NOEL GALLAGHER: HIGH FLYER

***This was one of my favourite interviews ever, simply because Noel Gallagher is as witty and sharp as you expect him to be. I had a limited word count for this article so had to leave some good stuff out – but I’ll publish the full transcript soon.***

Originally published in The Irish Times, October 14th 2011

I’M SITTING across a picnic bench from Noel Gallagher at his rehearsal space in sunny east London, sort of wishing I hadn’t just asked a particular question about his former band. While Gallagher’s past in Oasis is inescapable when it comes to talking about his fledgling solo career, the accusations that have been levelled against him by their former (now current Beady Eye) guitarist Andy Bell are considerable. Less than a week before we meet, Bell publicly accused Gallagher of lying on multiple counts about the reasons for Oasis’s split in 2009.

Gallagher’s reaction to those charges? He pauses, weighing up the question, jaw momentarily tensed and brow fleetingly furrowed. “Well,” he says with an offhand shrug, “Andy’s entitled to Liam’s opinion, isn’t he?” Gallagher’s deadpan wit is famous, but amid the zingers are serious observations. For starters, there’s the important matter of his solo endeavour, which begins with the release of Noel Gallagher’s High Flying Birds. 

BURIED TREASURES: BE HERE NOW

There are some albums that you just inexplicably have a soft spot for. ‘Be Here Now‘ is one of mine.