Rag'N'Bone Man has discussed his blossoming friendship with Liam Gallagher in a new interview with Music Week.
The 36-year-old star, real name Rory Graham, scored the second fastest-selling album of 2021 so far with Life By Misadventure (Columbia), which hit No.1 on Friday with first-week sales of 41,755, while his Pink collaboration Anywhere Away From Here is up to No.8 in the latest OCC midweeks.
Graham first became acquainted with former Oasis frontman Gallagher after meeting him at a festival a few years ago.
"I drew a Salvador Dali moustache on Ed Sheeran [on a poster at a festival] and that was when I first met Liam. I think he was like, ‘that’s cool that is’. I was like ‘you’re Liam Gallagher, you was in Oasis,’ he laughed.
"We’ve hung out a little bit here and there. We’ve got friends in common, Simon Aldred is someone who I’ve written with before - on the last record and two songs on this record - and he writes a lot for Liam. We hung out a little bit and I went to his O2 show [in 2019], which was fucking great."
I think Liam's material is amazing, I really respect him for coming back and absolutely smashing it
Rag'N'Bone Man
He added: "I think Liam’s material is amazing, I really respect him for coming back and absolutely smashing it. He’s obviously got amazing songwriters working with him - Simon and Adam Wyatt and stuff - the material is great and it’s produced great too. It’s really funny, when you go into the music industry and you think people are going to be a certain way and you realise everyone’s just fucking normal people at the end of the day. Liam’s just really nice and still likes a party and a drink and stuff.
"It’s nice to meet people. A lot of the new school musicians, maybe the pop stars and stuff, are maybe kept away and shielded a little bit more. I really like going to festivals and just talking to loads of people and drinking with other bands and stuff. It’s cool that the old school guys still like doing that and still like having a party."
Graham said he didn't spend much time chatting to other musicians in lockdown.
"The one blessing we had is that I came up with this idea to do these sessions from my studio," he said. "Part of it was so that me and my band could get together and rehearse and jam and keep playing together and not feel like we’d come back after all this time and not gel well.
"We made it into a YouTube series. It’s been really nice. Every other week we get together and record two or three songs down there. We’ve had a few guests. That’s been a real blessing, regardless of festvials and gigs, I’ve just missed playing and it’s fun - regardless of whether anyone’s listening.
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