The current Parlour Flame and former Oasis axe-man takes five from us.
* * * * *
1.) What’s your favorite Beatles song and why?
That could probably change every minute. At the moment, it’s “Tomorrow Never Knows.” And I’ll tell you why. It’s because we did a small acoustic gig in a music shop 2 weeks ago, myself and Vinny [Peculiar, Parlour Flames]. And they actually had George Harrison’s original Vox amplifier that he recorded Revolver and bits of Sgt. Pepper on. So we did a version of “Tomorrow Never Knows” with me playing through George Harrison’s amp, which was pretty exciting. So I’ve been listening to that a lot. I’ve got a photograph up on my wall that Jill [Furmanovsky, longtime Oasis photographer] took of George Martin listening to Noel play acoustic guitar at Air Studios. He was there and that was pretty inspiring.
2.) Who are three songwriters—living or dead—that you wish you could sit down and write a song with?
Oooh. David Bowie, David Byrne and I’ll probably say Burt Bacharach.
3.) If you had to pick one song that you’ve written that you really think sums you up as a songwriter, what would that be?
“I’m in a Band.” Because I’m in a band. [Laughter] I sort of come up with the music to that, and Vinny did the words, and it’s just all those patterns and things you associate with being in a band. I can sort of relate to it in a massive way.
4.) What’s the one song that you wish you could’ve written?
That’s a really difficult one. “Once in a Lifetime” by Talking Heads, I think. For no reason other than I love it.
5.) Is there anything you’re listening to these days that you’re particularly digging?
At the moment? I’ve not been listening to new stuff for ages. I’ve got to buy the new Travis album [Where You Stand], because I’ve been reading all about it and reading about the shows. I’ve sort of been busy listening to all the old stuff. Being on the road, nothing in particular. You put the iPod on, get it on shuffle and see what comes up. All manner of stuff—classical to punk rock to ‘70s rock to ‘60s garage and anything in between. A whole healthy mix of things.
Transatlantic Modern 