This week, former Oasis guitarist Noel Gallagher proposed that rock music has all but pushed out the working class. His reasoning? That instruments are expensive and rehearsal spaces are in short supply.
The topic came up when Gallagher considered if there could ever be another Oasis. Would economic inequality prevent circumstances like those that caused the alt-rock band’s 1990s Britpop reign led by Gallagher and his brother, ex-Oasis singer and current solo artist Liam Gallagher?
“Where are the 14-year-olds in bands now?” Noel asked the Daily Mirror on Wednesday (March 9). “Working class kids can’t afford to do it now, because guitars are expensive, there’s no rehearsal rooms. They’ve all been turned into wine bars and flats.”
He added, “Four or five guys from a council estate can’t afford guitars.”
Meanwhile, there are “loads of middle class bands” with members who wear guitars “as opposed to playing them,” the 54-year-old musician, who currently fronts Noel Gallagher’s High Flying Birds, opined.
But things are a lot different now from how they were at the height of Oasis’ popularity 25 years ago. Still, Noel touted the band’s continued success, which he seemed to credit to his brother.
“Oasis sold 480,000 albums in 2021,” he said. “It’s unbelievable, as people don’t buy albums. Liam keeps the flame alive.”
Last month, Liam defended Taylor Swift after the pop star condemned Damon Albarn, the bandleader of Blur and Gorillaz, for saying Swift didn’t write her songs herself. Blur and Oasis were big Britpop rivals in the ’90s. But there doesn’t seem to be an Oasis reunion imminent, though Liam has hinted at it.
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