#noel gallagher interivew

[lonely-soul-02]

2008 interview to promote Stop All The Clocks

All the Liam bits from the article:

Liam doesn't like me," shrugs his older brother. "He confuses love with hate. 'I love you.' No, Liam, I think you'll find you fucking hate me." Sitting in his management's central London HQ, Noel Gallagher recounts a recent disagreement. Oasis are about to release Stop the Clocks, their first retrospective. In the accompanying booklet, the lyrics for each of the 18 songs appear beside an image. The picture Noel chose to go next to Songbird - the only track written by Liam - was a red brick wall. "Because it's a love song about his bird," explains Noel. "And red is the colour of love."

But Liam, who wrote the song for his long-term partner, Nicole Appleton of All Saints, didn't take it that way. "I got a message on my answer machine," sighs Gallagher. "He was like, 'The colour red? Beside the song I wrote about my missus? Who I've got a child with? How fucking dare you!'" Gallagher tells the tale with a mixture of amusement, resignation and disbelief. "He only had to say he'd like to change it. No problem. But instead it descended into personal abuse." Liam's rant continued until the tape ran out. "I listened to it with my missus," says Noel. "She was going, 'You and your kid are actually insane. It's amazing you've managed to get this far.'"

Gallagher readily concedes his brother's earliest songs weren't great. "But you either say, 'That's shit, fuck off,' and he retreats into his shell. Or you go, 'Look, I'm not into it, but if you believe in it, it goes on - but you're taking the flak for it.' Liam used to say in interviews, 'Noel won't let me write.' But back in the 1990s while I was grafting, he was shooting Stella into his arms 'cos he thought it would mainline into his brain quicker. So I was like, 'Well write one, and we'll take it from there.' I'm glad he's done it, because the great ones are great and the shit ones he gets slagged off for. And there's nothing I like more than reading people slagging Liam off." Gallagher cackles.

"The reason he doesn't like me is that I'm indifferent to him," he explains. "I can come off tour, put the bags down and shut the door. Liam can't do that. He wants to carry on. Plus, he insults me and I don't like being around people who insult me."

The brothers don't exchange Christmas or birthday presents and have only seen each other "two or three times" since returning from tour in March. "I just don't need to be in the gang all the time," says Gallagher.

Presumably he has considered the possibility that Liam's insults stem from jealousy; after all, Noel's the older, brighter one, the one who wrote 17 of 18 songs on Stop the Clocks, the one people respect more. "But he's got nothing to be jealous of. Thing is, you say about the 17 songs, but Oasis is dependent on three equal parts. That's him, me and the songs. It's all about that struggle and it wouldn't be Oasis without him. But Liam can't see that. 'Cos when he has a drink, he's got an enemy complex. And a serious inferiority complex. But, y'know, he is my brother. And although I don't like him, I do love him to bits."

Perhaps, I suggest, you should buy him a Christmas present this year. "Yeah, maybe I will," nods Noel, thoughtfully. "I'll get him a fucking straitjacket."

And here's an interview from the same promotional cycle

19:40 for the bits about Liam

Lot of Noel bravado and projection in both interviews. Coldness and indifference form a key part of Noel's armour and defence arsenal. It's interesting that more recently he told Matt Morgan that he wants to be more empathetic, so at least now he seems to be aware that keeping people at a distance isn't sustainable. Worked when he was young and couldn't give two fucks, not such a great tactic when you're 57 and you don't have as much control over your personal circumstances anymore.

N.B in the article Noel is recounting a recent argument with Liam about the songbird picture. "'I love you' No Liam I think you'll find you fucking hate me." Does this mean that in said argument, Liam told Noel that he loved him? Hmm...

[lonely-soul-02]

You know how they say a picture tells a thousand words? Hmm...very obvious framing from the Sun.

Publicist Sara’s strained relationship with brother-in-law Liam was a factor in the band’s 2009 split.

Not a direct quote from Noel but I guess he must have alluded to it in the interview, or he told the journalist not to quote him on it, which is why it appears as indirect.

Until Noel denies it, I'm taking it as confirmation.

Did Sara feel that Noel wasn't prioritising her over Liam?

Did she feel Noel wasn't doing enough to protect her and the kids?

Did she make Noel choose?

Was she jealous?

Or did Sara just get sick of the constant negativity and online harassment?

Viewed through a gcest filter, did she find out something about them that made her want to divorce Noel?

So many questions...

[lonely-soul-02]

In which interview did Noel say he didn't want a baby and a young partner?

Even if you're only the slightest bit interested in Noel, it's worth listening to the whole thing. He's so relaxed and (mostly) off his guard. It's a great listen. The mum is really cute when she flirts with him.