Sometime over the last 20 years, former Oasis frontman Noel Gallagher transformed from a goofy Britpop trash talker with a penchant for cocaine-stained fur jackets and a habit of cribbing Beatles chords into a slightly saltier, slightly wiser one-man charm offensive. Gallagher has become a legend for his off-the-cuff, dogged honesty, inspiring lists of his best quotes from the NME, Buzzfeed, and more.
Every other week, there seems like there's a new hilarious interview with Gallagher that is chockfull of grouchy, insightful, and semi-offensive pull quotes. With a new album by Noel Gallagher's High Flying Birds just released, he's been particularly active of late—and while he hits a lot of the same talking points (Grammys/Beck/Kanye, Oasis reunion, dance music), take a look at some of the highest highlights from these recent interviews below.
- His thoughts on the recording process: "Who would want to be Brian Wilson, sitting in a studio in a nappy, eating a fucking carrot with your little fat feet in a sandpit, not going on tour? Fuck that."
- His thoughts on the aging process: "When you're a 47-year-old solo artist, it's different. You become a fucking pussy, is what happens. But if you still behave at 47 the way you were behaving at 24, you'd be a bit of a dick, wouldn't you? "
- His thoughts on dance music: "I wouldn't go out to a nightclub in London. That would be fucking chaotic. But I do go to Ibiza — that's where I met my wife, on a dance floor in a nightclub in Ibiza. There's an image for you."
- His thoughts on Bono: "Of all the people I know, he's the most fun to hang out with, for sure. He's a funny fucker, and he can drink. And he's got big ideas — for his band and for my music as well, which is astonishing. He's always giving me titles for songs and albums. I call him Father Bono."
- His thoughts on Alt-J: "['Left Hand Free'] is a great track. But Alt-J can fuck right off as far as I'm concerned. It's a great tune, and I paid 79 pence for it, but I am in no way a fan of Alt-J...One of them's got a mustache, and that's unacceptable."
- His thoughts on modern pop: "It's fucking awful. Modern pop music is bland nonsense. There isn't even a word yet that's capable of describing it. If it was a color, it would be beige. Do you know what color beige is?"
- His thoughts on people who praise Taylor Swift's songwriting: "Who says that? Her parents?...Who's "people"? Name these people. You're fucking lying. She seems like a nice girl, but no one has ever said those words, and you fucking know it."
- His thoughts on his favorite TV show, Seinfeld:
What are your favorite TV shows?I still can't get enough of Seinfeld. It's still the best thing that's ever been filmed. It reminds me of the Nineties — good times. I was the only person in England who was watching it! That's a fact. Certainly the only person in Manchester who watched it. I identify with Jerry. When I met my wife 15 years ago, she'd never seen it, and I was like, "If we're going to be together, you've got to be into this shit, because this is important." Luckily, she fuckin' loves it.
Do you have a favorite Seinfeld episode?
I was watching "The Summer of George" last night. That's pretty fucking good. The one where George starts doing the opposite — that's a good one. There's one where somebody talks dirty into Jerry's tape recorder at the comedy club which is great, as well.
- His thoughts on originality: "I’m a product of my record collection. I don’t claim to be a fan of original thought. If I learned to play the guitar by strumming along to the Sex Pistols, or the Kinks, or the Beatles, what do you think I’m going to sound like? I’m not an artist like Kate Bush is an artist...I don’t give a fuck about the way people think I write."
- His thoughts on what it would take to get an Oasis reunion: "Half a billion...If somebody puts that on the table, I’ll pack my bags in the morning and say, 'How many gigs do you want?'"
- His thoughts on Paul McCartney teaming up with Kanye West: "I’ve met him loads of times and he’s just a dude that likes to do shit. I think he’s inquisitive enough and brave just to do it. I don’t really think he gives a shit about being relevant. But maybe Kanye asked him. What are you gonna do? Say no? I mean, I would."
- His thoughts on Beyonce: "If artistry is shaking your ass onstage, she’s fucking great."
- His thoughts on Beck: "Can I also point out that Beck can play the banjo? That’s worthy of any fucking Grammy. You have to be cool to play the banjo."
- His thoughts on boring band interviews: "People don’t have a lot to say these days. Maybe it’s because they’re afraid of the internet, or because they’re too cool for school. Or, maybe, when the charisma was being handed out, I got it all."
- His thoughts on nostalgia: " If I’m nostalgic for anything, it would be my waistline. What do you do about it? Heroin?"
- His thoughts on lyrics: "Quite frankly, I don’t give a s—t what they’re about. Obviously, they’ve got to be good. To me, the melody is infinitely more important than the words. The words…who cares about the words?"
- More thoughts on a possible Oasis reunion: "Let me put it like this: All genuine Oasis fans would be against it. People who bought “Wonderwall” who consider themselves to be Oasis fans would think it would be a great night out. Journalists have to ask the question because they might get a sound bite. I’m used to it by now. I don’t care. I don’t care what the Internet says. 99.9999% of the people on the Internet are dumbasses anyway."
- His thoughts on his brother Liam: "He’s a f—king idiot."
- His thoughts on Spotify and streaming music: "The generation I was brought up in, music wasn’t for rent. It was for sale... I know I’d rather sell a hundred records than have a thousand streams."
- His thoughts on Be Here Now and re-editing it: "The madness and the pompousness and the length of the songs is what makes it what it is...I’m not going to be one of those guys kind of remixing Let It Be and all that shit, d’you know what I mean? It is what it is, and that’s the end of it."
- His thoughts on Definitely Maybe: "It’s funny to think that I wrote that album when I was unemployed, on welfare. I wrote that album on fucking welfare, and it went on to change people’s lives...It’s a wonderful thing."
- His thoughts on Morrissey: "Morrissey’s always got a point. Always. He always has a point."
- His thoughts on writing songs for his brother: "Somebody said to me, “Would you consider writing songs for Liam?” What am I supposed to say? “No, fuck off.” OK. So it’s just like, 'Yeah, I guess.'"
- His thoughts on people insulting him online: "That just sums it all up. They posted on their Facebook. Just exactly that. Post what on their Facebook? When will they meet me in the fucking street?"
- His thoughts on Margaret Thatcher: "You knew where you stood with Thatcher. She was fucking you in the arse, and she was quite fucking brutal about it, so we were like, "OK, she's the fucking enemy". Art was better under Thatcher, not because of Thatcher but in spite of Margaret Thatcher."
- Some more thoughts on dancing: "I walk about rhythmically and try to avoid eye contact with people with feather cuts and City scarves in case I fucking ruin their lives. [narrows eyes] I find a dark corner, usually with a few people who might form a barrier. A human shield!"
- His thoughts on an epic night of drinking with Morrissey [It's worth reading this full interview just for this long anecdote]: "He'd just cancelled all the gigs in South America because he had whatever it was. So I go, "I thought you just cancelled a load of gigs, I thought you were at death's door." And he said [raises eyebrows, does the voice again] "Yet here I am". So it just descended, and he was fucking hilarious. He doesn't have a good word to say about anyone, anyone, anything."
If you're still craving more Gallagher wisdom, check out some past interviews with Rolling Stone (2013), The Shortlist (2011), Grantland (2011), The Guardian (2008), and Spin (2008).
We also highly recommend watching this compilation of Gallagher's commentary on Oasis music videos.
