Oasis
On October 14th 2001 Oasis played the second of two nights at the Barrowlands in Glasgow, Scotland. It was part of the '10 Years Of Noise & Confusion' tour.
The interview below with Liam & Noel Gallagher was broadcast on 14th October.
On October 14th 2008 Oasis played the second of two nights at the NIA in Birmingham, England.
On This Day In Oasis History...
On October 14th 2001 Oasis played the second of two nights at the Barrowlands in Glasgow, Scotland. It was part of the '10 Years Of Noise & Confusion' tour.
The interview below with Liam & Noel Gallagher was broadcast on 14th October.
On October 14th 2008 Oasis played the second of two nights at the NIA in Birmingham, England.
Oasis
It's been announced on National Album Day that Oasis' ‘(What’s The Story) Morning Glory?’ is the UK's third highest selling studio album of all time!
The chart which ranks albums by combining physical sales, downloads and streams in the UK reflects album sales of 135 million across more than 60 years.
The top 40 selling studio albums can be found here.
Oasis' ‘(What’s The Story) Morning Glory?’ Is The UK's Third Highest Selling Studio Album Of All Time
It's been announced on National Album Day that Oasis' ‘(What’s The Story) Morning Glory?’ is the UK's third highest selling studio album of all time!
The chart which ranks albums by combining physical sales, downloads and streams in the UK reflects album sales of 135 million across more than 60 years.
The top 40 selling studio albums can be found here.
Oasis
On October 13th 2001 Oasis played the first of two nights at the Barrowlands in Glasgow, Scotland. It was part of the '10 Years Of Noise & Confusion' tour.
The gig was broadcast a day later on Sky Box Office, watch it below.
On October 13th 2008 Oasis played the first of two nights at the NIA in Birmingham, England.
On This Day In Oasis History...
On October 13th 2001 Oasis played the first of two nights at the Barrowlands in Glasgow, Scotland. It was part of the '10 Years Of Noise & Confusion' tour.
The gig was broadcast a day later on Sky Box Office, watch it below.
On October 13th 2008 Oasis played the first of two nights at the NIA in Birmingham, England.
Oasis
Taken from an interview from Clash Music with Anton Newcombe from the Brian Jonestown Massacre, read the full article here.
How does performing live with the band now compare to the 90s?
They’re different. It was like The Jesus and Mary Chain when we started out. There was nothing like us. There was nothing to compare it to and there was a riot at every show because it was really like The Rolling Stones when they started and the youth energy. Nobody had a release like that in that way. And so people would tip the tables, but they weren’t angry… It was just like, “Holy shit,” and they’d bang their head in to the wall, or something and they weren’t punkers. And it was just this explosion.
There was a lot of animosity coming at us because they were like, “You’re The Monkees, you’re just trying to be Oasis.” And it was, like, not even close.
And we would fight back and just go bananas. It was psychotic, you know. Like when we opened up for Oasis’ first show we played three fifteen minute long songs that were just… not boring, like psychotic. Like, Spaceman 3 and The Stooges and My Bloody Valentine and The Velvet Underground all at once, but somebody who’s really fucking high on life going mental. You know what I mean?
I love that.
And as amazing as those guys were, or whatever… They talk about it as that being when the first break-up was. They talk about the speed incident when Noel split and did a runner because they were too high to function? Well, Joel [Gion] whipped out a bag and he gave a tiny little… Because they asked him, “Can you get any sniffs?” and Joel’s like, “I got some.” And he gave him the tiniest little grain on the table and they’re like, [in an English accent] “Fuck off, mate!” Joel’s like, “You don’t wanna mess with this.”
And it was just like Withnail & I. And those guys didn’t sleep for days. It fucked their show and we just came on and tore it up and the next night they tried to recover in Sacramento and we showed up, because we were supposed to be doing that one too and they were just like, “Fuck you. Get outta here.” And I was just like, “Where do I put my gear?” I refused and I just walked up…
There were three bands on the bill in this big hall and I just walked up to the other band and said, “I’ll give you nine-hundred bucks and you can open up for me in San Francisco. It’s already sold out. We’re just gonna walk up on stage right out of the audience and grab your gear and we’ll knock out three songs.” And then we just played super fast, old school, before I broke my wrist. It was this crazy energy of That Girl Suicide in Sister Ray-style. Just mental. And phenomenal. And those guys were a wreck. And that was it. That’s when Noel did a runner.
What happened?
He got to LA, but those guys were still up in LA and couldn’t even make it through that show in LA and that’s when he did the runner and went back to San Francisco. But that’s how high they were off the speed… And I wasn’t on anything. It wasn’t my thing. Because they did a whole gram of, like, pure crystal meth, or whatever, because they thought it was just cheap 5% coke from London.
They tell an abridged version of that in the Supersonic documentary.
The full version is something else. Yeah, of course. But the cool part about it is the minute they were describing what happened, I was like, “Holy shit. I didn’t realise that it broke up the band.” Like, we broke up their band…
The place was just full of everybody from England. It was in a tiny place in San Francisco. Blur were playing with Pulp in a place where they have tennis matches indoors – Bill Graham Center – so the place that Oasis would want to be showing off was taken by Pulp and Blur, like the 10,500 seater, or whatever. So they were playing in a 350 seater, coming from Tokyo where it was mental and landing on a plane at the first show where they were like, “We’re taking over the fucking world!” And it’s just like this tiny room, if you were lucky…
Noel was screaming in my face, [impersonating Noel] “I know for a fact you never fucking practice. How dare you. We never even left the studio for two years.” And I was just like, “Fuck you man. You play the same exact equipment at Slash. If you fucking plug a Gibson guitar with a fucking Boss pedal in to a Marshall amp, you sound exactly like Guns N Roses. It’s not The Beatles. Suck my dick.”
And that’s what I said right to his face. “Fuck you. You’re not The Beatles.”
Did he have a comeback?
