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Issue 135 - November 2017
Exclusive - Noel Gallagher: "If the rock is dead, you know what killed him? The rock music "
As faith in fullness helped former Oasis, a rock bastion, to make an album in which it escaped the genre and at the same time reaffirmed it
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BY LUCAS BRÊDA
Noel Gallagher * has just left the studio in London and meets with his wife, the Scottish Sara MacDonald. "How was it today?" She asks. "I do not know, I played synthesizer for about six hours." He's working on Who Built the Moon? , third disc with the group High Flying Birds. In fact, it is the first album in which the former Oasis guitarist and vocalist tries hard to "do something different". "But you do not know how to play keyboard," he is reminded by his spouse. "Yes," agrees the artist. "But how's the album sound?" She insists. "I have no idea. It's definitely not a rock record. "
"Do you know when you eat the same thing every day for breakfast? It's boring, is not it? "Noel Gallagher nudges, teasing laughter in a small audience of journalists and fans led by host Zeca Camargo. We are in a studio in the Morumbi region of São Paulo, near the stadium where he would perform four times, in the days that followed, as the opening number of the U2 tour that celebrates three decades of the album The Joshua Tree . It is at this press event that Gallagher narrates the above dialogue. "I'd start playing a song and the producer, David Holmes, would say, 'Stop, it's like Oasis.' 'So it's incredible, is not it?' I would reply. But he would say, 'No, let's try something different.' I touched another, and he said, 'That sounds like High Flying Birds.' I said, 'Equally incredible.' "
"You already did that. You're the best in the world on this. Why do not you try to do something else? "That was the response from Holmes, who is also a DJ and author of movie tracks, and the spark that lit Who Built the Moon? The album, scheduled for Nov. 24 and released in Brazil by Universal Music, was born and grew out of Gallagher's desire to renew the sonority he established since the 1990s with Oasis, and has developed in this decade with High Flying Birds. The producer was originally called when Gallagher worked on Chasing Yesterday (2015) two weeks ago, but the two eventually did not collaborate on that album. "I already had the songs ready, and he said he would rather be present during the breeding process," the Briton explains. The duo then came together to create a new set of songs simultaneously with the Chasing Yesterday , which eventually came out short of sound news (except for a few tracks, such as "Ballad of the Mighty I"). "I worked for a month at Chasing Yesterday , stopped for a while, worked for a month on Who Built the Moon? , gave another pause, and so on. "
Gallagher was eventually put into an uncomfortable situation. Soon in the first meeting to devote to Who Built the Moon? , the producer called the musician to listen to a series of records - oldies and novelties, rare things and others not so much - and from that to find a direction. "In the studio, he would tell me to try 'something different.' That is a very vague phrase! What the fuck does that mean? "He recalls. Holmes's approach, especially as far as sampling is concerned, closely resembles the production of hip-hop records, often focused on drum-making, arranging synthesizers, and extracts from other songs that can be reused. The first single, "Holy Mountain" - which does not bode well in terms of loudness - for example, came from the sample of an "annoyingly gay" song, according to Gallagher. "I've never done anything like it," he admits. The production style, which also guided U2's ( Songs of Experience ) and David Bowie's ( Blackstar ) latest LP, certainly charmed him. "It took me to several magical moments," he says, now talking only with the Rolling Stone Brazil report , in a hotel room in Morumbi, São Paulo. "This album was not even done on a mixing desk, to get an idea - it went straight to the fucking computer! It's something I definitely plan to do again. "
"David and I were in the studio by chance when this song was released. And we were talking about Kanye West, "recalls Gallagher, referring to the track" Fade "from the rapper's latest album, released in the first half of 2016." David said, 'You should try to do something like that.' And I was: 'Wow.' "The conversation ended up yielding" Fort Knox, "another single from Who Built the Moon? , a quasi-instrumental guided by robust bass and backing vocals to West's other song of which Gallagher is a fan, "Power" (from My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy , 2010). Despite the direct influence of the rapper, the relationship of the British with hip-hop is not exactly the closest. "As a genre, is it something that interests me? Not much. But if I like or love some tracks? Damn sure! "
It's curious that Gallagher is moving away from rock, even if it's for a single album. Liam Gallagher, younger brother, disaffected and ex-colleague of his at Oasis, has just started his solo career with a record full of references to the genre, which gradually finds less space in the charts and in the taste of criticism (last month July, it was reported that "hip-hop / R & B" surpassed rock as the most popular genre in the United States for the first time in history). There has never been much talk of "death" or "aging" of rock, with Oasis (as well as contemporary Nirvana) is often cited as one of the last essentially rocker groups to have mass success and fill stadiums around the world.
