"Where you hold your guitar for the first time is crucial. It kind of signifies how much of a c**t you’re going to be:" Noel Gallagher reveals a crucial piece of rock star etiquette he learned ahead of his very first gig with Oasis

Pre-Oasis, Noel Gallagher learned much of what he knows about the music industry during his time as a member of Inspiral Carpets' touring crew. But there was one crucial lesson he only learned 48 hours ahead of his first live performance with his younger brother Liam's band: the exact height at which a guitar should be held for maximum rock star swagger.

In a teaser clip from Gibson TV's Icons series, the guitarist reveals that, two days ahead of the new look band's live debut, which was to take place on a Tuesday night, he realised that not only had he never actually played guitar while standing, but that he didn't even own a guitar strap.

"That seems like a preposterous fucking notion now now," Gallagher admits, "but I can only tell you that the Monday was probably the most stressful day of my entire life."

The guitarist explains that he first had to borrow a guitar strap from a member of the Inspiral Carpets ("fucking hell, I better get it back"), and that he then spent "a good hour" in front of a mirror trying to figure out how high or low the guitar should hang.

"I think where you hold your guitar for the first time is crucial," he explains. "It kinda signifies how much of a cunt you're going to be. Because if it's too high, you're not getting no fit birds mate, I'll tell you that for nowt. If it's too low, you're getting a goth. But if you get it right, you know, 'The Gunslinger'..."

At this point Gallagher shrugs as if to say, 'You're all set'.

"I remember looking in the mirror thinking, [checking himself out in said imaginary mirror] Hmmmm.. it don't doesn't look right... Anyway nailed it, right, clearly.

"I remember going to the gig and I was more stressed about standing up, I didn't know what to do. You hear stories about kids who have been practicing for years for that moment, in front of the mirror: I was stressing about it for 24 hours."

"Thank fucking God it was before phones and cameras," Gallagher concludes, "because there would be some pretty fucking awkward footage of it now, but you know, an exhilarating experience all the same."

Watch the clip below:

Gallagher recently named the musicians who he'd love to play alongside in a dream supergroup, and unsurprisingly there are Beatles involved.

The former Oasis man's comments were quoted in an article in The Mirror newspaper.

"I’d definitely join a supergroup," Gallagher states, "I don’t know if I would start one. Who would I like to be in a supergroup with? I could be in a band with [Paul] Weller, and I could be in a band with Johnny [Marr], easily."

When it comes to choosing a rhythm section for his dream group, Gallagher goes big, nominating Paul McCartney and Ringo Starr.

“Ringo and Macca would be fucking great," he says. "Imagine being in a band with Ringo and Macca. Who’s singing? Everyone. I’d fucking pay to be in it."

Gallagher ends his fantasy sequence by joking, "Get me [promoter] Harvey Goldsmith!"

Artists

A music writer since 1993, formerly Editor of Kerrang! and Planet Rock magazine (RIP), Paul Brannigan is a Contributing Editor to Louder. Having previously written books on Lemmy, Dave Grohl (the Sunday Times best-seller This Is A Call) and Metallica (Birth School Metallica Death, co-authored with Ian Winwood), his Eddie Van Halen biography (Eruption in the UK, Unchained in the US) emerged in 2021. He has written for Rolling Stone, Mojo and Q, hung out with Fugazi at Dischord House, flown on Ozzy Osbourne's private jet, played Angus Young's Gibson SG, and interviewed everyone from Aerosmith and Beastie Boys to Young Gods and ZZ Top. Born in the North of Ireland, Brannigan lives in North London and supports The Arsenal.