Degs Williamson knew Liam Gallagher before he joined Oasis.
He even saw The Rain play at an early 1990s Manchester party before Liam joined as lead singer, the band’s name changed and Noel arrived as the main songwriter.
Deg now leads top tribute band The Oasis Experience and can’t wait to bring his Burnage “swagger” to Crowfest at Cwmbran Stadium on Saturday 19 July.
He told Cwmbran Life: “It’s the next best thing to being at an Oasis concert. I’ve had people say that to me, like big, massive Oasis fans.
“We actually do sound like Oasis, so that’s what you can expect.”
The Rain and Oasis
He recalls the early days of The Rain and Oasis saying: “I knew the band before Liam had joined it when they were called The Rain and my mate Chris Hutton was the lead singer and they played at somebody’s birthday party.
“I met Liam a good few times. We had loads of mutual mates. So I was at a mutual mate’s house and he goes ‘alright Degs, this is Liam, Liam, Degs’ so got chatting with him and I thought ‘oh my god, this guy has got the X Factor before the X Factor ruined the meaning for me. He had it in buckets.
“And the next time I saw him, he was on The Word (Channel 4) and they were singing Supersonic, and I was like ‘that song is banging’. It’s Liam for a start, and he’s singing a banging song and we were talking about being in bands about three months ago.
The Oasis Experience
“What drew me to Oasis was the fact it was someone I knew from round our way and the songs that they were singing were ‘Supersonic’, coming out of a grunge phase where it’s all depression and all that. It was a nice refreshing change from the norm at the time.”
I asked him how he gets into the Oasis mindset on stage?
“It’s just always there. It never turns off. And I think that’s probably the best way to be, you’ve got to walk the walk all the time, and my walk, Liam’s walk, is just like mine.
“It must be a Burnage walk like you’re cock of the north.
“I’m always in the Oasis mindset. I’m never not in the Oasis mindset because that is just my factory settings. That’s the way it is ever since they came out.
“I don’t try to put it on. I just can’t shake it off either. Coming from Burnage as I do, I think that’s ingrained into your bones. When I see other people trying to do it, like people from wherever, like Shrewsbury, I’m like ‘mate, you can see Shrewsbury in your actions. Why are you stood like that?’
Natural swagger
“I don’t really need to put on too much, as the song goes, ‘I need to be myself’. It’s no good trying to put it on too much. I just act like myself. The vocals are important; The swagger, that just comes naturally.”
Cwmbran Community Council, event organisers, have also invited Abba Revival, Guns2Roses, Rusty Shackle, Watkins and Oliver, and Darren ‘Graceland’ Jones to play.
This interview was carried out thanks to the support of Cwmbran Community Council.
📸 Thanks to Duncan Cowley Photography for the photos of The Oasis Experience on stage.
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This interview was carried out thanks to the support of Cwmbran Community Council.