Nick Brine: The Oasis reunion through the eyes of their engineer

Posted On July 3, 2025July 3, 2025

Well, the impossible has finally happened. Many people have seen miracles happen in rock and roll, from artists coming out of retirement to burnt bridges finally being rebuilt, but the idea of Oasis getting back together felt like a pipe dream only spoken about by people desperate to see the 1990s icons in their prime. But now that the Gallaghers have mended their differences, the excitement isn’t lost on their old engineer, Nick Brine.

Despite Owen Morris being one of the leading figures in turning Oasis’s early albums into masterpieces, Brine was able to be a fly on the wall throughout many of their iconic sessions. From being with them during their trip to Rockfield Studios for What’s the Story Morning Glory to standing on the other side of the glass at Abbey Road for Be Here Now, Brine has been present for the biblical moments and more than a few bust-ups along the way when working with them in the 1990s.

However, whenever they discussed the possibility of a reunion, Brine was waiting with baited breath like the rest of us, saying, “I saw them a couple of times here and there. I did the documentary with Noel for the anniversary of What’s the Story. Not prying too much, but try to get a feeling if it would ever happen. Once Liam became successful with his solo career, it was ramping up.”

But Brine never stopped being close to the band in certain respects. When Liam was working on his major return to Knebworth in 2022, Brine was down front working out the sounds and reminiscing about those old days when the frontman returned to Rockfield in the time leading up to the shows. And yet, when Liam did his own anniversary tour for Definitely Maybe, something felt different.

Looking back, Brine says, “It felt like an Oasis tour but not quite right because Noel’s not there. I just felt, ‘This has to happen. It’s so successful’. You’re seeing three generations of fans crying. It was hysteria. This was too big an event, because if it’s like this with just Liam, what’s it going to be like with Oasis?”

Throughout Liam’s time on the road promoting Definitely Maybe, though, people were already suspecting something would happen. Noel had said he was open to talking about getting together, and Liam was already going back to his roots, so once he started dedicating ‘Half the World Away’ to Noel during his shows, it was practically a teaser for when those images went out in August 2024.

However, if the band are back in full force, they’re going to be hitting the road without some pieces of their equipment. Every one of them has more guitars than money could buy at this point, but one of the guitars that created so much magic for so many people is still in Brine’s possession to this day.

During the sessions for Be Here Now, Brine managed to become the proud owner of the guitar that Noel wrote many of his classic tunes on, saying, “Liam starts smashing things up. The board at Abbey Road had a big dent in it because he smashed a guitar on it. That’s my guitar he smashed. The focus [of Noel and Liam] turned to arguing over who would buy me a new guitar. It had a lot of sentimental value because my mother had given it to me. Noel gave me that guitar during those sessions.”

And this wasn’t any average guitar, either. Yes, it was there during most of the What’s the Story Morning Glory sessions, but does anyone remember their performance on MTV Unplugged? Same guitar. Knebworth anyone? Yep, played there too. Any Be Here Now stuff? Noel took that guitar with him to Mustique when putting together every one of the demos down there. This guitar wasn’t any average six-string; it’s a piece of history now.

While Noel has not yet called to ask for it back following the reunion, Brine has been more than proud to show it off wherever he can. And it’s not only in the odd rock and roll shop, either, saying, “It was in a museum for a while. You can’t carry it around with you. It was in an Admiral Nelson museum. You had Nelson’s ship logs, the ‘Wonderwall’ guitar, and something from King Henry V. It would be nice to get it out a bit more.”

But if Brine ever were to sell it, he’d still be doing it for all the right reasons. He never stopped being an engineer and a fan of music, and when not working as one, he spends his time trying to get grassroots musicians’ careers off the ground with his own nonprofit company. So when someone bids on a tambourine that Liam played on an Oasis track, that proud owner is putting money back into the music business for struggling musicians.

As everyone’s attention focuses on Liam and Noel burying the hatchet, though, there is still one thing on everyone’s mind: IS THERE NEW MUSIC? Noel said that he had a stadium rock album written that was in the vein of Oasis, and now with them back together again, it’s as good a time as any to see where the road takes them, and as a fan, Brine is as interested to see where they’ll go as well.

He also said that while he hasn’t heard anything, he thinks the door might still be open for them to make new music, musing, “I thought about this a lot. The need to make music again might just surface. I think it would be great if they did. Noel’s such a prolific songwriter. I haven’t heard anything, but everyone’s so tight-lipped about it. I hope they do, if it’s just a single, but the tour is the first priority. It all ended so quickly in 2009, I can’t imagine he didn’t have another batch of songs ready for a new Oasis album.”

The hype was already going through the roof in the days leading up to the reunion, but when Brine finally gets on the grounds to see one of his favourite bands, he has a few songs in mind that he has to witness: “I’m so excited. Whatever they open with, everyone’s going to lose their shit. ‘Supersonic’ says Oasis to me when I hear that song. My favourite is ‘Champagne Supernova’ because it’s such a massive song, and that vocal cements Liam’s place in rock and roll history.”

While Brine has countless other stories involving the making of Oasis’ classics, working with icons like Bruce Springsteen and The Darkness, and working on his next career helping musicians get off the ground, those might be tales for another time. But when discussing one of Britain’s biggest bands, he’s as much of a fan of the group as every other teenager walking around Manchester at the time those albums were released. And since he has come to know Noel and Liam on a more personal level, it’s going to be even more special hearing songs written on a guitar he owns being sung by stadiums of people.

Then again, it doesn’t matter if you’ve had the luxury of being up-close and personal with the band like Brine has, if you’re one of the roadies putting everything together for the night, or just one of those kids on the festival grounds. When the opening of ‘Fuckin’ In the Bushes’ begins and the band are out in full force, everyone is going to be transported back to the glory days all over again and relive the kind of rock and roll dream that some people have heard about but never witnessed.

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