Noel Gallagher - CNN International - 25th February 2006

Online Link

HONG KONG, China (CNN) -- It's hard to imagine it's been more than 10 years since Oasis first became one of Britain's most acclaimed bands -- a rough, tough and uncompromising bunch of lads from Manchester who helped return British guitar pop to the mainstream fold.

Yet here they are in Hong Kong, at the tail-end of a 12-month world tour, on the eve of a sell-out gig.

The band has just arrived from Singapore ("Flew first class with Singapore Airlines -- f-----' spectacular," enthuses guitarist/songwriter Noel Gallagher) and are preparing for the show.

The logistics of organizing such a long tour are mind-boggling, and even after 10 years, Gallagher's not sure how it's all put together.

"We have management, and an agent, and separate promoters in each country that do everything. Maggie (their tour manager) liaises with our travel agent back home, and I notice we stay in a lot of Four Seasons hotels," Gallagher says.

"But apart from that, it's still a matter of great confusion for me how it's all organized."

What's not confusing for Gallagher, however, is his ability to read a city map.

After arriving in a new place, he almost always makes an effort either the day before or after the gig to explore his surrounds, otherwise "there's no point going unless you get a feel for these cities," he says.

"We have a day off tomorrow, so I'm hoping to see a bit of Hong Kong before we take off."
Even so, Gallagher admits that after a year, touring can become arduous.

"The first six or seven months or so are great, but the last bit can be a bit of a grind," he says.

"Southeast Asia can be tough, as the jet lag from Britain is more extreme. In Europe, it's much easier as everything happens at the same time of day, whereas in Asia, it differs between countries. Sound checks, etc., start at different times, there's always unfamiliar people around, and you're in a different city one day to the next.

"But in the end, it's what you make of it. I could be critical of touring for hours, but that'd make me sound like a boring old bastard who should just give it up.

"This is my 20th year on the road (including the time Gallagher spent as a roadie), and I've been on tour every one of those years. So that in itself is the answer. If I didn't like it, I wouldn't do it, because I sure don't need the money," he says.

Touring for such long periods must also be demanding on the body, and despite the band's well-known rebellious streak, Gallagher tries to keep some sort of balance.

"I always have a healthy breakfast. The days of bacon and eggs are gone, and I usually try and get a good night's sleep before the day of the gig, otherwise you start doing stupid things when performing" he says.

"On the other hand, we have tomorrow off, so I'll probably be up all night on the piss. I certainly drink a lot more on tour, though hardly ever when I'm back home."

Such a revelation is hardly surprising. According to Gallagher, the band's alcohol list backstage (commonly referred to as a "rider") includes "lots of Guinness, lots of beer, lots of red wine, lots of vodka, and one bottle of whiskey."

Before the show, Gallagher usually spends the afternoon doing interviews, then heads to the venue for a personal sound check -- usually at about 4 p.m., followed by a full band sound check.

The group then either stays at the venue or returns to their digs, depending on how far the venue is from their hotel.

"If we're on at 9 p.m., which is common, our tour manager usually insists we be at the venue by 8.30 p.m. at the latest. So often it's best to just stay put," Gallagher says.

"If so we just hang out and use the time writing our song list for the show. Then Liam comes in and crosses off the ones he's not keen on for that night."

Gallagher has the luxury of a guitar technician, who looks after all his guitars prior to the show by setting them up, re-stringing, and tuning them.

"Before we became very f-----' wealthy young men, I used to use Epiphone guitars," Gallagher explains.

"But they're really a poor man's Gibson, which is what I now use. I don't have a deal with them, as I don't go in for that sort of thing. But I did design a guitar for Epiphone once."

After the gig's complete and the fans have left, Gallagher says the band often relaxes backstage with friends and road crew by having a few drinks and talking about the show.

A show that, one presumes for a band as established as Oasis, will prove rather lucrative?

"Well, we make more money in the UK, simply because more people come to see us in concert than here in Asia. To be honest, I'm not sure exactly what we'll get for tonight's gig," he says.

"But let's just say that when we get home from a tour, I receive a sheet of paper with loads of figures on it.

"And when I look at the net total I'm being paid, I never think 'hmm, that seems a bit low'. Instead, I laugh, and think 'outrageous'!"

