See Noel Gallagher Talk U2 Fandom With Metallica’s Lars Ulrich
Former Oasis mastermind Noel Gallagher talks about performing, songwriting and his love of U2 in a new interview with Metallica‘s Lars Ulrich on the latest episode of It’s Electric. The program airs on Sundays via Apple Music’s Beats 1 Radio, but a 20-minute excerpt is available to watch above.
Gallagher was a cheerfully truculent interviewee. “Swimming’s for idiots,” he said at one point. “We’re not supposed to be in there. Why do you think they invented jet skis?”
On a more serious note, the two veteran rockers discussed their unabashed love for U2. “They are far and away my favorite live band ever,” Gallagher declared. “They’ve evolved many times – they’ve gone backward and forward and sideways and upside down and all sorts [of ways]. But there’s always one song [on an album], could be two, could be four, where you just go, ‘fuck!'” He described the moment when the beat enters “Where the Streets Have No Name” as “one of the greatest moments in live music.”
Ulrich and Gallagher also talked about the challenges of performing songs that were written two or more decades ago. But the always-confident Gallagher, who is now 50, suggested that age had no impact on his singing ability. “I think my voice is getting stronger,” he told Ulrich. “Funnily enough, if I’m doing a song that Liam was singing like ‘Go Let It Out,’ I’ve got to step it up as opposed to step it down, because I’ve got a different kind of range.”
Gallagher also noted that he cared little for lyrics when he was composing new material. “All my favorite songs of all time, I couldn’t give a shit about what the lyrics are,” he explained. “I couldn’t give a flying fuck about what any of them are singing about. It’s just words to sing that service the melody to make you feel good. ”
Gallagher released Who Built the Moon? last November. “I’m really happy about what we did in the past,” he said, referring to his time in Oasis. “But I’m really fucking happy about what I’m doing now.”
Noel Gallagher talked about “inspiring” hangouts with Bruce Springsteen and Paul McCartney. Watch below