Oasis Interviews Archive

Noel Gallagher - Daily Telegraph - 8th February 2007

2007-02-08T02:38:00.000Z

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/arts/main.jhtml?xml=/arts/2007/02/08/bmnoel108.xml

In his only pre-Brits interview, Noel Gallagher of Oasis is as acerbic as ever about his pop rivals. He talks to Neil McCormick about fame, money, changing the face of pop – and his troublesome little brother

Noel Gallagher has four Brit awards, although he doesn't know where any of them are. "I'm usually in such a euphoric state after picking up an award that I give them to the most random people – the waiter coming up with a quail egg, 'Here y'are, you have that.' "

At the 2007 Brits next Wednesday, Oasis will pick up the Outstanding Achievement award. In his only interview ahead of the ceremony, however, the outspoken band leader does not prove a great ambassador for the cause.

"It's a TV show, innit? It's the big carve-up for the major record companies. I love ceremonies. It can be a colossal night out, but the awards themselves don't really mean anything.

"It's not like you win an Oscar, and you can charge 40 million dollars for your next film. The ticket price won't suddenly be going up at Oasis gigs. Although that's not a bad idea!"

Gallagher's reasons for accepting the award are reliably pragmatic. "They're gonna keep asking every year. So do we get it now, when we're in our thirties or are we gonna wait til we look like one of Pink Floyd?

"With the greatest respect to Duran Duran, Eurythmics, Bob Geldof and the Bee Gees, when they got it, their star had waned considerably. We had two number-one singles last year, we're punching our weight with the young kids, we still look good."

It is amusing to hear Gallagher preface statements with "with the greatest respect" when he shows absolutely none. He remains reliably scathing about old sparring partners such as Radiohead frontman Thom Yorke, whose bleak electro solo album has seen him nominated for Best British Male.

"Thom Yorke sat at a piano singing, 'This is f***ed up' for half an hour. We all know that, Mr Yorke. Who wants to sing the news? No matter how much you sit there twiddling, going, 'We're all doomed', at the end of the day people will always want to hear you play Creep. Get over it."

Even friends and allies come in for the patented Gallagher brand of scorn: "It's the same with U2. Play One, shut the f*** up about Africa."

And as for family matters: "Liam's got really long hair at the moment. Looks like a lunatic, which is about right. He's still a very silly young man. Talks out of his arse 23 hours of the day. It's like a sketch in The Fast Show. You say, 'Hey, Liam, what about putting a choir on that song?' 'Brilliant, yeah, f***ing choir, man. Top.' Then someone will go, 'Choir? That's a bit poncey isn't it?' 'Yeah, no, choirs are s***, mate, f***ing rubbish.' So you can have good fun with Liam in the studio."

With his crinkly-eyed, genial smile and bluff Northern-comic delivery, Noel seems to have the talent for dispensing insults without really causing offence.

Shaped in a boisterous, working-class environment, he is opinionated the way a man might be among friends in the pub. Innately approachable, and not inclined to take himself too seriously, for a rock star of his magnitude, he is almost entirely without airs and graces.

"I like to think I keep it real. Liam keeps it surreal, and somewhere between the two we get on all right."

With their swaggering attitude and monumentally catchy songs, Oasis were a phenomenon in the '90s, dragging British rock music out of the doldrums.

Perhaps unexpectedly, it is the group's cultural impact that Noel cites as his outstanding achievement. "We inspired a lot of kids to buy guitars and get into bands in the first place.

Look at all the bands up for awards at the Brits: Arctic Monkeys, Kooks, Kasabian, I dare say every new band that matters over the past few years has cited Oasis as an influence.

"Before we came along, success was a dirty word. We kind of reinvigorated ambition. As dumb-arse a message as it was, looking back now, it was 'Things are s***, so we might as well celebrate something – let's celebrate being young.'

"There was a euphoria in the music and the way it was delivered, and, as the crowds started to get bigger, it fed off itself until it became less about the band and more about being with all those people, jumping up and down, drunk to the music."

As supportive as he is of young bands (who are rarely subjected to the tongue-lashings reserved for his contemporaries), he is not entirely convinced by the new Britpop dawn.

"I wouldn't say it's a golden period for British music. It's a slightly brown period. There's a lot of good tunes on the radio, but there doesn't seem to be one all-encompassing thing that holds it together.

"The youth have got themselves looking smart, skinny jeans, big hairdos, ties and jackets, which is half the battle. It's let down by the fact that everybody's too eclectic. It's kind of, 'Yeah man, I love Bloc Party and I really do like Jay Z's new album as well, and that Devendra Banhart – genius.' That's the death of cool right there. You can't be a mod and a rocker. You have to choose sides."

For such an intelligent, belligerent rock-and-roller, Gallagher's values are oddly conservative. "I've never been interested in pushing music forward.

"Life is so chaotic in Oasis anyway, I never know who's in the band this week. I don't want to be experimenting as well – 'Let's try this in an urban cybersonic punk style.' No, give us that Marshall stack and that guitar. I know where I am with that, thank you very much."

Which is why Oasis, for all their line-up changes, for all their early promise as the most exciting musical phenomenon since the Beatles, have essentially remained unchanged over the years, adhering to a simple philosophy that boils down to "You can't argue with a good tune."

Instinctively opposed to self-analysis, Gallagher describes songwriting as "a calling" and says: "As I get older, I don't aggressively pursue songs. All the great ones just appear."

He claims not to think much about lyrical meaning, yet recognises recurrent themes – "escape, love and hope". It is only the sheer quality of Gallagher's writing that prevents Oasis sliding into irrelevance, or creatively atrophying in the fashion of Status Quo. Although they have certainly come close.

Despite his acerbic criticisms of all and sundry, Gallagher cheerfully admits to having misplaced his own much-cherished coolness, credibility and creativity "a couple of times".

"The first sign is when the clothes start to go bad. At the end of the '90s – fur coats and f***ing sunglasses. I had a Rolls Royce I couldn't drive. I remember thinking, 'I only signed off four years ago – how have I ended up with one of them?'

"But I'm glad it got like that. We went for it, and pushed it to the point that it could not get any bigger, it couldn't get any more mad, you couldn't get any more fur in this coat if you tried, the shades couldn't be any more mirrored, they're mirrored on the insides.

"Then there was a kind of stepping back and going, 'This is all bull****, I've become a laughing stock' – if only in my own bedroom."

Despite the tensions of his relationship with Liam, he insists Oasis will never break up. "If we weren't related, Oasis would have ended after a couple of records.

But I have always got to put up with Liam. There's always Christmas and kids' birthday parties. And, as bad as it sometimes is being in the band together, I think it would be worse for each of us not working with each other. And I don't know why I say that, because in theory it would be bliss, but I kind of know, deep down, it wouldn't work."

Which is why his long-mooted solo album is is no closer to appearing.

"Somehow I don't really see me at the Borderline playing a mouth organ to 150 people on a Wednesday. Every time I write a song, I envisage them in football stadiums with loads of people going f***ing mental. And that's Oasis."

Noel Gallagher - Stuff Magazine - 22nd January 2007

2007-01-22T00:24:00.000Z

http://www.stuffmagazine.com/articles/index.aspx?id=1708&src=ad16

With Oasis’ greatest-hits album out this month, Noel Gallagher looks back on leading what he calls “one of the top bands of all time.”

After 10-plus years of rocking, rolling, snorting, drinking, yelling and fighting (not to mention writing some of the best rock songs ever recorded), Oasis are releasing their much-awaited best-of collection, Stop the Clocks. We caught up with the (slightly) less potty-mouthed songwriting half of the Gallagher brothers and listened to him talk a whole lot of shit. Our apologies to Green Day.

STUFF: When was the moment you realized you could play in a rock ’n’ roll band for a living?
NOEL: I can’t remember that far back, really, but now that I think about it, it would be around the time I wrote “Live Forever.” That’s a fuckin’ good tune, man.

You wrote that in your bedroom around ’91, right? You hadn’t made it yet at that point.
No, we didn’t even have a record deal. I’d written most of Definitely Maybe before I wrote “Live Forever,” but once I wrote that, I said to myself, “This is undeniably fucking great.”

Who’s the first person you played it for?
A very uninterested girlfriend, I think. But then I took it to the boys during a rehearsal, and we all knew that was it.

All these years later, what do you think the appeal of Oasis is?
I’d probably say it’s my seemingly never-ending good looks and Liam’s charming behavior. I don’t know, to be honest. I’d like to think it’s the music, but I don’t know.

We read that you didn’t want Stop the Clocks to come out while Oasis were still together. Does it feel weird to have fans look back at your work even though you’re still making music and performing?
Every time we put a new record out, people are always looking at us retrospectively. There’s always a new generation of fans and journalists who want to give their take on the massive phenomenon that is Oasis.