"If the rock is dead - and I can not believe it - you know what killed him? Rock music, "Gallagher theorizes, explaining that his new LP" is not a rock record, "despite being a" rock and roll record. " "Because there is a difference: rock and roll is spirit and attitude. And rock music is coming out screaming like Dave Grohl [ mockingly imitates a typical scream from the Foo Fighters vocalist ]. What the fuck does he scream? What the fuck is he screaming about? I do not sack, you know? "Criticism for the lack of spirit in Foo Fighters' songs aside, Gallagher favors the idea that" good composers are missing. " "You're talking to someone who is a hobbyist. I do not need to do this anymore. So why are not there more good songwriters in rock? I can not tell. "
Gallagher does not go so far as to deny Oasis - even because he always plays a lot of the band's songs on shows - but at the same time, he's never been so disconnected from it. "Except for one [ obviously Liam ], everyone at Oasis had a lot of different tastes, but when we got into the same room, we could only do one thing: stadium rock," he goes on. "There was no way I could bring a song like this to a rehearsal." So even so, As You Were , Liam's solo album released in early October, should make much more of Oasis's orphaned fans - and Noel already knows that. "Yes, I'm expecting negative reactions from the fans. I'm absolutely comfortable with that. I fear no future. I do not fear abandoning the past. "
"I think Who Built the Moon? fascinating, confusing, funny. And anyone's opinions about him are right - because they are opinions. I fucking love this record, "he says, proud. If I was reluctant about him, we would not be here talking. "If I was reluctant, I would not have picked 'Holy Mountain' as a single. It's an annoying, cheerful song, [ I chose because ] I imagined Oasis fans would hate. Let's assume that, six months after the album was released, I'm about to go on tour and my employee calls me saying I did not sell any copies. I'll keep finding the best record in the world. "
'' Am I? '' Noel Gallagher chuckles when I suggest he passes the image of 'tough guy' in interviews. It's not about being "boring" or "grouchy." At age 50, Oasis's lead composer remains a practical, confident, and definitely runaway person (regardless of the consequences, he will hardly hold a controversial opinion to himself). Gallagher maintains the image of "unshakable" artist, who is well resolved with wife and family, sustains a solo career that has had its only two albums at the top of the British chart, is not (more) involved in fights or problems with drugs and continues to generate public interest without being appealing. He even harmonized a historical feud by participating in the Gorillaz album ( Humanz , 2017), a project of Damon Albarn, lead singer of Blur and protagonist of the famous dispute with Oasis by who sold more albums at the height of britpop.
In the hotel room in Morumbi, he demands respect only with his posture. He wears a jacket, pants and sneakers, all black, and hides the look with the dark lenses of a pair of Club-Master glasses. He is certainly a much more socially cherished type than that of the 1990s, when he could appear on a TV show or climb onto the stage of a crowded stadium wearing a kneaded sweatshirt. The current, more "bourgeois" image is justified: Gallagher made and makes millions with the countless successes he wrote for Oasis. But it's also a mocking point on the part of his brother, who recently told US Rolling Stone : "He's a jerk, he's become a middle class. He became the establishment. Is one of them. Are you all mr. Pure and Correct. The way he plays Oasis's songs is like sucking their lives because he does not want people jumping like they used to. "
On Twitter, Liam also criticized Noel's absence at an event for the victims of the terrorist attack that left 23 people dead (and hundreds injured) after a bomb exploded at the Manchester Arena during a show by singer Ariana Grande. At the time, the youngest Gallagher sang at the charity One Love Manchester, which raised funds for the families of the victims. On vacation, the older brother was not present on the date but donated the proceeds of "Do not Look Back in Anger" - a 1995 song that became an unlikely hymn to the Gallaghers town - after it was sung spontaneously in the square by a crowd to honor those who died in the attack.