What could he say to that? I unbuttoned my pants and I had the mic on my pubes the whole time, doing an Iggy while we were playing Hyperventilation… We cut my friend’s video tape and Liam walks on stage and he’s kissing the mic. And then for months, we were watching that video and just laughing. And if I could have gotten his permission it would have been in Dig. I would have used that VHS cassette…
Now let me just explain one thing. I could take any track that Liam ever sang, his mystical quality - exactly like Tim Burgess - they sing atonal and I could write amazing fucking music. I could write totally different things. It wouldn’t matter what the key is, see. Like when I remixed The Charlatans, it doesn’t matter if it’s a country song. I’ll turn it in to a soul song in a different key and I don’t even change the vocals. I just call it as I hear it. He’s a mystical being. There’s no joke about that. And there’s no joke about the qualities that Noel has that are the real deal, but not all of it…
Like, I would love to get [Paul] Weller to do a record like 'Are You Experienced?' And kick Noel the fuck out of the way and say, “Let’s get real. You’re actually a legendary guitar player. Let’s invite twenty friends. Noel can sit on the floor – if he’s quiet.” You know? And produce it as is and do it like that. That would be great. Because I thought 'Wild Wood' was spectacular – especially live. And I’d like to see that, rather than everybody just going, “Well, you’ve earned this.”
Source: Clash Music
Brian Jonestown Massacre's 'Anton Newcombe' On Oasis' Experience With Crystal Meth And More
Taken from an interview from Clash Music with Anton Newcombe from the Brian Jonestown Massacre, read the full article here.
How does performing live with the band now compare to the 90s?
They’re different. It was like The Jesus and Mary Chain when we started out. There was nothing like us. There was nothing to compare it to and there was a riot at every show because it was really like The Rolling Stones when they started and the youth energy. Nobody had a release like that in that way. And so people would tip the tables, but they weren’t angry… It was just like, “Holy shit,” and they’d bang their head in to the wall, or something and they weren’t punkers. And it was just this explosion.
There was a lot of animosity coming at us because they were like, “You’re The Monkees, you’re just trying to be Oasis.” And it was, like, not even close.
And we would fight back and just go bananas. It was psychotic, you know. Like when we opened up for Oasis’ first show we played three fifteen minute long songs that were just… not boring, like psychotic. Like, Spaceman 3 and The Stooges and My Bloody Valentine and The Velvet Underground all at once, but somebody who’s really fucking high on life going mental. You know what I mean?
I love that.
And as amazing as those guys were, or whatever… They talk about it as that being when the first break-up was. They talk about the speed incident when Noel split and did a runner because they were too high to function? Well, Joel [Gion] whipped out a bag and he gave a tiny little… Because they asked him, “Can you get any sniffs?” and Joel’s like, “I got some.” And he gave him the tiniest little grain on the table and they’re like, [in an English accent] “Fuck off, mate!” Joel’s like, “You don’t wanna mess with this.”
And it was just like Withnail & I. And those guys didn’t sleep for days. It fucked their show and we just came on and tore it up and the next night they tried to recover in Sacramento and we showed up, because we were supposed to be doing that one too and they were just like, “Fuck you. Get outta here.” And I was just like, “Where do I put my gear?” I refused and I just walked up…
There were three bands on the bill in this big hall and I just walked up to the other band and said, “I’ll give you nine-hundred bucks and you can open up for me in San Francisco. It’s already sold out. We’re just gonna walk up on stage right out of the audience and grab your gear and we’ll knock out three songs.” And then we just played super fast, old school, before I broke my wrist. It was this crazy energy of That Girl Suicide in Sister Ray-style. Just mental. And phenomenal. And those guys were a wreck. And that was it. That’s when Noel did a runner.
What happened?
He got to LA, but those guys were still up in LA and couldn’t even make it through that show in LA and that’s when he did the runner and went back to San Francisco. But that’s how high they were off the speed… And I wasn’t on anything. It wasn’t my thing. Because they did a whole gram of, like, pure crystal meth, or whatever, because they thought it was just cheap 5% coke from London.
They tell an abridged version of that in the Supersonic documentary.
The full version is something else. Yeah, of course. But the cool part about it is the minute they were describing what happened, I was like, “Holy shit. I didn’t realise that it broke up the band.” Like, we broke up their band…
The place was just full of everybody from England. It was in a tiny place in San Francisco. Blur were playing with Pulp in a place where they have tennis matches indoors – Bill Graham Center – so the place that Oasis would want to be showing off was taken by Pulp and Blur, like the 10,500 seater, or whatever. So they were playing in a 350 seater, coming from Tokyo where it was mental and landing on a plane at the first show where they were like, “We’re taking over the fucking world!” And it’s just like this tiny room, if you were lucky…
Noel was screaming in my face, [impersonating Noel] “I know for a fact you never fucking practice. How dare you. We never even left the studio for two years.” And I was just like, “Fuck you man. You play the same exact equipment at Slash. If you fucking plug a Gibson guitar with a fucking Boss pedal in to a Marshall amp, you sound exactly like Guns N Roses. It’s not The Beatles. Suck my dick.”
And that’s what I said right to his face. “Fuck you. You’re not The Beatles.”
Did he have a comeback?
What could he say to that? I unbuttoned my pants and I had the mic on my pubes the whole time, doing an Iggy while we were playing Hyperventilation… We cut my friend’s video tape and Liam walks on stage and he’s kissing the mic. And then for months, we were watching that video and just laughing. And if I could have gotten his permission it would have been in Dig. I would have used that VHS cassette…
Now let me just explain one thing. I could take any track that Liam ever sang, his mystical quality - exactly like Tim Burgess - they sing atonal and I could write amazing fucking music. I could write totally different things. It wouldn’t matter what the key is, see. Like when I remixed The Charlatans, it doesn’t matter if it’s a country song. I’ll turn it in to a soul song in a different key and I don’t even change the vocals. I just call it as I hear it. He’s a mystical being. There’s no joke about that. And there’s no joke about the qualities that Noel has that are the real deal, but not all of it…
Like, I would love to get [Paul] Weller to do a record like 'Are You Experienced?' And kick Noel the fuck out of the way and say, “Let’s get real. You’re actually a legendary guitar player. Let’s invite twenty friends. Noel can sit on the floor – if he’s quiet.” You know? And produce it as is and do it like that. That would be great. Because I thought 'Wild Wood' was spectacular – especially live. And I’d like to see that, rather than everybody just going, “Well, you’ve earned this.”