Liam Gallagher - Straits Times - 23rd February 2006

What's the story, Liam?

He says Don't Believe the Truth, but Liam Gallagher says the truth is, he and brother Noel are no longer the feuding siblings they used to be. Have Oasis really reached a new calm?

If any band name seems at odds with reality, it is arguably Oasis, given the calm-shattering behaviour of the two bickering main men - the Gallagher brothers Noel and Liam.

But Liam says in a recent phone interview from London that he has mellowed and that, gasp, he loves his older, 38-year-old sibling.

"Ah, you know, we're brothers. I love him. If anyone ever said a bad word about him, they'd get their ears pulled," says the 33 year old who, despite this liberal use of swear words in the interview, sounds relaxed and is polite.

"We don't go around holding hands and kissing each other like most brothers in bands - we don't fuck around."

Their concert at the Singapore Indoor Stadium tonight has seen 90% of the 10,000 tickets sold. Tickets are priced from $68 to $160.

The new Oasis of calm, if true, is certainly a marked change from their heyday in the 1990s when the Manchester outfit made headlines for fighting, drinking and spectacular kiss-and-make-up sessions between the Gallagher brothers.

The group was then part of the Britpop phenomenon that included bands like Blur, Pulp and Suede.

The band formed in 1991 when Liam joined a group called Rain.

A year later, seeing his brother perform, Noel proclaimed the band 'utter shit' and offered to take over, provided he could lead its direction from then on.

Thanks to the critically acclaimed debut album Definitely Maybe and its 18 million selling follow up (What's the Story) Morning Glory?, Oasis have become part of modern rock history.

Their third album Be Here Now became the fastest selling album in Britain, with almost 500,000 copies sold on the first day alone.

While newer outfits like Franz Ferdinand, Bloc Party and Kaiser Chiefs have pooper up since,

Oasis still hold their own, with their last album Don't Believe the Truth selling 2.5million copies worldwide, including 10,000 copies here.

All in, they have sold an estimated 50 million copies of their eight albums so far.

The current Oasis line-up includes rhythm guitarist Gem Archer, 39, bassist Andy Bell, 35, and drummer Zak Starkey, 40, son of Beatles drummer Ringo Starr.

Oasis, which cancelled a 2002 date in Singapore after the Oct 12 bomb blasts in Bali that year, was in Bangkok last Saturday to perform at a rock festival.

They shared the bill with Scottish band Franz Ferdinand, who had flown in after their Singapore gig. Liam, by the way, had slammed Franz in the press before, comparing them to 1980s group Right Said Fred of the "I'm Too Sexy" fame.

Singaporean musician Nick Chan, 25, of Astreal and Muon, who caught the Bangkok Rock festival, was unimpressed with Oasis' performance.

"They have aged like vinegar rather than wine," says the guitarist and music producer. He adds that at one time, he could relate to their music, but that their "pub rock anthems have not really changed or evolved".

But Adrian Wee, 30, founder of the successful indie night event Poptart, which takes place once a month at Home Club at The Riversidewalk, is still a fan.

"I still think they are an important band for what they achieved in the 1990s. Along with Blur, they were one of the key bands in the Britpop invasion."

He attended an Oasis concert in 1998 in Melbourne, Australia, and plays hits like Roll With It at Poptart.

Will Oasis raise their game tonight to please music critics? The concert organiser, Lushington Entertainments, has spent over $1 million to bring them in, and is certainly hoping they will in their 90 minute set.

Not that criticism will bother Liam. The father of three children says: "The kids who buy our records, they like the songs, they come to the concerts. That’s who I care about."

There was a three-year break in between the last album Heathen Chemistry and DBTT last year. What were you doing in that period?
Well, there wasn't really any break, you know. We were writing the record and demo-ing stuff. That took about a year, I suppose. Then we decided to record it; we did that a few times.

We didn’t have much time to sit at home, we were pretty much in the studio all the time. I would like to say I wouldn’t like to take that much time ever again, it’s just boring. I would like to get a new record out towards the end of the year.