"It was sad and shocking," Noel tries to remember. "I was at home watching the news when people started singing. I think, for the first time in my life, I was stunned. He had no words. It was just like, 'Fuck.' On the one hand, I thought, 'My God, the song I wrote 20 years ago has a much deeper meaning than I could imagine. I was fascinated and confused. ' On the other hand, I just wish none of this had happened. "Gallagher wrote" Do not Look Back in Anger "thinking of" a woman of a certain age who is kind of watching life go by, but she has no regrets and is making a toast, saying, 'Do you want to know? Fuck you. " "Now it's a hymn of resistance against the shit that's going on in the world. My wish was that it should continue to be about that woman, "he laments.
For Gallagher, living in London today, amidst the threats of international terrorism, is living in constant suspense about how his day will end. "I do not drive, so I have to use public transportation," he says. "And you know that when the train door closes, you can be blown off at any second. Try to imagine that feeling. Like I have an essay and it takes me 35 minutes to get there. In the meantime, anything can happen: guns, bombs, knives, anything, you can not tell. You start to value certain things in life. When your kids go to school in the morning, you better tell them that you love them. "The musician, who" hates organized religions, "believes that the solution - or" defense "- against terrorism is for the British government to be" stronger than it is ". "There are 300 people being secretly watched by the government, as they are known to be associated with terrorists. Why are they being watched - and not arrested? Does not make any sense. These politicians are weak, they are interested in economics. Not only the [prime minister] [ Theresa May ], the other guy, the [ labor party leader ] Jeremy Corbyn's son of a bitch, it's worse because he's a communist. In ten years it will be worse. For ISIS to end, people would have to stop believing in God. "
Noel does not speak directly about Liam. He says he has not heard As You Were and does not care about anything related to his brother. But it goes without saying that he manages to get him into almost any subject. Does he refer to him as "parkas person" when he joke about "Who will not like" fans of Who Built the Moon? ; suggests that he "should join Donald Trump and Korea in triggering Twitter wars"; and criticizes him indirectly by reaffirming himself as an author: "I do not need anyone to write for me or for me." "Please do not ask Liam any more, he's already answered a thousand times and the interview gets boring afterwards," an advisor warned, trying to avoid a subject that even Noel himself can not get rid of. There's no need to evoke him in questioning the former Oasis vocalist to come up in the conversation, which sounds like a nuisance to a guy as well-worked as Noel Gallagher.
Today, the brothers seem much more of a divorced couple whining about child custody (Oasis's songs and the right to be recognized by them). Noel, whose two solo albums reach some moments of real innovation, but usually sound like less aggressive spin-offs from the old band, was the one who carried the group's legacy, thanks largely to the timidity of Beady Eye's post- Liam's Oasis. With the solo album, Liam is officially back. In a profile published in October by Rolling Stone , he claims to have had as much influence on the Oasis tracks as his composer with his voice and acting. "I am the vocalist, the face of the band, could sing 'Baa Baa Black Sheep' and make it sound like Oasis," he said. Noel complains, "How could he even know who Lyla is? I know who Lyla is. " For Liam, the brother "is just a vehicle in all this": "The songs do not exactly belong to him - they do not belong to me either."
"It's like this: there's the guy and a team of songwriters around the guy," Noel begins a theory about the lack of good songwriters in the current song. Soon it is noticed that he is (again) speaking of Liam, who counts with the help of several cocomposers in the solo disc. "That's not right, it sucks. If you do not compose, how will you connect to people? When you go to a party, you wear your clothes, which you think will look good on you, right? There is no argument against it. If you have someone else writing your songs, you're wearing someone else's clothes. "Why, then, was Oasis a good band if its vocalist did not even know what he was singing about? "Chemistry and timing", he recovers the air and responds spontaneously and evasively.