Source: Clash Music
Oasis
On October 12th 2002 Oasis played at the Livid Festival in Brisbane, Australia.
Listen to a bootleg of the gig below.
On October 12th 2008, Oasis' final album 'Dig Out Your Soul' entered the UK Album Charts at number 1.
It sold 200,866 copies in it's first week, making it at the time the 51st fastest selling album ever in the UK.
On This Day In Oasis History...
On October 12th 2002 Oasis played at the Livid Festival in Brisbane, Australia.
Listen to a bootleg of the gig below.
On October 12th 2008, Oasis' final album 'Dig Out Your Soul' entered the UK Album Charts at number 1.
It sold 200,866 copies in it's first week, making it at the time the 51st fastest selling album ever in the UK.
Noel Gallagher
Stage times have been announced for 'Colors Night Lights' that takes place in Santiago, Chile on October 31st.
Noel Gallagher's High Flying Birds will be on stage at 22:00 (local time).
Stage Time For Noel Gallagher's High Flying Birds At 'Colors Night Lights' In Santiago, Chile
Stage times have been announced for 'Colors Night Lights' that takes place in Santiago, Chile on October 31st.
Noel Gallagher's High Flying Birds will be on stage at 22:00 (local time).
Oasis
On October 11th 1995 Oasis played at the Roseland Ballroom in New York, USA.
Listen to a recording of the soundcheck below.
On October 11th 2008 Oasis played the second of two nights at the Arena in Sheffield, England.
On This Day In Oasis History...
On October 11th 1995 Oasis played at the Roseland Ballroom in New York, USA.
Listen to a recording of the soundcheck below.
On October 11th 2008 Oasis played the second of two nights at the Arena in Sheffield, England.
Gareth Halliday
Interview
Noel Gallagher
Gareth Halliday is the man who created the beautiful artwork for Noel Gallagher's High Flying Birds 'Who Built The Moon?' album that was released in November last year.
He has been collecting vintage printed media and ephemera for over 20 years, and is fascinated with the otherworldly qualities of images from a forgotten time or place. His collage and Photo-montage work tries to exert control over the saturation of images we are confronted with daily; playing with relationships between scale and perception and disparate pop culture associations. Often these works end up as subversive commentary on the society we live in.
Gareth has been a part of several group exhibitions across Europe and had his first solo exhibition with Lazarides at The Outsiders in 2014. He has sold work worldwide.
In 2016 Gareth collaborated with Adidas Originals on the relaunch campaign for the much loved Adidas Gazelle 1991 version.
The artwork for Noel Gallagher’s High Flying Birds 'Who Built The Moon?' was recently featured at www.redhouseoriginals.com in an exhibition called 'Be Here Now: Today Is Just A Day Dream' which features artwork from Brian Cannon, Astrid Kirchherr, Peter Blake, Storm Thorgeson, Gered Mankowitz, Pete McKee, Horace Panter and Ian Skelly.
Q: How did you get into making you're beautiful collages?
A: They definitely have not always been beautiful that’s for sure. I went to art school in the mid-to-late nineties and I guess looking back there was a big melting pot of styles and ideas from the past colliding with the present in music, fashion and art.
For me collage felt like a relevant style to express my ideas with, where I could combine found imagery with my paintings and photos. Also most of my favourite album artwork has elements of collage art in them, from The Beatles’ Revolver through to Punk and the present day.
There are a lot of great albums which use collage in the design of the cover art, I guess because it’s quite abstract, fragmented and suggestive, more often than not like the music it represents.
It’s a very accessible medium to express with. It’s very much a DIY approach of making something from nothing. Anyone can do it.
Q: Is it true that you used to be Noel Gallagher's postman?
A: No, but I do deliver close to one of his homes just outside of London apparently.
Q: How did you go about getting him to see your artwork?
A: Noel saw one of my collages called 'Choppy Waters' in Damon Albarn's studio when they were recording together on the Gorillaz 'Humanz' album (2017). He contacted me from there and brought a few prints, not long after Noel asked if I’d be interested in doing some artwork for an upcoming project. Obviously I said yes.
Q: 'Who Built The Moon?' is the first album cover you designed, are there any more musicians you would like to work with.
A: I loved creating the artwork for 'Who Built The Moon?'. There was a lot to work from, and a lot of creative freedom as well. For me music and artwork have always gone hand in hand.
I probably get most of my ideas and inspiration from it, whether that be conscious or not, but I listen to a lot of music most days.
I’ll be ambitious…to list a few……. Primal Scream, Nick Cave, Tame Impala, Anna Calvi, PIL, Flying Lotus, Roger Walters, David Gilmour, Damien Jurado, Damon Albarn, Hookworms, Beck, Tricky, Bjork, Brian Eno, PJ Harvey, Underworld, Chemical Brothers, David Holmes, New Order, Orbital….. The Rolling Stones?
Failing that if Susan Boyle has a space rock opera she needs some artwork for, I’d be happy to try and help. I’m open to working with anyone if it felt like it would work.
Q: What is you're favourite album/single artwork and why?
I don’t have a favourite as such. I’m too indecisive. I’m a bit of a music lover so there are loads of favourites. I’m going to go with Primal Scream’s 'Vanishing Point' because it’s a pivotal work which influenced me a great deal when it was released in 1997 when I was eighteen. The album artwork which is all collage and fragmented imagery, including the singles, perfectly conveys the music which was massively experimental and a fusion of different styles and genres. I discovered a whole world of music and artists from the influences on the album. I still love listening to it quite regularly.