You want to kick butt, basically?
Fucking right, man. I didn’t join a band to cruise, I joined a band to make music

You’ve been touring for quite a while now. Do you hate seeing Noel on an almost daily basis? Is there anything nice you have to say about your brother, since you guys fight a lot?
I’ve got lots of nice things to say about him, though he’s always slagging me off. But I think he’s a great songwriter. He thinks he’s a little bit better at singing than me, which always pisses me off.

The album reviews of Don’t Believe the Truth I’ve read are lukewarm. Does that bother you?
Not really, I think that’s the way it is, darling. Until we pull out something really amazing, that is. The ones I’ve been reading have been all right, it’s been about 50/50 with the reviews. I think people expect too much of Oasis. But nothing bothers me.

Nothing bothers you? I hear you’ve got a hot temper, though.
Yeah, I’ve got a got temper when people pop cameras in my face. Other than that, I’m sweet. I get on with everyone.

But you’re not shy about having a go at other bands like Franz Ferdinand the way you did last year…
That’s my born right to have an opinion. And it’s my opinion that they sound like Right Said Fred. It’s not personal.

People go, “Do you like Franz Ferdinand?” I say, “No”. It’s my right as a musician, as a person, in general, to diss them. And they can diss my band, I don’t lose sleep over it. And if they get upset and say “Oh, he slagged off my band”, I say “Fucking go back to art college, you little wussies.”

Does it bother you that they slag you off in the press and not to your face?
Not in the slightest. The difference between me and them is that I’ll tell it to their face when we go to Bangkok. (No slagging face-off, as far as we know, went on in Bangkok.)

You guys have kept your fan base even if your last three albums were slammed a bit by the critics. How do you think you’ve managed that?
Do you think I give a toss about what some failed musician says about my record? Some spotty little idiot writing for some stupid magazine didn’t like my record because he didn’t like my attitude? I don’t give a fuck.

All right Liam, would you say you’ve mellowed down over the years?
No, not really. I wouldn’t say so. It depend I guess. I think I’ve a good angle on my life. I was on a bender for the past 15 years, not any more. I’ve kids, I’ve other things in my life than being a rock star.

It’s a nice place to be. Ten years ago, I didn’t have anything. All I had is this band, and you tend to go a bit daft. But I’m not the person I was 10 years ago.

Is it true you thought about taking up yoga to chill out?
(Chuckles) Laying on your back and all that, getting into bendy awkward positions? No, I don’t think so. People who write these things must be on drugs. No, no yoga for me.

Have you and your long-time girlfriend Nicole got married? There are rumours floating around on the Net…
No. You’re all nosy parkers. I don’t think it’s all that important. It we got married, you’d know about it. But it wouldn’t change your life.

Are you excited to come to Singapore?
I’m excited to go everywhere, man. I’ve got a huge amount of energy and I love to see places I haven’t been.

I can’t remember where it is, to tell you the truth, but I can’t wait. And people can expect a no-nonsense, straight rock ‘n’ roll show.


Pure attitude, five great-looking guys on stage doing it how it’s meant to be done.

Noel Gallagher - The Korea Times - 21st February 2006

Online Link


For Oasis guitarist Noel Gallagher, it's either one way or the other.

It can be ``fabulous'' _ what he describes himself and his playing. Or it can be like ``very, very uncool,'' how he described Metallica's drummer.

For the straight-talking rocker, his first impressions of Seoul were positive.

``Last night out _ it was nice,'' said the Brit, who told the local press yesterday hours before Oasis's first-ever show here, he had arrived not expecting much.

``It's great. It's really great to be in a country you've never been before,
British rock group Oasis is paying local fans a long overdue visit, their stop over in the peninsula made to stage the Seoul leg of their world tour.

Oasis played a set of 18 songs including ``Layla,'' ``Let There Be Love'' and more off the group's most recent album ``Don't Believe the Truth'' before a sell-out crowd at the Olympic Hall yesterday evening.

How anxious were Koreans fans to see them?

With the best seats in the house gone within a week of the opening of box offices and left over sold out clean by early February leaving concert promoters no choice but to put up an additional 100 seats for sale on Feb. 15.

Gallagher said he doesn't like to get involved in anything other than writing songs, which is why it took so long for his band to come to South Korea.

