Noel Gallagher Blames Labels for Piracy

On any given day, I have a handful of “shocking” quotes from one or both of the Gallagher brothers that I could post, but most of them are just the good ol’ Oasis boys winding people up. Today, for example, Noel’s making the rounds for admitting that he “spent £1m on drugs” as of 1998, adding, “I look at [Coldplay’s] Chris Martin who says he has never taken drugs in his life and I think he is an idiot.” But since music piracy will be the topic du jour for the next year at least, you may find Noel’s recent comments to MTV Brazil’s Mari Moon a bit more interesting than your everyday Gallagher echo chamber.

Though Gallagher admitted he’s “the only person in England who doesn’t own a computer,” he could relate to the younger generation that can’t buy records from stores any longer, thus forcing them to go online. “You have to be legally, you know, money in the bank, credit cards, and all that kind of stuff,” he said. “But it also means that it’s just taking music away from poor people. And that’s why people download music for free, where they can really get it from.”

Then things get more interesting: “If I was 16 and I’d left school and I didn’t have a job, but I had a computer and I could get an Oasis album for free somewhere, you’re gonna do it aren’t you? I mean lucky for me I’m not in that situation, but if I was I know I wouldn’t be paying for it. But it’s the record company’s fault. They made music too expensive in the first place. [A] CD costs £2 to make and £15 to buy.”

To come full circle, I guess you could say that Noel thinks your money would be better spent on drugs than music, but now I’m just feeding The Sun their next headline.

July 6, 2009 2:54pm    more   noel gallagher   oasis  

Liam Gallagher: Solo Albums Will Split Oasis

It looks like Noel Gallagher was right when he told Q magazine (via ChartAttack) that his brother Liam “will f*cking freak out” at his hopes for every member of Oasis to record a solo record before the band’s next release.

In a televised interview from Brazil (not sure of the interviewer’s name at this time), Liam responded to Noel’s plans to release a solo record. “I could do that, but I don’t want to do that,” he said. “I’m in Oasis, you know what I mean. If everyone starts going off doing solo records then you might as well just f*cking split the band up, you know what I mean. I’m part of a band and that’s the way it is. If you go on going off doing solo records then there’s no Oasis, you know what I mean. Someone’s gotta be here keeping it together.”

So Noel’s 5-year hiatus plan could be a problem, but once again it’s interesting to see how the Gallagher brothers only communicate with each other through interviews and the occasional tweet.

If the previous comment’s aim wasn’t pointed clearly enough at his brother, Liam gets more explicit at the end of the Q&A. When asked what the best and worst parts to being in Oasis were, he responded: “The best part is obviously the music, playing the gigs, meeting people from different parts of the world. All that stuff. That’s good. The worst part is being in a band with your f*cking brother.”

May 10, 2009 4:32pm    more   oasis   liam gallagher   noel gallagher  

Twittering Rock Star Roundup

Twitter has turned into a never-ending reality show for rock stars. You’d think they would only use their 140 characters for promotional purposes (some do), but for others in the rock Twitterati, tweets are oddly personal and revealing. Kind of like the confessional on The Real World or Big Brother, et al.

Cantankerous rocker Billy Corgan’s official Twitter (there was an imposter for a while) is chock-full of God shout-outs and pseudo-theological praise for “Love,” “Truth,” “Joy,” and “Peace.” It’s almost like he’s trying to tweet his way out of being an egoist. Of course, some celebs have ghost Twitterers, but in Corgan’s case it would be a Holy Ghost Twitterer.

One tweet from Oasis’ Liam Gallagher cracked me up because the Gallagher brothers are basically estranged, despite being on a successful tour. Liam finally spoke to Noel, however, with the help of Twitter as an intermediary. After Noel slagged off the band in the press as a “rudderless ship,” Liam tweeted that the last gig was “AMAZING! Don’t know what tour your on RKID…” Awww, he called him rkid again.

Then there’s Trent Reznor. Sure, he said yesterday, “I might be happy and engaged, but I can still be a prick,” but his impending nuptials have actually brought out the soft side of the “Head Like a Hole” singer. One example: “Now that I’m in love and gone all soft on you, can anyone recommend any romantic comedies? Got a weird urge,” he tweeted.

It isn’t all God, romance, and brotherly love for twittering rockers though. Joy Division’s Peter Hook had to go and start another round of Smiths reunion rumors. Ugh.

May 7, 2009 9:41am    more   twitter   trent reznor   billy corgan   oasis   liam gallagher   noel gallagher   peter hook   the smiths