You’ve said that you wanted to handpick the songs that went on it because if the record company did it, the album would be “shit.” Did you get any heat from your label for choosing B-sides and songs that weren’t commercial singles for Stop the Clocks?
I guess. I mean, at the end of the day, I did it my way, but there were a few mutterings behind the scenes and all that. But really, fuck those people. What do they know? They didn’t write “Live Forever”—or even “Acquiesce,” for that matter.

Usually when a band puts out a best-of album or a live album, it’s to fulfill their contract to their label. Was this released to make good on your deal?
You’re a sharp one. We fulfilled our contract with Epic when we did Don’t Believe the Truth, but they were going to do this “best of” anyway. So it was really a choice between getting involved and making it great or standing over on the sidelines and waiting to slag it off when it was released.

Do you have any regrets about your records? We know Be Here Now didn’t quite turn out the way you wanted it to.
Well, most of the songs are too long and some of the lyrics aren’t too well thought out. And of course some of the tunes on Standing on the Shoulder of Giants are a bit shit. But they’re all perfect expressions of their time, and you can’t change them, so why worry about it?

What would you say was the high point of Oasis’ most decadent behavior? There’s that famous story about the show in L.A. in ’94 when some of the band allegedly took a shitload of crystal meth and you stormed out. Was that sort of stuff common back then?
Well, first off, the reason why I left is because crystal meth is like cheap speed, and I was into far more exotic drugs at that point. I was quite upset my band members had become punks when I was busy reaching for the stars. But in regard to the drug thing, it was omnipresent.

Was there ever a point when you said to yourself, “This shit is wild”?
Well, when you look at yourself in the mirror at 7 A.M., wearing big fucking round sunglasses and a black fur coat with a fucking 50-pound note up your nose, and you say, “Yeah, man, this is what it’s all about,” you might be a bit fucked.

Can you give me a ballpark figure on how much money Oasis spent on drugs in the ’90s?
[Long pause] I couldn’t even calculate it.

A million pounds?
Whoa, man. I mean, a million pounds is a lot of fuckin’ money. But it’s got to be at least half a million. Wait, what the fuck am I saying—it’s got to be more than that. Just print 10 million. Put it next to my picture: “I blew $10 million on drugs!”

Are there any bands around today that you think need to be put in their place?
Green Day. What the fuck’s that all about? They consider themselves to be—and I quote—“a kick-ass rock ’n’ roll band.” They could not be less kick-ass if they tried.

What about them do you find so reprehensible?
They’re obviously a corporate punk band—and they ripped off one of my songs!

Which one?
[Sings] “I walk these lonely streets…” Fucking “Boulevard of Broken Dreams”! If you listen, you’ll find it is exactly the same arrangement as “Wonderwall.”

We don’t know if you’re one to point fingers about knicking riffs from other groups.
Yeah, but not whole songs! They should have the decency to wait until I am dead. I at least pay the people I steal from that courtesy.

We asked Noel to share his insights about some well-known figures.

PETE DOHERTY
"Overrated. He's marginally talented, but not anywhere as good as me. If he wasn't fucking a supermodel, no one outside of NME would give a shit about him.

ARCTIC MONKEYS
"Good lads, good tunes, good attitudes, good spirit. Noisy, loud and fast. I like 'em."

GEORGE W. BUSH
"He's just so funny. He obviously hasn't got a fuckin' clue what he's doing. He's hilarious in an absolutely spine-tingling way. As long as his lot are in power, American will rule the world and get the OK, but I think he truly is a fucking idiot."

TONY BLAIR
"Poor Tony. He's overrated. I mean, underrated. I don't know. If you take the Iraq war out of the equation, he's been a magnificent politician for Great Britain. But his legacy will be the Iraq war. On the other hand, Bush is just an all-out idiot. Tony has saving graces."

GALLAGHER [WATERMELON-SMASHING COMEDIAN]
"Never heard of him."

LIAM GALLAGHER
"He's a fucking idiot. Couldn't care less."

OASIS
"Awesome. Fucking awesome bunch of musicians. Great songwriter. Questionable fucking lead singer, but forget about that—undisputedly one of the top bands of all time. Truly awesome and remarkable."

Noel Gallagher - Sydney Morning Herald - 14th December 2006

2006-12-14T13:05:00.000Z

Online Link

Noel Gallagher is his own worst critic and biggest fan, he tells Bernard Zuel.

There is not a lot of Noel Gallagher under that mop of Beatles-gone-shaggy hair which, since Gallagher and his brother, Liam, arrived in the early 1990s with their band Oasis, has been the do of choice for a generation of British rockers.

Slimly built, of barely average height and no fan of the gym, he is not made for any kind of fighting, though he is famous for rucking with his brother and inciting all kinds of passion and aggression in friends and foe alike.

You could say Noel Gallagher is all mouth and trousers - faded black ones tonight in Melbourne, worn with a dark brown pinstriped jacket. You could add he's a walking opinion who shovelled too much Colombian up his nose for a few years, a mouthy git and an egomaniac whose best years were a decade ago. He'd almost certainly agree.

"All the bad things that have been written about me, I've thought worse of myself; all the great things that have been written about me, I've thought better than them," Gallagher says equably, rocking back and forth on his tilted chair with the relaxed air of the lord of the manor. "I'm my own worst critic and my own biggest fan."

He laughs, his eyes lighting up with amusement under the shag. "I seriously am a big fan of myself."

And there you have the conundrum of Noel Gallagher. He is a man who is verging on the insufferable but simultaneously charming and amusing. A man whose band has been bombastic and dull very often but whose best moments have always been the small and personal. A man whose Australian tours with that band have been patchy at best but who later on the day of our interview plays a wholly captivating solo set, at the renovated church home to the Live at the Chapel series, backed only by a guitarist and a drummer playing snare and bells.

"On the one hand, I don't actually think as a person, if you were to take away my songwriting, I am anything special. But luckily for me, I'm a f---ing awesome songwriter. And," Gallagher smiles broadly, daring you to take offence, "that makes me more f---ing special than [other modern songwriters], all right?"

Well, you are mouthier than the rest, I can't help but add.

"I guess, I guess. I certainly don't censor myself but I know for a fact that most of my peers, before you get to interview them, you are handed a list of what you can and can't ask. Ask me anything, anything, I've got an opinion on most things.

"However ill-informed my opinion is," he chuckles, "at least I've got one."

You couldn't ask for a better example of this truth than the recent brouhaha over Gallagher's comments to a London tabloid about Iraq, which incensed all the usual suspects. Essentially he said the war was messier for the Iraqis than the soldiers who had signed up for battle and that's where his sympathies lay.

"If you've got a problem with flying bullets, here's the thing - and call me old-fashioned - don't join the f---ing army. The way I see it, if f---ing idiots didn't join the army, there would be no war because there would be no soldiers, hence the world being a better place."

He pauses and says, his thick Mancunian accent adding an extra layer of self-mockery and self-amusement: "There, my Nobel Peace Prize is on its f---ing way, I think."

Gallagher's comments echo one he made a few years ago, originally directed at Radiohead (the more intellectual, esoteric flipside of British rock in the '90s to Gallagher's Oasis) but applicable to many others who say they hate the attention their careers give them. It boiled down to this for Gallagher: if you don't want to be famous, if you don't want the attention, don't join a rock band and sell records.

He tells a story about being in the supermarket once "when I was doing the shopping with the missus" and he knocked back a request to have a photo taken but the fan persisted, sneaking shots from the next aisle. There were raised voices among the juice bottles and cleaning products and, when Gallagher left, the store's security staff insisted on accompanying him out - not to punish him but to protect the by now seriously embarrassed musician from the stalker fan and his angry mates. It's a small price to pay, he reckons.

The most salient point in that tale, though, is that he does the shopping. Recently he suggested the likes of Elton John and Robbie Williams had lost touch with reality precisely because they never did things like buying groceries.

"He [Elton John] got really upset when I said that but I'm just assuming that a man who wears Versace underpants, spends a hundred grand a year on flowers, doesn't do his own shopping," Gallagher says. "I could be wrong. But I bet he couldn't tell you how much a pint of milk is."

Can Gallagher?

"Well they don't do pints any more, they do litres, but it's 79 pence a litre."

He goes on: "I think doing your own shopping is pretty good therapy. I know all the ladies who work the checkout in the supermarket on my high street and it kind of reminds you that life is pretty shit for some people. It kind of brings you back down to earth a little bit, if one was ever getting ideas above your station."

Did he ever get ideas above his station? Get a bit carried away for a while when the money and adulation rolled in? "Yeah, but you are supposed to get ideas above your station, you are a f---ing rock star, for crying out loud. Of course I did."

Noel Gallagher, rock star, laughs and shakes his shaggy hair. We are amused.

Noel Gallagher plays at the Enmore Theatre tonight.

Noel Gallagher - The Age.com.au - 12th December 2006

2006-12-12T13:21:00.000Z

http://www.theage.com.au/news/music/older-but-not-slowing-down/2006/12/11/1165685611380.html?page=2

It was literally in a matter of days that Noel Gallagher went from being unable to pay for a round of pints at his local, to receiving a phone call informing him that a £1 million royalty cheque was to be deposited in his bank account.

