Noel Gallagher in conversation with Jill Furmanovsky
The interview is part of a full lenth video interview to be aired at the No Music No Life Proud Galleries exhibition from November 17th...
For the last 50 years, Jill Furmanovsky has photographed the very best that music has to offer. Her work has documented the rise of some of the most legendary rock artists including Pink Floyd, Bob Marley, Oasis, and The Police, and graced album covers, musicmagazines, and books to become recognised all over the world.
Rockarchive.com in collaboration with Proud Galleries proudly present Jill Furmanovsky: No Music No Life, an exhibition that at its heart exudes Jill’s love of music and her unique ability
to capture its vibrancy and spirit throughout her career. The exhibition showcases some of the most celebrated shots from Jill’s extensive archive including images of Amy Winehouse, Pink Floyd, Chic, Joy Division, Miles Davis, and Leonard Cohen, with the centrepiece, her stunning award-winning portrait of Charlie Watts.
A whole section of the exhibition is dedicated to Jill’s unique and intimate collection of Oasis images that reflect her close relationship with the band during their zenith. A short film has been created especially for the exhibition, with Jill & Noel Gallagher discussing her work and unique relationship with the band over those unprecedented years. Extracts can be found below.
The No Music No Life exhibition by Jill Furmanovsky is sponsored by MPB and Fotospeed.
Gallery Details
Entry is free from November 17th - February 3rd. Proud Galleries is open Tuesday – Saturday, 11:00 – 18:00 and is located at 32 John Adam Street, London, WC2N 6BP.
For Jill Furmanovsky interview opportunities or gallery media access, please contact Starscream Communications.
Starscream Communications
All images copyright and must use the credit/caption "Jill Furmanovsky, Rockarchive.com" with link.
Noel Gallagher in conversation with Jill Furmanovsky
PARIS
We were just so uninterested in being there. I Just remember Liam being absolutely rat arsed and being in a proper fucking bad mood. As you can see, we've dressed up specifically for the occasion to have our picture taken in Paris.
And it looks like we've just walked off a building site. There's another picture of me on that bridge. Every time I see that picture, I can see on my face I'm just saying ‘I swear to God if you don't fucking hurry up and take my photo…’ We did some really amazing gigs in Paris and it's where we played with Neil Young at the Zenith but it's also the place of some catastrophic days and nights. And I remember Paris is where I wrote Don’t Look Back In Anger. And it's where the band broke up. It's quite a significant place in the tale of Oasis.
BONEHEAD
He was the one that would always put the fire out between me and Liam. Actually, what people see as mine and Liam’s band - it's actually his because he invited Liam to join and Liam invited me so it's his band. First, he was the original member, second, he would always knock us together for the sake of the band. I remember that night vividly as a great night.
AMERICA
America they couldn't handle the fact that we didn't give a fuck about anything. I mean, I think that’s the reason we've never really had a number one album in America - they wouldn't go the extra mile for us because we wouldn't go the extra mile for them. That’s why we've never been been nominated for a GRAMMY - you've got to do all that stuff over there, you’ve got to kind of fake it a little bit and we just we couldn't do it which is why we’d always stall at number two.
AUDIENCES
In the early years, it was all girls. Then this laddish thing. Then the girls started to move a little bit further back and then all of a sudden you just play into a lot of fucking geezers. I don't care what anyone says – it is not as much fun. We blew up quite quickly. We were still booked into play all these places that either had no barrier or a very limited barrier. It was quite violent, almost like Sex Pistol-esque. Obviously the music was quite energetic rock and roll and yeah, I remember there being crazy fucking nights on stage.
MTV AWARDS
We won everything at the MTV awards, which was taking place in London. And the funny thing about this picture is that it’s just after we finished in the studio. We went to the pub for a drink at the Warrington Castle in Maida Vale and didn't go to the awards. And then we see the awards footage back and there's five empty seats at the front during the entire award ceremony. And they've obviously choreographed what was going to happen that night and every time we won an award, this camera came by the five empty seats and we were in the pub.
MANCHESTER
This was a huge, enormous hometown gig and then then you go on stage and the generator broke. So then you come off stage, they fixed it and then the backup generator broke because you went back out. Then we went out the third time. They said ‘whatever you do, don't leave the stage’. There was like tension in the crowd. Somebody said ‘if the generator breaks down again that's it, you’ll have to offer everybody the money back in it'll be like a free gig’. Liam got at the wrong end of the stick event just walked out said ‘this is now a free gig’.