It turns out a great deal of the album artwork I’ve really been into (Primal Scream’s 'XTRMTR' & 'Evil Heat', The Prodigy, Stereolab, Broadcast and CAN) for the last 20 years have been designed my Julian House. He went on to design the artwork for 'Dig Out Your Soul' by Oasis too. I’ve always loved that punk infused style that you can get with collage art.
Q: Were you a fan of Oasis?
I was fifteen when 'Definitely Maybe' came out which was a great age to get into Oasis. I brought a guitar and wanted to be in a band and all that, I was influenced by them, who wasn’t? Once I got into music and art which was around 1993 that was it! My plans for a football career got thrown out the window along with my school work.
Q: What is you're favourite Oasis album/single artwork and why?
'Definitely Maybe' is my favourite album artwork. It’s probably the nostalgia for an era when albums felt more momentous and the joy of discovering a great record for the first time.
It’s one of my all time favourite albums and I love the back cover with Noel holding the globe in his hand, very prophetic for what was to come for the band!
Q: What is your favourite track from 'Who Built The Moon?' and why?
My favourite track is 'The Man Who Built the Moon'. I listened to the record for about six months before it was released, so my favourite changed all the time. I choose this track though because it’s just a dark sweeping cinematic epic of a tune which I believe gave me most insight into the visuals for the artwork. The cover idea is what I envisioned from listening to this song a lot…. Or ‘It’s A Beautiful World’, I couldn’t get enough of that song either.
Q: Have you seen the band on tour yet? if so what did you think of the songs live?
I’ve see them 3 times. I thought they were great! I got a real buzz out of seeing them live. The band looked like they were enjoying themselves and it was mind blowing seeing the artwork as the backdrop too. I loved it!
Q: You collaborated with Adidas Originals on the relaunch campaign for the Adidas Gazelle 1991 version. How did that come about? And are there any plans to work with them again in the future?
Basically I got contacted by a media agency in London with a brief based around the ideas of Adidas wanting artists who work with collage to design imagery for the backdrop of the Gazelle Silhouette, based on the city they live in. I had two weeks to come up with the work, so I did what I could and Adidas were happy with the work, I think. I would love to work with them again.
Q: Do you have any projects coming up you can talk about?
The artwork for Noel Gallagher’s High Flying Birds 'Who Built The Moon?' was recently featured at www.redhouseoriginals.com in an exhibition called 'Be Here Now: Today Is Just A Daydream' which features artwork from Brian Cannon, Astrid Kirchherr, Peter Blake, Storm Thorgeson, Gered Mankowitz, Pete McKee, Horace Panter, Ian Skelly. It was incredible to see the work next to Brian Cannon’s, that put a smile on my face for weeks.
Other than that I’m in the early stages of creating new artwork as the last 14 months I’ve been enjoying coming home to my daughter and wife who’s been on maternity leave. She’s back to work now and my girl has started nursery, so I’m getting back into the swing of designing on top of the day job as a postie.
Could you please give a brief description on the concept and the thinking behind the artwork for the albums and a few tracks.
Who Built The Moon? (Album Cover)
I think we were getting close to the deadline or over it and my wife was 8 months pregnant. Although I had produced quite a large body of work, nothing was standing out as the album cover. So I had a final meeting at Ignition where I presented more artwork and it wasn’t until I was packing up that I found a mock up of the cover design in my folder. I left it with the office not thinking much of it and a few days later got a message saying “this is the one!”
We had to re-shoot the woman on the front and fortunately Noel’s wife Sara agreed to model for it. I had a call from the photographer David asking for direction on the shoot. At this point my wife had been in labour for 2 days and we hadn’t slept for over 48 hours. I was sitting next to my wife on the phone saying something along the lines of “imagine a woman from Sergio Leone’s ‘Once Upon A Time in America’ walking into the distance of an alien planet where all is not what it seems”, that’s the vibe we’re after.” I was grabbing the gas and air from my wife at this point.
I’ve described a large part of the concept for the cover in a question above, but I think it worked out well. I like the fact that it’s got Noel’s wife in the artwork, as well as a contribution from my wife in the form of the flying birds, it’s her photography work. Also the sky is originally from a photograph I took out of a car window as we were approaching Belfast Airport. (My wife is from Northern Ireland) Anyway I like the fact it’s a Northern Irish sky as a lot of the album was created in Belfast with David Holmes.
Fort Knox
This track was quite late to the album I think. In many ways it tied a few loose ends in the artwork and pulled it all together in the process.
'Fort Knox' has always been primarily a U.S gold vault designed to withstand any kind of attack.
With this in mind and the alarm kicking off, to me this was a break in-out, setting up a powerful atmosphere and statement of intent to the album.
The figure walking towards the distance, with what looks like a bag in his right hand is suggesting he might’ve done a ‘job’ on Fort Knox and he’s about to meet the second figure which could be his partner in crime or lover or both.
It’s a reference to a Bonnie and Clyde vibe. It’s suggestive, open to interpretation, but trying to capture the beginning of a journey I guess.
I took the photograph of a sunrise in Mauritius the previous year. I couldn’t sleep so went for a walk on the beach. It was about 6 am, no one in sight and there was this really beautiful, enigmatic sunrise. Easily the best I’ve ever seen.
Holy Mountain
From what I can remember I created this one quite early on. It was the first artwork which felt like it was delving into another world. As research I remember watching Alejandro Jodorowsky’'s 1976 film 'Holy Mountain' which blew my head off.
The song is really up tempo and that’s quite hard to translate into one image. I would like to think that the woman in the middle ground that’s approaching the car will end up teleported into another dimension across to the party at 'Holy Mountain' in this old banger of a Tardis. Or imply that at least.
The imagery in the film and the lyrics to Noel’s Holy Mountain definitely had an impact on the more psychedelic artwork that would become the gatefold and picture disc.
It's A Beautiful World
I never knew what Charlotte was saying in this song until it was released, but I always felt that the song was about a beautiful apocalypse, which I think she was getting at in her chorus.
