The Ben Mulroney Show - Dick Carruthers -- THE doc maker for the rock band OASIS.

Episode Date: August 19, 2025

- Dick Carruthers/Documentary film maker If you enjoyed the podcast, tell a friend! For more of the Ben Mulroney Show, subscribe to the podcast! ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://link.chtbl.com/bms⁠⁠���⁠⁠⁠ Also, on youtube -- ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://www.youtube.com/@BenMulroneyShow⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ Follow Ben on Twitter/X at https://x.com/BenMulroney Insta: ⁠@benmulroneyshow⁠ Twitter: ⁠@benmulroneyshow⁠ TikTok: ⁠@benmulroneyshow⁠ Enjoy Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

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at the new Rogers Stadium in front of 50,000 people Oasis will be reunited for two shows They're the only two shows happening in Canada And there are a lot of fans Who've been waiting a long time To see this band reunited A lot of us remember the late 90s And early 2000s where Oasis was

They were it They were everything And then one day they just were no more And so glad to see them back together Somebody who's been chronicling OASIS Probably more than most Is our next guest He's a famed music film director

He's worked on documentaries about Led Zeppelin, the Rolling Stones, and we're talking about Dick Carruthers. Dick, thank you so much for joining us on the Ben Mulroney Show. Hey, Ben. Thanks for having me. So you did three documentaries on Oasis, familiar to millions, standing on the edge of the noise, and there we were, now here we are. Talk to me about the, when did you do each of those docs? Now, there's a good question. That requires memory.

I think as OASISA, well, what would happen every time. OASIS would come out with a new album, we would usually make a, they would want a documentary made about the making of the album. So in old currency, that was called an EPK, but to just sort of promote the album. But because Oasis are just so fascinating, interesting and the songs are so good, they sort of became documentaries in their own right, like the UK TV channels would say, we'd really love to broadcast that. Right, because they're so can't, they're, they're, they're honest when they speak.

It's not, you're not getting those canned answers that you typically get from people when they're promoting something, some like stock footage that anybody can use. You're absolutely right. They never change if I'm there with a camera or if anybody's there with a camera or sometimes there's just some of us on the back of a bus. There's one doc we made called, what is it called 10 minutes of noise and confusion? and I joined them and the Black Crows for a tour. Oh, wow.

And I just filmed everything that happened. Honestly, there was more crazy rock and roll in one day than you'd get in a whole tour on any other thing. So I'm just there with a camera, right? But my point is that you're right. They would say to each other and to me, whether there's a million people watching or it's the back of a bus, because there is no filter.

But that's what gives them integrity. That's what makes them honest. And ultimately, I think that's why people love them. Oh, yeah, I've been listening to a lot of new, so Noel clips as he was gearing up for this. And he's an exceptionally funny and self-aware guy. He's in on the, I mean, there are not a lot of jokes that you tell about him because he comes out the winner. But if there is a joke to be told about him, he's in on it. Yeah, he's just a very good raconteur.

If you have lunch or dinner with Noel Gallagher, you're just going to be crying with laughter the whole time because that's just the way he is. He is, he's the sharpest, funniest guy in the room, just always. Like you say, he doesn't tell jokes per se. No. That's just his personality. Oh, if you want to laugh, if you want to laugh, go, go find the story he tells about his wife buying him tickets in New York City to go see Seinfeld. That to me is, so I just didn't see it coming, and it was such a genuine story,

and you could see he was such a fan. But, yeah, it was wonderful. And I can give you a top tip, actually, for your fans as well. once upon a time the band or the label said they wanted to bring out you wouldn't call it

a greatest hits no wouldn't allow it to be a called a greatest hits but it was called oh forgive me yeah you see I can't remember what it was but it was a compilation of all of their best songs

and so to accompany that they decided they wanted to do a video DVD with it so all of the music videos that had ever been made for each of those songs so there's a good 20, 30 videos, some of which I made, but most of them are the promo types.

