Talking Oasis 2016 with SuperSonic
SuperSonic performing at Great Scott last year
For a group that disbanded in 2009, Oasis has had a pretty eventful 2016. The eternal war of words between the Brothers Gallagher continues to deepen in its absurdity, a documentary chronicling the band’s meteoric rise debuts this month, and an expansive reissue of their infamously divisive third album Be Here Now was released this past week. For SuperSonic – North America’s leading Oasis tribute band – the timing couldn’t be better.
I first learned of SuperSonic when I profiled the Canadian group for a Tastemakers Magazine feature last year. My own fondness for the broad grandiosity of Oasis (I’ll just leave this here without comment) and fascination with the concept of the reverent tribute act brought me out to the band’s (What’s the Story) Morning Glory? 20th-anniversary show at Great Scott last October. I chatted with founders Dylan Shepherd (the band’s Liam) and Steve Nyarady (its Noel) about the fandom and shared experience of live music that motivates them to take the Oasis catalog on the road.
This fall, SuperSonic return to North American shores for an expanded tour just in time for a renewed wave of interest in the Britpop giants. I caught up with Shepherd over email to see what’s new with the group and get a super-fan’s take on the year in Gallagher.
[Interview condensed and edited]
Q: How are things in the world of SuperSonic? Any major news to report?
A: Things are really good man. Since we last spoke we’ve toured in parts of Canada again, and played our first “unplugged” gig in February, which [was] really fuckin’ cool, and was a sell out! We’ve also had a couple minor changes to the line-up this year: our rhythm guitar player Joe DiPede (Gem) is now sitting behind the drums for us (he’s actually a better drummer truth be told…and it’s his natural musical position), as our former drummer moved on. So we’ve filled that “Gem” spot with our “new kid” Jordan Grenke. New “Zak” and “Gem” but same fuckin’ Rock’n’Roll man.
Q: You’re gearing up for a U.S. tour – how does it compare in scale to your previous ones? Any new surprises in store for the stage show?
A: Yeah, we’ve added 2 more cities to this year’s tour: Detroit and Chicago, and we’re really excited about this tour because we’ve got a fucking VISA this time to get into the country to play (and our own gear…haha). But more importantly we get to continue to spread the Oasis vibes across some amazing U.S. cities again, and new ones like Detroit and Chicago.
As a side note: We’re also looking to your hometown of Boston to redeem themselves with a fucking MEGA turnout for our gig at Great Scott on October 20th…calling all mad-ferr-its thank you very much. We’ve also hooked up with “The Pill Boston” to co-promote the Great Scott show and spin Brit-pop and Modern Indie all night long…cool as shit and should be brilliant!
In terms of our setlist, it has changed a lot for this tour. We’ve moved away from the “Morning Glory 20th anniversary” set and have assembled something that spans the entire Oasis catalogue, with a few b-sides and rare live tracks.
In terms of production value, we’re intending on bringing our multi-media show to play behind us during our shows. We really try and recreate the Oasis show experience through the music, our stage persona and multi-media production….it’s the real fuckin’ deal man. You won’t leave disappointed and you’ll feel like you just stepped out of [an] Oasis time-warp.
Q: Be Here Now celebrates a 20-year anniversary next year, and it’s just been reissued with some rare unreleased material – any plans to focus the live set on those songs? Do those dense and lengthy tracks pose more of a challenge for you guys to perform?
A: As I said some of the setlist will pay homage to Be Here Now and you’ll definitely hear them at the shows. And yeah, that kind of “bombastic” recording of [the] Be Here Now tracks have caused us to really think about which ones we chose to include on this tour anyway, but they are “huge” sonically when we play them. If you’re asking if “All Around the World” is coming with us the answer is no fucking way man!
Q: Any thoughts to offer on that album, now that it’s back in the spotlight? Its reputation is divisive to say the least – how does it stack up to the first two in your opinion? Is all its bombast justified, or does it read as self-indulgent?
A: I’d agree with almost everything you’ve said there. I still think the first two albums were their very best, my personal favorite being Definitely Maybe, but when you really listen to Be Here Now there is some really amazing songwriting going on there. “D’ya Know What I Mean?”, “Stand By Me,” “The Girl In The Dirty Shirt,” “Don’t Go Away,” “All Around The World”…yeah there’s some shit there, but some great stuff too. Still a great Oasis album overall.
Q: What’s your take on the recent happenings between Noel and Liam – the potato remarks and such?
A: Hahaha…..Potato….that’s a gem! Only Liam can come up with that. Someone referred to Liam recently as “Julius Caesar wielding an iPhone.” Those Twitter feeds are entertaining, and I really think that’s the way they like to communicate and get at each other, through the media. But they should bury the hatchet. Liam has come right out and said it too. Noel’s been awful quiet lately…
Q: Between the reissues, the upcoming documentary and the Gallaghers in the press, it’s been a big year for Oasis – do you think that will bring a wider audience out to the upcoming shows?
A: Yeah I definitely think this all plays well into the timing aspect of our tour, and with that a lot of renewed interest and excitement around Oasis, their music and the Gallagher brothers. It’s just cool that SuperSonic will be all intertwined with all the Oasis buzz, especially this fall. We only missed the U.S. premiere of “SuperSonic” by 5 or 6 days…shit! That would have been great to play on the night of the movie premiere.
Q: In the midst of all that, what do you think the odds of an actual Oasis reunion are in the near future?
A: I think the bookies have put a stop to that right now haven’t they?! But I think it will come at some point. The money will get too big to pass up. They have a price tag in mind and if they get it, they will do it!
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You can catch SuperSonic at Allston’s Great Scott this Thursday, and elsewhere on tour through December.
Fri. Oct.21st – Mercury Lounge, NYC, NY.
Thurs. Nov.17th – Small’s, Detroit, MI.
Sat. Nov.19th – Elboroom, Chicago, IL.
Sat. Dec.3rd – Velvet Underground, Toronto, ON. Canada