It’s a celebration of life and love on the dawn of… well the end of earth basically!
A narrative of when we’re faced with the inevitable and of our own doing, all we can do is be blasé about it because that’s how we’ve become over time, desensitised, even to our own demise haha.
She Taught Me How To Fly
I wasn’t very keen on this image to begin with and kept trying to make changes to it until I got told off.
I can see now that it’s the simplistic, vintage feel to it which makes it work and Noel was right ha!
There’s a Japanese design feel to it and I guess the message is quite simple…
While my wife was pregnant we would listen to it a lot as it was her favourite. Also she put up with me being a constant pain in the arse and I guess she taught me how to fly! Pass the sick bucket!
If Love Is The Law
Really I guess the artwork was built from the lyrics, just trying to paint a story of the song. Here are some key lyrics which did this…..
”I’m standing on the edge of night in a lonesome town, where love has been and gone, I’m waiting for the storm to come back and take me down”
“Memories, Forever set in stone, when all is said and done, they’re just like the falling leaves, that you gather in your head, when the sun’s about to set”
All the artwork for the whole album relate to the lyrics, well they should do after the amount of times I listened to then. It was a really enjoyable experience and hopefully I helped the man to build the moon.
Special thanks to Gareth for taking the time to do the Q&A with the site, check out more of his fabulous work here.
Gareth Halliday On The Artwork He Did For 'Noel Gallagher's High Flying Birds' 'Who Built The Moon?' And More
Gareth Halliday is the man who created the beautiful artwork for Noel Gallagher's High Flying Birds 'Who Built The Moon?' album that was released in November last year.
He has been collecting vintage printed media and ephemera for over 20 years, and is fascinated with the otherworldly qualities of images from a forgotten time or place. His collage and Photo-montage work tries to exert control over the saturation of images we are confronted with daily; playing with relationships between scale and perception and disparate pop culture associations. Often these works end up as subversive commentary on the society we live in.
Gareth has been a part of several group exhibitions across Europe and had his first solo exhibition with Lazarides at The Outsiders in 2014. He has sold work worldwide.
In 2016 Gareth collaborated with Adidas Originals on the relaunch campaign for the much loved Adidas Gazelle 1991 version.
The artwork for Noel Gallagher’s High Flying Birds 'Who Built The Moon?' was recently featured at www.redhouseoriginals.com in an exhibition called 'Be Here Now: Today Is Just A Day Dream' which features artwork from Brian Cannon, Astrid Kirchherr, Peter Blake, Storm Thorgeson, Gered Mankowitz, Pete McKee, Horace Panter and Ian Skelly.
Q: How did you get into making you're beautiful collages?
A: They definitely have not always been beautiful that’s for sure. I went to art school in the mid-to-late nineties and I guess looking back there was a big melting pot of styles and ideas from the past colliding with the present in music, fashion and art.
For me collage felt like a relevant style to express my ideas with, where I could combine found imagery with my paintings and photos. Also most of my favourite album artwork has elements of collage art in them, from The Beatles’ Revolver through to Punk and the present day.
There are a lot of great albums which use collage in the design of the cover art, I guess because it’s quite abstract, fragmented and suggestive, more often than not like the music it represents.
It’s a very accessible medium to express with. It’s very much a DIY approach of making something from nothing. Anyone can do it.
Q: Is it true that you used to be Noel Gallagher's postman?
A: No, but I do deliver close to one of his homes just outside of London apparently.
Q: How did you go about getting him to see your artwork?
A: Noel saw one of my collages called 'Choppy Waters' in Damon Albarn's studio when they were recording together on the Gorillaz 'Humanz' album (2017). He contacted me from there and brought a few prints, not long after Noel asked if I’d be interested in doing some artwork for an upcoming project. Obviously I said yes.
Q: 'Who Built The Moon?' is the first album cover you designed, are there any more musicians you would like to work with.
A: I loved creating the artwork for 'Who Built The Moon?'. There was a lot to work from, and a lot of creative freedom as well. For me music and artwork have always gone hand in hand.
I probably get most of my ideas and inspiration from it, whether that be conscious or not, but I listen to a lot of music most days.
I’ll be ambitious…to list a few……. Primal Scream, Nick Cave, Tame Impala, Anna Calvi, PIL, Flying Lotus, Roger Walters, David Gilmour, Damien Jurado, Damon Albarn, Hookworms, Beck, Tricky, Bjork, Brian Eno, PJ Harvey, Underworld, Chemical Brothers, David Holmes, New Order, Orbital….. The Rolling Stones?
Failing that if Susan Boyle has a space rock opera she needs some artwork for, I’d be happy to try and help. I’m open to working with anyone if it felt like it would work.
Q: What is you're favourite album/single artwork and why?
I don’t have a favourite as such. I’m too indecisive. I’m a bit of a music lover so there are loads of favourites. I’m going to go with Primal Scream’s 'Vanishing Point' because it’s a pivotal work which influenced me a great deal when it was released in 1997 when I was eighteen. The album artwork which is all collage and fragmented imagery, including the singles, perfectly conveys the music which was massively experimental and a fusion of different styles and genres. I discovered a whole world of music and artists from the influences on the album. I still love listening to it quite regularly.
It turns out a great deal of the album artwork I’ve really been into (Primal Scream’s 'XTRMTR' & 'Evil Heat', The Prodigy, Stereolab, Broadcast and CAN) for the last 20 years have been designed my Julian House. He went on to design the artwork for 'Dig Out Your Soul' by Oasis too. I’ve always loved that punk infused style that you can get with collage art.
Q: Were you a fan of Oasis?
I was fifteen when 'Definitely Maybe' came out which was a great age to get into Oasis. I brought a guitar and wanted to be in a band and all that, I was influenced by them, who wasn’t? Once I got into music and art which was around 1993 that was it! My plans for a football career got thrown out the window along with my school work.
Q: What is you're favourite Oasis album/single artwork and why?
