Old Alan White Article from Modern Drummer

[Nick S]

Alan White of Oasis Ruling British Pop Drummer by T. Bruce Wittet (This
interview was excerpted from our August 1996 international issue.) Oasis is
all over the place -- just the sort of play on words the band has come to
enjoy. You turn on the television, and it's this voice -- "you're my
wonderwall" -- on MTV. At the other end of the dial, it's the Brit Awards,
and Oasis is cleaning up. Switch on the car radio -- AM or FM -- and it's
the same wailing north-country voice: "Champagne super nova in the sky."
There's no, er ... refuge from them. The band has not gone unnoticed by its
progenitors. In fact, both George Harrison and Paul McCartney, real Beatles
who ought to know, have acknowledged the band's worth. Oasis is a fine pop
group. Their dreamy, psychedelic musings are reminiscent of the Fab Four --
and, of course, there's the hair they share. In a recent Billboard, Harrison
singled out one member: "I think the drummer is pretty good; he's the one
who stands out to me as being pretty cool." I asked drummer Alan White if he
was aware of the compliment: "I'm going to get that framed in my house,
actually; it's something to be proud of. Anything said by a Beatle is pretty
impressive." Alan was born in London in 1972. His brother, Steve, currently
backs Paul Weller and was profiled by MD when he was with Weller's Style
Council. When Steve left the family home, Alan inherited the drum loft his
father had built for the older sibling. Up there he'd work through the
lessons assigned by veteran tutor Bob Armstrong, who employed the Moeller
system: "It's a graceful type thing," White says. "You move your arm up and
drop the stick for a bounce and come down for a power-stroke. It's basically
getting two hits on the drum from one movement. I think Vinnie Colaiuta and
guys like that have a similar style." Drums had long resounded in the
neighborhood. Ginger Baker attended school right around the corner from the
White household: "He's a London boy. Fantastic. He did a drum clinic last
year, and me and Steve went down. Chad Smith from the Peppers was there as
well. Ginger had the old kit he's been using for years -- it's all out of
tune -- and he got up and played and it was brilliant: It's just the way he
is." Alan's early influences were American. "The first stuff I was really
into was soul. I used to listen to James Brown every day because I thought
he was the greatest bloke on earth. I loved the grooves and the fills --
Clyde Stubblefield and all those guys -- I was well into those. As I got
older I was into the Beatles, Kinks, and Small Faces." Ringo Starr's finesse
wasn't wasted on Alan: "A lot of people slag him off. It couldn't have been
another drummer in the Beatles. It had to be Ringo." Barely four years ago,
Alan was working at a prominent London drum shop, Footes, imagining a future
trudging down the little hall to the back. "I was getting fed up," Alan
admits, "thinking 'If I don't make the break I'll just be working in the
shop all the time.' I hooked with these guys who needed a drummer, Star
Club. I auditioned and got that job. We toured around America for a bit. We
came back but just didn't do anything at all in England. And then there were
problems with the record company and the band got dropped. I left them and
just started doing my own thing." The whole experience lasted about three
years. By that time, a defiant young band called Oasis had rocketed out of
Manchester. Their first album revisited themes touched upon by David Bowie
in Ziggy Stardust. Alan was aware of Oasis, but never for a moment expected
the next step -- a phone call from Noel Gallagher, Oasis songwriter and
guitarist, who had heard Alan through an open studio door drumming on a
track. There was no audition. From the moment Alan White joined up, on the
eve of a Top Of The Pops appearance, things accelerated for Oasis. Replacing
Tony McCarroll (who, if a true thread prevails, ought to console with Pete
Best), Alan recorded the current hit album, (What's The Story) Morning
Glory? The lead tune from the record, "Hello," features ruffs, busy triplet
fills, and just the right cacophony: "It's one of those pushy sort of songs.
I'd rather it be a bit busier and then, if need be, I could sort of chill it
out. But Noel was really happy with it. The previous drummer was very, very
straight. I can be straight, like on 'Don't Look Back In Anger," because
that's what's needed -- a 'Cross The Universe' type thing by the Beatles.
Just dig in and let the guitars do the work." A casual listen confirms one
thing -- the man's got nerve: "I play what I like to play. If I can get away
with doing it, I'll do it. That's how I've always played. I'd go in and Noel
would play the song on an acoustic guitar. He'd say to me, 'Just play as you
play.' He never dictated what to play, which is what's great with Noel. He
says, 'You're the drummer. You do what you think is right.' He might ask me
to try something, but really I just go in and do whatever I feel. I think
the reason there are so many grace notes and bits and bobs in my drumming is
that the way I play was the way I was taught by Bob Armstrong. I just think
it makes it dance along a bit more!" Indeed. Check the loping groove on the
hit "Champagne Supernova": "I wish I had spent a bit more time on the
drums," Alan says. "I mean, it's a great sound, but I wish I had been a
little heavier. You're in there and you do it, and if they're happy with it
.. it must sound good. People are buying it! [laughs] It is a nice sound
with the snare popping like Mitch Mitchell's on '1983.' Alan attributes some
of the sound to an affection for vintage drums: "I bought my Rogers kit off
a bloke who came into the drum shop where I was working. All the other
drummers in there were just into new stuff. It was on old, 1065 Rogers
Holiday kit, absolutely in mint condition, with the original heads on it. I
still use those drums, and I've just aquired a (vintage) 12" tom for it in
the states." The snare sound can be attributed, at least in a small way, to
Alan's brother. "Steve's got a load of old drums, old Radio Kings. I think
'Champagne Supernova' was an old Radio King; I think it was about a 6". We
had a good time getting sounds, and once we got then up we just went for it,
which is what it's all about, really. If you spend too long on it, you start
to get a little too anal." Not a chance! Check "Wonderwall." The drums are
tacet off the top. Any other drummer would have entered on the "one" of the
phrase, but Alan tumble sin on bar two: "I actually come in when Noel says,
'Backbeat.' I asked him what the lyrics were and he said, 'Backbeat the word
is on the street.' So I thought, 'I'll come in here.' It's a bit of a weird
one, but it worked!" Alan takes his drums and cymbals seriously. Pearl, for
example: "They were good to me when I didn't have this sort of success.
They're good all around the world -- same with Sabian." Like his brother
Steve, Alan favors larger cymbals: "I think you need it, otherwise it just
doesn't cut through. I think it looks better, as well. Gets back to the old
days." The media surrounds Oasis. They are big stars with big stars on their
guest list. there's lots of action, lots of mouthing off. Alan seems to see
through it all nicely. "I try to keep fit. After breakfast I'll have a swim
and a sauna. If you'r etouring to this extent, you can't do it without
trying to keep healthy. That's important for a drummer. I mean, you could
easily get caught up in going out on the piss every night, but at the end of
the day it's your living, and you've got to be healthy." All in all, Mr.
White seems to be a pretty regular guy doing well at making a comfortable
place for himself at the top. © Copyright 1996 Modern Drummer Publications,
Inc. All rights reserved.

[Bobby]

Learnt a couple of things in there but the 2000 Interveiw from Rythem
Magazine with Alan has to be the best one. Bob Armstrong is supposed to be
the UKs top drumming teacher, I would love to do some lessons with him but I
dont think I can either afford it or commute down to London.

Nick S <niko...@ntlworld.com> wrote in message
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