Noel Gallagher Opens Up About Living In London
With much of his youthful snarl transforming into a low tempered growl, English rock icon Noel Gallagher has become much more philosophical since his move to London, since the turn of the millennium. The 47-year-old Mancunian sat down with the Rolling Stone promoting his new album and discussing life living in London, the Grammys, and — oddly enough — Seinfeld.
When Noel Gallagher broke out with his band Oasis, they were the toast of city Manchester. Oasis were hailed as important to the Manchester music as legendary bands such as The Smiths and The Stone Roses. Noel however, decided to move out of Manchester to settle down in the capital of England.
“Yeah, I live right in the heart of the city. I did spend a bit of time in the late Nineties out in the country, and it’s got its benefits. But I was born in the city, in Manchester, so I’m very, very used to noise and traffic and police cars and junkies and fucking beggars and prostitutes and all that kind of thing. And that’s just for breakfast.”
Gallagher famously kicked cocaine in the back end of the nineties. Gallagher stated that his lifetime has vastly change since his heyday at the top of the U.K. rock scene.
“If I can give you an analogy — back in the early days of Oasis, my lifestyle was like a wild fire-breathing dragon. My lifestyle now is like a faithful sheepdog. When you’re 24 in the biggest band in the world, I’m sure you can work out all the nonsense that entails. When you’re a 47-year-old solo artist, it’s different.”
Harking on the nineties theme, Gallagher declared affinity to the American sitcom Seinfeld, and his likeness to the main character, Jerry Seinfeld.
“I still can’t get enough of Seinfeld. It’s still the best thing that’s ever been filmed. It reminds me of the Nineties — good times. I was the only person in England who was watching it! That’s a fact. Certainly the only person in Manchester who watched it. I identify with Jerry.”
Gallagher is never one to say no to an award ceremony. However, the rocker took the Grammys in general.
“I’ve never been to the Grammys because I’ve never been nominated. It seems like it would be a very, very long ceremony to me. It’s, like, four hours. There can’t be that many f****** awards for music, can there?I can’t really stomach things like that. Everybody’s too nice. You cannot have a room with 5,000 people, who are all fans of each other. That’s not real.”
Noel Gallagher will drop its second album, Chasing Yesterday, in March.
[Photo by Astrid Stawiarz/Getty Images]