'Definitely Maybe' is my favourite album artwork. It’s probably the nostalgia for an era when albums felt more momentous and the joy of discovering a great record for the first time.
It’s one of my all time favourite albums and I love the back cover with Noel holding the globe in his hand, very prophetic for what was to come for the band!
Q: What is your favourite track from 'Who Built The Moon?' and why?
My favourite track is 'The Man Who Built the Moon'. I listened to the record for about six months before it was released, so my favourite changed all the time. I choose this track though because it’s just a dark sweeping cinematic epic of a tune which I believe gave me most insight into the visuals for the artwork. The cover idea is what I envisioned from listening to this song a lot…. Or ‘It’s A Beautiful World’, I couldn’t get enough of that song either.
Q: Have you seen the band on tour yet? if so what did you think of the songs live?
I’ve see them 3 times. I thought they were great! I got a real buzz out of seeing them live. The band looked like they were enjoying themselves and it was mind blowing seeing the artwork as the backdrop too. I loved it!
Q: You collaborated with Adidas Originals on the relaunch campaign for the Adidas Gazelle 1991 version. How did that come about? And are there any plans to work with them again in the future?
Basically I got contacted by a media agency in London with a brief based around the ideas of Adidas wanting artists who work with collage to design imagery for the backdrop of the Gazelle Silhouette, based on the city they live in. I had two weeks to come up with the work, so I did what I could and Adidas were happy with the work, I think. I would love to work with them again.
Q: Do you have any projects coming up you can talk about?
The artwork for Noel Gallagher’s High Flying Birds 'Who Built The Moon?' was recently featured at www.redhouseoriginals.com in an exhibition called 'Be Here Now: Today Is Just A Daydream' which features artwork from Brian Cannon, Astrid Kirchherr, Peter Blake, Storm Thorgeson, Gered Mankowitz, Pete McKee, Horace Panter, Ian Skelly. It was incredible to see the work next to Brian Cannon’s, that put a smile on my face for weeks.
Other than that I’m in the early stages of creating new artwork as the last 14 months I’ve been enjoying coming home to my daughter and wife who’s been on maternity leave. She’s back to work now and my girl has started nursery, so I’m getting back into the swing of designing on top of the day job as a postie.
Could you please give a brief description on the concept and the thinking behind the artwork for the albums and a few tracks.
Who Built The Moon? (Album Cover)
I think we were getting close to the deadline or over it and my wife was 8 months pregnant. Although I had produced quite a large body of work, nothing was standing out as the album cover. So I had a final meeting at Ignition where I presented more artwork and it wasn’t until I was packing up that I found a mock up of the cover design in my folder. I left it with the office not thinking much of it and a few days later got a message saying “this is the one!”
We had to re-shoot the woman on the front and fortunately Noel’s wife Sara agreed to model for it. I had a call from the photographer David asking for direction on the shoot. At this point my wife had been in labour for 2 days and we hadn’t slept for over 48 hours. I was sitting next to my wife on the phone saying something along the lines of “imagine a woman from Sergio Leone’s ‘Once Upon A Time in America’ walking into the distance of an alien planet where all is not what it seems”, that’s the vibe we’re after.” I was grabbing the gas and air from my wife at this point.
I’ve described a large part of the concept for the cover in a question above, but I think it worked out well. I like the fact that it’s got Noel’s wife in the artwork, as well as a contribution from my wife in the form of the flying birds, it’s her photography work. Also the sky is originally from a photograph I took out of a car window as we were approaching Belfast Airport. (My wife is from Northern Ireland) Anyway I like the fact it’s a Northern Irish sky as a lot of the album was created in Belfast with David Holmes.
This track was quite late to the album I think. In many ways it tied a few loose ends in the artwork and pulled it all together in the process.
'Fort Knox' has always been primarily a U.S gold vault designed to withstand any kind of attack.
With this in mind and the alarm kicking off, to me this was a break in-out, setting up a powerful atmosphere and statement of intent to the album.
The figure walking towards the distance, with what looks like a bag in his right hand is suggesting he might’ve done a ‘job’ on Fort Knox and he’s about to meet the second figure which could be his partner in crime or lover or both.
It’s a reference to a Bonnie and Clyde vibe. It’s suggestive, open to interpretation, but trying to capture the beginning of a journey I guess.
I took the photograph of a sunrise in Mauritius the previous year. I couldn’t sleep so went for a walk on the beach. It was about 6 am, no one in sight and there was this really beautiful, enigmatic sunrise. Easily the best I’ve ever seen.
Holy Mountain
From what I can remember I created this one quite early on. It was the first artwork which felt like it was delving into another world. As research I remember watching Alejandro Jodorowsky’'s 1976 film 'Holy Mountain' which blew my head off.
The song is really up tempo and that’s quite hard to translate into one image. I would like to think that the woman in the middle ground that’s approaching the car will end up teleported into another dimension across to the party at 'Holy Mountain' in this old banger of a Tardis. Or imply that at least.
The imagery in the film and the lyrics to Noel’s Holy Mountain definitely had an impact on the more psychedelic artwork that would become the gatefold and picture disc.
I never knew what Charlotte was saying in this song until it was released, but I always felt that the song was about a beautiful apocalypse, which I think she was getting at in her chorus.
It’s a celebration of life and love on the dawn of… well the end of earth basically!
A narrative of when we’re faced with the inevitable and of our own doing, all we can do is be blasé about it because that’s how we’ve become over time, desensitised, even to our own demise haha.
She Taught Me How To Fly
I wasn’t very keen on this image to begin with and kept trying to make changes to it until I got told off.
I can see now that it’s the simplistic, vintage feel to it which makes it work and Noel was right ha!
There’s a Japanese design feel to it and I guess the message is quite simple…
While my wife was pregnant we would listen to it a lot as it was her favourite. Also she put up with me being a constant pain in the arse and I guess she taught me how to fly! Pass the sick bucket!
Really I guess the artwork was built from the lyrics, just trying to paint a story of the song. Here are some key lyrics which did this…..