Oasis was formed in 1992 when Noel joined a group started by brother Liam with his fellow schoolmates Paul Arthurs, Paul McGuigan and Tony McCaroll on the condition he be the leader and sole song writer.

Their first album, 1994's ``Definitely Maybe,'' shot straight up to number one on the U.K. chart upon entering. It also went down in British pop history as the fastest-selling debut ever.

The success of the band's next album ``What's the Story, Morning Glory'' in the American pop scene propelled the band into the international spotlight.

However, their own reputation is not all that has come out of their success. Oasis is credited for kicking off the 1990s British Invasion, having paved the way for other U.K. rock acts like Radiohead and Blur into the international music scene.

When asked of his take on newer groups from the U.K. like Coldplay, he flat out denied feeling threatened in any way.

``Oasis is not Coldplay as is Coldplay not Oasis. The music we make are completely different,'' said Gallagher but at the same time, added that Coldplay is one of the most successful bands to come out of the U.K.

``Chris (of Coldplay) is actually a good friend,'' he said.

While the popularity and public's demand for the group rose, so did tension between group members. The current line-up _ Noel, Liam, Andy Bell and Gem Archer _ is different from its original, with the exception of the two Gallaghers even though that the brothers are known to have frequent run-ins with each other.

And this may explain why Noel sat alone yesterday at the press conference while Liam met with local cable networks.

Oasis made a strong come back in 2005 with ``Don't Believe the Truth,'' an album that sold over 40 million copies worldwide.

The album also featured numbers written by all the members.

While Noel wasn't the one to decide to let them (write songs) but now thinks of it as a ``real relief'' as he doesn't have to put out as many alone.

I hope that it will continue. I really like it,'' he said.

Oasis leaves today to make two more stops in Asia, Singapore and Hong Kong, before going on to the Americas to wrap up their world tour in Mexico City on March 31.

Gem Archer - The Star Online - 17th February 2006

http://www.star-ecentral.com/news/story.asp?file=/2006/2/17/music/13365871&sec=music

Much has been said about the Gallagher brothers and the current health of the Oasis bandwagon. It has been more than a decade since the heights of Britpop and arguably the fortunes of guitar bands from that era have not been too good. In fact, only Oasis has soldiered on (with mixed results surrounding each new album) while many others have fallen by the wayside.

In recent times the Manchester-raised band has spent more time overcoming critics and staging comebacks in a bid to revive the band’s significance in today’s music scene.

But there is no argument that when it comes to the stage, Oasis remains a force to be reckoned with.

Now it seems, more than ever, that Oasis is falling back into the fold of live music and touring its current release Don’t Believe The Truth across the globe is one of the factors that has kept the band’s name in the headlines.

As the band takes on a few dates in Asia, including a stop at the Singapore Indoor Stadium on Feb 23, it’s timely to remember the energy and buzz surrounding Oasis’s road trek that will see the band finish off its 12-month world tour in Mexico late next month.

Guitarist Gem Archer spared some time for a brief phone interview recently from Melbourne, Australia.

“Liam said it was one of the Top 5 shows we’ve played. Ever! It was great man, really great. There are certain places in the world where the reception is really great like Glasgow and Melbourne’s like that,” said Gem with much enthusiasm.

As noted during this world tour, the setlists have been all about new Oasis material. Well, it took the band close to three years to come out with a new album, and there is no reason to hide behind the old hits. With tunes like Lyla, Turn Up The Sun, A Bell Will Ring, The Importance of Being Idle, Mucky Fingers and more from Don’t Believe The Truth playing a bigger prominence at recent concert sets, Oasis has proven it is more than capable of mixing the rocked up new material with the classics on this tour.

To date, the Oasis tour has gone without a hitch. Remember the regular instances of Noel Gallagher quitting in the middle of a tour, the band accident in the United States in 2002 and Liam’s bust-up in Germany in 2003? No such incidents have plagued the band so far. Left with a month, Oasis plans to tour hard before heading into the studio to do another record.

Gem, who joined Oasis in 2000 after the recording Standing On The Shoulder of Giants, noted: “Liam wants to go to the studio now. It’s one of those things, you know. We’ve got six albums worth of material but we’re loving it, loving what we do as a band; touring and then it’s back to the studio to record more songs.”

