“Without rock and roll, I’d probably still be in Piccadilly Gardens smoking spice.” The former Oasis singer is in great form here.
Whether you love him or hate him, there’s no denying that the musical landscape is better now that Liam Gallagher has returned with a new solo album.
When he’s not giving out free tickets to his fans or performing class versions of Oasis tracks, the former Beady Eye singer is more than happy to speak his mind during interviews.
In fact, this chat that Liam had with Irish DJ Dave Fanning is arguably the best ones that he has given during his recent dealings with the media.
The whole interview is great, but there are a few choice tidbits and ‘Liam-isms’ that are just too good not to share.
For example, we now know that if he wasn’t a successful singer, Liam would “probably still be in Piccadilly Gardens smoking spice”. Gallagher also isn’t a massive fan of taking selfies with fans, although he’s happy to oblige.
“I prefer to sign something than have my picture took. Having your picture took is f**king hard work, but that’s the way it is,” he said.
We also know that he’s not bothered about having Alexis Sanchez at Arsenal and that he once got into an argument with a 90-year-old lady at the shops. Never change Liam, never change.
This being said, we also got a rare glimpse at the more serious and emotional side of the former Oasis frontman as he spoke passionately about just how much the One Love Manchester concert meant to him.
“I wouldn’t have missed that for the world. Even if I was holidaying on the moon, I’d have come back. I’m from Manchester. I’ve got my family and friends there. What happened there was horrific. I got asked to do it. We were in Germany at the time, and I was like look, we brought our gig forward . We finished at 17:30, hopped on a plane and went straight there (Old Trafford). Did the tunes and then got on a plane to Holland. Manchester is a cool place and they’ve got strong characters. It was just nice to help out and put a smile on people’s faces,” he said.
Gallagher’s views on the state of modern music – in particular rock and roll bands – was very interesting also.
When asked by Dave Fanning if he agreed that “we’re crying out for bloody rock stars! We’re crying out for something that isn’t bad pop music that’s masquerading as pop. We need you!,” this was his reply.
“Without a doubt. I love music as much as anyone. What I see going down is that I’m just ‘leave it out mate, you can do better than that’. I can’t tell a guitar band from a pop band these days. They’ve got guitars around their necks, but I don’t hear guitars. You hear all these bands saying that they’re coming back to save guitar music – but I might not be the smartest tool in the shed – but I know you’ve got to put a guitar on a record to save guitar music…and I don’t hear any guitars. They’ve got guitars around their necks because they go with their shoes!,” Liam said.
It’s clear that the singer has no intentions of slowing down, in fact, he’s coming back to supply a “bit of agro to counteract the bullshit” of modern music.
“That’s what I’m back for. Bit of agro to counteract the bullshit. That’s what I’m here for and to speak my mind. You read these interviews with so called rock stars and they need to get off the fence. Nothing interesting ever comes out of their mouths, it’s just beige dribble. They’re afraid to open their mouths in case their little career falls apart, so they just sit there like those football managers and say the same thing. Come on, give us a bit of passion,” he said.
You can listen to the whole interview here.
