exploremusic

Noel Gallagher announced that he was leaving Oasis in August. The remaining members are "halfway there" towards recording a new album, and Liam Gallagher makes it out like it wouldn’t be going much differently if his brother was still in the band.

"We’ve got all the songs done. Without Noel at all. Me, Andy and Gem [Oasis bassist Andy Bell and guitarist Gem Archer] are doing it. That was the way it was going anyway, even on the last record," the singer tells Evening Standard. "We were, like, doing most of it and Noel was off doing his own thing. So we’ve got a bit of studio time booked after Christmas and we’re going to get in there, do it quick, with no stewing on it, and I’m feeling really confident about it."

As for the fight that led to the split, Liam says that it wasn’t a big thing for him.

"I’ve had bigger arguments with me toenails, you know what I mean?" he says. "I think he just wanted out."

"We’ll make this [new] record and see where it goes and hopefully it’ll put a few dickhead [myths] to bed, about who was what and what was what …"

It’s also possible that the remaining members of Oasis will keep the name.

"We’re not using it at the moment, but if we don’t come up with something else by the time we’re ready to release the album it’ll be Oasis," Liam explains. "I’m not going to call myself something ridiculous just for the sake of it. We’re trying lots of new names right now, but nothing’s sticking so we’re just plugging on with the music. Obviously we won’t be playing any of Noel’s songs."

Noel had been saying for some time that Oasis would take a break after their Dig Out Your Soul tour so that he could do a solo album. Why then, would he need to find an excuse to leave?

"I’m sure he thinks: I’ll do my solo career and if it doesn’t f***ing pan out the way it’s expected to pan out, then I’ll give our kid a ring cos he’ll be desperate, and he’ll do anything for Oasis," Liam says. "Well, I’ll say this right now: he’s got another f***ing think coming. If he thinks he can ring me up at any given stage in his f***ing lifetime, I’ll be busy. I’ll always be busy when he rings me up."

I wonder if maybe Noel was looking forward to solo time so much that he couldn’t stick in there even just to finish the Oasis tour. If Liam sticks to his word, then Oasis are finished completely, forever … and it might not have been so if not for Noel deciding to leave instead of just sticking to his original plan and taking a break to do a solo album.

We may eventually start referring to "the original Oasis" and "post-Noel Oasis."

There’s enough talent and skill going around that I’m not worried about either camp succeeding. The non-Noel members have proven that they have the ability to write songs and, of course, they’ll have Liam singing them … and we can probably imagine what Noel’s solo stuff will sound like.

No Noel plus Liam ever again, though? I’d hate to think this was based on an error in judgement.

Click here to read the full interview.