Phil Smith

I first saw PHIL SMITH in Rome in May 1995, he was a roadie for the Stone Roses. At the time, Ian Brown and John Squire’s band was touring Italy for their album Second Coming and performing at the Palladium. In reality, I didn’t meet him, I simply mistook him for Ian Brown outside the venue. Since then, I think I’ve seen him on many occasions touring with Oasis, always in the company of Liam Gallagher.
In 1997, after the Stone Roses split up, he didn’t have a job, and Noel Gallagher invented one for him: the tour DJ. Basically, Phil selects the records before every Oasis concert and handles the band’s outro track (the one you hear when the lights come back on). Since the Be Here Now World Tour, he has always been on tour with the band, and it should not be forgotten that even before that he had been their roadie (from 1993 to the early period of 1995). It’s a long friendship that ties him to Noel and Liam and he is probably the only person who could write a biography of the band from the beginning to today.
Today’s interview is not his first on Oasis, he also appeared in the making-of DVD of Definitely Maybe, in fact the globe and the photographic portraits used for the cover of the first album were his… and the band never gave them back.

To start, and to better introduce Phil to the fans, we ask him to introduce himself…
I was born in Manchester, now I live in London with my partner, I’m not married…

Do you have a nickname?
No, I don’t have one. Maybe Smitty, according to the traditional English method of finding nicknames.

How and when did your adventure with Oasis begin?
I was a roadie before being a DJ and started working at concerts in Manchester as a local roadie in 1987. In 1988, I started touring with the Stone Roses as a roadie and did several tours with them…

I read from your biography that you also worked at the Hacienda in Manchester during those years… it was the baggy period with the musical rebirth of Manchester…
Yes, I was there working as a local roadie. I had been working there even before that period started…

Many fans are unaware of the English music scene of those years, but that’s where it all began for Oasis. That was the period when they started considering the idea of forming a band…
It was really fantastic. A great moment for us. Before everything happened, Manchester was so depressing, everyone was out of work, and people were moving south (to London). I don’t know how it happened, but suddenly Manchester became the center of the universe, parties were organized everywhere…

A new musical rebirth for Manchester, after the one that saw the Smiths as protagonists…
Yes… everyone got a new groove from then on, it simply exploded out of nowhere. Noel still says today that that was the best moment of his life. Even though he’s in Oasis now. It was fun when going out in Manchester at that time. That’s when I met Noel. He was a roadie for the Inspiral Carpets, and at the same time I was a roadie for the Stone Roses.

How did you meet Noel?
Improperly, I knew who Noel was already in 1988, everyone in the scene knew each other at least by sight. Bands often played at the same festivals. You always saw the same faces in certain venues.

Now he’s a different person from when you first met him, he’s become a rockstar…
No, actually he’s exactly the same as before. He’s the same person as before, just with a lot more money. I don’t see him as changed.

Did you know he wrote songs?
No, I didn’t even think he could play guitar. I only discovered it when he joined Oasis. At that time, I had a house with Mark Coyle and that’s when I really met Noel Gallagher. He would come to our place, and that’s when I found out he could play guitar. In Manchester, nobody plays guitar at home; it was strange to play guitar at home if you were from Manchester. In Liverpool, everyone plays guitar at home all day. When I found out he could play, I also listened to his songs and thought: ‘wow, fucking hell, I love them’.

He played his songs at your house…
Well, Mark Coyle had a small mixing desk in his bedroom. Noel came to record demos with us (1990). And he also brought the band to record other demos. Oasis’ sound was born in that small room. They made a lot of ‘noise’ in the room next to mine, even until four in the morning.

All in Manchester?
Yes, it all happened in our house in Manchester. The final versions released (on Definitely Maybe and the single Shakermaker) of Married With Children and D’Yer Wanna Be A Spaceman are precisely the ones recorded in our house, more exactly in Coyle’s bedroom.

You met Noel first and then Liam…
Yes, if I remember correctly, it was May 1st, 1990, the first time I saw him. He was only 17 years old and the younger brother of Noel. He came to our house with some friends on several occasions. He was a big fan of the Stone Roses and also brought some friends over, knocked on the door and asked if he could come in. We smoked together. He had long hair and was really young.

Noel often says that it was at a Stone Roses concert that Liam began showing interest in music and decided to become a singer…
Yes, before that he wasn’t very interested in music, he was more into hip hop and things like that. The music Noel liked didn’t interest him. Then he went to see the Stone Roses, just before their first album came out. From there, he completely changed his view of music.

I can understand what happened to Liam. I confess I’m a big Stone Roses fan, I was at the Palladium concert in Rome in May 1995…
Yes, I was on tour with them in Rome, I remember.

You said Noel hasn’t changed since you first met him, but is it really so? Maybe he was more fun, more relaxed before. It’s not easy to always be recognized by fans
But Noel is fun, he’s always fun.

