OASIS
Exclusive Interview from 1993!

Oasis. The sound of Manchester waking up from its 'Madchester' sleep. The best thing to emerge since the Stone Roses and Happy Mondays. Rock'n'roII debauchery from the inner cities. We knew this in 1994 when Oasis burst onto the scene with their debut single Supersonic.

Meeting Oasis was a real flashback to 1989. Brothers' Liam and Noel Gallagher showed the same assertion, arrogance and self belief of The Stone Roses when they declared themselves as the best band in the world at the very beginning of their career. Nobody laughed at the Roses mainly because they were right and so convincing. Oasis were just as convincing. They sound so fresh and exciting it convinced Alan McGee to snap them up to Creation with the hope of re-lighting the fast fading rock'n'roll myth.

Even in those early days, third on the bill supporting The Verve, the signs of who was pulling the strings was evident straight away. Noel came down the corridors of the Queens Hall at Bradford to greet the ESP posse with a friendly handshake. We had ventured across from Leeds at the recommendation of Creation's Press Office. "They are gonna be massive" was the tip before they'd even released a single. You have to admit to an air of reservation when someone tells you this from a record company but Creation are usually reliable in this sense. Annoyingly Oasis were on stage at a ridiculous early hour so we missed them. Not many people turned up to see the Verve so not many people would have witnessed Oasis at this time. It would be months before they released their debut single and played live locally. So here we were, interviewing a band and we knew absolutely nothing about them! Liam sauntered over to our table to join Noel while in the distance the other three sat chatting to the Verve and their crew. Even in these early days it was the brothers who did the talking!

Noel instantly came across as the older, friendly and more sensible sort whilst Liam had a wicked confrontational stare that made eye contact near impossible! My first impression was that I could genuinely like this band because they dug the same bands as me and wore the same clothes. The music climate at the time was so dull with everyone still into grunge and dressing down I thought the music press would laugh these boys off as baggy pretenders to a scene that had long since vanished. I guess I wouldn't do well as an A&R bloke!

Late 1993, Oasis release a promo one sided 12" Columbia. There are only a few pressed to dish out to Radio stations. Something is going on because the station playlist it immediately. With it's laid back grooves and eclectic guitars it became an instant collectors item. The eye opening, working class like anthem, Cigarettes and Alcohol was then previewed to the masses when it was released through the NME on their Creation Records 10 years in the biz tribute cassette. It served as a brilliant introduction to what promised to be, not only a great year for Oasis but the start of what was to be a amazing rise to popularity that surpassed their contemporaries, their record companies hopes and even their wildest dreams.

Listening to those lyrics, the way in which they are sung is all too graphic and powerful with a rough Northern laddish spirit that couldn't fail but to suck you in and make you want more. Their debut single 'Supersonic' followed to finallv justify the hype and create a wave of expectation around the country. Liam's brilliant smooth, loud, concise, evocative vocals combined with spiky, throbbing guitars that encompass everything and anything that was once exciting and powerful about music, Supersonic was a giant, cocky debut single that pissed on all the current crop of bands doing the rounds.

Signing up to Creation was something of a miracle and as time has proved something of a legend. Noel takes up the unusual story.

"I've got a mate whose our sound engineer and he was doing the club in Scotland right and he asked us to come up and play a few tunes and that. So we hired this van and when we got there we weren't booked in to play. So we had a bit of a row with the promoter. So we said to 'em. "We've come all this wav and we've charged loads of people 20 quid to get in the van, so you're gonna have to let us play'or we're gonna smash your club up". So in the end, he said, "Right, fair enough". So he gave us like twenty minutes. So we went on and done like four songs. There was hardly anyone there, there was about seven people at the gig but that Alan McGee geezer was there. He was only there by chance and we come off stage and he said, "Right. You've got a record deal" and that was it."

A story that went down in the history books. Liam even went so far as admitting he didn't know who this mysterious Scot was and thought he was taking the piss! Prior to getting signed, Oasis had been around for about two years so they didn't have overnight success but by the end of 1993 their career was well and truly in the fast lane. The key to Oasis' mission was evident at this time, music MATTERED. Nothing much else matters.

"Beatles, Stones, Good music, Sex Pistols" notes Liam, "There's only two forms of music like. I know you've heard it all before but what I'm telling you, it's either good or shit."

Liam spells out his short but sweet philosophy and gives you a glazed blank stare for what uncomfortably feels like forever, but just long enough to sound convincing.

"Its not like bands, its songs" offers Noel, "A shit band makes a good song, it doesn't matter if they're a shit band if it's a good song. It's like he says, there's only two forms of music. Good or bad".

