Noel Gallagher - Select - December 2000

Have things been strained between you and Liam since the Wembley shows?
No more than usual. We live in a constant strain. Today it's fantastic, because I'm in Manchester at me mam's and he's in London. But he's been a different man since he split up with Patsy - he'sjust mellowed out. Maybe his new bird's got him back on the marijuana. He's a bit more normal but I'm sure that'll all change. Him and the rest of the band have been in the studio, which incidentally I didn't get invited along to, so I'm on strike at the moment. We will make another record, we have to before someone else fucking leaves. But even if it doesn't happen for three years, that won't mean we're breaking up.

What about the Noel solo sessions?
It's already done, so Liam's gonna have serious egg on his face. Let's fucking see now if he'll leave. If I'd gone on tour I wouldn't have done it, so it's his own fucking fault.The whole thing is, it's not intended to be some major Richard Ashcroft thing or to get in the way of Oasis, but singers being singers, they overreact. He's thrown his little toys out of the pram... so now he won't get a free copy, he's going to have to buy the bloody thing.

Does that leave any songs left for Oasis?
I've already written another six or seven songs, though I have to say five of them are shit. Gem's written his first song for the band, called 'The Roller' - it's like T Rex doing `Instant Karma'. Andy's written a couple of songs; Liam's written seven which I'm flabbergasted at... Of course, I'm not letting them on the album. Only joking.

What's this, democracy within the band?
I was always open to other people writing in this band, but no cunt ever did. But now everyone wants to be taken seriously as an artiste. I'm still in charge by the way, let me make that fucking crystal clear. When they ask what I'm doing, I say, 'I'm splitting up with me fucking missus, I've got more important things to do than play with you.' [Playfully] Do you think they'd kick me out? That'd be fantastic! I can't be arsed doing music at the moment seeing as I'm having a personality crisis. I'm taking the rest of the year off.

So is there truth in the stories that Meg was too wild and you just wanted to settle down?
It's all bollocks. I'm supposed to be living in this big mansion, smoking a pipe and reading The Independent, while Meg's charging round London with four bottles of Jack Daniel's stuffed down her knickers. Look, she was never that wild and I was never that homely a guy. I still love going out, she loves staying in.

What was the biggest strain?
You spend seven months on the road in a complete fucking rock'n'roll bubble, being treated like a child, so you act like a child. Then you come back expecting to pick up where you left off and find that life goes on without you... Now I'm living in a hotel with a bar that's open all night, in London, so I'm out every night. I haven't passed anything solid out of my arse for two months.

Talking of which, what did you think of 'Kid A'?
I liked Radiohead better - or Blur for that matter - when they were writing songs. Are they scared? Is it an artistic statement? Because it doesn't say fuck all to me! 'Let's make some fucking noises and call it art, that way we don't have to write an intro or a middle eight and can't be judged against anything.' To answer your question - I love it.

Where do Oasis stand in the year 2000?
We're not a very fashionable band any more. But between 1993 and 1996 we were it.