"With hindsight, they were crazy times," he said in a room upstairs at the Forum Theatre this week where he was preparing for the first of two Melbourne shows. "You suddenly just waste a lot of money on shit, utter rubbish. God knows how much money I've blown on drugs, shit cars I can't drive, and daft houses I've never lived in.

"It takes you ages to get back on an even keel. I went mad with it for a good three and a bit years before I started to come around. You forget who you are."

Gallagher, now 39, is in town as part of a three-month world tour for Oasis' new best-of album, Stop the Clocks. The jaunt has been an outstanding success - tickets sold out in less than an hour.

On this tour, in which Gallagher is accompanied by Oasis guitarist Gem Archer, brother Liam Gallagher is a conspicuous absentee. On stage on Sunday, when a punter inquired of Liam's whereabouts, Noel was typically candid. "He couldn't be with us," he declared. "He was washing his hair . . . Actually, truth is, he couldn't be f---ed."

Offstage, he was a tad more decorous.

"Liam lives in Disneyland, y'know what I mean?" he said. "He's started to carry a man bag, which is very disturbing. Apart from that, he's the usual him. I kind of give him the wide berth. Liam doesn't do acoustic shows or interviews, anyway."

The best-of campaign has hardly lacked controversy. Two weeks ago, a widely reported tirade about troops in Iraq landed Gallagher in hot water with veterans' associations.

"I'm regularly grossly misquoted in the press," he said. "They made it sound like I was saying British soldiers deserved to get shot at. I was talking about soldiers in general in America, and I was just, like, 'If you don't like getting shot at, don't join the army.' "

Gallagher was also bemused by the storm that surrounded his sarcastic remark about the Socceroos.

"All things like that I've said very tongue-in-cheek," he said, with a grin. "But I'm yet to master the art of making my quotes look good in print. My point was, Australians are that good at cricket and rugby, why do you bother about football? Please leave football to the rest of us."

Last night, after a show at Vodafone Live at the Chapel, Gallagher also participated in a Q&A session at the Kino cinema for a screening of the band's new documentary film, Lord Don't Slow Me Down. He will also take in the Ashes Test in Perth.

Gallagher says that after spending more than two years recording and touring their last album Don't Believe the Truth, the band agreed to take a year off. They plan to reconvene in June. Gallagher has spent most of his time in his eight-bedroom mansion in Buckinghamshire. He also took his daughter to Sea World in Florida.

"I took my little daughter to see the killer whale," he said. "She was more underwhelmed than I was."

The band has experienced an odd history in Australia. Due to various internal calamities, the band never made it out here in their mid-1990s heyday. It was a tension-filled, bleary-eyed 1998 tour that introduced Australian fans to the band's live show.

"I wouldn't like to think I'm apologising to the Australian nation," Gallagher says, "but we let ourselves down on that tour. I was here for about a month and was out of it every day. We almost had to start from scratch when we came back again. We've only really had a career here for the last five years. I do like coming here, though."

Next year they will be honoured at the Brit Awards, the UK equivalent of the Grammys.

"We've been gently pushed into all this," he says. "Let's get this out of the way before I'm 40. I don't want to be like Pink Floyd going up there as an old fella. I might as well do it while I can still look good in a leather jacket."

Noel Gallagher - The West.com.au - 12th December 2006

2006-12-12T13:17:00.000Z

http://www.thewest.com.au/aapstory.aspx?StoryName=340420

Long gone are the days of cocaine-fuelled drug binges for Oasis frontman Noel Gallagher.

But he's far from mellowed and is still quick to fire up with little provocation.

"I was fuelled on some of the finest cocaine known to man back in the early days so that would make me a little more edgy, shall we say," he said.

"But I am not like that any more.

"I haven't taken any proper big boys drugs for eight and a half years now.

"I am sticking to the ... I won't tell you what I stick to ... but no I haven't taken any proper hard drugs for years now."

Gallagher was in Australia this week, performing a number of acoustic shows with Oasis guitarist Gem Archer.

He's also been promoting the new Oasis album, Stop the Clocks.

Gallagher is quick to point out that it isn't a greatest hits offering - it's a best of.

"Your greatest hits are the hit singles that are most popular ... your best of is what is considered your best work," the Brit said.

"Thereby lies the difference."

The double CD features a selection of what Gallagher considers the band's best work, including such hits as Wonderwall, Champagne Supernova, Don't Look Back in Anger and Morning Glory.

"It could easily have stretched to three CDs, but that doesn't really appeal to me, do you know what I mean?" Gallagher said.

"Three CDs is a bit much, seeing how the Beatles only had two on their best of. It would be taking the piss to have three I think."

Gallagher, 39, put the album together, with little help from brother, Liam, who is also in the band.

"I done all that," he said.

"I get to pick the songs, that is my right as the oldest living member of Oasis."

The Gallagher brothers, famed for their thick Manchester accents and bitter sibling rivalry, burst onto the British music scene more than a decade ago before going on to sell millions of albums worldwide.

Their volatile relationship, fights, drug problems, celebrity relationships - and their prodigious talent for producing catchy pop songs - have filled thousands of news pages around the world.

It seems the brothers are going through a rough patch at the moment.

"We are not on the best of terms," Gallagher said.

"I haven't seen him for a couple of months. I am not interested.

"I am generally not interested because he is generally not doing anything interesting."

They're not fighting though, he said.

"We aren't fighting at the minute ... but there could well be the next time I see him though."

Gallagher has never shied away from saying what he thinks.

He's not a fan of pop musicians, particularly Kylie Minogue, Madonna and Robbie Williams.

He hates the Australian soccer team, but he likes Melbourne rockers Jet.

His acerbic tongue has often gotten Gallagher into trouble, most famously in a 1995 interview when he expressed a wish for Blur's Damon Albarn and Alex James to "catch AIDS and die", a comment which he quickly publicly apologised for.

"I hate Kylie Minogue ... I hate Madonna ... I hate Robbie Williams," he said.

Gallagher doesn't care what is written about him in the press.

In fact, he finds it funny.

"I find that quite amusing," he said.

"It was written once in the newspaper that I was going out with Naomi Campbell. Have you seen Naomi Campbell? Have you seen me? It is preposterous.

"It is like one of the Seven Dwarfs going for it with Snow White - a ridiculous story."

Despite his frequent controversial outbursts, British music news website NME.com once labelled Gallagher the wisest man in rock.

"I have a lot of experience at these things - whether I am wise or not, I don't know," he said.

"It must mean my opinion counts for something I think - does it make me like Yoda then?

"Are you saying I am like a Jedi, cause I can live with that. I am right up for it, light sabres and karate moves, that is my bag mate."

Having completed their six-album deal with Sony Music, Gallagher is keen to take a break because for the first time since 1994, Oasis are without a recording contract.

"We only got back off the Don't Believe The Truth tour in March, that is only seven months ago," he said.

"I don't want to earn any more money just yet - I have got too much."

Brotherly feuds and record label contracts aside, Oasis have enough material to release another album in 2007.

"There is this project going on that will probably take us to spring next year," he said.

"We have got most of our next album already recorded, stuff that was left over from the last one - we could start mixing it tomorrow."

Stop the Clocks is out now.

Noel Gallagher - The Courier Mail - 12th December 2006

2006-12-12T13:10:00.000Z

Online Link (The Courier Mail)

Always quotable, Oasis singer/guitarist Noel Gallagher played a rare solo show in Brisbane last night. Patrick Lion heard the swear jar rattle 17 times in the space of just 14 questions backstage at the Tivoli Theatre.

Q: This is a solo tour to promote Stop The Clocks, your new 'best of' album. What is it like touring by yourself, without the band and particularly your brother Liam?
A: It's a lot calmer and lot more peaceful. Oasis are a big f--king band and there's a lot more people involved with it. There's only six of us on the road here. There's usually about 50-odd so in that respect it's a lot calmer. I've never actually toured without Liam. This is the first time I'm doing it. It's different. Liam would be doing his usual whingeing his f--ken arse off. It would be a pain in the arse if he was here. He doesn't do interviews because no one wants to talk to him anyway. He doesn't like acoustic. In his words: `He's in a f--ken rock `n' roll band'.

Q: What sort of show can we expect tonight?
A: We're doing a cover of The Beatles' Strawberry Fields Forever but that won't be a surprise to anyone who has a computer because they no doubt f--ken heard it on the internet. I don't see these sort of shows as nostalgic. The reason I'm doing these gigs is they wanted me to come all the way over here and do the promotion. That's like being on tour without the good bits. My manager said, ``well, what's the good bits?''. I said, ``doing some gigs'' and he said we'd do that then. I'm really enjoying it and being here and the gigs have been great. It's just nice to get out of England. It's just freezing f--ken cold.

