Liam Gallagher’s second solo record, Why Me Why Not, has dropped in all its Brit-rock, Manchester-laden glory, and it features a cheeky feature from a Gallagher family member – who really didn’t want anyone to know about it.
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PEDESTRIAN.TV got the man himself, Liam Gallagher, on the blower recently to talk about the new album and his incoming tour in Australia, and he told us the story of how exactly his son, Gene Gallagher, ended up playing the bongos for his Dad’s record.
Gene laying down some bongos on my new tune as you were LG x pic.twitter.com/CBXyfY0Gme
— Liam Gallagher (@liamgallagher) March 20, 2019
Liam shared a picture of Gene playing the bongos, during the recording session for third single One Of Us earlier this year, and it turns out it all happened quite accidentally.
“He did the bongos, he did it through gritted teeth, you know what I mean?” Liam said.
He said ‘what do you mean I have to play on this fuckin’ shit?’ and I said ‘Yes, the drummer’s stuck in traffic, and you’re the only one who can play the drums so yeah, you have to do it. Get down there now.’
So he did it and everything but he was like ‘don’t put me name on it, don’t let anyone know that I’ve played on this tune and that’ – because he’s far too cool for all that stuff.
He’s devastated that people actually know it’s him. He’s like ‘what did I tell ya man? You’re messing with me cred!’ I asked him to come out [on tour] and play bongos and he said ‘no, because I’ll always be remembered for being the bongo guy.’
According to Liam, both his sons – Gene and Lennon – are keen on making music, but aren’t keen on replicating the sound that their old man has produced for the last 28 years.
“It’s far too soppy for them. They’re into some mad fuckin’ heavy stuff and that,” he said.
“[Gene] he’s got big aspirations, man. He wants to be in a band, but not one that writes soppy music.”
Despite Gene featuring his impressive bongo skills on the new Liam Gallagher record, Liam admits that both of his boys are hesitant to make the long trip out to Australia for the summer tour – even though Liam would really like them to come.
I was going to [bring them to Falls Festival 2017/2018] but instead, they went ‘oh how far is it?‘ and I said ‘it’s 24 hours, mate, on the plane‘ and they were like ‘oh that’s a bit far‘ and I’ve gone ‘well I can’t fucking…I can’t change that, mate‘,” Liam said.
“They think it’s a bit too far. Then they went ‘can they not come to us?‘”
Liam told me that he’d actually love to have his sons come with him this time around, noting that they ground him when he brings them on tour, and that he wants them to get a bit of life experience outside of the UK.
“They’re at that age now. I would love to bring them out there, it’d be good for them to see what’s going on, on the other side of the world, but we’ll see how it goes, man.”
As for Liam, he’ll be out and about in his regular attire.
“You won’t be able to miss me, I’ll be the one in the parka.”
Liam Gallagher is in Australia for Fairgrounds Festival and Meredith Music Festival, as well as a string of headline shows around the country over December. He hits Brisbane on December 6, Sydney on December 9, Melbourne on December 11, Adelaide on December 14, and Freo on December 17.
You can stream his new album Why Me Why Not over here.
