cardifffemale
29-09-2004, 11:55
Andy Bell of Oasis answers Poptones.co.uk's QUESTIONS OF DOOM about being in Oasis, celebrating the 10th anniversary of Definitely Maybe with Oasis, Ride, Creation Records, shoegazing, America's ongoing obsession with shoegazing, pop success, Hurricane #1, The Byrds, songwriting and Power Station and Duran Duran...
Do you ever look back at the beginnings of Ride and think ‘Holy fuck, I was really young when it started'.
Yeah of course. When we got signed I was 18, and just out of school... well I’d spent two terms at art school and that was it for the big bad world for me. The other Creation bands, and McGee and that lot were in their early twenties I guess, and at first even they all seemed like a different generation. We met the House of Love and they seemed like old men! But you know, they were probably 26 or something. And these days, you still really notice when a band come along who are 18- we must have seemed like babies.
Do you think the rock'n'roll legacy of Ride has been handled well?
We sorted a reissue deal with Ignition. Now you can get all four albums, the Best of, and the Box set, everything is available. Dave Newton, who managed Ride, has come back to help us with these releases. He’s done well so far but he’s in danger of getting a bit carried away- there’s this DVD on the way and now he’s talking about more CDs of demos or something. I don’t know what he’s got in his attic, he’s probably recording them himself.
Any thoughts on America's ongoing obsession with ‘shoegazing'?
Bless ‘em, they think it’s a compliment. But the Americans have done a lot to keep that music alive so more power to them. Of course it’s still deeply unfashionable over here. I did this show with Mark Gardener last November when he passed through Stockholm, and when I came onstage I said “Welcome to Shoegazers Anonymous, My name is Andy Bell and I’m a shoegazer”. It felt good to admit it, because, basically, it’s true. I will always carry the torch.
You were like Busted in your day - even scoring a top ten hit with ‘Leave Them All Behind' - do you think Ride's pop success in England is often overlooked?
...and that was when a top ten single really meant something. As I normally add.
Sanctuary are rereleasing Hurricane 1. Is it odd to be revisiting your past with the reissue of that album?
We did the Ride one after 5 years, and this is after 5 years, so it doesn’t feel strange in that way. But then, I haven’t had that much to do with it. I was phoned up by Joe Foster, he told me it was happening. They would have done it with or without my help, but Joe asked me to contribute a tracklisting, which I did. I was also able to come to the mastering session as I was in town. Apart from that, Joe did the rest, the sleeve notes and everything. By the way, me and Sanctuary are planning a Shoegazing Box Set, to be titled ‘The Shoebox’.
Did you ever think whilst recording Hurricane 1 that it would be reissued several years later?
Not really. I had other things on my mind, like making the record.
What effectively split Ride?
The same stuff that splits up most bands. A mixture of musical and personal differences that, for us, gradually grew between 1993 and 1995. In the end it got too much for Mark and he left. It was a shame the way it happened.
With Tarantula, there are rumours that you never wanted it scheduled for release. Is that true?
We were kind of forced into releasing it, because we’d been paid upfront and used the money to make the album. Contractually, an album had to come out. It was recorded but not mixed when Mark walked out, so the rest of us did the minimum necessary to get something useable out of it. I didn’t want it to come out in those circumstances, but it was that or get sued for everything we owned. By the time it was released I had convinced myself I liked it, but It’s not an album I still listen to, I associate it with bad times.
Do you think that people see Tarantula as the first showcase of your songwriting talents?
I hope not, because I wrote more of ‘Nowhere’ than ‘Tarantula’, and I prefer the songwriting on Nowhere.
Do you think Oasis fans know about Ride and your secret identity in both Ride and Hurricane 1?
When Oasis fans talk to me they often say, you know, nice one for Leave them all behind, or Step into my world, but if there were really so many Ride or Hurricane fans, surely I’d have more discs on the wall! I doubt if the bigger majority have a clue about my past, but I’m not that bothered, as long as they dig Oasis they’re OK with me.
You've mentioned before in interviews that you are not fond of Carnival of Light? Why?
A while ago I disliked it, I don’t really mind it now. It is just a bit overproduced (hello, boy’s choir), and I don’t like the sound of my voice on it. Also, it coincided with Oasis’s first singles and they made it sound about twenty years behind the times.
You've always talked about being a big fan of Definitely Maybe. Even during your time in Ride. Now with the tenth anniversary of Definitely Maybe in full-swing is it odd to be discussing the album as a member of Oasis rather than a fan?
Just a bit. They were brilliant times for Oasis and Creation Records in general. I loved Oasis’s music and it was good being around at relatively close quarters to see it all happen for them. It seemed like they wanted to take everyone in the Creation scene along for the ride, which was really cool, there were a lot of good nights. I remember them just being dead positive people, friendly, good to be around. It was almost as if they were on some sort of drug. But anyway yeah, it is a legendary album and I’m honoured that I was invited to talk about it for the DVD.
You were originally intended to join Gay Dad on guitar. Do you think if you did that you would have held the good ship of Gay Dad together?