”I’m standing on the edge of night in a lonesome town, where love has been and gone, I’m waiting for the storm to come back and take me down”
“Memories, Forever set in stone, when all is said and done, they’re just like the falling leaves, that you gather in your head, when the sun’s about to set”
All the artwork for the whole album relate to the lyrics, well they should do after the amount of times I listened to then. It was a really enjoyable experience and hopefully I helped the man to build the moon.
Special thanks to Gareth for taking the time to do the Q&A with the site, check out more of his fabulous work here.
Oasis
Hosted by Radio X presenter Gordon Smart, the 30-minute long episode includes an interview with music mogul Alan McGee who discussed plans for a film based on McGee’s autobiography (‘The Creation Records Story: Riots, Raves and Running a Label’) which has been written by author of Porno and Trainspotting, Irvine Welsh.
On the subject of casting for roles, McGee touched upon who’d play him in the film, suggesting Ewan Bremner, made famous for his starring role as Spud in Trainspotting, would be the perfect fit because he is ‘ugly’. McGee responded: “I feel bad about saying that about Ewan Bremner. It got taken out of context!”
While Ewan Bremner might be out of the picture, McGee was asked about the possibility of any of his previous bands or their family featuring in the film, such as Liam Gallagher’s sons Gene and Lennon. McGee said: “I’ve no idea. I think the producer, for Liam, wants open casting. All these Liam impersonators in Manchester! I don’t think the kids are gonna do it. We asked them, but no.”
The Musicians Against Homelessness patron was also asked about the impact of social media on the music industry and how his former bands, such as Oasis, Primal Scream and Happy Mondays, would have dealt with it if they were starting out now. McGee said: “I think they [Oasis, Primal Scream and Happy Mondays] would have worked it out. I think they would have understood the social media thing. I always think to myself, where would a band like Oasis would have went if they had the Internet behind them?”
McGee continued: “I think the people are so smart, your Noel Gallaghers, Gillespies, your Shaun Ryders, they would have adapted to the whole social media thing. And they would understand it. And then they intrinsically had the music anyway, all these three bands, especially Primal [Scream] and the Mondays, they were incredibly unique. Like Bummed is unique. Like Screamadeclica is unique. You know they were incredibly unique bands.
The native Glaswegian has recently returned to the music industry via founding Creation23, 34 years after he started the original Creation Records back in 1983, and was asked how the music industry has changed since. McGee said: “Well, it’s the best and worst thing - you could say a band to me and I could go on my phone, go to the toilet and get on my phone and go, I don’t like it, but that’s brilliant and it’s kind of s*** as well.
McGee added: “One of the reasons that Oasis got good is that they were left in Manchester for a long time. One of the reasons My Bloody Valentine got good is they were left to their own devices for some time. Primal Scream took six years to get good. Because they were underneath the radar. I don’t think anybody's underneath the radar now. It’s called YouTube.”
For more episodes visit www.thisfeeling.co.uk
Alan McGee Talks Oasis, Primal Scream And Happy Mondays To 'This Feeling' TV
Hosted by Radio X presenter Gordon Smart, the 30-minute long episode includes an interview with music mogul Alan McGee who discussed plans for a film based on McGee’s autobiography (‘The Creation Records Story: Riots, Raves and Running a Label’) which has been written by author of Porno and Trainspotting, Irvine Welsh.
On the subject of casting for roles, McGee touched upon who’d play him in the film, suggesting Ewan Bremner, made famous for his starring role as Spud in Trainspotting, would be the perfect fit because he is ‘ugly’. McGee responded: “I feel bad about saying that about Ewan Bremner. It got taken out of context!”
While Ewan Bremner might be out of the picture, McGee was asked about the possibility of any of his previous bands or their family featuring in the film, such as Liam Gallagher’s sons Gene and Lennon. McGee said: “I’ve no idea. I think the producer, for Liam, wants open casting. All these Liam impersonators in Manchester! I don’t think the kids are gonna do it. We asked them, but no.”
The Musicians Against Homelessness patron was also asked about the impact of social media on the music industry and how his former bands, such as Oasis, Primal Scream and Happy Mondays, would have dealt with it if they were starting out now. McGee said: “I think they [Oasis, Primal Scream and Happy Mondays] would have worked it out. I think they would have understood the social media thing. I always think to myself, where would a band like Oasis would have went if they had the Internet behind them?”
McGee continued: “I think the people are so smart, your Noel Gallaghers, Gillespies, your Shaun Ryders, they would have adapted to the whole social media thing. And they would understand it. And then they intrinsically had the music anyway, all these three bands, especially Primal [Scream] and the Mondays, they were incredibly unique. Like Bummed is unique. Like Screamadeclica is unique. You know they were incredibly unique bands.
The native Glaswegian has recently returned to the music industry via founding Creation23, 34 years after he started the original Creation Records back in 1983, and was asked how the music industry has changed since. McGee said: “Well, it’s the best and worst thing - you could say a band to me and I could go on my phone, go to the toilet and get on my phone and go, I don’t like it, but that’s brilliant and it’s kind of s*** as well.
McGee added: “One of the reasons that Oasis got good is that they were left in Manchester for a long time. One of the reasons My Bloody Valentine got good is they were left to their own devices for some time. Primal Scream took six years to get good. Because they were underneath the radar. I don’t think anybody's underneath the radar now. It’s called YouTube.”
For more episodes visit www.thisfeeling.co.uk
Oasis
On October 10th 1994, Oasis released the 'Cigarettes & Alcohol' single.
It reached number 7 on the official UK Singles Chart and has spent 79 weeks in the charts to date.
On October 10th 1995 Oasis played at Hammerjacks in Baltimore, USA.
Listen to a bootleg of the gig below.
On October 10th 2001 Oasis played the first of two nights at the Apollo Theatre in Manchester, England.
It was part of the six-date '10 Years Of Noise & Confusion' tour to mark the band's 10th anniversary.
Listen to a bootleg of the gig in the link below.
