FYI.

This story is over 5 years old.

Music

Noel Gallagher Opens up about His First Pill and His Love of...House Music?

Can we expect to see Britpop's finest down the Berghain?

If you were sat with an analyst enjoying a bout of word association therapy, you probably wouldn't immediately yelp 'house!' or 'clubbing!' if former Oasis songwriter and current High Flying Bird Noel Gallagher was brought up. Or you wouldn't have before today's revelation that the man responsible for pint-swilling classics like "Cigarettes & Alcohol", "Supersonic" and "Whatever" is a secret raver.

Advertisement

During the course of the latest instalment of The British Masters with John Doran — pt.1 of which you can watch on our sister site Noisey right now — Noel drops a few white pills of information. During the chat with Doran we're whisked back to the pre-fame years in Burnage, where the Gallagher brothers and a few mates were quietly hatching a plan to become one of the biggest bands this nation's ever seen. How were they going to do it? By covering a house record of course! It was forgotten Belgian group Cartouche who were an unlikely inspiration. Of sorts. Here's their smash hit single "Feel the Groove".

And here's Oasis' slightly less clubby cover, "Better Let You Know" for comparison.

While you probably couldn't get away with dropping it on the main stage at Dekmantel, it might be worth popping onto a USB if you're ever asked to spin a few records between Noasis and Definitely Mightbe at The Venue in New Cross one night.

In addition to that, Gallagher also reveals that he met inspiration and eventual collaborator, Johnny Marr, through a bloke he used to bump into down at the The Haçienda who just so happened to be Johnny Marr's brother. So Noel slipped this guy, "just a lad I was on nodding terms with," a copy of an Oasis demo tape. Marr, he recalls, rung him two hours later and was the first person to really 'get' the band. A short while after they went out for a Japanese meal together and that was that: brothers in bootcuts.

Doran also gently prods Noel into a pill powered trip down memory lane. While he's not quite as detailed as the participants in our My First Pill strand have been thus far, he does note that, "it was great, yeah! Not as good as my last one though!" Noel, if you're reading, drop me a line and we'll have a proper chat about it.

Oh, and Noel turns out to be a househead. "Were you into house music?" Doran asks. "Fucking hell, I wast just listening to it today…I love it. The acid house thing started in '87 and it fucking blew my mind and it continues to do so." See you down the front at Seth Troxler's big summer party, Noel.

Watch The British Masters over at Noisey.

Chasing Yesterday by Noel Gallagher's High Flying Birds is out now