Graham Coxon: “If I were from Manchester I would have joined Oasis”

Years ago those of the guitarist of Blur Graham Coxon they would have been really big words, now much less so. Speaking to the French magazine Les Inrockuptibles the 57-year-old English musician has in fact declared that, if he had been from Manchester, he probably “would have ended up in Oasis”.

Big words in light of the fact that the rivalry for the throne of Britpop in the nineties between Oasis And Blur it was one of those bloody and unforgettable ones. The feud between them culminated in 1995 when the two bands released songs on the same day “Country House”i BlurAnd “Roll With It”The Oasiscompeting for the top of the British sales charts, with i Blur who finally prevailed.

As the years went by, the tensions eased until they disappeared, so much so that the members of both bands exchanged mutual praise on several occasions.
Damon Albarn
And
Noel Gallagher
they collaborated on stage and in the song of
Gorillaz “We Got The Power”
. Also
Liam Gallagher
expressed words of appreciation for the
Blur
calling Albarn a “great author”.

In the interview with the French magazine, Coxon went as far as to say that he believed with good probability that he would have joined the
Oasis
if he had been born and raised in Manchester. “I’m from Derby, which isn’t as far north as Manchester, but if I’d grown up in the same area as the Gallagher brothers I probably would have ended up in Oasis. We all loved the same music, so I probably would have ended up in Oasis… which is a strange thought.”

In the interview with
Les Inrockuptibles
,
Graham Coxon
he also revealed that another band he would have looked good in, if he hadn’t joined
Blur
was the Californian indie rock band
Pavement
. “Pavement would have been fun, they were the right balance between chaos and expressive freedom. I liked seeing them play live because they inspired me, they made me want to not be too rigid in my playing. I wanted to be a little more abstract and expressive… the right notes weren’t that important. It’s not a jazz approach, but it’s close to that kind of expression and freedom.”