John Squire

Lore & Background

The story of Oasis begins not with two brothers arguing over a guitar amp, but with a small Manchester band called The Insiders, where John Squire plugged in and set the tone. Alongside drummer Paul Arthurs and bassist Paul Jones, Squire formed the instrumental backbone of a group that would, after a name change and a lineup shift, capture the world. Liam Gallagher's arrival as vocalist gave the band a voice, and the name Oasis stuck. But the guitar chair Squire occupied was, in the end, not his to keep.

When Noel Gallagher stepped in—brought in partly through the connections of the band's management and the Gallagher family's proximity to the scene—the transition was swift. Squire's departure is often told with a mix of resignation and mutual respect; the early songs carried his fingerprints, and the band's raw, jangly, jangle-pop-meets-garage energy in those first demos owes a debt to his playing. He did not vanish into obscurity. He went on to form The Big Twist, a project that kept him firmly in the orbit of the Manchester and London indie-rock circuits, and he remained a familiar face at gigs and studio sessions across the UK.

For fans, Squire occupies a peculiar niche: the man who was almost the face of Oasis's guitar sound. His name appears in the earliest credits, in the earliest bootlegs, in the earliest stories told by the people who were there. He is the 'before' in the 'before and after' of the Gallagher era, and in a band defined by its two brothers, he is the reminder that there was a third act at the start.

In Their Own Story

The basement venue on the edge of the Northern Quarter was half-empty, the kind of Tuesday where the crowd is mostly other musicians and a few stubborn fans. Squire stood at the front, his guitar strapped low, the amp humming with a warm, slightly overdriven buzz that filled the small room like a held breath. He didn't shout. He didn't need to. The rhythm locked in—Arthurs on the kick, Jones walking the bass line—and Squire let the chords ring out, letting the feedback bloom between phrases. Liam was mid-shout into the mic, and for a few seconds the whole room felt like it was tilting. Then the song ended, the amp hummed down, and Squire unplugged, already thinking about the next gig, the next set of songs, the next small room where the sound would fill the air just like this. It was 1991, and the band still had a name to find. But the guitar tone was already there, already *right*, and everyone in the room knew it.

Reader's Guide

John Squire — Guitarist, The Insiders / early Oasis

Tenure: Squire was the lead guitarist during the band's formative period as The Insiders and into the earliest days of the Oasis name, in the early 1990s. His tenure ended when Noel Gallagher assumed the guitar role, a transition that marked the definitive start of the Oasis lineup as the world came to know it.

Role and Style: As the primary guitarist, Squire was responsible for the band's early sonic identity—jangly, riff-driven, rooted in the Manchester indie and post-punk tradition. His tone favored warmth and sustain, with a tendency toward open, ringing chords and melodic leads that sat comfortably over Liam Gallagher's vocal lines. He was less about volume and aggression, more about texture and groove, giving the early material a slightly looser, more organic feel compared to the polished Gallagher-era sound.

Major Contributions and Conflicts: Squire's most significant contribution was simply being there first—laying down the musical foundation that the band built upon. His departure, while not a public falling-out in the way some later lineup changes became, represented a fundamental shift in the band's creative direction. He moved on to form The Big Twist, where he continued to write and perform, maintaining a presence in the UK indie scene. His legacy is that of the original voice on guitar, the 'before' that makes the 'after' possible.

Did You Know?

• John Squire was the guitarist in the band's predecessor, The Insiders, before the group adopted the name Oasis and before Noel Gallagher took over the guitar chair.
• After leaving the early Oasis lineup, Squire went on to front his own band, The Big Twist, keeping him active in the UK indie and rock scene.
• The earliest Oasis recordings and demos carry Squire's guitar work, meaning his playing is embedded in the band's very first musical footprint.
• Squire's tenure connects directly to the Manchester music scene of the early 1990s, placing him in the same creative ecosystem that produced Madchester and the broader Northern indie movement.