Q: You're a big Beatles fan. What do you think of Love, their new remix album done by Sir George Martin and his son Giles?
A: It's f--ken ridiculous. I don't like it and it annoys the shit out of me. I hate everything about it: the cover, the sleeve notes, the way the tunes are mixed and sound. Why would you do that? God forbid that ever happens with our music, although we would be powerless to stop it.

Q: Why didn't you want Stop The Clocks to be released?
A: It wouldn't have been my choice to put it out but I am powerless to stop it (due to their contract with Sony BMG). If we were to disown it, we wouldn't have been involved in the artwork and seeing as we're only going to do one best of we thought it was better to be involved. There's 11 hits not on this one. I'm sure that Sony will be putting together a singles album in the near future. I would if I was them. It would sell. I'm powerless to stop it. There's nothing I can do about that.

Q: You put the track listing together. Would it have been different had Liam done it?
A: You'd have to talk to Liam but he would probably tell you some f--ken crap about it being completely different to what I came up with. It would have been the same. If he wanted to, he would have got involved.

Q: Most of the songs are from the first three years in the mid 1990s. Has Oasis got another big album left in the can?
A: If he could tell you that, young man, I wouldn't be in the f--ken music business, I'd be in the gambling business and I'd make a f--ken fortune.

Q: Apart from them all, what was the best song you've written?
A: It's not for me to say what my best song is but I will tell you what my most important song was. Live Forever because it announced us to the world. Before that we were a very British phenomenon and then after that it kind of exploded. I dare say, that was the first song you heard by Oasis.

Q: You've spoken a lot over the years about who is the biggest band in the world. Who is right now and is that title still important?
A: I think U2 has consistently been in the biggest band in the world over the past 20 years. Red Hot Chili Peppers. Green Day this year, too. It was only important before we were the biggest band in the world (in the mid 90s) because that was something we set out to achieve. As preposterous as that sounded when we were all on the dole in Manchester, and as mad as people thought I was, we got there in the end, albeit briefly for about six months. I've got to say it was a lot of f--ken hard work to get there, to be honest. It's not something I think about now.

Q: Is it harder to hold the title, then?
A: So it would seem (smirks).

Q: Oasis and Brisbane have a bit of a history. In 1998, there was the biffo on the plane flight when Liam was arrested. Then you came back for Livid 2002 just 100 metres around the corner from here and blitzed it. Did you feel you had point to prove after the disappointment, on and off the stage, of 1998?
A: In a way, yes. That Australian tour in 1998 was an aberration. We weren't in the right place mentally. We were all high and taking a lot of f--king drugs at the time. We George Best'd it really. We kind of did have a point to prove but not that that made us play any better because we are a great f--ken band anyway. We wouldn't be going so long if we weren't. There's not been many gigs like that 1998 one.

Q: Robbie Williams is in town, staying at the same hotel as you. Any chance of a reconciliation beer after the gig to smooth over your past differences?
A: Unfortunately he is an alcoholic and doesn't drink. A mineral water? I wouldn't have thought so. There is a bit of history there. I don't like his music. No (I won't be going to the concert and) I shall be flying out tomorrow and going to Sydney.

Q: How hard has it been watching the Ashes cricket series?
A: I find it incredible England lost that last Test in Adelaide. How did they stuff that up? If Australia win the toss in Perth, then it is all over. To be honest I'm not a massive cricket fan, and I find it hard to get excited about a contest over a trophy which is that big (small gesture with fingers). That's just stupid. I'm disappointed for the team because finally we have decent cricketers in Kevin Pietersen and Andrew Flintoff. Australia are the best cricket team in the world so there is no shame in losing to them.

Q: You had a swipe at our Socceroos a while ago, suggesting they stop trying to win the World Cup because it was pointless? England didn't go to well and neither did Manchester City on the weekend.
A: Don't get me wrong. Don't forget England are f--ken dreadful, too. The Socceroos as a name is f--ken ridiculous. It's like a cartoon for kids. It's just ridiculous. And as for Manchester City, that was lame. All my sporting allegiances are shite. It's a good job I'm brilliant at music otherwise I'd be a miserable old bastard.

Q: But we see the soccer World Cup as the last frontier in world sport to conquer?
A: (Leans back into couch, belly laughing) Win the World Cup? F--king hell. You've got more f--king chance of having a champion skier. F--king hell.

Noel Gallagher - The Courier Mail - 9th December 2006

2006-12-09T13:23:00.000Z

http://www.news.com.au/couriermail/story/0,,20893899-5003421,00.html

WANT to know the Ten Commandments of Rock? I can't reveal them to you unless you're a rock star. Oh, all right. Here are a few:

• Thou must wear shades at all times (especially indoors).

• Thou must own at least one black leather jacket.

• Thou must have a taste for the finest wines and the hardest drugs.

These were given to me by that learned older brother in rock, Oasis guitarist-songwriter-everything-man Noel Gallagher, 39.

It's what he tells young bands when they meet him for the first time, he says.

"What, when they come up shaking, going, 'You're, like, the coolest man in the history of all the world.' I just go, (adopts super-cool, calm, God-like voice) 'I know. Stop shaking. What can I do for you?' And they go, 'Please tell us how to be better rock stars!'

"And I say, 'Well, you have to follow the 10 commandments I've set out for myself'. And they go, 'Wow, you're like a Jedi!' And I say, 'Well, yes I am.' "

Australian Oasis fans will share space with the Cool One when he performs at Brisbane's Tivoli with Oasis rhythm guitarist Gem Archer this week.

After more than a decade leading one of Britain's biggest bands, Gallagher can indeed claim Jedi status. He has weathered the storms caused by his tempestuous younger brother, Liam, as well as various musical feuds and the ups and downs of a fickle industry. Somehow, he's managed to stay down-to-earth and funny. British music mag NME dubbed him "the wisest man in rock".

He's on the phone to promote Oasis's new (whisper it) "best of". But didn't Noel say he wasn't going to release one until the band split? What's the story? Oasis are jumping ship from record label SonyBMG. Sony decided to release a "best of" and the band had the choice to be involved or not. So Noel got involved.

He chose the 18 tracks on the collection, entitled Stop the Clocks, which begins with Rock 'n' Roll Star and ends with Don't Look Back in Anger. The other members didn't get a say.

"Well, they're all my songs! I can't have (bassist) Andy Bell telling me that Rocking Chair is better than f---ing Half a World Away."

What about Liam, the band's singer?

"F--- him. He's an idiot," he says, almost to order.

Liam recently turned 34. Noel didn't get him a gift. "We don't have that kind of a relationship. I'm not even interested in how old he is. 'Cos I know deep down he's still acting like a f---ing 14-year-old."

The highlight of his career, Noel says, has been meeting his own idols, such as Paul Weller, Neil Young, Morrissey and Johnny Marr. In his 15 years in the band he's learned "nothing and everything".

"When you start off, it's all magic. To be in a band and 'in the music scene, man', it's all magic. I guess you learn cynicism as you go along. You learn a lot of things that you thought were true, they're not true at all."

So what's a day in the life of a Jedi-cum-rock star like?

"I haven't got like a fireman's pole running down through my house; I don't descend from the heavens into my kitchen in a catsuit and eat breakfast and then go maraud around London and act like a rock star. Underneath it all, we're kind of all the same. I get up in the morning. I eat breakfast. I watch the news. I smoke some cigarettes. I have some tea and the phone will start ringing in the office and they'll tell me what I've got to do today, and if I don't have to do anything, I just go and annoy my girlfriend."

I tell him that Oasis have been nominated for the British Q Magazine Award for Best Act in the World Today. He says: "Well, what can I say? We've won that award quite a few times, so the novelty has worn off."

There will be more Oasis albums. But he's in no rush. He has slowed down, but his ego is as big as ever.

"It was pretty f---ing big to start with, I've got to say. And I have mellowed a great deal and it's still huge."

Would you expect anything less from the Best Band in the World Today? You might like to know that Oasis did win the award.

Noel Gallagher plays the Tivoli, Fortitude Valley, on Tuesday. Stop the Clocks is out now.

Noel Gallagher - The Sydney Morning Herald - 30th November 2006

2006-11-30T13:25:00.000Z

When Noel Gallagher was growing up, rock stars didn't come from Manchester. At least not until a band called the Stone Roses emerged in the 1980s.

"I'd always been interested in music, but the idea of what Oasis eventually became came from seeing the Stone Roses live," Gallagher says. "Rock stars then looked different to us. We were normal lads who went to the football, took drugs and hung out on the street. When the Stone Roses came along, they looked like us and made the goal seem nearer."

Oasis, with Noel and brother Liam out front, would become the biggest-selling band in Britain. Twelve years on from their debut, Definitely Maybe, the band are in hiatus. A two-disc best-of, Stop the Clocks, is released this week and Noel Gallagher holds court in his Buckinghamshire home.

After several patchy releases, the band was reinvigorated last year by strong sales and reviews of their sixth studio album, Don't Believe the Truth. A well-received world tour followed.