It is Sunday and only the rainy weather denounced by the balcony of the hotel can disrupt the relentless happiness of Noel Gallagher. After a few hours, he will rise again to the stage of the Morumbi Stadium to open the third of four U2 shows in São Paulo. In preparation for Who Built the Moon? , he calls the tour with his Irish friends on holiday, as he does shorter, more spaced shows before starting his own tour in 2018 - which, according to him, comes to Brazil. The mood is so light that the artist has decided to stop closing the shows with the emotionally dense "Do not Look Back in Anger", changing it to "AKA ... What a Life!", Described by the author as a "statement of joy. " The 2011 track, his second after Oasis, is one of those that line up with the fun atmosphere of Who Built the Moon?
But the truth is that Noel Gallagher has always been an optimist. "I say that and the people around me are: 'What the fuck is he talking about?'", He laughs. "Having to see the best in every situation. Or at least I try. It always appeared in my songs as a certain kind of hope. Even in the 1990s, I was always talking about 'us', not 'myself.' "In fact, in the same year that Kurt Cobain killed himself in 1994, Oasis debuted with an instant classic, Definitely Maybe , lime shovel in the gloomy grunge feeling. If the Americans were agonizing about not meeting standards, Gallagher composed manifestoes about living and enjoying life to the fullest, from "Live Forever" ("I just want to fly / I want to live, I do not want to die") "Supersonic" ("You can have it all / But how much do you want?"). In the guitarist's optimism, it was possible to be a rock star, even for one night ("Rock 'n' Roll Star") and even boredom did not seem so boring ("Cigarettes & Alcohol").
"I want to be a composer, to be here today, playing with U2", he exalts himself while chewing a chewing gum with increasing intensity. "For a poor kid who was here [ indicates the ground ] in society, I made so much money that you can not imagine. Do you know when you see Paul McCartney and Keith Richards out there? They're superheroes, right? They do not have to do this - they do it because they want to. It's a feeling, I could not explain. "Fears? "I do not have any." Old age? "You can not fear old age, it's happening, you can not stop, I have to hold you." Death? "It's going to come sometime, I hope it's quick, but sometimes I think I'd like to say goodbye to the people I love." Lose the ability to play? "I'm not one of the best performers in the world. If I can not get on a stage, I'm happy to know that I did the songs I did. "
Only a tragedy the size of the bombing in Manchester to shake the man's faith in ice happiness. "If I cry? I cried at the birth of my children and in two Manchester City victories in the [ English football ] championship , "he reveals. "I cry for joy. Nothing makes me sad. "
Gallaghers crash
In the absence of a Sunday bakery, Noel and Liam do laundry by using Twitter and the press
If you are a Gallagher, there are two certainties about you in the second half of 2017: you are releasing a solo album and will talk about your brother in interviews to publicize it. Endless strikes rather than empty mutual hatred seem to function as frustrated attempts to publicly resolve deep issues - which are not treated privately because they basically do not talk or meet - around the relationship of siblings and band mates that have. Possibly because when Oasis disbanded in Paris eight years ago, the final confrontation between them was traumatic. Noel says that Liam had a violent attack and even attacked him with the guitar. The brother argues that he was provoked (not only on occasion but in all their conviviality) and denounces aggression. There is an unfriendly history in the relationship between them.
If Liam is the one who bears the biggest grudge against his brother (with hilarious tweets in which Noel looks like a potato), Noel seems to have it much more like a kind of stone in his shoe: he's not irritating enough to take off He was neither serious nor indifferent enough not to bother him. "There are a lot of people in England who can not get rid of the past, and I understand that," Noel reflects, returning indirectly to Liam, whose album, in a little dazzled vision, is an attempt to "emulate" Oasis with some modern touches and interesting performances. "They are people who do not see more grace in the future, and I understand that. Speaking about me, I think the past is great, but I see the future with infinite possibilities. "In the end, it seems the world would be a place with fewer comparisons between them and the biblical characters Cain and Abel and less tweets about" potato "if Noel had the same ease to leave the brother of side who demonstrates to surpass the old band. "Hypothetically speaking, if someone comes to me and says, 'As of today, you're no longer allowed to play Oasis songs,' I say, 'I'm okay with that,'" he says. It is not necessary to ask, then, about a possible return of the group.
* The 135th edition, with Noel Gallagher on the cover, hits the stands from Tuesday, 21
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