Few respond to How are you? more honestly than Noel Gallagher. The Oasis songwriter is about to break down a recent set he performed in Dublin with his current band Noel Gallaghers High Flying Birds, but he wants to be real first. You want the honest answer? he asks. Im completely fucked.
Gallagher has spent the last 10 years trying to build the perfect setlist. His number one rule: less than half of the songs are from his previous band. Itd be very easy to put together a setlist of all Oasis songs, obscure ones and all that kind of thing, and it would be great, he says. But like I say to people, its not an Oasis gig. Oasis is done. If you missed them, thats fucking tough luck.
Though his brother Liam is also currently on tour, Gallagher says he doesnt feel any competition: I would imagine if hes got any brains hed be playing quite a lot of [Oasis songs] because his own music is dreadful, he says. One of us is still trapped in the Nineties dressing like a fisherman like hes going to go to Norway trawling for sardines. He makes unsophisticated music for unsophisticated people. Its not really my thing, so there cant be any competition.
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On September 27th, Gallagher will release This Is the Place, a five-track EP that includes the groovy single Black Star Dancing. On Thursday, hell kick off a North American tour in Camden, New Jersey alongside the Smashing Pumpkins, but he says hes only met frontman Billy Corgan a handful of times until now. We were in the studio together one time in L.A., he says. I dont remember a great deal about it apart from I think Billy had just bought a new Ferrari, and he was very proud. I remember smoking a cigarette, looking at this Ferrari, thinking, Im not into cars. Its just a fucking car, you know what I mean?
While Gallagher isnt the biggest Pumpkins fan, he does like some Mellon Collie and the Infinite Sadness tracks. I like 1979 and Tonight, Tonight,' he says. I remember seeing them do that at the MTV Awards in the 90s with the full orchestra. I was like, Wow, fucking hell. Thats pretty.' Hes also relieved bassist DArcy Wretzky wont be joining them on the tour: Lets put it this way. If she was a guy, she would have got fucking kicked in the bollocks.
1. Fort Knox (2017)
Gallagher kicks off with a mostly instrumental rocker he wrote with the hopes that Kanye West would record it. It came out that good, Gallagher says. It was like, Fuck giving it to that guy. He likes opening with it: Its a good way to set things up. Youre not throwing a big hit away. Usually the sound is quite shit for the first song. So its good for the ol sound man whatever his name is to get the sound in order.
2. Holy Mountain (2017)
On the day I wrote it, I knew it was going to be a single and I knew it was going to be fucking brilliant live, Gallagher says of this Who Built the Moon? track. Hewrote the psychedelic stomper as a nod to Chewing Gum Kid, a song by obscure Sixties band Ice Cream that he discovered through his producer David Holmes. No one had heard of it, he explains. I know quite a bit about music, Ive got to say. So if I hadnt of heard of it, it pretty much wasnt fucking out there. But of course, as soon as I mentioned it, there it was. The track was immediately shared on the internet by fans. It wasnt on fucking YouTube until I put that single out, Gallagher says. As is the way with fucking shit for brain assholes on the internet. Why dont you go stick your fucking head in a meat grinder, you penis?
3. Black Star Dancing (2019)
A groove partly inspired by INXS and U2 with a bass line akin to David Bowies Fashion, this new track has disappointed some of his longtime fans.Gallagher doesnt care. If youre not trying to rewrite Wonderwall, people are going to go, Oh fucking hell, its disco!' he says. Actually, its the most successful single Ive ever had. Im raising my middle finger to the audience.
When performed live, Gallagher claims that the song, Sounds a bit more punchy and a bit more guitar driven live because theres two guitarists, he explains. Boy, its a fucking great song. Its funny when you see couples at the gig and you can see that the girl is really into it and the guy who is a bit of a macho guy, like ex-Oasis fucking casual is begrudgingly nodding his head thinking, I dont really like this, but I really fucking like it.'
4. The Importance of Being Idle (2005)
The latter-day Oasis singalong gets a wild reaction from the audience. Its incredible seeing kids in the crowd, says Gallagher. You think, Hang on a minute. You were fucking 10 years old when we broke up!Its fascinating, and it makes me think that I must have done something right when I was writing these songs. My whole thing as a songwriter is trying to be all-inclusive and universal when Im writing the words. Songs like this transcend generations, so in that respect, Im doing OK.
5. Dead in the Water (2017)
Recorded in Dublin, Dead in the Water is a bonus track from Gallaghers latest LP, but to his surprise, he says, Everyones gone mad for it. Its a complete accident. I remember getting little shitty little comments from journalists about it just being an acoustic track. I always say, what journalists are writing arent the fucking world. They dont decide the people decide. So no offense, but fuck you.
6. Whatever (1994)
While it was never a U.S. hit, this early single is a huge fucking song in England. Its the beginning of what he calls the karaoke section: I really dont have to do a great deal just strum the opening bars of a few songs and let the crowd take over. Its not one of my favorite songs, I dont particularly look forward to playing it live. But the people have decided that its fucking amazing and thats what they want to hear and we give it to them.
7. Wonderwall (1995)
You play the opening first three seconds and everybody goes, Right, this is what weve fucking come for,' says Gallagher. All the great artists have one of those songs. Im lucky to have five. And its funny, in no fucking way is it my favorite song.
8. Half the World Away (1994)
Gallagher wrote this sweet ballad with Burt Bacharachs This Guys in Love With You in mind, and hes still proud of it 25 years later. Its got pretty much the same chords, he says. I did skate around the copyright so as not to be sued. The song itself is a national fucking treasure.I feel so lucky to have put the work in all those years ago when the rest of Oasis were frankly fucking drunk and high most of the time.
9. Dont Look Back in Anger (1995)
The Oasis hit became an anthem of unity after the 2017 Manchester bombing. Its a fucking extraordinary song in the sense that its brought people together after tragedy, Gallagher says. My instincts around the time led me to start doing it acoustically so that the people wouldnt have to sing over the band. [They] let it out, whatever it is theyve got in them.
10. All You Need Is Love (1967)
Oasis used to close their sets with I Am the Walrus, and now Gallagher concludes performances with another Magical Mystery Tour Track: All You Need Is Love. To do that without any irony is amazing, he says of John Lennons classic. If I was ever in any doubt of what a genius that guy was, you just got to read those words back. Who else comes up with that shit?