Sadly, neither success has served to mend fragile relations between band members. Noel says that with the exception of rhythm guitarist Gem Archer, he has not spoken to any of his bandmates, including brother Liam, since March.

"The minute of the last gig of the tour ends that's me f---ing gone," he says, cheerfully. "I don't speak to any of those geezers. It keeps it interesting for me. I wouldn't want to come back off the road and then go straight back into the studio."

From the band's infancy, the tension between Noel and frontman Liam saw them develop into something of a caricature. There were fearful public shouting matches, fist fights, bust-ups and walk-outs. Noel, 39, who was raised with Liam and elder brother Paul by his mother after their father walked out, is philosophical about their relationship.

"A lot of the negative stuff in this band has been very unnecessary and a lot of it caused by Liam," he says, matter of factly. "He's a very antagonistic young chap."

It was during his mid-1990s songwriting purple patch that he conceived Definitely Maybe and (What's the Story) Morning Glory - 27 million copies sold worldwide - and some of the best B-sides recorded in the past 15 years such as Talk Tonight, Acquiesce and The Masterplan.

Gallagher places Talk Tonight among his favorite vocal performances. It was written on Oasis' first American tour in 1994 after a "massive row" with Liam in LA.

"I took all the tour money and a big bag of drugs and went to stay with a young lady friend of mine," he recalls. "I wrote it about brief experiences of running around America for a week. At least something positive came out of it: a great f---ing song."

In spite of the band's inner turmoil, Gallagher still fondly recalls Oasis' early days, so vividly captured in the artwork for Definitely Maybe. The cover was shot in former guitarist Paul "Bonehead" Arthurs' front room and captures the band as they were, drinking wine, smoking cigarettes and playing guitar.

"The only thing manufactured about that was the drummer was there," Gallagher says. "I'd always be around at Bonehead's house playing guitar. They were f---ing great days. I'd love to relive them, but they really can't be relived."

The mid-1990s saw an embarrassment of musical riches concluded by the release of 1998's cocaine-plastered Be Here Now.

Mercilessly panned on its release, Gallagher considers the album's main flaw was that it wasn't Morning Glory. "But I'd ran out of gas. In hindsight it could have been better, but it's an expression of its time."

Live Forever, a recent documentary featuring the Gallagher brothers at their amusing best, focused on the rise of Oasis and Britpop in general. Gallagher says that those involved (including his former nemesis, Blur leader Damon Albarn) are portrayed "as we are".

"Damon come across how I know him, as a confused individual," he says. "He always wanted to be the man, the voice of that generation, but what he failed to understand is that that's a mantle you can't take yourself, it's given to you."

On Oasis' last Australian tour just under 12 months ago, Noel noted the band had arrived at the end of their contract with Sony, and were not going to re-sign with them. He also suggested his own life had taken a re-signing.

These days Noel uses the services of a personal trainer and the hedonistic lifestyle of the 1990s is a distant memory. So, we have to ask, what's the better high, drugs or stepping out on a stage?

"I'd say being on stage, that's just incredible. Drugs are a very personal and selfish thing; stepping out on stage is a very communal thing that involves you and thousands of people. I'm more about others now," he says, with a knowing chuckle. "I'm not that selfish any more."

Noel & Liam Gallagher, Gem Archer & Andy Bell - The Sun - Nov. 24/Dec. 1 2006

2006-11-24T13:29:00.000Z

http://www.thesun.co.uk/article/0,,2006140003-2006540597,00.html
http://www.thesun.co.uk/article/0,,2006140003-2006550779,00.html

WE asked you to send in YOUR questions for OASIS, and you did – in your thousands.

In an exclusive interview with SFTW, Liam, Noel, Gem and Andy answer what you wanted to know.

In the first part of our chat with the band (the second follows next week) read what they have to say about Oasis members past and present, why they will never tour when they are as old as the Stones and whether Noel will ever make a solo album.

A FEW years ago Noel said Oasis would never release a greatest hits album unless it was the end of the road for the band.
MALCOLM WEARING, Dumfries
Liam: I think you say that when you’re just starting out. We haven’t made the greatest hits — they’re all songs that we made ages ago.
I’m proud of it. It’s got some of our best tunes and I wouldn’t have done it unless the record company forced us to do it. I’d rather be involved in it rather than not involved. But I prefer to be doing the new record, to tell the truth.

Noel: We didn’t have to get involved with any of it but we’re never going to do another “best of”. I was trying to be as hardcore as possible but there are about 10 more songs that should have been on there.

Andy: A lot of tunes were left off. My personal favourite would have been Whatever but it was Noel who picked the tunes. This is his baby.

Gem: I would have had Listen Up, D’You Know What I Mean? and Let There Be Love on there. But there you go. I totally understand the way Noel’s done it. It’s not meant to be the box set, it’s meant to run like a good gig — and everyone knows about all the other tunes not on there anyway.

WHY are there no tracks from Be Here Now? Has Noel missed off any tracks, do you think?
TINA HALLADAY, Liverpool
Liam: Yes, I think he’s missed a few. I’d have put on Rockin’ Chair, D’You Know What I Mean? I would have put some off Be Here Now. If he didn’t like the record that much, he shouldn’t have put the f***ing record out in the first place. I don’t know what’s up with him but it’s a top record, man, and I’m proud of it — it’s just a little bit long.

Andy: Noel has purged Be Here Now from his mind — I don’t think he even remembers it. I’d like to play some of the songs live. I tried to get us to rehearse My Big Mouth but Noel doesn’t like these songs as they are all too long and take up two tracks in the set and the same for the “best of”. He probably associates it with a time he doesn’t want to go back to.

Noel: D’You Know What I Mean? was on it right up to the day before it was mastered. But it’s just too long. It upset the flow of the album. When we recorded Be Here Now I thought it was the greatest thing ever but the novelty of that record wore off pretty soon. Andy’s wrong. It was a great period. The money had just come in from Morning Glory so we had become very, very wealthy overnight. Sony had given us a private jet, I was given a Rolls-Royce but, unfortunately, the music suffered. I don’t know why Liam is saying that because, when it comes to playing them live, he won’t sing them!

LIAM, if John Lennon was still alive and you had 24 hours with him, what would you do?
TRACY WHINNETT, St Albans, Herts
Liam: Good f***ing question, man, but I haven’t a clue. I’d freak him out by looking at him, stare him out — but I don’t know. I’d probably b*m him.

ACQUIESCE is a great record. Is it true it was written while the band were on a train – and that the title totally confused Liam? TANJA BENDER, by email
Liam: I can’t remember, man, I don’t know when it was written as I was too busy having a f***ing good time. Yes, the title did confuse me. It still confuses me — I haven’t got a clue what it means. I’ve never asked Noel what it means either. The less I have to talk to him, the better.

Noel: It was written going to a studio in Wales to record Some Might Say. The train broke down and I was stuck for four hours and I wrote that song. Someone had said “Acquiesce” on the phone and I’d written it down. Liam still doesn’t know what it means. People have the misconception that song is about me and Liam, which annoys me to f***, as the lyrics in the second verse are, “To sing my soul to sleep, And take me back to bed.” It’s absolutely not about me and Our Kid and we’ve never shared a bed — and if I was looking for someone to take me to bed it wouldn’t be Liam!

HOW close did the band ever come to breaking up?
MARTIN MACDONALD, Kidderminster
Liam: Never. We just needed a couple of days off instead of going into another country. I don’t think it’s ever come close really. We’ve had some serious arguments but as you get older you think, nah, f***. Ask Noel.

Noel: The real low point was Barcelona for the Standing On The Shoulder Of Giants tour. In that period we were all drinking a lot and taking drugs.

IS it true Noel wants to make a solo album but never seems to have time. Would Liam let him?
MICHELLE GEMMELL, Ayr
Noel: I’ll do one eventually as life’s too short and none of us is getting any younger. I’d like to make one while I still look good and before I look like Phil Collins, which, eventually, I will. It’s nothing to do with

Liam. I’ve got the songs — I could do four solo albums.

LIAM once said he was John Lennon reincarnated. So who does he think Noel could be?
KEV HOLMES, by email
Liam: He’s f***ing Buzz Lightyear.

Noel: Buzz Lightyear? So I’m a superhero, then? Liam is Arthur Mullard.

WITH all the band members that have left over the years, if you had to pick one of them to rejoin Oasis, who would it be? CLIVE KEARNS, by email
Noel: None of them — and I don’t say that with any malice towards them as they were all f***ing brilliant and I wish they’d never left. But it led to better things.

WHO do you believe is the most talented member of the band? WAYNE BURTON, Rotherham
Liam: I’d say it’s Noel but we’re all talented in our different ways. He’s good at writing songs and I’m better at singing them. We’re all the same man. If it’s about f***ing looks, then it’s totally me.