Anyway, we got into a studio and recorded Noel and I talking over them. And I'm just lobbing him questions. I'm just throwing him a question. And he just disses every single video except one. And he just says, what is this nonsense? But anyway, I won't do it justice. But if your fans ever want to find that DVD and listen to the, because you can listen to the music track, but the alternative soundtrack is Noel and I talking. And he wouldn't let me

edit it. I think we started editing it. It's just the conversation for an hour and a half. It's the rough cut. It will make you cry. It's so funny. Dick, you never look a gift horse in the mouth. And when we hear that Oasis gets back together, I'm not, I'm not looking to understand what, well, I shouldn't look to understand why. I should just be grateful this happening. But what do you think the genesis was of bringing these two brothers back together who for so long were allergic to each other well you know in all the years i worked with them that you one learned never to get involved in any other spats you know i think the unpredictability of it and the sort of the brotherly angst was always part of the appeal of oasis but i mean they would have spats there

was times as you you know your oasis mythology i'm sure that no one would leave the tour and come back and there was all sorts of bust-ups so when that actually happened in 2009 we'd just done a stadium tour we just finished a tour then and they went off and i think there was a fight in paris and i remember my partner karen saying to me oh you know there's been a fight oasis have split up again i'm like yeah whatever you know um and you know they'll probably get back together except that they didn't and so time went on and then i did have the fortune of working with Noel on his first solo album, which was incredible. You know, he went off in a different direction, a lot of good songs. A really fantastic photographer called Lawrence

Watson sort of accompanied him for months and shot loads and loads of beautiful video and stills. And I kind of put that together again for a sort of a documentary about the album and interview with Noel. And that's quite, I think I saw that. I think I saw that one. Yes, that's called it's never too late to be who you might have been. Yeah, yeah. A classic Noel Gallagher title, if ever there was one. So, yeah, again, that's a great one. That's a great one.

It's Noel just talking, just cut over all of these film and stills of him in the studio and writing these new songs. But anyway, that happened. And then, of course, Liam went out and did, he pursued his own touring career and writing career. And so that was, that seemed to be it. Now, then there was a time last summer where various rumors were flying around. and of course people were ringing up and going, oh, Oasis are getting back together. And I thought, well, you know, it's really,

it's like Led Zeppelin, you know, after we did that Led Zeppelin gig in 2007, everybody and his wife were ringing me up saying, hey, when's the tour? Yeah, like, yeah, right. You just, yeah, you just wait, you know, because there might have been, there might not have been. So, and then suddenly it's all on.

Suddenly it's announced and like, you know, they're going to do it in big style, big stadiums, I mean, everything. I did see the show in London. And I mean, it's terrific. So, good. So I'm not answering your question, then. I think I'm probably avoiding it.

I got a wonder. It would be, go ahead. Yeah, I got to wonder. You know, they're older now and they've had a certain amount of success apart. But for them to come back together and see the success that they have together, there's that alchemy. There's that special magic that they can only have together. I've got to wonder whether, I got to wonder whether it was as simple as them just

missing it together. And I'll ask you, one. last question we don't have much time left but do you think that the success that they're seeing the love that they're feeding off of from the crowds is it inevitable that they get back in the studio and give us new music wow it's got to be hasn't it yeah it's got to be because if you're having that much fun but it's the same with the rolling stones or like they just keep touring the bands that that love doing it um you know maybe maybe i would think yes if i had to really vote i would think yes because when you're standing on stage

and the crowds are having it that large as you will see at the gigs, which was always the way. If there's that much joy and love for them, then why not? Dick Carruthers, I wish to God I had more time with you. This has been so much fun, but thank you so much.

I'm going to go back and check out so much more of your work. Congratulations on all your success. And thanks for stopping by the Ben Mulrini show. Great. My pleasure to be here. They come from Survivor, they come from Big Brother. They know what they're doing. These vets wrote the playbook, and they have all had to earn their stripes.

How did you win Survivor? Manipulating people. Same thing I'm going to do here. And now new threats will enter the game. Hungry to forge a new legacy. Once we train them, it's going to be hard to contain. This really, truly. is the most even matchup that I've seen in a long time.

The challenge, vets, and new threats. All new Wednesday on Slice and Stream and Stack TV.