Liam Gallagher’s advice on how to be a frontman
Liam Gallagher, love him or loathe him, is an iconic frontman. Although he’s not a natural songwriter, he made his brother Noel’s creations come to life in Oasis, and Liam’s charisma is why he’s returned to the top of the tree as a solo artist.
Gallagher doesn’t have the widest skillset in rock ‘n’ roll, but he gets the most out of what he does have at his disposal. While he’s not a fantastic multi-instrumentalist genius, producer or writer, his voice makes up for the other departments where he lacks. Even though, from a technical perspective, his vocal range isn’t on par with classically trained performers, it’s what made Oasis tick.
Speaking about his limited musical ability, Gallagher once said: “I didn’t write ‘Live Forever’, but as soon as I sang it, I made it my own. I class myself as a rock ‘n’ roll singer who writes the odd tune now and again. And that is it. I’m not going out saying I’m Bob Dylan. Ideally, you want to do it yourself, but I can’t write those fucking big songs. I’m limited. My verses are up there, but I just can’t do that next bit.”
While Noel was undoubtedly the brains of the operation, Liam was the personality, and both siblings played equally vital roles in the success of Oasis. Due to his brother’s prolificness with a pen, Liam took a backseat regarding songwriting. He has recieved vast criticism for his approach, and while this is fair, it doesn’t tell the whole story.
They agreed that Noel would provide the songs and Liam would add his touch of magic to the mix, which turned out to be a best-selling formula. Liam has always prided himself on passion, and speaking to Absolute Radio; he revealed this was the most important ingredient for any aspiring frontman.
He told host Dave Berry: “As a singer, you just got to get right up to that mic and go for it, man, and I won’t worry about being in tune or out of tune. Punk rock is about your attitude, so whoever’s going to be the singer gets stuck in. I’ve got no time for people who whimper around the microphone, you know what I mean, or all that kind of singing. I’ve got no time for them.”
Liam continued: “It’s like you should go and do something else or get involved with that microphone. The microphone is not your friend; get involved and spit all over it. I’ve got no time for these little wimpy shoegazing bands like, and they call that singing; that’s my piece of advice.”
Admittedly, his advice doesn’t apply to every upcoming vocalist and is dependent on genre, but if you’re a young frontman of a rock ‘n’ roll band, you could do worse than listen to Liam Gallagher.
