Quintessential English 90s rock band Oasis hasn’t been around for some time, but former lead singer/guitarist/songwriter Noel Gallagher is busy making his own moves. He’s about to release a highly anticipated solo album, Chasing Yesterday, and put out an interview with Vulture that reveals his price tag for an Oasis reunion, his stance on Kanye vs. Beyoncé vs. Beck, and more. Here are some highlights:
On writing songs two decades ago vs. now…
“I wasn’t in love with the work anymore. It became a chore, and coming off of those two, or three, humungous albums, it was like, ‘What the fuck am I writing for?’ I’ve done it all and I had to let it go so I could find it again.”
On how much he would need to reunite Oasis…
“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?'”
On brother Liam and his other bandmates…
“Oasis was equally the five of us, and no one should underestimate his part in it, but he never helped me write a single fucking song. So, artistically speaking, I don’t need any of them.”
On Paul McCartney collaborating with Kanye…
“I haven’t heard it. Somebody told me about it, and I asked if [McCartney] was singing, and they said no. I’m not interested if he’s not singing. It could be anyone – he’s playing the piano, right? If he were singing, I’d have a listen.”
On the Kanye-Beck-Beyoncé debacle…
“If I were Beck, I’d have handed Kanye the award and a dictionary and said, “Have a look at the word artistry and see if it applies to Beyoncé.” If artistry is shaking your ass onstage, she’s fucking great. Can I also point out that Beck can play the banjo? That’s worthy of any fucking Grammy.”
On the death of traditional records…
“I thought music was great the way it was. People would actually go into record shops and spend two hours there. I don’t think the record industry was broken until Apple decided to destroy it. I don’t agree with free music. I don’t agree with bonus this, or deluxe that, or added content, or streaming music. Here’s the record, there’s the money, you take the record, thank you very much. When it comes to the gigs, you pay, I play, you clap, and then you leave.”
On a possible collaboration with Gorillaz’s Damon Albarn…
“Would I do it? Absolutely. I would spend a couple days in his studio fucking about, seeing if we could come up with anything. I couldn’t think of anything I’d rather do than that. But will it happen? I’ll be fucking amazed if our [schedules] ever have the same day off. But I like him.”
Read the full interview here.