Even though the Gallagher brothers are the only original members of the band now, all the current bandmates play a role when it comes to making music, including bassist Andy Bell.

“The way we make music is that everybody writes. Either we do a demo together or I do a demo with Noel or Andy will do one in Sweden (it’s where he lives). For this album, producer Dave Sardy picked the songs out and it was a good batch of songs.”

For a first time Oasis songwriting credit, Gem provided the standout A Bell Will Ring on the album.

It also helps that Noel has got his own studio filled with vintage gear whenever they want to record a track or demo.

“When we do a demo, it’s more like a first take and it’s not like a usual demo. For the guitar solo in The Meaning of Soul, it was just one take. When it comes to recording, we do it really quick. A song can take a day and we can record five songs in a week and have a break after that,” revealed the 38-year-old.

Gem used a Fender Esquire plugged straight to a Vox AC30 for the record and said that the Fender is his favourite axe.

“Noel loves his Gibson ES335 in the studio but live, it’s a different story.”

Noel Gallagher & Gem Archer - BBC Radio 2 - 11th February 2006

http://www.savefile.com/files/256483

Thanks to 'noels_left_eyebrow' from the Masterplan forum for the upload.

Noel Gallagher - LCI - 5th February 2006

Gem Archer - Unknown (Malaysia) - February 2006

Much has been said about the Gallagher brothers and the current health of the Oasis bandwagon. It has been more than a decade since the heights of Britpop and arguably the fortunes of guitar bands from that era have not been too good. In fact, only Oasis has soldiered on (with mixed results surrounding each new album) while many others have fallen by the wayside.

In recent times the Manchester-raised band has spent more time overcoming critics and staging comebacks in a bid to revive the band’s significance in today’s music scene.

But there is no argument that when it comes to the stage, Oasis remains a force to be reckoned with.

Now it seems, more than ever, that Oasis is falling back into the fold of live music and touring its current release Don’t Believe The Truth across the globe is one of the factors that has kept the band’s name in the headlines.

As the band takes on a few dates in Asia, including a stop at the Singapore Indoor Stadium on Feb 23, it’s timely to remember the energy and buzz surrounding Oasis’s road trek that will see the band finish off its 12-month world tour in Mexico late next month.

Guitarist Gem Archer spared some time for a brief phone interview recently from Melbourne, Australia.

“Liam said it was one of the Top 5 shows we’ve played. Ever! It was great man, really great.

There are certain places in the world where the reception is really great like Glasgow and Melbourne’s like that,” said Gem with much enthusiasm.

As noted during this world tour, the setlists have been all about new Oasis material. Well, it took the band close to three years to come out with a new album, and there is no reason to hide behind the old hits. With tunes like Lyla, Turn Up The Sun, A Bell Will Ring, The Importance of Being Idle, Mucky Fingers and more from Don’t Believe The Truth playing a bigger prominence at recent concert sets, Oasis has proven it is more than capable of mixing the rocked up new material with the classics on this tour.

To date, the Oasis tour has gone without a hitch. Remember the regular instances of Noel Gallagher quitting in the middle of a tour, the band accident in the United States in 2002 and Liam’s bust-up in Germany in 2003? No such incidents have plagued the band so far. Left with a month, Oasis plans to tour hard before heading into the studio to do another record.

Gem, who joined Oasis in 2000 after the recording Standing On The Shoulder of Giants, noted:

“Liam wants to go to the studio now. It’s one of those things, you know. We’ve got six albums worth of material but we’re loving it, loving what we do as a band; touring and then it’s back to the studio to record more songs.”

Even though the Gallagher brothers are the only original members of the band now, all the current bandmates play a role when it comes to making music, including bassist Andy Bell.

“The way we make music is that everybody writes. Either we do a demo together or I do a demo with Noel or Andy will do one in Sweden (it’s where he lives). For this album, producer Dave Sardy picked the songs out and it was a good batch of songs.”

For a first time Oasis songwriting credit, Gem provided the standout A Bell Will Ring on the album.

It also helps that Noel has got his own studio filled with vintage gear whenever they want to record a track or demo.

