| Paul McGuigan | |
|---|---|
| Background information | |
| Also known as | "Guigsy" |
| Born | 9 May 1971 Manchester, England |
| Genres | Rock |
| Occupations | Musician |
| Instruments | Bass |
| Years active | 1991–1999 |
| Associated acts | Oasis, The Rain |
| Notable instruments | |
| Fender Telecaster Bass Fender Jazz Bass Fender Precision Bass Gibson Les Paul Triumph Bass |
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Paul McGuigan (born 9 May 1971), better known by his nickname, Guigsy (pronounced "Gwigzee"), is an English musician and one of the four founding members of the English rock band Oasis. He was the group's bassist from 1991 to 1999.
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In the late 1980s, McGuigan started a band with his friends, Paul "Bonehead" Arthurs (guitar) and Chris Hutton (lead vocals), later joined by Tony McCarroll (drums). They called themselves The Rain. After Hutton was fired, McGuigan invited his school friend, Liam Gallagher, to join. After which, Liam asked for his elder brother Noel to join the band. First as a manager eventually becoming lead songwriter and guitarist. The band changed their name to Oasis.
Even in the mid-1990s, with the band's popularity at its zenith, he remained characteristically reserved. Acknowledged as the "Quiet One", there are few recorded interviews with McGuigan. Noel Gallagher said of his bass player "I think he's spoken to me, and this is no word of a lie, since I was 17—thirteen years—for a total of about an hour. All he says is "sweet as" and "alright". That's all."Though a competent bassist, McGuigan's bass playing was often replaced by Noel Gallagher on the band's early recordings. However, there is no sign that the two were on edge as was the case with Tony McCarroll, whom Gallagher would also often replace.[1]
McGuigan left Oasis in 1999. Noel Gallagher claims he quit via fax and avoided phone calls from the Gallaghers in the following weeks. Though he eventually gave up trying to contact him by phone, Noel claims to bear no malice towards McGuigan.[2]
McGuigan presently lives outside London with his wife and son. He occasionally performs as a DJ. He declined to appear in the 2004 Definitely Maybe DVD, though a polite letter explaining his reasons for doing so appears as a hidden extra, along with a short segment with pundits giving their views on him.[3]
A staunch football fan and a life-long supporter of Manchester City F.C., McGuigan had originally shown promise as a footballer. He would regularly play football at Maine Road, which was also frequented by future band mates Noel Gallagher and Paul "Bonehead" Arthurs. However, a torn knee ligament at 16 years of age put this dream out of the question. Whilst still with Oasis, he and journalist Paolo Hewitt wrote a book about football player Robin Friday, entitled The Greatest Footballer You Never Saw (ISBN 1-85158-909-0). McGuigan was renowned for his encyclopaedic knowledge of football and cricket. In an interview for a BBC Radio 1 documentary in 1995, McGuigan described his favourite magazine as being FourFourTwo.
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