Not every day…
Noel actually appears particularly gloomy during this new Italian visit. Four dates in just a few days await him and a whole series of interviews (for media from all over the world). Also, he is not in a good state of health. As a result, he spends his free time in his room and is quite reluctant to meet fans. Liam, on the other hand, gives himself to the fans, including autographs and photos.
Phil bursts out laughing and then adds: But Noel is fun, he’s always fun. He hasn’t changed that much in the last fifteen years. Really, there are no differences.

But it’s different being on tour as a roadie than being the leader of a band like Oasis…
But when he was a roadie for the Inspiral Carpets, he was already used to doing everything he does today. He would be in the office giving interviews to Swedish radio on behalf of the Inspiral Carpets. These were boring things for the band and he did them for them. He sold t-shirts. He knew what it was like to be in a band before being in a band. When Oasis started, he already had the necessary experience. He knew what he was doing. When they went to America, it wasn’t new to him. He knew how to get a record deal. Since then he’s been the head in charge.

But how are relations now with the members of the Inspiral Carpets, it seems he had some problems with a particular member of the band…
Yes, I think he doesn’t like Clint, the keyboardist (n.d.e.: Clint Boon is the keyboardist of Inspiral Carpets and also formed the band The Clint Boon Experience, releasing some singles on his own label: Artful). But there are no problems with the others. Graham (Lambert) the guitarist now works for a promoter agency in Manchester and they organize concerts also for Oasis. But I don’t know much.

You’ve been involved with Oasis since their early days. You must have many stories to tell
Yes, before following them as tour DJ, I was also a roadie for Oasis (from 1993 to 1995).

You’re perhaps the only person who has followed them from the beginning until today. Always present. Perhaps the only one who could write a real biography of the band
Phil smiles mischievously, he knows many backstage stories but, out of loyalty, probably must keep the more ‘awkward’ secrets: Yes, it could be a really interesting book. A great book. If I ever wrote it, though, it would have to be a different book. A rock’n’roll book.

You were also at Knebworth in 1996
Yes, at the time I was working again with the Stone Roses, I was their roadie, and we all arrived at Knebworth by helicopter. There are also professional recordings of everything that happened at Knebworth, but it has never been released. Maybe they’re saving it for the 20th anniversary to make a documentary, I couldn’t say why they haven’t made a video yet.

Bonehead told us that it wasn’t the best Oasis concert. He remembers it as ‘Madness Knebworth’ with about 6,000 people in the backstage village, a real mess…
Yes, maybe that’s true. It’s important because there were so many people. Even Woodstock wasn’t perhaps exceptional musically but became historic for everyone who attended. The same for Oasis, with all those people. They couldn’t see the stage, nor the big screens. From the stage, you couldn’t see the end of the crowd. It was beyond the hill. But even more people called to buy a ticket. They estimated they could have filled 12 consecutive nights at Knebworth. The phone lines collapsed. It was really crazy.

This summer in Manchester there will be a new event for Oasis, Heaton Park in Manchester
Yes, there’s anticipation for Manchester, it’s in a huge park.

An opportunity for another helicopter ride
I hope so. It’s like playing a big football final when Oasis play in Manchester. Everyone is excited. Without a doubt, it will be the real event of this tour. It will be insane. Especially on Saturday. Last time they played in Manchester at the City Of Manchester Stadium, a few seconds after the concert started, the barriers were broken…

You started as tour DJ with Oasis in 1997
It was the Be Here Now tour. At the time, I was unemployed. And Noel proposed I go on tour with them and play records before the concert. I had never done it before.

Do you still use vinyl?
Yes, but only on tour. Nowadays, I usually use CDs for gigs. Vinyl is too heavy to carry around. It’s more convenient to travel with a lighter, smaller suitcase.

Ever thought of using an iPod?
I don’t have an iPod. I’m not a fan of digital music. On tour, I carry about 500 albums with me. I don’t know the exact number. But it’s a lot. And I buy more vinyl while on tour.

The Be Here Now tour was Oasis’ most impressive tour, a grand stage setup, two-hour concerts, and Champagne Supernova lasted over 8 minutes. What do you remember…
We toured at the time when the band was at the height of its fame. No band was more popular than them in the UK at that time. Everything was exaggerated and crazy.
I try to get him to recall some specific episodes from that period. Phil pauses briefly to reflect, then continues: Actually, every day was crazy. But it was the others who were excited. I mean, the press and the fans went crazy for Oasis. Expectations were higher.

Noel said everything was more absurd and exaggerated also because of the band members’ drug problems…
Phil (smiles): It wasn’t a problem at the time.

It was Noel who said he took drugs back then…
Phil smiles again: Maybe he did it once.
Then he becomes more serious: When you start making money, you also start spending it. It was their rock’n’roll moment, no doubt.