“When we do a demo, it’s more like a first take and it’s not like a usual demo. For the guitar solo in The Meaning of Soul, it was just one take. When it comes to recording, we do it really quick. A song can take a day and we can record five songs in a week and have a break after that,” revealed the 38-year-old.

Gem used a Fender Esquire plugged straight to a Vox AC30 for the record and said that the Fender is his favourite axe.

“Noel loves his Gibson ES335 in the studio but live, it’s a different story.”

Noel Gallagher - Milk - February 2006

Oasis chooses swallowing over quarrelling

Ever seen Oasis in a cheerful and friendly mood? Yes? Well you're in luck - I guess we all were!
Last week, I took the priviledge to talk to Noel Gallagher, boss of one of UK's biggest rock groups, Oasis. To everyone's surprise he was happy and chatty the whole time. Although throwing in the f word between every other syllable of a sentence, Noel didn't show any attitude, didn't frown or stare and talked at length to have all the questions covered - how nice!

Meanwhile, not only did Liam put on a great vocal without causing any mayhem, he even performed some of his never-seen-before, amazing swallowing tricks. I just couldn't think of a better word than 'luck' to explain why we were treated with honour to this wonderful side of Oasis.

Noel's interview:

How does it feel coming to Hong Kong again?
I can't remember any of it so I don't know! Well we went crusing last night and the city looked great! Better than New York even!

Did anything fun last night?
Yeah, we went to a Chinese restaurant, it was fooking brilliant! We finally got to have some proper Chinese food!

What did you have?
Err...pasta! (reporters burst into laughter) Well I didn't dare to ask man! I don't wanna find out that we were actually eating fooking monkeys' balls you know what I mean!? Well but everything just taste like chicken and fish to me so I don't know what we had.

Did you get recognized on the streets?
I haven't had a chance to go out, but I'd be really sad if I don't!

Been watching any good shows lately?
Yeah I love The Office, and I get to be really friendly with Richard Gervais. I appeared in his music video once, but I didn't do it on purpose, I was just being fooking pissed.

What do you think of the Arctic Monkeys phenomenon?
Well I wouldn't call it a phenomenon. Both their singles made it to no.1, which is something we weren't able to do for a while! I suppose they're alright, it's doing some good for the British music scene on a whole. They're great lads and they don't have this obsession with the tabloids. They might be going a bit quickly but it's better than the fooking Babyshambles! Without them we'd still be suck with bloody Pete Doherty, you know what I mean? He's just a junkie and thinks too much of himself, and his music is rubbish! Oh and Franz Ferdinand isn't any better either!

How do you feel about Eminem now?
6 years ago I thought he was an idiot who could only write songs about his wife and kids. He's still an idiot now if you ask me.

So come on, do we really need to wait so long for the next album?
We've been fooking stuck with each other for a whole damn year! It's just too much! I wouldn't fancy going back to the studio now, it's gonna kill me! I do love music but I won't put myself into such a state, if you know what I mean. We're fortunate that we don't have to work for a living anymore. My life's not all about work, I'd love to spend more time with my family...so when we're done with the tour in April, we'll take a few months off and watch the World Cup. And when it's all cold in miserable in the winter we might go back into the studio again! We'd probably start recording sometime next year and may be put a record out in the summer the year after that.

What do you think is holding the band together?
First of all, we all love being in a band. Second, we enjoy making music. We'd be doing this for many years if we still manage to look cool (laughs)! Actually, I can't put it in words how good it is to be on a tour. We've been to a lot of places this year, hell we've even came to Hong Kong! Also, if I'm not making music, I wouldn't have a fooking clue of what I'd be doing. I can't act, I can't paint and I can't fooking write! Apart from music, all we could do is watch fooking football and smoke fags. You can't really make a living out of that can you? So we're just left with making music again!

What are the difficulties you face in deciding the setlist?
Liam being a fooking dick! He's always going on about not wanting to sing a particular song. And I say to him, it's the same setlist as the last show you twat! And we've had different memebers in the last two tours so we're a bit limited in the songs we can play. Well yes we could spend more time rehearsing but we just can't be arsed!