Noel: Everyone’s got their own individual talent. Liam’s got many subtle little talents. 99 per cent of them I can’t see but he must be talented as everyone keeps telling me. Gem is a brilliant producer, Andy is a whizz at everything and a great songwriter. Obviously, everyone else will say me.

Andy: We are a band of equals. That’s the feeling that I got when I started to play with this lot. We’re all super good at what we’re doing.

Gem: I think we’re all really talented in different ways but Liam’s voice is an absolute gift from the gods. But I think Andy is the best musician in the band, and Noel’s songs — he’s one of the all-time greats.

WOULD Oasis have ever been as successful if you were all bald?
ENDA BURKE, Galway
Liam: No chance. I wouldn’t go and see a band with a load of bald f***ers. You’ve got to have a barnet or it doesn’t work.

Andy: The hair’s getting a little thinner but we’re stapling it together.

Gem: In my world it goes hand in hand — shoes, guitars, hair. That’s the triangle.

Noel: Absolutely not. The way Liam looks is a big part of it. Back in the day I didn’t look that great as I was too busy getting off my head, Bonehead was bald, Guigs looked like an average man. And shoes are always good as we’re Mancunians. We dress from the feet upwards.

AFTER 12 years at the top, how long do you think you will continue? Will you be like the Rolling Stones or go gracefully?
DARREN MUGFORD, by email
Liam: I dunno. I didn’t join the band to split up. I joined the band because I like being in a band and I like to make music. If the tunes are f***ing good and we all look half-decent, then people will want to buy the records. I still love everything about it. This is what I like doing and it never gets boring. So who knows, man? All those bands that split up after a couple of records, well, they can suck my ****!
I love singing Our Kid’s songs and I love doing the gigs. I like the way our band’s perceived and we’ve got the best fans in the world. So why would you not like it? I’ve got nothing in common with other bands — wearing their tight kecks and pointy shoes.

Noel: We just take everything one step at a time. I don’t know how long it will go on. As long as we’re all still into it. I’d say longer after the last tour, as I’ve seen a new generation of Oasis fans.

IF Tony Blair told the Queen to give Noel a knighthood as his parting gesture before stepping down, would you accept it?
RICHARD JONES, Australia
Noel: I’d initially accept it and not turn up. I’m not a big fan of the monarchy.

YOU’VE got one bullet. Who do you shoot, Robbie Williams or Phil Collins?
STEPHEN BAILEY, by email
Noel: It always comes out wrong about Phil. I don’t give a f*** about Phil Collins. I wouldn’t shoot him. I think he’s bit of a knob though. As for Robbie, I’d load the gun for him as he’s eventually going to do it himself as he is a grossly unhappy person.

MORRISSEY used his celebrity to reform the New York Dolls. What about using your power to get The Smiths back together.
CRAIG WELLS, by email
Noel: Well if The Smiths announced a gig anywhere in the world tomorrow I’d be there and the same goes for The Stone Roses. But they properly fell out. As bad as things get in Oasis there’s always this sibling thing that draws us back together or my Mam gets involved. So it’s a pipe dream.

THE Beatles have had their music adapted for Cirque Du Soleil and Queen have had their songs turned into a musical. Any plans for Madferit: The Story Of Oasis?
JAMES, by email
Liam: Nah, I wouldn’t be up for it. Not sure what Noel would say as he’s getting weirder the older he gets — especially as he’s coming up to 40. I bet he’ll have a yellow f***ing Ferrari next, so who knows where his head will be at in a couple of years’ time? But it’s not my cuppa tea. It’s not rock ’n’ roll is it?

Andy: The Cirque De Soleil is a mad one. I’ve heard some of the music and it’s amazing. I’ll see it next time I’m in Vegas.

Gem: I sincerely hope not. I really do. I think it’s an un-Beatles thing to do.

Noel: I bought the album and I had to switch it off. I thought it was ridiculous and I didn’t get it. It was like Stars On 45. A musical? I don’t know. It sounds that f***ing ridiculous that I’m kind of getting into it.

WAS Songbird included just to stop Liam whingeing?
BEN GOULSON, London
Liam: Our Kid put it on! It’s a f***ing tune! And I don’t f***ing whinge. Who asked that? Tell Ben he’ll be whingeing when I take my foot off his head.

Noel: No, because it’s a bona fide good Oasis song and I wish I’d written it as I f***ing love it.

DOES your success and commitment to touring and promotion interfere with your creativity?
GARY STANFORD, by email
Noel: I’d say yes it does. I used to aggressively pursue creativity. Ten years ago if I wasn’t writing a song every day I’d panic. But now I’ve nothing left to prove and I don’t mean that in a defeatist way. The only things I’ve got to prove are to myself. So even if I go four months I don’t stress. I used to chase after my creativity but now I let it find me.

ANDY/GEM, if you could have played on any songs before your time which would they be? Do you ever regret not being a part of Definitely Maybe?
SARAH DYSON, Wigan
Andy: I would’ve liked to have played on all my favourites like Slide Away, Champagne Supernova, Live Forever — all those kind of tunes. But it doesn’t really matter as I play them live now anyway. I don’t have any regrets in life as everything led me to where I am now. When they did Definitely Maybe I was seeing Liam and Noel as we were in the same studios a few weeks apart as I was making Ride’s third album.

Gem: It’s all what it was, what it is. It’s carved in stone. Now they’ve got a different life in my head played live. Champagne Supernova is a different record when I play it live.

DO you envisage a time when the band no longer tour?
BRENDAN FINNEGAN, by email
Liam: I hope not because sitting in the studio all day is great but I’ve got to see people’s reactions. It’s a top day out at an Oasis gig, whether you’re on the stage or in the crowd so why would you want to cut that stuff short?

Andy: Yes I can, well maybe not tour so much. I can look forward to a day when we do tone it down but right now we’re still in our prime and none of us want to stop now.

Gem: No I think you’ve got to tour and that’s why all the great bands, us included, have our fans because we go and play to them. Simple as that.

Noel: Me and Andy look at things more objectively. I’m not going on the road when I’m 50! And it depends on how I look. We’ll still be touring in five years but I don’t ever want to end up like Pink Floyd. Now I f***ing love Pink Floyd but on stage at Live 8, well I’m not going out like that. I want our last photo shoot to look good. I don’t see an end to it yet but we’re not going to be like the Rolling Stones, no f***ing way — all that macrobiotic food and tights? No way.

NOEL and Gem, will you make an acoustic album after your tour?
SIMON MANGERS, Luton
Gem: Who knows? We’ve done loads of stuff, radio sessions and everything so all they need is for someone to put them in a sleeve. It’s weird as everything with Oasis is this rock ’n’ roll lad thing but this shows a really tender and quiet side of us.

Noel: We had a good laugh doing that tour but I wouldn’t like to make it a bigger tour. Doing the acoustic tour I was centre of attention and I’m not sure I like that. It’s weird.

YOU’VE got a docu coming out, but if Hollywood was to make the Oasis film, who would play who?
NEIL RENTON, Edinburgh
Noel: Nobody really looks like Liam and fortunately no one looks like me. We’re pretty unplayable I guess. Rhys Ifans would do a good Liam if he could get the accent right.

WAS it difficult for the band to adjust to being musical celebs?
ALEX MacGREGOR-DEVLIN, by email
Liam: Nah, if people ask for an autograph, sign it and move on. I don’t like it if there’s a load of people mithering me but apart from that it’s not hard.

Andy: I haven’t the same profile as the brothers so I can go down Woolworths, do my shopping and I don’t get bothered.

NOEL featured on the Radio 2 superstar line-up telly advert. Who would you have in your fantasy line-up?
DAVE MYERS, Liverpool
Liam: I wouldn’t have had Sheryl Crow. I would have had Keith Moon for a start. I would have f***ed Our Kid off and got Jimi Hendrix in. Elvis would go and I would have been in there. For backing singers, The Supremes.

Andy: I’d keep Keith Moon on drums, Noel on guitar. I’d get rid of Sheryl Crow and get John Power from The LA’s in and yes, maybe Elvis on vocals.

Noel: I’d go for Reni from the Stone Roses. Lee Mavers from The LA’s singing and playing guitar and me on another guitar. On lead guitar Johnny Marr and on bass Mani.

I SAW Oasis in Colorado and it was amazing. Do they still care about breaking the US?
RICH JONES, Denver
Liam: What’s breaking it? We tour there. I would never want to be that huge that you’re on Oprah. I’d never want to be that big in America as they’re all f***ing weirdos. If it means going out there all the time then I’d rather be big here. The money would be nice but if that’s the only reason, then nah.

Andy: Last time we played Red Rocks, Hollywood Bowl and Madison Square Garden so have we not made it playing those places? I feel like we have, though I feel we should be bigger. Americans would like it if they heard us more on the radio.

Noel: Our US label is conservative, Celine Dion’s on it. They’re ultra-professional and we weren’t bothered about the meet-and-greet side of it but the older I get the more I like going there. It would be great to have a No1 American album but I know what it takes to get that. The reason we didn’t break America wasn’t anything to do with the music — how can it be, our music is f***ing great. A lot of it has to do with mine and Liam’s personalities — they just don’t get it. Our record company never really got us, but I can live with that.

