for a European and US tour that brings him right up until the end of August.

He's still playing gigs after more than 20 years in the music business, and he knows that's something to be grateful for, regardless of what material from what period of his career he's performing.

"To see people reacting to new songs is great and all the old stuff is great and I'm just glad to be still doing it at my age quite frankly," he said.

Source: www.msn.com

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