Paul Francis McGuigan (born 9 May 1971), known professionally as Guigsy (pronounced "Gwigzee"), is an English retired musician. He is best known as the bassist and co-founder of the British rock band

Oasis In ecology, an oasis (; ) is a fertile area of a desert or semi-desert environment'ksar''with its surrounding feeding source, the palm grove, within a relational and circulatory nomadic system.” The location of oases has been of critical imp ...

Career

In the late 1980s, McGuigan started a band called The Rain with

Paul "Bonehead" Arthurs Paul Benjamin Arthurs (born 23 June 1965), known professionally as Bonehead, is an English musician. He is best known as the rhythm guitarist, occasional keyboardist and co-founder of the rock band Oasis. Early life Paul Benjamin Arthurs was ...

on guitar, Chris Hutton on lead vocals, and

Tony McCarroll Anthony McCarroll (born 4 June 1971) is an English drummer and one of the founding members of the English rock band Oasis, as their drummer from 1991 until his dismissal in April 1995. He played the drums on their debut album, ''Definitely May ...

on drums. After Hutton was fired, McGuigan invited his school friend

Liam Gallagher William John Paul Gallagher (born 21 September 1972) is an English singer and songwriter. He achieved fame as the lead vocalist of the rock band Oasis from 1991 to 2009, and later fronted the rock band Beady Eye from 2009 to 2014, before starti ...

to join on vocals. Liam's brother Noel then joined the band as a guitarist and the primary songwriter, at which point they changed their name to Oasis. Though a functional bassist onstage, McGuigan's bass parts were occasionally played by Noel on the band's first two albums. Despite a rumour that McGuigan did not play bass on ''

Definitely Maybe ''Definitely Maybe'' is the debut studio album by English rock band Oasis, released by Creation Records on 29 August 1994. Oasis booked Monnow Valley Studio near Rockfield in late 1993 to record the album and worked with producer Dave Batchel ...

'' and that his and Bonehead's parts were replaced by Noel on the first two albums, this has been denied by the band's producer

Owen Morris Owen Morris (born in Caernarfon, Wales) is a Welsh record producer who has worked with rock bands including Oasis (band), Oasis, the Fratellis, Ash (band), Ash, The View (band), the View, Loso and the Verve. Biography Morris started working in t ...

. Like the other band members, McGuigan said he has smoked a lot of

weed A weed is a plant considered undesirable in a particular situation, "a plant in the wrong place", or a plant growing where it is not wanted.Harlan, J. R., & deWet, J. M. (1965). Some thoughts about weeds. ''Economic botany'', ''19''(1), 16-24. ...

during touring. McGuigan left Oasis in 1999 and was replaced by then-former

Ride Ride may refer to: People * MC Ride, a member of Death Grips * Sally Ride (1951–2012), American astronaut * William Ride (19262011), Australian zoologist Arts, entertainment, and media Films * ''Ride'' (1998 film), a 1998 comedy by Millicent ...

frontman and guitarist Andy Bell as bassist. Noel claims that McGuigan quit via fax and avoided phone calls from the band in the following weeks. Though he eventually gave up trying to contact McGuigan, Noel said he does not hold any grudges. McGuigan occasionally performs as a DJ. He declined to appear in the 2004 ''Definitely Maybe'' DVD, although a polite letter explaining his reasons for doing so appears as a hidden extra and there is also a short segment featuring pundits giving their views on him. He also declined to be interviewed for the 2016 '' Oasis: Supersonic'' documentary, though archive footage of him was used instead. McGuigan said of his playing style in 1995, "When I first started I just played up and down the top string of the bass. Come to think of it, that's what I still do now."

Personal life

An avid sports fan, McGuigan especially loves football and is a lifelong supporter of

Manchester City FC Manchester City Football Club are an English football club based in Manchester that competes in the Premier League, the top flight of English football. Founded in 1880 as St. Mark's (West Gorton), they became Ardwick Association Football ...

. In 1996, he told ''

Rolling Stone ''Rolling Stone'' is an American monthly magazine that focuses on music, politics, and popular culture. It was founded in San Francisco, San Francisco, California, in 1967 by Jann Wenner, and the music critic Ralph J. Gleason. It was first kno ...

'' "watching football is my main hobby. Watching football, watching videos about football, reading about football and talking about football. That's pretty much all I care about". In the 2016 documentary '' Oasis: Supersonic'',

Noel Gallagher Noel Thomas David Gallagher (born 29 May 1967) is an English singer, songwriter, and musician. He was the chief songwriter, lead guitarist, and co-lead vocalist of the rock band Oasis until their split in 2009. After leaving Oasis, he formed ...

quipped that being in Oasis was a "lowly fifth" on the list of McGuigan's favourite things after "

cricket Cricket is a bat-and-ball game played between two teams of eleven players on a field at the centre of which is a pitch with a wicket at each end, each comprising two bails balanced on three stumps. The batting side scores runs by striki ...

, ''

Doctor Who ''Doctor Who'' is a British science fiction television series broadcast by the BBC since 1963. The series depicts the adventures of a Time Lord called the Doctor, an extraterrestrial being who appears to be human. The Doctor explores the u ...

'',

, and Man City". McGuigan is renowned for his encyclopaedic knowledge of football and cricket. During a

BBC Radio 1 BBC Radio 1 is a British national radio station owned and operated by the BBC. It specialises in modern popular music and current chart hits throughout the day. The station provides alternative genres at night, including electronica, dance, ...

interview in 1995, he named ''

FourFourTwo ''FourFourTwo'' is a football magazine published by Future. Issued monthly, it published its 300th edition in May 2019. It takes its name from the football formation of the same name, 4-4-2. In 2008, it was announced that ''FourFourTwo'' had e ...

'' as his favourite magazine. Whilst still with Oasis, he co-wrote a book with journalist Paolo Hewitt about football player

Robin Friday Robin Friday (27 July 1952 – 22 December 1990) was an English footballer who played professionally as a forward for Reading and Cardiff City during a career that lasted four years in the mid-1970s. His on-field performances were regar ...

, entitled ''The Greatest Footballer You Never Saw''.

References

External links

Paul McGuigan interview from ''FourFourTwo'' football magazine (December 1997)Toazted Interview (part 2)
{{DEFAULTSORT:McGuigan, Paul 1971 births Living people English rock bass guitarists Male bass guitarists Musicians from Manchester Oasis (band) members Britpop musicians British rock bass guitarists 20th-century English bass guitarists 21st-century English bass guitarists