After announcing the dates of his Australian tour, Noel Gallagher have had a long by phone interview with Australian publication Music Feeds, during which he talked about music, Oasis, Band Battle, family and much more!
MF: Next year, you’ll be back in Australia for the first time in just over four years…
NG: [interrupting] Yes, indeed; and it’s very nice to be invited to a blues festival. Y’know, me, one of the great blues musicians of our time… how on earth I got booked for that is anyone’s guess. I was going back and forth with my booking agent – I was like, “A blues festival? Are they sure?”
MF: At this point, Bluesfest is very much a name that’s not to be taken literally. There’s still certainly blues music on it, but there’s also rock bands, rappers, funk artists, singer-songwriters… think of it like Montreaux Jazz Festival.
NG: Yeah, that’s what the booking agent told me and eventually convinced me of.
MF: It’s obviously not your first rodeo when it comes to touring Australia – tell us about coming out here the first time…
NG: It was with Oasis, of course, and we had a really fucking hard time. Liam had headbutted a fucking journalist. Blah, blah, blah… you probably know the story; and if anyone doesn’t, it’s very easy to find.
The gigs weren’t very good, either; so I feel like I got off on the wrong foot with Australia. Every time since then, though, has been fucking brilliant. I genuinely do look forward to going there. The gigs are always great, and there’s an amazing spirit among the crowd which is very familiar if you’re British or Irish – which I happen to be.
The one thing I love about touring down there, though, is the local news. I find it like Monty Python – it’s not even real! It’s like a comedy sketch to me! This one thing happened the last time I was down there… what was the name of the Prime Minister you had? The woman?
MF: Julia Gillard.
NG: Right, right… anyway, she had been hustled into the back of this car by her bodyguards after she’d been mobbed by the press or something… and she’d lost one of her shoes! Someone ran off with it! The next day, they were talking about the search for the Prime Minister’s shoe! This was on the news!
I was like, “Is this fucking real? Are Monty Python writing this shit?” [puts on Australian accent] “We’re now crossing live to where the shoe has been found…” These people take it so seriously! Is this entire nation on acid?
MF: It certainly feels like that a lot of the time.
NG: It’s bonkers, man. I do love coming down there, though. There are those reasons, as I mentioned, as well as one other thing: The confectionery! The sweet shops are amazing! The Violet Crumble, Tim Tams, Cherry Ripe… keep them all in the mini-bar fridge backstage. That’s good gear, that is. We fucking study this shit – it’s all about the chocolate!
Source: Music Feeds