SO, will there be another record?
MARTIN PETERS, Manchester
Liam: We’ve done stuff for the next record. When we recorded the last one, we recorded about 50 tunes and I think there’s an album there definitely. We’ve just got to wait for Our Kid to decide what he wants to do. If he wants to make a new record let’s go. I’m ready to go. If Noel wants to take a f***ing break then I’ll be doing the f***ing record with Gem as I don’t take breaks. He always says: “Our Kid loves the limelight, he can’t relax” Well where were you last week? In Tokyo you f***ing knobhead.
Noel: Is that right Liam? Liam sees things very differently to the rest of us. After The Brits I don’t know. Liam needs to go to anger management classes and get some manners and then maybe we’ll make another record.

YOU are set to receive the award for Outstanding Contribution To Music at the Brits in February. What has Oasis contributed to the British music scene that other bands haven’t?
SAM LAVIN, Luton
Liam: The music for a start, decent tunes and not comedy music. We brought rock ‘n’ roll vibes back.
Gem: Belief. I remember when we all heard Slide Away and Rock‘n’Roll Star and it was like a revelation. We’ve given bands like Razorlight, Arctic Monkeys and Kasabian a sense of ambition. We showed them it could be done. We came from f*** all to the biggest band in the world in five years. When I drive up to my house in Buckinghamshire I think “Wow, where did it all go right?”

WHAT is your proudest moment since joining Oasis?
GARY BOOTH, by email
Liam: Getting a record deal — someone believing in us to go and see if we were any good.

Gem: Going on tour with my son — he’s ten. And I was very proud because he held his own.

Noel: Hearing “That’s Supersonic by Oasis” on daytime Radio 1 was mindblowing at the time. We get a bit blasé about it now. Making my mam proud, I think. When we first had a single she never really understood what we were up to. My mam is colossal.

LIAM, how do you present a new song to Noel? How critical has he been?
PAUL LEAHY, Ireland
Liam: I don’t present them to him, he just sort of hears them. Even if it’s good he’ll walk out the room. He doesn’t encourage anyone, all he cares about is his f***ing self. He does his thing and I do mine — Gem’s more of an encouragement than Noel.

ANDY and Gem, how nervous were you the first time you played for Noel and Liam?
WES GERRARD, Leicester
Andy: There was definitely some nerves going on. Noel called me and said he needed a bass player but I was a guitar player so I had to learn that. But as soon as I walked through the door they were very
welcoming and chilled me out.

Gem: I got my nerves out of the way before I even put my guitar in the case. You can’t be nervous or else you price yourself out of the game. I think anticipation is the word.

EVERY Oasis fan knows the existence of the song Stop The Clocks. Noel even said it was the best track he’d ever written. When will we hear it?
MATT ROGERS, Welling
Liam: I don’t think Our Kid can get it right. I don’t think it’s the best he’s written — it’s a tune but not his best. He’s done about four versions but he’s not happy with it so it’s a bit of a nightmare.

Andy: It is an amazing tune. It has quite a heavy theme to it and we’ve had a few goes at it. We’ll get it right one day.

Noel: Every time I write a new song I say it’s the best ever! But it’s not the best thing I’ve ever written. There are about ten different versions and I can’t decide on which one. It’s a good song, the lyrics are great.

WHAT’S your favourite Oasis video?
STEVE SMITH, by email
Liam: I think all our videos are sh*t. It’s not that I don’t like doing them, just that they’re always sh*t.

Noel: The Importance of Being Idle because I’m not in it. I f***ing hate doing videos.

WHAT is the craziest night you have had with another band?
BOBBY CORRIGAN, Paisley
Liam: New York with Kasabian and Jet. It was mental. We were jumping off the bar and just acting like three-year-olds. It was a top night.

Gem: Liam’s birthday in America with Jet and Kasabian. We had a massive party. Half the people there were on acid. We were in the middle of the desert and midgets gave Liam his birthday cake and made up their own midget rap! They were stood on a table, rapping to Liam. It was one of those moments that you join a band for.

Noel: With Kasabian — every night on the American tour we kissed the sky. I’d tour with them the rest of my days. Tom Meighan is a colossal geezer. There are similarities between Tom and Liam, and me and Serge. I love that band. It reminds me of when I first met The Verve.

FOLLOWING Liam’s success as a song writer, does Noel see Oasis’s future in the hands of the younger brother?
JOE BIRCHLEY, Nottingham
Liam: I don’t think I’m a songwriter; I just do what I do. I just do my little thing with my guitar in a room I think it’s the b******s of course but if Noel thinks it’s all right to go on the record then it goes on. I’m not arsed either way because I get my kicks from singing songs. I’d never do my own records as it’s got to be Oasis.

Noel: Maybe yes. He said: “No” because he’s a lightweight but in the studio he’s always giving how good he is. But when it comes down to it he’s a sh** arse. He could carry it but he won’t because he hasn’t got the nerve.

RAZORLIGHT, Kasabian and the Arctic Monkeys all say they wouldn’t be in bands today if it hadn’t been for Oasis. How proud does it make you feel?
KEVIN QUINN, Edinburgh
Liam: It makes me proud when it comes from Kasabian but not f****** Razorlight.

Noel: It makes me proud as I love all those groups and The Coral too.

Noel Gallagher - Adelaide Now - 23rd November 2006

2006-11-23T13:42:00.000Z

http://www.news.com.au/adelaidenow/story/0,22606,20809025-5006343,00.html

Noel Gallagher isn't backward in sharing his opinions about, well, everything. Here's what's been on his mind.

We're talking about the new best-of Stop the Clocks. Have you got a favourite Oasis song?
Not really a favourite, no. If I was to pick one I was to listen to right this very second it would be either The Importance of Being Idle or Supersonic.

Have you got a song then that you think is the best song you've written?
You can't . . . I don't think you can really say that. Fifty million people would say Wonderwall, I would say Live Forever but then again Liam would say something else. It's all opinion and conjecture, isn't it.

When you write a song like Wonderwall or Supersonic do you have that feeling once you get to the end of it, `Yeah, that's pretty good'?
I did with Live Forever. Supersonic was done in such a rush I still . . . when I listen to that song now I still think it's amazing. The Importance of Being Idle, when I finished that I thought it was amazing. I went out and celebrated that night.

You can feel it?
I've written many, many great songs, obviously but I've also written a few stinkers, you know what I mean so when the good ones come along I know. Some of the songs take you by suprise. Some songs you write and you think, "Hmm, that's alright'" and then loads of people go, "Wow, that's amazing." Like Lyla for instance, I thought, `well that's pretty good and then when people heard it they were going, `F***ing hell that's incredible' and I'm like, `Really?'... of course it is, I wrote it.

But that must be part of the fun as well. To take albums on the road and see which songs people really respond to live?
That's all part of the creative process. I've written some things that I thought were monumental and then people have heard it and gone, "Gnah, that's alright". You never quite know. But there certain songs that come along where you go, `F***in' hell. That is fantastic.'

Was it always frustrating that Acquiesce never got onto an album?
Not really. Frustrating for other people. Not me. I never understood what people were, "Oh this should have been a single." Well, why wasn't it then? I don't remember people at the time clambering for it to be a single. It's a great song and all that, but it's not like it's been brushed under the carpet and forgotten about. The cream always rises to the top.

Because a lot of the talk at the minute is going to be about the best-of, is it difficult or interesting for you to start thinking about the early days all over again?
You know it's not difficult because everytime we put an album out people always compare it to Definitely Maybe and Morning Glory so it seems to be I've been talking about the past forever. It's like same sh**, different day for me.

Does it feel then that the best-of might get rid of a bit of that then? Once the best-of is out you will be able to start again.
I don't know. Oasis and particularly Definitely Maybe and Morning Glory had such an impact on people around the world that maybe I wouldn't want people to stop talking about that. I don't know.

The best-of is the end of your contract with Sony BMG. So now you're looking for another record company?
My manager deals with all that kind of thing. We don't have to deal with any of that sh**. Far too complicated for me. I remember looking at a record contract once and it just looked like what I imagine the script for Lord of the Rings would have looked like. I was reading it, going, "What does...? What? What the...? What does that word mean?" It was like one of those scenes from Star Wars where an android is reading out the technical difficulties on one of the space ships in the desert. And you're just like, "I don't know what that means." I thought this is all about making records, isn't it? It's all forthwith and hereforth and I hereby degree that those forsooth, "What?"

So people just need to tell you when to start writing songs and when to book into the studio.
I'm a huge rockstar, point me in the way of the drum riser. That'll do me.

