Having a younger brother doesn’t necessarily mean you’ll get along. Just ask Noel Gallagher, the main songwriter and guitarist of Oasis from Manchester. “The reason we don’t get along is because we know each other too well,” he says of his brother Liam. “We’ve known each other so long that when one of us starts acting like a rock star, the other one kicks his ass. And I’m the one kicking Liam’s ass.”
The English weeklies New Musical Express And Melody Maker are full of stories about the Gallagher brothers, their stormy relationship, their rock 'n' roll life, pages and pages of trashed hotel rooms, pub brawls and wild nights. For the same newspapers, Oasis are “the band ready to conquer the world”.
“We’ve gone up like a rocket this year,” Noel says coyly. “We’re enjoying it as much as we can, OK, probably more than we should. But apart from that, I don’t believe or hope or anything at all that we’re the saviors of rock’n’roll, as the British press has it.”
They may not be the saviors of rock'n'roll, but they are a breath of fresh air, yes. Without the narcissism that characterizes other bands labeled as the next big thinglike Suede and Manic Street Preachers, Oasis combined the punk-pop sensibilities of the Undertones and the glam of T. Rex. The result was the debut album Definitely Maybe11 three-and-a-half-minute bombs, guitar riffs, bewitching voices, a total indifference.
“Bands like Suede took themselves totally, completely, absolutely too seriously, which is why they didn’t make it in America,” Noel says. “We sing about being young and wanting to escape where you come from. We don’t sing about how life sucks, we sing about how great it could be.”
Oasis was formed in 1992 in a working-class neighborhood of Manchester when Liam Gallagher and three friends, guitarist Paul Arthurs, bassist Paul McGuigan, and drummer Tony McCarroll, started playing together to fight boredom. Noel, who was on tour in America as a guitar tech for Inspiral Carpets, returned home just in time to see Oasis' first gig.
He then presented his brother and his friends with a choice: let him write the songs and become stars, or be stuck in Manchester forever. Having chosen the first option, Oasis spent months honing their sound and ended up signed to Creation after playing just one gig outside Manchester.
It’s a well-known fact that the English don’t break through easily in the States, but Oasis have the wherewithal and the attitude… if the Gallagher brothers can coexist peacefully. “We’ve got the pieces,” says Noel. “It’s not like we’re coming to America expecting people to love us. And it’s not like if we find out they hate us, we’re going to say ‘get the fuck out!’ and never come back.”
From Rolling Stone US.
