‘For many years it’s been uncool’: Max Futcher on his secret guilty pleasure

I was young and my obsession didn’t match those of my friends, so it’s something I’ve kept secret most of my life, writes Max Futcher, but now my daughters have got in on the act, and I may be considering something I might regret … maybe.

We all have our guilty pleasures, and I’m a bit embarrassed to say that my favourite band is Oasis.

I know their music is basic and derivative. I am also aware the Gallagher brothers are hoodlums, but that five-piece from Manchester has provided the soundtrack of my life.

Not my public life though, because for many years it’s been uncool to be a fan of Oasis.

But the recent announcement of the band’s reunion has drawn me out of the shadows, and into the Sun-shee-ine (for the uninitiated, this is how Liam sings “sunshine” in his trademark nasal sneer).

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When I went to school, all the cool kids who were into rock ’n’ roll were fans of hair bands like Motley Crue and Def Leppard and Poison.

I just couldn’t bring myself to subscribe to these blokes prancing about in Spandex with bigger hair than my sister. It just wasn’t for me, and I couldn’t understand why all the tough blokes would pump this music from their Toranas and Monaros.

Then, in the mid-90s, Cool Britannia started gripping the world, and at the vanguard of this Brit Pop phenomenon was Oasis.

Their wall of sound hit me right where I needed it. Guitars and drums combined with addictive melodies, optimistic lyrics and a swagger that no other band could match. Best of all, they dressed like me, and had reasonably short haircuts. I knew instantly this was my tribe.

British rock band Oasis.

I bought all their albums and VHS videos of their concerts. I purchased every rock magazine to read articles about their adventures. I taught myself to play basic guitar, just so I could learn all their songs. It was an obsession, but as the ’90s drew to a close, it was clear the popularity of the band was winding down.

Each album and single release would still enter the UK charts at number one, but the public had moved on to other styles. Not me, though.

My enjoyment of Oasis never waned, although it did move to the privacy of my car, or my headphones.

No longer would the neighbourhood be regaled with the wailing electric guitars of Morning Glory, or the suburban wisdom of Cigarettes and Alcohol. While the public knew their famous tunes like Wonderwall and Don’t Look Back in Anger, I was exploring the band’s lesser-known tracks, obscure B-sides and scratchy live covers of The Who.

I even scoured the internet and found the earliest recordings of the band when they weren’t called Oasis. Back then, they were known as The Rain. I knew the quality wasn’t great, but I was on a trip of discovery.

I got to know far too much about the band, through their changes in guitarists and drummers, their divorces, and their legendary punch-ups. Did you know Johnny Depp played slide guitar on their third album?

I had tickets to a tour in the ’90s that was cancelled. I missed them when they came to Brisbane in 1998, although I hear they were drunk and Liam got charged for headbutting a fan.

Max Futcher. Picture: Tara Croser.

I saw them twice in one week in 2002, and again in 2005. I caught Noel’s solo acoustic tour at the Tivoli in 2006.

In 2009, Liam and Noel had a massive fight backstage in Paris. A plum was thrown. A guitar was smashed. The band broke up.

I got married and had children, and I was careful not to subject my wife to my hidden obsession, but my kids started finding my CDs and asking questions. For some reason they started paying attention when I’d play solo tracks from Liam or Noel’s later albums.

I promise I didn’t push this on to them. That would almost be child abuse. In fact, I told them on several occasions to “find your own music”. Little girls shouldn’t be listening to these louts. And yet they like Oasis too.

Sometimes they’d ask why the brothers broke up, and why they wouldn’t get the band back together. I think they were as excited as me when the Gallaghers made their now-famous announcement about a tour in 2025.

So, the question is: now they’re scheduled to tour Australia, will I go? After all this obsessing, it might seem strange that I’m not sure.

The truth is, I don’t think I can face a day of buses and crowds and queues, just so I can crane my neck from the back row and spot Liam and Noel on the distant stage. Will they be as good? Will they have a fight and leave us all disappointed? Will the magic still be there for me? It is a risk.

Then again, there’s every chance I’ll get swept up in the hype. Maybe I’ll be there in the sun-shee-ine, with a lager in hand, screaming into the air like a champagne supernova in the sky, with thousands of other fans. Maybe they’ve all been hiding like me, waiting for this day. Maybe it’ll be great.

I said maybe …