Staying on gossip, in 2002 you were arrested in Munich with Liam, what happened?
Yes, I was involved and arrested with Liam. I really don’t know how it started. I was about to go to sleep. Then something happened and I was involved. It’s quite strange if you think that we were arrested and none of the other guys. We’re going back to Munich, I think next week. But we won’t be in the same hotel. (laughs)

I can believe that…
It was a strange event, a broken table, a fight, and the police immediately intervened to arrest only the English.

Did the police know Oasis were there?
Yes, they probably knew who we were, that we were part of Oasis or the staff. This is southern Germany. I like being in the north, Hamburg for example. The south is totally different. Everyone is huge, looks Texan… The rest of Germany is fine.

Even in Italy there are territorial differences. Fans in Rome and southern Italy are perhaps warmer than those in the north
Yes, probably also crazier. In Milan, fans are warm, but if you go south, you see they are wilder. But we’ve never done a concert in Naples yet…

The band plays ‘Bag It Up’ and ‘The Turning’ in soundchecks but has excluded these songs from concerts, can you tell us anything?
They are playing them in recent soundchecks, maybe because they want other songs to include in the set. Maybe for special events, I wouldn’t know.

But since October 2008 their setlist has remained unchanged
Yes, the only exception was ‘My Bigmouth’, but these are Noel’s decisions, the Chief. Anyway, the setlist works, so why change it?

You’ve been many times in Italy with Oasis and even before with the Stone Roses. When was your first visit to Italy?
The first time I came to Italy was in 1988 during a train trip across Europe, I was in Rome, in Brindisi. But just one day in Rome is nothing. It’s a historic city, not like Manchester.

Back to Oasis. What do you think of Liam’s songs?
I love his songs. They improve every time. On the last tour, he let me listen to two CDs full of his demo songs. They are great and unfortunately some you may never hear.

It’s Noel who decides which songs to release, maybe songs like ‘The Boy With The Blues’ or ‘I Believe In All’ deserved at least to be b-sides, instead of remixes…
I’ll tell Noel (laughs)

We start talking about I’m Outta Time, Liam’s single, and its chart position in the UK Charts. Meanwhile, the door to the outdoor cloister where we are opens and a firm voice calls out: “All lies, it’s all lies. Don’t believe him.”
It’s Liam Gallagher entering and coming in front of our camera to proclaim: “He is a fantasist” (A person who confuses reality with fantasy).
Liam Gallagher and Phil Smith are inseparable during tours, especially in recent years where Noel and Liam spend most of the time apart. Phil is Liam’s right-hand man, especially after concerts, when the evening continues. Liam asks if the interview will be translated into Italian. He stays with us, intending to listen for the duration of a cigarette.

What is your favorite Oasis album?
Be Here Now. A great album. I received a DVD from an Italian Oasis cover band that played the entire Be Here Now set.
Liam: I lost it last night
Phil: No, I’m sure it’s in my room
Liam: What’s the band’s name?
Phil: I think Burning Rain… I’m sure the DVD is in my room

What’s your favorite Oasis song?
My favorite song is Supersonic. It was practically written and recorded in the studio. Only one recording. £100 was spent on that song.

What’s your favorite band…
I have to tell you my all-time favorite band is Echo & The Bunnymen. That was the band when I was a boy. I like records from the 1980s and all that music I listened to when I was fifteen or sixteen…

Is it the same music you select in clubs as a DJ?
No, I would like to, but I don’t play that kind of music in clubs. I play more current music and all that crap to make the girls dance. I play the records people ask me for. If people ask for Oasis, I oblige, I try to entertain the people present.

How do you choose the tracks before Oasis concerts?
The music I select before the concerts I choose myself. Unless there are specific requests from the band. Sometimes Noel talks about some old 70s track he heard somewhere that nobody has ever heard before… Then I try to find how to get it on vinyl. I go on eBay to buy it immediately and maybe play it at the next concert. When I played Blue Moon sung by Elvis at the end of the concert, it was at Noel’s request. It’s the City anthem, and Noel called me before the tour to see if I had it on vinyl and if I would bring it with me. On some occasions, he asks me to play it at the end of the concert.

You also support Manchester City like Liam and Noel and the entire Oasis staff?
Yes, I support City, but I think it’s just a coincidence that we are all fans of the Citizens. There’s actually only one United fan. Only Andy Bell’s personal roadie is a Manchester United fan. But we all shut him up.

What do you think of Italian Oasis fans?
They are the best audience, the best fans… When fans are so warm, the concert is more intense. The band gives something extra. Especially Liam. Fans in Italy are really engaged. They’re not there to hear just a couple of songs they know. They are very passionate.

Maybe too passionate?
I don’t know, Liam for example is now outside talking with some fans. He gets along well with Italian fans.