When I was younger, probably 11 or 12, I was very much a Britpop kid. I was into the big tunes and the larger-than-life characters. I was into everything from the Lightning Seeds to Blur to Stereophonics.
I remember buying Spice Girls’ Spice World on tape, but it’s not something I’m proud of. But first album I bought was probably by Oasis. I specifically remember buying Be Here Now. They were the first big band I got into and bought all their albums.
I was drawn to the big songs and Noel Gallagher’s amazing songwriting. I started learning guitar when I was around 11 or 12 and the first book I got was a chord book for The Beatles. I learned that from cover to cover, and I guess the next logical next step into the modern world was to throw myself into Britpop and that’s kind of what happened.
- Six Pack: The Philosophy of Rou Reynolds
- The 10 best Enter Shikari songs as chosen by Rou Reynolds
- Enter Shikari's note to young people: Broaden your music taste
- Enter Shikari to headline Slam Dunk 2017
I saved up money from my paper round and managed to see Oasis twice, including their big show at Finsbury Park in north London in 2002. Because of seeing bands like Oasis and Muse , it’s meant that Enter Shikari are never completely content with playing a little venue circuit, we’ve always very much enjoyed becoming – not theatrical – but grander.
Listening to Be Here Now was a lesson in songwriting, at least in terms of structure; having grown up with Motown and northern soul, melody was something that I loved, and that’s something Oasis were really good at. I guess they were quite punk as well, in some sense of the word. They seemed to just do what they wanted. They’ve definitely had an influence on what I do.
Live at Alexandra Palace – Bootleg Series Volume 6 is out now through Ambush Reality. Enter Shikari headline Slam Dunk in May 2017.
Rou was speaking to Luke Morton.
