Noel Gallagher has given a candid look at his life on tour with his band Noel Gallaghers High Flying Birds.
The rocker, 51, is sharing behind the scenes pictures in his new book Any Road Will Get Us There (If We Dont Know Where Were Going) on 1 November, and hes given metro.co.uk an exclusive first look before the book hits the shelves, with notes on each image from where they were taken.
Noel wants fans to feel like theyre there on tour with him, so you wont find any moody pictures of people just fucking hanging around backstage here, hes trying to sell the dream that is his life and wants fans wishing they were right there with him, having a bloody good time back stage before each gig.
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When people look at the pictures they should think, “I fucking wish I was there” he said.
The images show moments from his biggest ever tour, during which time he was also recording his album Who Built The Moon, and include his bandmates former Oasis guitarist Gem Archer, former Oasis pianist Mike Rowe, former Oasis drummer Chris Sharrock, and The Zutons bassist Russell Pritchard.
Sharon Latham was the photographer who followed him around and snapped the shots, with the book being curated by Noel himself.
The tour saw the group travel across the USA, Canada, UK, Ireland, Europe and Southeast Asia.
Noel said of his motivation behind the book and working with photographer Sharon: Sharon is just great to have around on the road. She is funny as fuck and shes a brilliant photographer. Ive known her for such a long time. The idea for this book came about when she was showing me all the shots, and she said, “These pictures are fucking great, it looks like youre having such a great time.”
So I thought we should focus on that: all the pictures that we put out should be like that, because we are trying to sell a dream here.
He added: To people who dont do this for a living it should look like the best job in the world. I dont want moody pictures of people fucking hanging round backstage or with their head in their hands, looking fucking knackered. Lets kind of celebrate the joy of what this is.
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So when me and Sharon would go through the pictures together, we would pick out the ones with the most camaraderie and that kind of thing. Because when people look at the pictures they should think, I fucking wish I was there.
Elsewhere in the book, out Thursday, crew and bandmates have revealed how they met Noel and what its like working with him.
Steve Head, Noels head of security, said of working with the rocker: The first laminate Ive got with Noel is from 1994. I met him at a Stone Roses gig, he said, “If you can work for the Stone Roses, you can come and work for us.” That was it. Ive done 24 years with him.
Hes really had fun on this one, I dont think Ive ever known him so happy, everyones just really clicked on this tour and got on, its been a great tour to do.
Speaking of the photograph from the bands gig in Edinburgh, Noel said: Edinburgh is my wifes hometown. Ive got so many hometown gigs on this tour, its unbelievable. Ive got Manchester, London, Belfast and Dublin. Now Ive got Paris. Liverpool. But Edinburgh was great.
Speaking of his bandmate Jessica Greenfield, Noel joked about how they rib her for being vegan: Jess is just a brilliant, brilliant singer, a rock solid Camden girl. She is the vegan amongst us, a source of much mirth. When she starts moaning about vegan food and we go, “What is vegan, what the fuck is that?”
The story of how I met Noel starts with a ring that I went to buy in Dalston market, bandmember Ysee said in the book. The woman who sold it asked me what I did and I told her I was a singer, and she gave me the number of someone, said call him one day. I forgot about it, lost the bit of paper.
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Three weeks later I moved house, and found it on the floor. Called the guy, hes like, “I dont know who you are, I dont care, bye.” Then the same day at midnight he called me back, and said, “I have something for you.” I thought it was a bit strange, I didnt know him but he brought me to meet David Holmes.
David Holmes is a musician who produced Noel Gallaghers High Flying Birds album Who Built The Moon, and introduced the two.
Noels gig in Prague was a particularly special performance, as tour manager Angus revealed: Prague was interesting, because this venue, the Great Hall Lucerna, is three stories underground. Like Blackpool Empress Ballroom, but underground.
I think its like an old communist party, socialist place. You have to go in through a shopping centre, down all these flights of stairs. So its a great gig for the band, not so much for the crew!
Ysee added that Noel is a great one for helping to settle nerves on such a big tour.
Noel really put me at ease, very quickly, she said of their gig in Scarborough. He definitely lets you come as you are. If he really, really doesnt like something, he will say, but he lets you be yourself. Hes definitely got an intuition about things.
The 72-date tour across the world has been documented throughout the book, with shots both on and off stage as well as contributions from the band and crew.
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Noel Gallaghers High Flying Birds – Any Road Will Get Us There (If We Dont Know Where Were Going) is published on 1 November by Blink Publishing priced £20 in hardback.
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