‘Dad, you’re singing it wrong’: Meet the real-life father-son dynamic behind an Oasis tribute band

September 10, 2026 — 11:00amDarren Spiby, 57, and his son, Tom, 24, play Liam and Noel Gallagher in Noasis, the Oasis tribute band, bringing their own family dynamics to a famously fractious sibling relationship.“I was nervous about getting it right because Dad’s such a professional,” says Tom Philby of joining his father Darren’s band. “He’s very specific.”Brent LewinDarren: I’ve been playing since I was young and performing was normal in our family. Tom got his first electric guitar at seven and, within a year, he learnt to do Nirvana. He’d be wearing a wig, his brother would come in with a wig as well, they’d get it down pat. He went to drama school and was in all kinds of shows. Our first times on stage together were back when we were still living in Derbyshire in the UK [the family came to Australia in 2013]. I’d chaperone him to a ballet or opera show, then get thrown into the cast, too, because they knew I could perform – “Wear this, stand here, do this” – and then you’d go out in front of a thousand people and wing it. It was loads of fun.We knew Tom had talent, an understanding of music – and words. When he was tiny, we had placemats on the kitchen table with unusual herbs pictured on them. By the age of two, he could recite them: “Vervain!” he’d call out. It was nuts. He was very, very switched on. His brain is a little bit like mine. It’s difficult for us to just listen to music, we dissect it: “Oh, that bass is too loud.” We’ll hear the same nuances.I started Noasis in 1996. Five years after we arrived in Adelaide, I got Noasis going over here. After a while, I kicked out one guitarist and asked Tom to come in so we could keep rehearsing. The other guys said, “Oh, he’s good. Can he sing?” He could. It’s been five years and now his younger brother, Dan, is in, too, playing bass. It’s a show, a job, so we put on the costumes and get into our roles. We don’t walk around the streets like Liam and Noel Gallagher. But the perfection we seek is real and Tom is opinionated. He might stop the band during rehearsal: “You should be singing like this, Dad.” It gets heated, we’re family. “No, Tom, that’s not quite right.” It kicks off, then the whole band ducks for cover. It can be intense in that cauldron, but it’s because we both want to do a great job.To play with your kids, it’s just amazing. On stage, Noel – or Tom – might do a lead break. I’ll step away, go to the corner of the stage, like Liam would do, and just play tambourine, let Noel have his moment. Often I’ll dive behind the speakers and record on my phone from the side. I’ve got dozens of little clips of him singing and playing. Pride is always there. That’s the bit I have to wrestle and keep down so I don’t get too emotional when I’m doing this. When I share the father-son connection, I’ve had people full-on bawling. I think they wish they’d done more with their parents or their kids. That’s the big one.Tom’s into his acting and he’s just made a short film. I think there’ll be a natural path where he’ll choose which way he needs to go. But there’ll always be music. We were saying yesterday how great it would be to be able to stand in the crowd, go down the front, and watch our show. If only we could do it with holograms or something, that’d be very cool.Tom: I remember Dad rehearsing for his own gigs and helping me with musical theatre; he’d be on the piano, guiding me through Memory from Cats, coaching me on notes and delivery. He’d chaperone me to auditions and then end up jumping in. I remember one where I was a little teacup and he came out in this menu costume, a head on top of a massive human poster. He wasn’t embarrassed, so there was no reason for me to be.He coached me in basketball, too. We were always talking about shooting form to get the perfect backspin. It was tough love. I respond to no-bullshit feedback because I can action it straight away. He’d instil that in me and we’d go and shoot 800 shots before school.I was 20 when I first filled in with Noasis. We did three songs, then Dad was like, “Why don’t you sing Don’t Look Back in Anger?” They had a meeting and thought, “Yeah, we could get away with this and it brings down the age demographic of the band.” It was new and exciting, but I was nervous about getting it right because Dad’s such a professional. He’s very specific in how it needs to sound, which is great because it makes the product so good.We’ve watched so many Oasis concerts. I can hear stuff, Dad can hear stuff, then we talk about it. There’s a song, Turn Up the Sun. He thought he was hearing something, but it was just that when a bunch of you play a certain chord, harmonics ring out. He was asking, “Do you hear that note?” And I’m like, “Yes, but that’s because it’s a harmonic.” And he’s like, “No, no, it’s definitely there.” Everyone else in the room is going on their phones, avoiding eye contact because they don’t want to take sides.Those conversations usually end with him saying, “Thirty years … 30 years.” That’s him saying he’s been listening to it for 30 years and that supersedes my opinions. He’s very specific. He gave me a note the other day about the pronunciation of the word “knows” when I’m singing. I was singing it more “nose”. He wanted me to do the English accent, drop the jaw on that word. I could hear it. He was totally right.Last year, we saw Oasis together in Melbourne. That was colossal, but just as important was a Sam Fender gig a week or so later. Dad introduced me to his music. He played this song, Spit of You, which is about him and his dad. The lyrics go, “I can talk to anyone but I can’t talk to you.” It was so special having Dad next to me. There’s that whole thing about men not talking, articulating feelings. Why is that? Who puts that on us? With my dad, I’m pretty open and I don’t feel the age difference. It’s only recently I’ve started to appreciate the whole thing. A lot of people don’t see their parents because of work or because of their family dynamic. I’m lucky we have these gigs, and we’re so in sync.More:Good WeekendTwo of UsFor subscribersLive musicFrom our partners