On October 10th 2008 Oasis played the first of two nights at the Arena in Sheffield, England.
On This Day In Oasis History...
On October 10th 1994, Oasis released the 'Cigarettes & Alcohol' single.
It reached number 7 on the official UK Singles Chart and has spent 79 weeks in the charts to date.
On October 10th 1995 Oasis played at Hammerjacks in Baltimore, USA.
Listen to a bootleg of the gig below.
On October 10th 2001 Oasis played the first of two nights at the Apollo Theatre in Manchester, England.
It was part of the six-date '10 Years Of Noise & Confusion' tour to mark the band's 10th anniversary.
Listen to a bootleg of the gig in the link below.
On October 10th 2008 Oasis played the first of two nights at the Arena in Sheffield, England.
This Feeling
A well known haunt of well known faces, and where to see future next big things in advance.
This weeks events are in London, Stoke-On-Trent, Grimsby, Blackburn, Leeds and Liverpool.
Visit www.thisfeeling.co.uk for tickets and information on club nights all over the UK.
What's Going On At 'This Feeling' This Weekend?
A well known haunt of well known faces, and where to see future next big things in advance.
This weeks events are in London, Stoke-On-Trent, Grimsby, Blackburn, Leeds and Liverpool.
Visit www.thisfeeling.co.uk for tickets and information on club nights all over the UK.
Oasis
Voting is now open to select your favourite Album Artwork from the past 70 years to celebrate the first National Album Day.
Simply click on your 3 favourite sleeves from the nominations here.
Please note you must choose 3 to validate your vote and automatically have the chance of winning a 'Play & Display' Flip Frame Triple pack.
The Winners will be announced on 20th November 2018.
Vote For Oasis' 'Definitely Maybe' As The Best Album Artwork From The Last 70 Years
Voting is now open to select your favourite Album Artwork from the past 70 years to celebrate the first National Album Day.
Simply click on your 3 favourite sleeves from the nominations here.
Please note you must choose 3 to validate your vote and automatically have the chance of winning a 'Play & Display' Flip Frame Triple pack.
The Winners will be announced on 20th November 2018.
Oasis
On October 9th 1997 Oasis played 'Don't Go Away' on The Late Show with David Letterman in New York, USA.
On This Day In Oasis History...
On October 9th 1997 Oasis played 'Don't Go Away' on The Late Show with David Letterman in New York, USA.
Noel Gallagher
Bradley Cooper has said that he had taken advice on developing his character in his film 'A Star Is Born' from a number of high-profile friends, including Noel Gallagher.
He told Edith Bowman ‘I spent time with Noel Gallagher and asked him thousands of questions and watched him play.’
On whether he was a bad influence, he added: ‘So, I didn’t listen to anything he had to say. But what is wonderful about him is he will tell you exactly what he thinks. ‘And that’s what you demand when you are trying to create something. It’s going to get out there eventually so just tell me the truth.’
Listen to the interview in full on www.edithbowman.com
Bradley Cooper On Noel Gallagher
Bradley Cooper has said that he had taken advice on developing his character in his film 'A Star Is Born' from a number of high-profile friends, including Noel Gallagher.
He told Edith Bowman ‘I spent time with Noel Gallagher and asked him thousands of questions and watched him play.’
On whether he was a bad influence, he added: ‘So, I didn’t listen to anything he had to say. But what is wonderful about him is he will tell you exactly what he thinks. ‘And that’s what you demand when you are trying to create something. It’s going to get out there eventually so just tell me the truth.’
Listen to the interview in full on www.edithbowman.com
Oasis
Tue 30 October 2018
19:00 – 23:00 GMT
Leyton Technical Pub
265 High Road Leyton
London
Join us for the first of a series of Talkin Technical events at the Leyton Technical and help us raise much needed funds for the Leytonstone branch of the Labour Party! All monies raised will go into campaigning to improve life for locals in Leytonstone such as our campaign for an accessible station.
Meet Brian Cannon art director, photographer, video director and designer who was the driving force behind many of the most iconic and well know record covers of the 1990's.
Two of Cannon's record sleeve designs—Definitely Maybe (#14) and This Is Music (#79)—featured in Q magazine's "The Hundred Best Record Covers Of All Time" list published in 2001.
He is noted for "his grandiose, ridiculously time-consuming (photo) shoots", and has produced a number of record sleeves for UK number one albums, including Urban Hymns (The Verve) and 1977 (Ash), along with two further Oasis albums—(What's The Story) Morning Glory? and Be Here Now.
He has also designed record sleeves for Ruthless Rap Assassins, Cast, Suede and Super Furry Animals.
In 2011 Brian’s commitment to design was recognised with a Lifetime Achievement Award from the global Annual Design Awards.
Click here for more details.
Talkin Technical - In Conversation With Brian Cannon
Tue 30 October 2018
19:00 – 23:00 GMT
Leyton Technical Pub
265 High Road Leyton
London
Join us for the first of a series of Talkin Technical events at the Leyton Technical and help us raise much needed funds for the Leytonstone branch of the Labour Party! All monies raised will go into campaigning to improve life for locals in Leytonstone such as our campaign for an accessible station.
Meet Brian Cannon art director, photographer, video director and designer who was the driving force behind many of the most iconic and well know record covers of the 1990's.
Two of Cannon's record sleeve designs—Definitely Maybe (#14) and This Is Music (#79)—featured in Q magazine's "The Hundred Best Record Covers Of All Time" list published in 2001.
He is noted for "his grandiose, ridiculously time-consuming (photo) shoots", and has produced a number of record sleeves for UK number one albums, including Urban Hymns (The Verve) and 1977 (Ash), along with two further Oasis albums—(What's The Story) Morning Glory? and Be Here Now.
He has also designed record sleeves for Ruthless Rap Assassins, Cast, Suede and Super Furry Animals.
In 2011 Brian’s commitment to design was recognised with a Lifetime Achievement Award from the global Annual Design Awards.
Click here for more details.
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