Liam Gallagher's Life After Oasis
Liam Gallagher is still committed to making "great music" after splitting with his brother Noel following an umpteenth dispute in August 2009, the singer said.
The end of Oasis, the most popular English group of the past two decades, was sealed just moments before the start of the closing concert of "Rock en Seine".
"The day after," Liam regrouped with guitarist Gem Archer, bass player Andy Bell and drummer Chris Sharrock under the name of Beady Eye, he told Agence France Presse.
Their goals? "Making great music, inspiring people and not bowing down."
The charismatic singer says he had not for a second imagined stopping making music, or continuing under the Oasis banner.
The other musicians did not hesitate to join him, he said, "because Noel left Oasis. He didn't go, 'Do you guys want to come with me?'"
Despite his well-documented quarrels with Noel, Liam denies wanting to take "revenge" against his older brother.
But Beady Eye reeks of it.
Noel was Oasis's main songwriter and loved to present himself as the cornerstone of the group.
But Liam said: "I thought we were all creative forces behind that band. People know that we brought a lot on the table."
Fans and critics however regard the new band with a blend of impatience, curiosity and skepticism.
"It's a new thing, with a legacy" said Archer, to explain the strange position that Beady Eye finds itself in.
Its first concert in Paris will be at the modest Nouveau Casino in March.
"Different Gear, Still Speeding" the new Beady Eye album that came out on Monday, comes nowhere near the heights initially attained by Oasis with "Definitely Maybe" and "(What's the Story) Morning Glory".
The album is redolent of 1960s English rock, from the Kinks to the Small Faces, with one song even called "Beatles and Stones".
"There's no point in saying, 'Let's go down a new route, try and reinvent the wheel'!" Gallagher said. "These bands wrote the best music, their records still sound amazing. They're the ones I want to be in the ring with."
Even if the music is not avant-garde, Beady Eye uses its influence with a freshness and enthusiasm that had deserted Oasis over the past few years.
The group attributes the dynamic to its new, more democratic mode of functioning.
"Noel always had in mind what the album was gonna be. But this time round, on this record the four of us were really on the same page," Gallagher said.
Guitarist Archer said, for his part: "I already feel it's special. We don't want to squeeze the life out of it, keep it special."
Source: Agence France Presse
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