I doubt it. I was only asked to do a tour of Germany with them after their guitarist left. The music press mistakenly reported that I’d joined them, but it was thanks to this confusion that I ended up with Oasis. Paul Gallagher read the story, and told Liam who apparently jumped to his feet and said “ We can’t let him do it”, and so I got this call from Noel.
Do you feel frustrated as a songwriter in Oasis which is effectively Noel Gallagher's ship?
Not in the slightest. I might have done if I’d have come in straight from Ride, but Hurricane knocked all that out of my system. It was actually Noel and Liam who pulled me out of a long period of writer’s block. They were encouraging me to bring songs in from day one. Even now, I don’t write many songs any more, three or four a year or something. I was a bit burned out after Hurricane finished and these days it takes me a while to write something decent.
Do you think the time has passed for a Ride reunion?
We get together now and again on our own terms. A big re-union would be corny. Just let it be what it was.
I always felt that the Ride sound was like a sped-up Byrds combined with the noise guitar bombastics of Sonic Youth - do you feel that you were successful in marrying two different styles?
You’re describing the first album perfectly there. It was a good mixture of speed, noise and melodies.
The abandoned sessions of Carnival of Light in retrospect would make an excellent ‘lost psychedelic album' reissue. Any chance of this happening? And why were the original sessions abandoned?
Jamming with trains, I rest my case. We didn’t exactly abandon the sessions, it was just that we moved to a studio in Oxford (The Manor) and kind of started working properly instead of indulging ourselves. Steve had all that music to go through when he put together Firing Blanks, it can’t be much cop if he didn’t include it.
What do you think of Hurricane 1 now? Is it your Humble Pie to Ride's Small Faces?
Or my Power Station to Ride’s Duran Duran maybe... hmm... but for it to work there has to be an Oasis as well. In your example it would have to be The Faces, so that I could go ahead and join the Stones afterwards as Ron Wood. But Gem’s Ron Wood, so we lose, at least I do because that makes me Bill Wyman. Maybe we’re in uncharted territory. Let me know when you figure it out.
Do you feel a label like Creation could exist again?
Absolutely. There is always potential for great things like that to happen.
How long did it take for you to feel that you were a member of Oasis rather than a hired hand?
It didn’t take long. I suppose I was a hired hand until the first crisis, then Gem and I sort of grew into it.
When did you feel that your role increased in Oasis?
I don’t think about it in those terms. We are a band, and that’s it really. My role is whatever it needs to be for the good of the band.
Do you ever feel schizophrenic with dual roles in a well-respected cult band and playing in a stadium act?
No! Ride split up 10 years ago dude! Times and circumstances might change, but before everything else, I’m Andy B. I’m completely mono-phonic.
What was the downfall of Hurricane 1?
Ask Bill Hicks.
Do you ever look back at the beginnings of Ride and think ‘Holy fuck, I was really young when it started'.
Yeah of course. When we got signed I was 18, and just out of school... well I’d spent two terms at art school and that was it for the big bad world for me. The other Creation bands, and McGee and that lot were in their early twenties I guess, and at first even they all seemed like a different generation. We met the House of Love and they seemed like old men! But you know, they were probably 26 or something. And these days, you still really notice when a band come along who are 18- we must have seemed like babies.
Do you think the rock'n'roll legacy of Ride has been handled well?
We sorted a reissue deal with Ignition. Now you can get all four albums, the Best of, and the Box set, everything is available. Dave Newton, who managed Ride, has come back to help us with these releases. He’s done well so far but he’s in danger of getting a bit carried away- there’s this DVD on the way and now he’s talking about more CDs of demos or something. I don’t know what he’s got in his attic, he’s probably recording them himself.
Any thoughts on America's ongoing obsession with ‘shoegazing'?
Bless ‘em, they think it’s a compliment. But the Americans have done a lot to keep that music alive so more power to them. Of course it’s still deeply unfashionable over here. I did this show with Mark Gardener last November when he passed through Stockholm, and when I came onstage I said “Welcome to Shoegazers Anonymous, My name is Andy Bell and I’m a shoegazer”. It felt good to admit it, because, basically, it’s true. I will always carry the torch.
You were like Busted in your day - even scoring a top ten hit with ‘Leave Them All Behind' - do you think Ride's pop success in England is often overlooked?
...and that was when a top ten single really meant something. As I normally add.
Sanctuary are rereleasing Hurricane 1. Is it odd to be revisiting your past with the reissue of that album?
We did the Ride one after 5 years, and this is after 5 years, so it doesn’t feel strange in that way. But then, I haven’t had that much to do with it. I was phoned up by Joe Foster, he told me it was happening. They would have done it with or without my help, but Joe asked me to contribute a tracklisting, which I did. I was also able to come to the mastering session as I was in town. Apart from that, Joe did the rest, the sleeve notes and everything. By the way, me and Sanctuary are planning a Shoegazing Box Set, to be titled ‘The Shoebox’.
Did you ever think whilst recording Hurricane 1 that it would be reissued several years later?
Not really. I had other things on my mind, like making the record.
What effectively split Ride?
