They call Noel Gallagher “The Chief”. It’s a nickname given to the ex-Oasis man by musicians, roadies and production crews working on his tours and albums.
It’s apparently down to his need for control over the music he’s making.
In the early ’90s, when younger brother Liam asked him to join Oasis, Noel reportedly said: “Let me write your songs and I’ll take you to superstardom, or else you’ll rot here in Manchester”.
But since going solo after an angry split with the multi-million selling rock act, Noel, who is never shy in offering his opinion, is having to put up with production staff telling HIM what to do.
“It was a major pain in the backside,” he laughed. “It’s not that I’ve ever had people telling me what to write or what direction to go in, but managing sessions from one end of the week to the other proved extremely difficult.
“I had all these people looking at me and saying: ‘Right, what are we doing today?’ I was making the whole thing up as I went along.”
The result is his new album, Chasing Yesterday, which is out tomorrow and marks a new chapter and sound for Noel Gallagher’s High Flying Birds. The band also announced last week that they’ll be headlining this year’s T in the Park.
This is the first album to be produced as well as written by Noel. It features a broad range of instruments, including something that would have horrified hardcore Oasis fans a saxophone.
“I thought: Shall I actually get a saxophone player?” he said. “And what if I get him to play not one but two solos? I know I’m going to be accused of sax crimes. But there’s nobody to tell me not to do it.
“And when you listen to that saxophone, please don’t think about the guy from Spandau Ballet.”
The album also sees Noel team up with Johnny Marr, originally of Manchester band The Smiths.
“I tried to get him to play on the last album but it never happened,” said Gallagher. “So when I put this track together and knew he would be perfect for it I called him and asked if I could send him the rough mix. He said: ‘No, I don’t want to hear it. I’m just going to react to it on the day.’ He didn’t even want any pointers. He just arrived with two guitars and a bag of effects pedals.
“And I have to say, he’s unbelievable. He’s way up there, on another level to the rest of us. The result is a burst of energy that helped make Mighty I one of the best songs I’ve ever written.”
It might just be bluster from a man who’s penned tracks like Wonderwall, Don’t Look Back In Anger and Live Forever, but Noel is typically bullish about his latest efforts.
The first single to be taken from the album was In The Heat Of The Moment, which was inspired by a documentary in which an astronaut said that going into space for the first time feels like touching the face of God.
“If that’s not an opening line for a song I don’t know what is,” said Noel.
Chasing Yesterday follows the huge success of the double platinum eponymous debut album from 2011 that has sold 770,000 copies to date in the UK alone.
“I wasn’t ready for the positive reaction from the album and the solo gigs,” he added. “At first I thought I’d just about tolerate being a centre-stage singer every night but I really enjoyed it, probably because neither I nor the audience had any expectations and just went with it. I was amazed that it got to arena level so quick.”
Noel seems quite happy to continue on his own and has so far resisted rejoining with brother Liam to reform Oasis. He’s more concerned with the state of music in the UK at the moment.
“You only have to look at the charts, what happened at the end of the ‘90s, all those bands used to be in the Top Ten, like us, the Manics, Pulp, The Verve, Suede and Blur,” he said. “I think bands like that have been marginalised and sidelined.
“There’s X Factor and all that kind of thing can you name me the last great band that came out of this country?
“There’s not really been any great bands in the last 10 years.”
Noel Gallagher’s High Flying Birds, Glasgow SSE Hydro on Saturday March 7
Enjoy the convenience of having The Sunday Post delivered as a digital ePaper straight to your smartphone, tablet or computer.
Subscribe for only £5.49 a month and enjoy all the benefits of the printed paper as a digital replica.
Subscribe