“I didn’t succeed until I was 27, Jim Morrison (The Doors) died at that age,” says Noel Gallagher, former Oasis member, who is releasing a new solo album inspired by his career and backed, among others, by Robert Smith (The Cure). The guitarist and singer, who just turned 56, reviews his years before glory with Oasis (which released its first album in 1994 and disbanded in 2009) on “Council Skies”, a song that gives its name to the album that will go on sale tomorrow Friday.
«The train that never arrives, in the song, is the metaphor of lost opportunities. I didn’t succeed until I was 27, Morrison died at that age,” explains Gallagher, who performs on stage alongside his High Flying Birds mates.
Before Oasis, in Manchester, his hometown, apart from him and his brother Liam, no one believed in them. No one except Johnny Marr (formerly of The Smiths), who Noel played a “demo” (several previously unreleased songs) to in the early 1990s. They have been friends ever since. Marr’s guitar chords are also present in three songs on “Council skies”, such as “Pretty boy”.
“I can call Johnny and say, ‘what are you doing next week?’ And he comes to the studio, he plays something, it’s fucking amazing. He has the Holy Spirit inside», he affirms.
Another British music wizard, The Cure singer Robert Smith
Another British music wizard, The Cure singer Robert Smith, has worked on “Pretty boy”, which he has remixed. «I could only get his ‘e-mail’, we have never met, I don’t know him, I just sent him the subject. And he was convinced that he would throw it away immediately, “explains Gallagher. And it turns out that he loved it. This is like ‘wow!’”, says Noel, in Paris.
The guitarist continues to be surprised that artists he reveres praise Oasis. “Bob Dylan spoke [del grupo] In an interview, it’s the best, he heard about this group and says he likes it.
Reviewing the heroes that make up his personal pantheon, the eldest of the Gallaghers comments: “If I could be anyone else, it would be Neil Young, a true legend” he says, recalling a night in 2001 when Oasis and the “Loner” shared the stage in Paris.
When asked about the concerts that marked him the most in France, he evidently cites, but smiling, that “catastrophic night in which Oasis broke up.”
It happened during the 2009 edition of the Rock en Seine festival. Liam and Noel fought for the umpteenth time in the dressing rooms, to the point that a guitar ended up broken. The crowd waiting for the brit-pop stars’ concert was shocked to learn of their split via a message from the festival.
a fucking guitar
The famous guitar was repaired and auctioned in May 2022 in the French capital for 385,000 euros (about $407,000). «I had bought that guitar in Paris […] I never wrote anything good with her. She hated that fucking guitar,” Gallagher notes.
“If there was a guitar that had to be sacrificed that night, it was that one,” he adds, joking. «A guy bought it for me, it was in pieces. I certainly never thought he would fix it and he did. So good luck to whoever has it. it’s a fucking guitar [risas]».
Since that electric night in 2009, Liam and Noel have not spoken, to the dismay of Oasis fans, who dream of the group getting back together. And more so considering that 2024 will mark the 30th anniversary of “Definitely maybe”, the original album that contained the hit “Supersonic”.
Noel doesn’t once say Liam’s name during the interview. The latter usually throws frogs and snakes at his brother on social networks…
Instead, Blur, another emblem of 1990s Brit-pop, have reunited this year for a tour and a record.
© Agence France-Presse