The same stuff that splits up most bands. A mixture of musical and personal differences that, for us, gradually grew between 1993 and 1995. In the end it got too much for Mark and he left. It was a shame the way it happened.
With Tarantula, there are rumours that you never wanted it scheduled for release. Is that true?
We were kind of forced into releasing it, because we’d been paid upfront and used the money to make the album. Contractually, an album had to come out. It was recorded but not mixed when Mark walked out, so the rest of us did the minimum necessary to get something useable out of it. I didn’t want it to come out in those circumstances, but it was that or get sued for everything we owned. By the time it was released I had convinced myself I liked it, but It’s not an album I still listen to, I associate it with bad times.
Do you think that people see Tarantula as the first showcase of your songwriting talents?
I hope not, because I wrote more of ‘Nowhere’ than ‘Tarantula’, and I prefer the songwriting on Nowhere.
Do you think Oasis fans know about Ride and your secret identity in both Ride and Hurricane 1?
When Oasis fans talk to me they often say, you know, nice one for Leave them all behind, or Step into my world, but if there were really so many Ride or Hurricane fans, surely I’d have more discs on the wall! I doubt if the bigger majority have a clue about my past, but I’m not that bothered, as long as they dig Oasis they’re OK with me.
You've mentioned before in interviews that you are not fond of Carnival of Light? Why?
A while ago I disliked it, I don’t really mind it now. It is just a bit overproduced (hello, boy’s choir), and I don’t like the sound of my voice on it. Also, it coincided with Oasis’s first singles and they made it sound about twenty years behind the times.
You've always talked about being a big fan of Definitely Maybe. Even during your time in Ride. Now with the tenth anniversary of Definitely Maybe in full-swing is it odd to be discussing the album as a member of Oasis rather than a fan?
Just a bit. They were brilliant times for Oasis and Creation Records in general. I loved Oasis’s music and it was good being around at relatively close quarters to see it all happen for them. It seemed like they wanted to take everyone in the Creation scene along for the ride, which was really cool, there were a lot of good nights. I remember them just being dead positive people, friendly, good to be around. It was almost as if they were on some sort of drug. But anyway yeah, it is a legendary album and I’m honoured that I was invited to talk about it for the DVD.
You were originally intended to join Gay Dad on guitar. Do you think if you did that you would have held the good ship of Gay Dad together?
I doubt it. I was only asked to do a tour of Germany with them after their guitarist left. The music press mistakenly reported that I’d joined them, but it was thanks to this confusion that I ended up with Oasis. Paul Gallagher read the story, and told Liam who apparently jumped to his feet and said “ We can’t let him do it”, and so I got this call from Noel.
Do you feel frustrated as a songwriter in Oasis which is effectively Noel Gallagher's ship?
Not in the slightest. I might have done if I’d have come in straight from Ride, but Hurricane knocked all that out of my system. It was actually Noel and Liam who pulled me out of a long period of writer’s block. They were encouraging me to bring songs in from day one. Even now, I don’t write many songs any more, three or four a year or something. I was a bit burned out after Hurricane finished and these days it takes me a while to write something decent.
Do you think the time has passed for a Ride reunion?
We get together now and again on our own terms. A big re-union would be corny. Just let it be what it was.
I always felt that the Ride sound was like a sped-up Byrds combined with the noise guitar bombastics of Sonic Youth - do you feel that you were successful in marrying two different styles?
You’re describing the first album perfectly there. It was a good mixture of speed, noise and melodies.
The abandoned sessions of Carnival of Light in retrospect would make an excellent ‘lost psychedelic album' reissue. Any chance of this happening? And why were the original sessions abandoned?
Jamming with trains, I rest my case. We didn’t exactly abandon the sessions, it was just that we moved to a studio in Oxford (The Manor) and kind of started working properly instead of indulging ourselves. Steve had all that music to go through when he put together Firing Blanks, it can’t be much cop if he didn’t include it.
What do you think of Hurricane 1 now? Is it your Humble Pie to Ride's Small Faces?
Or my Power Station to Ride’s Duran Duran maybe... hmm... but for it to work there has to be an Oasis as well. In your example it would have to be The Faces, so that I could go ahead and join the Stones afterwards as Ron Wood. But Gem’s Ron Wood, so we lose, at least I do because that makes me Bill Wyman. Maybe we’re in uncharted territory. Let me know when you figure it out.
Do you feel a label like Creation could exist again?
Absolutely. There is always potential for great things like that to happen.
How long did it take for you to feel that you were a member of Oasis rather than a hired hand?
It didn’t take long. I suppose I was a hired hand until the first crisis, then Gem and I sort of grew into it.
When did you feel that your role increased in Oasis?
I don’t think about it in those terms. We are a band, and that’s it really. My role is whatever it needs to be for the good of the band.
Do you ever feel schizophrenic with dual roles in a well-respected cult band and playing in a stadium act?
No! Ride split up 10 years ago dude! Times and circumstances might change, but before everything else, I’m Andy B. I’m completely mono-phonic.
What was the downfall of Hurricane 1?
Ask Bill Hicks.