"It's like Grant Lee Buffalo" quips Liam. "Have you ever heard of them? Never heard of them me, in my life. American bands, I don't like American bands. Fuzzy. Blew my head. The rest of the albums' cack but that one song. It's like, I wish I wrote it. It's special therefore you go for it. It's a nice song".

"Now here's a band" offers Liam eager to pay one of his rare tributes to fellow bands, "The Stone Roses. They're the ones. We're inspired by them but not in that silly way, you know what I mean?"

It was inspiring to hear Oasis talk about the Stone Roses at a time when most people, including myself, had given up on them. The Gallagher brothers remain big fans of the Roses, they went to see them all over the place. It's obvious the style and attitude they portray are heavily drawn from them and their tastes. Noel proudly boasted to ESP that Mani was an early fan and had already been to see them play. Speaking about how difficult the stuttering Roses comeback will be, Liam pipes up again.

"It will. But then again it won't". Liam talks in short, abrupt, assertive sentences combined with a deep rooted Northern wit and sarcasm. He is in the abrasive but amusing Shaun Ryder mould and you could tell straight away that some people would completely misunderstand him. But, beneath the surface, although he wouldn't readily admit it he's appears to be a pretty funny guy to have around!

"That scene went on, people we're like, Oh Manchester! We're already getting called baggy. I ain't no baggy. I wear baggy pants sometimes. But what is baggy? You're either good or you're not, right? Inspiral Carpets, Northside, Mock Turtles. All silly bands. The only good bands out of all of them are the Roses and the Mondays".

Noel doesn't mention the fact he used to be an employed by the Inspirals but Liam's off the cuff put down of the band (they weren't that bad!) doesn't move him to show any real emotion. His single minded approach and belief in his own band are obviously at the forefront of his mind. Noel adds his own tribute to the one band that will never loose respect.

"The Stone Roses right. They were the first. Stone Roses are the greatest band around. I have total respect for them".

Noel reveals he was a handy musician long before the Roses hysteria came about but they pointed the way forward. Noel was old enough to have done the business in that era. At the time, he says he couldn't find the right people to form a band and had they done so they would have being signed up by now along with the likes Northside, Paris Angels and World Of Twist. Look what happened to them once the Madchester bubble burst.

"What's the point?" offers Noel, "We were too busy going to watch the Stone Roses. There was no time to form a band. We were too busy taking drugs and enjoying ourselves". 

They were very wise to wait because now we needed the likes of Oasis more than ever by 1994. If you loved the Stone Roses, didn't go for Nirvana or hook up with Suede you would have been praying for a band like Oasis to burst onto the scene.

Prior to the media blitz the Gallagher boys had some concrete, steadfast, blunt and honest views on certain matters many of which, to their credit, they have stood buy despite their supernova success!

Oasis on remixes.

"I think the thing is with remixing, its either a good mix or a bad mix and to remix one of your songs is like saying it was never a good song in the first place and let's try it again. I mean before we put anything on vinyl it's going to be fucking right, it won't need remixing".

This was Noel back in 1993. Three albums down the line and countless singles and not one remix!

Oasis on record company marketing ploys.

"All that anyway is just ripping people off, like on your CD, put another mix on the CD and get some poor kid whose on the dole and really into your band to buy another CD of the same song. You know like New Order do with nine mixes of one song, come on, fucking hell! The thing about records is like, there's an A-side and there's a B-side and on the Twelve Inch there's an extra track. Then that's the end of it and if you wanna buy it, go and buy it and if you don't then fine. There'll be no two CD lark with us. There will be a seven inch, a twelve inch, a cassette, a CD single I can guarantee that. They can't do anything without our say anyway, we'll always do what we want".

This was Noel back in 1993. After countless singles, not one of them has come packaged as a two part CD single with extra mixes or live tracks as supposed bonus tracks!

Oasis on Creation Records, the label.

"We're signed to the greatest record company in the world, I've never met people like them in all my life. They signed us on the strength of four songs, one of them was a cover of 'I am the Walrus' by the Beatles. McGee's a great bloke but he doesn't go around like Mother Theresa giving loads of money away, he's got a business to run but I'd like to thing once the record starts selling we'll be up there. But you've got to meet these people to understand, you realise they are genuine music fans".

This was Noel back in 1993. Despite their worldwide success they have stayed loyal to the label that signed them and have stuck with them through thick and thin.

Oasis on Creation bands.

"I don't think there's such thing as a Creation band, I think there's such a thing as a Creation human being. All the people that are on are really into music".

Oasis on Alan McGee.

"He's the man. He hasn't got a clue about the music business, all he knows right, he's there where he is and he sees a good band and that's it, he's a music lover. Half of them other guys who own record companies aren't music lovers, they're just silly men from Natwest Bank".

*All the exclusive photos featured in this interview were taken at the Leeds Duchess in 1994 by Sasha.