Do you still feel thrilled when playing songs like Don't look back in anger?
If we'd record those songs again they'd sound so much fooking better. Like this one, I didn't know how I wrote it. I was pissed as fook at 5am in the morning and I just came up with the song! I can't even remember how I got the name! Don't look back in anger? Why? What for? Not a fooking clue. So everytime I sing this I'll try to remember what was going on when I wrote it (laughs)! Yeah it's becoming more important than Wonderwall to me.

Is Live Forever your all-time favourite?
I'd have to say yes because Liam would be pissed off if I say it's the Masterplan, cos he didn't fooking sing that one. So yeah it's Live Forever alrite. There're loads of great songs on the new album but the fans like the old stuff better, probably cos I was in my twenties when I wrote them and people can more easily relate to them.

How do you think the band is evolving?
Well we'd just keep sacking people and hiring new ones, how's that? (chuckles) Musically we're not going to try anything too radical. We aren't the type of people who spend all the time doing crazy experimental stuff, cos that'd just fooking screw you up! Everyone knows that U2, Coldplay and Oasis are the three greatest bands in the last two decades, cos we've got great songs with fooking great lyrics. The same goes for the Artic Monkeys and Radiohead - they wouldn't still be here if not for their bloody lyrics!

Noel Gallagher - East Touch - February 2006

Well I've done the best I could. Music, touring, band members, families, Big Brother wasn't interested in talking about any of those. Guess I can't blame him - with DBTT selling millions and winning appraises, as well as a sold-out Asian tour, who would bother doing a phone interview with you? Especially it's Oasis we're talking about here? More specifically, Noel Gallagher?

How's the psychedelic EP you're planning to release this summer coming along? Why would you go psychedelic this time?
We were supposed to record some of the better songs that didn't make it into the record, but sorry, that plan has been postponed, cos we're too damn lazy. I wanna take a whole bloody year off! As for psychedelic, the bands that I like: The Beatles, The Rolling Stones, The Who, The Small Faces...they're all very psychedelic to me. I'm not into the hippy things people like Pink Floyd did.

DBTT was much better received than the last two albums? Why do you think that is so? Are you gonna play more of the songs from it during this tour?
Well simply because it's an all-round a better and more interesting album, you know what I mean? Yeah we'll play about 7 or 8 songs from there, the rest, as usual, are some of our greatest hits.

This album feels more mellow. Is this an indication of your current state of mind?
Yeah, in a way. TIOBI is about being me, now. But you know, I hate sitting down and analysing music like this. To me, you either like a song or you don't.

Oasis has been in this formation for quite a while now. Is this tour working quite well? We heard you're getting along better with Liam too...
It is. It's a lot smoother this time. You could say I'm getting along with Liam, but that doesn't mean we'll sit down to have tea. No, we aren't kicking each other in the face, that's all.

You've all got families. Do you always feel like going back to visit them when you're on tour?
Yeah of cos I miss my missus, but this is what I do for a living, travelling around the world, you know. I don't know how others feel, probably the same, may be more.

What kind of music have you been listening to during the tour?
(fell silent for 30 seconds)....(started talking to someone else)...Well we do listen to music, but I can't remember what now. Why don't you just write that we listen to The Beatles? (What do you think of Arctic Monkeys and Ashcroft's new albums?)...Yeah I've heard them...they're alright....tell you what, I don't find any of the new stuff interesting, I hope I get to hear something good this year.

You'll be playing in a brand new stadium in Hong Kong. Do you prefer playing in large venues or small clubs?
I love the coziness of playing in a stadium, especially outdoor ones, but I don't like it too large or you can't even see the crowds.

You've been to Hong Kong before, what were your impressions? Or do all Asian cities look the same to you?
To be honest I don't remember a thing, except that we all had a great time. My favourite city has got to be Cambodia. I'm looking forward to Singapore and Korea cos I haven't been there before. I love coming to Asia if not for the food alone!

Oasis is often regarded as the best live band. Which band plays the best live to you? Ever felt beaten by anyone in that aspect?
I would say U2. I've seen them play a few times and they do know how to get the crowds going. And no...I'm not as interested in other people's music as you might think.

Are you looking for someone as the band's permanent drummer? And you still have contacts with those members who've left?
No, not for the moment. As far as I'm concerned Zak is already our drummer. And why should I talk to those guys? Ok let's say that for some reason, I just wouldn't do that.