If we ever did get back together, I can assure you Liam would fucking moan his way through the gig. If we ever get back together, you could photograph me going to the bookies put in an extraordinary amount of money on the actual date.
All images copyright and must use the credit/caption "Jill Furmanovsky, Rockarchive.com" with link.
About Jill Furmanovsky
Rockarchive founder, Jill Furmanovsky, was born and brought up in Rhodesia (now Zimbabwe). Her parents moved to London in 1965 when she was eleven. As a teenager, she became a Beatles fan and often stood outside Abbey Road Studio hoping to catch sight of them. Her first rock shot was of Paul McCartney and two school friends taken on a Kodak Instamatic outside of his home in St. John’s Wood.
Jill studied textile and then graphic design at the Central School of Art and Design in London. In January 1972, whilst on a two-week block course in photography, she had a lucky break when she was offered a job as in-house photographer for premier rock venue, The Rainbow Theatre. From then on, she took live shots and features for the music press of the day of the 1970’s and 80’s, including NME, Melody Maker, Sounds, Smash Hits and The Face.
In the 1990s Jill became the main photographer for Oasis.
Musicians photographed in her 50-year career include many of the biggest names in rock: Pink Floyd, Bob Marley, Eric Clapton, Led Zeppelin, The Clash, The Jam, Blondie, The Police, The Pretenders, Bob Dylan, Bjork and Oasis are but a few. She also directed a video for Oasis and The Pretenders.
Jill's book ‘The Moment: 25 Years of Rock Photography' (1995) is a seminal work in the genre.
‘Oasis - Was There Then: A Photographic Journey' (1997) followed. The book ‘Oasis at Knebworth’ (2021) was on the Sunday Times best seller list. Jill curated and contributed to Pink Floyd’s 50th anniversary book for The Dark Side of the Moon (2023).
Jill has won many awards for her music photography including The Jane Bown Observer Portrait Award (1992) and 'Woman of the Year' for Music and Related Industries (1988).
Jill celebrated her 50th year photographing rock bands professionally in January 2023. She marked this with a highly acclaimed major retrospective exhibition ‘Photographing the Invisible’ that was seen by thousands of people at Manchester Central Library. A documentary about her remarkable archive, ‘The Invisible Photographer’ has a provisional release date of Spring 2024.
Jill Furmanovsky is the founder of the rock photography collective www.rockarchive.com that is celebrating its 25th year in 2023.About Rockarchive
The Rockarchive collective of music photographers was founded in 1998 by Jill Furmanovsky, who was inspired by the world-renowned Magnum Photo Agency. After shooting some of the biggest names in rock history, Jill wanted to make her work, and that of other music photographers and visual artists, more accessible for fans and collectors to own.
To launch the collective, Jill selected 30 classic black and white images from her (then) 30- year archive to make into an edition of 30 darkroom prints. Edition 30/30/30 as it became known, was the first collection from Rockarchive.
Since then, the archive has grown in volume and stature and now publishes over 1000 images by more than 100 photographers and graphic designers. As well as producing and selling limited edition prints, Rockarchive now also curates and designs exhibitions for galleries and public institutions, both in the UK and across the world.
Rockarchive’s philosophy is to accord dignity and recognition to the art of music photography and to maintain the rights of its practitioners. However, the long-term aims are wider: to become a valuable historic resource, to promote lesser-known work by high- profile photographers, to showcase unknown but important images, and to promote the work of up-and-coming photographers.
Whether capturing the spirit of a live show, collaborating directly with musicians to create unforgettable record covers, or shooting timeless documentary images, Rockarchive's distinguished contributors are responsible for many of the world’s most enduring rock & roll images. Look closely at the pictures, read the captions, and you will suddenly find yourself in that moment. That is the power of music photography at its best.
About Proud
Proud Galleries was founded in 1998 by Alex Proud. The gallery was originally established in Camden Town, an area that sits at the heart of London’s most vibrant artistic and music scenes. In its early years, Proud Galleries gained recognition for its focus on rock and roll and pop culture photography. Over time, it has expanded its presence in London and beyond, becoming known for its eclectic exhibitions, covering a wide range of subjects from music and fashion to street photography and contemporary art. Today, Proud Galleries continues to play a significant role in the popularisation of pop culture photography in the contemporary UK market.