I read an interview where you said the 90 seconds where you walk from the backstage of a stadium to the stage are the best moments you can get.
Walking from the wings to your microphone is an incredible high, and it's an incredible re-affirmation of what you do. It's such a communal... people have said to me, "Well, is it better than drugs?". Well, it is because drugs is a selfish personal thing. If you're taking drugs with a whole lot of people, you can all take the same drug but it effects you in different ways. But when you experience something like that, this very communal thing with 60,000 or 70,000 people it's quite special. It's not something to be taken lightly. If you're going into it thinking it's a f***ing walk in the park...

The more you do it, the more you learn how to handle it. To me, I never used to get nervous, do you know what I mean? I was always a little on edge before going onstage. But now I just love it. It's almost like you can conduct an orchestra when you're up there.

What a lot of people don't understand, when they're starting up, they go, "Oh, I'd be petrified to get up there" and I always say to them, "The thing about it is ... all the people looking at you, they want you to be there. You should never go out on a stage and feel I'm not worthy to be in this stadium. The state of mind you've always got to be in is I'm bigger than this stadium and these people want me to be bigger than this stadium. So even if I don't feel like I'm bigger than this stadium I've got to act like I'm bigger than this stadium or let somebody else do it. I've never understood these wimpy rockstars who get stage fright. Go and get another job then.

When you can command an audience of that size elsewhere in the world, why come to Australia when the reality is you'll only play to 5000-10,000 people when you could be playing to 60,000 elsewhere?
That's a good question ... the weather?

The first time we came to Australia we didn't have a very good time at all, we were in the wrong place mentally and we were all heavily into drugs. It was a f***in' crazy time. We were having a great time but the music and all that suffered so we didn't go back for a while. I guess ever since then ... well, let's put it this way. You speak English. We've kind of got the same cultural references. I can order room service pretty easy in Australia. It gets a bit difficult in Japan. You say, `No, I asked for sugar, man. Not lobster.' That kind of thing.

Australia traditionally has loved its music, it's rock'n'roll. Who wouldn't want to go there? My very good friend Paul Weller, I keep saying to him, "Everytime I go there, man, they keep asking me when you're going to go there.' And he's like, `Well, it's a bit far isn't it?" And I'm like, "Well, f***ing hell, it's a bit far. They do have airplanes now you know. No-one's requiring you to drive there."

Are you worried about the reception you're going to get next time you come down here after your comments about the Socceroos?
What did I say?

I believe you said, you wanted to "kick Tim Cahill in the bollocks" and that the Socceroos had a "sh*t name."
That's rubbish. Socceroos. That's f****n' nonsense. And explain to me this ... you know Tim Cahill? Everytime he scores a goal he goes and boxes the corner flag, that's ridiculous.

He's being the Boxing Kangaroo.
F***ing boxing Socceroo. What a tit.

It's no different to British players DJing when they score goals.
Yes it is. Well, they're idiots as well. Listen... can you print this? All footballers are f***ing idiots. Start from that rationale. They're all idiots. All of them. They're moronic. They can't dress, they're into shit music, they've got sh*t hairdos, they've got ugly wives and they've got stupid kids.

That's alright then, if you're bagging all footballers.
Oh, totally. I do think Australians are that good at cricket and rugby, what are you playing football for?

You'll never win the world cup. That's for sure. But then neither will England so I don't know what I'm going on about.

England are shit and all. And don't get me wrong, I went to the World Cup in summer and all those English footballers are f***in' knobheads.

Are you going to come out here to catch some of the Ashes?
No, cause I'm kind of busy doing the promotion for this.

It'll be interesting, very, very interesting. You ... you lot have to win it really, don't you? Cause it was bad last time. Old f***ing Glenn McGrath saying you were going to whip us five-nil but it didn't quite turn out like that, did it.

I'm looking forward to that and the Rugby World Cup. It's going to be good man. Do you think you'll win the Rugby World Cup?

I'm from the Southern States so we don't really play Rugby down here.
Oh really, Do you play boomerangs and all that lot?

We play Australian Rules Football.
* See, now that's f***in' insane. That is insane.

It's a great spectator sport.
It's stupid. Men in really tight shorts and vests, c'mon.

Have you been to a live game?
Are you insane? How would I have been to an Australian Rules ... do you know why it's called Australian Rules?

Because we only play it in Australia.
Because you only f***ing play it in Australia.

What about when you've been out here on tour?
Listen, I'm too busy getting drunk and talking about the Beatles.

You can do that at the football
Nooooo. I'm not having that. That's wrong. That's like saying Sumo wrestling, ain't it brilliant... if you're Japanese it is. It bears no relation to the rest of the planet. It's like baseball. What a load of sh** that is. Each to their own I guess.

No plans to tour here any time soon, then?
I guess when we put a new record out whenever that'll be. It'll be on the map.

Have you started thinking about a new record?
Not really. We only really got back off that tour, it only finished in March. And I don't really need to be hanging out with my brother. Once every three years and only for one year at a time.

You also have another brother Paul, what does he do?
He gets on my nerves, is what he does.

You're the oldest?
No, I'm the middle. Our Paul, what does our Paul do? He keeps the Oasis archive. If you asked him where were the band playing on the 29th of August 1992? He could tell you in an instant. He could even tell you what clothes I was wearing. He's an encyclopedia of all that irrelevant bullsh**. Good lad though.

Thanks for your time, Noel. I think you need to check out a bit of Australian Rules Football next time you're in Australia.
And you need to get a life, love. See you in a bit.

Noel Gallagher - The Sun - 21st November 2006

2006-11-21T13:57:00.000Z

http://www.thesun.co.uk/article/0,,4-2006540086,00.html

NOEL GALLAGHER has seen RED over the current mania for all things GREEN.

The OASIS legend has given a landmark interview in which he passes judgement on modern Britain, politics, music and the celebrity culture which he despises.

Noel gave off enough of his own hot air to bring down the ozone layer in one interview session.

What makes Mancunian Noel most angry is the fad for Green politics and do-gooders trying to save the planet.

Guitarist Gallagher, 39, fumed: “Greens are f***ing hippies with no place in the world.

“They’ve been telling us for the last 50 years not to use aerosols or the sky’s going to fall in.

“Well - you’re the scientists, do something about it.

“How do you suggest we get 50million Chinese not to have a fridge?

“Or get 700million Americans to stop using their big stupid cars.

“The only way its going to happen is if the sky falls in.

“Until is does, these Greens are wasting their time.

“I’m glad - because in 50 years time I’ll be dead.”

Finding a rock star with such strong opinions is a rare thing these days.
But Noel more than makes up for the rest of them during this exclusive interview to promote Oasis new Greatest Hits album Stop The Clocks.

His Green opinions - like all of his thoughts - are more than just hot air.

He tries to get a rise with a controversial statement - but then backs it up.

Noel is convinced that even if the world does change for the worse, kids of tomorrow will simply adapt.

He explained: “They won't be sitting there going: ‘Dad, you shouldn't have brought me into this world.’

“Kids adapt.

“Our parents are horrified about the society we built for ourselves - drugs and sex and drink and rock'n'roll and television.

“But to us that's normal.

“So - we'll be horrified with what follows.

“By the time I'm on my deathbed my daughter ANAIS will be some mental axe-wielding cyber punk lunatic. And I'll be horrified.

“I'll be glad to get out of the place! She'll have adapted quite well, I would have thought.

“The world in which we live - they always say: we have to leave a safer planet for our children.

“Well - I haven't got a car. So I'm doing my bit for the environment.

“I walk everywhere. I only live round the corner from Central London and I walk everywhere.

“That's my bit. I take public transport and I walk. So I don't clog up the roads with petrol fumes and all that stuff. That's what I'm doing.”

And Noel has utter contempt for celebrities who lock themselves away from the rest of us and refuse to ever get on the bus or just walk.

He maintains that he still goes to buy his own groceries - and people like ROBBIE WILLIAMS and ELTON JOHN who don’t, come in for a tongue lashing.

Noel said: “If I run out of milk, I go to the supermarket. And I queue up like everybody else.

“Can you imagine Elton John queuing up to by milk?

“The thing is - these stars like Robbie Williams and Elton John and all the rest of that lot - what are they afraid of?

“Are they actually afraid somebody might actually say hello to them in the street?

“There ain’t no axe-wielding celebrity murderers out there. It's not like that.

“It p*sses me off that they lock themselves off from humanity.

“And then you see these people on telly and you wonder why they're a**eholes.

“Cause they're surrounded by a**eholes who treat them like they're something special when they're not.

“Whereas the likes of me, when I want a taxi I queue up.”

But it does not mean that Noel will always pause to speak to people.

In fact he loathes signing autographs.

He added: “I don't give a f** about autographs. Just say no!

“I take great pleasure in that sometimes.

“People think they're slaves to their fans. No. People stop you in the street, sign this - no piss off!

“"Could you sign this, please?" No. "Why not?" Cause I'm not in the fu**ing mood, that's why. Dead simple.”

Noel - who has been described as “the wisest man in rock” is on great form.

He is celebrating a complete rebirth of Oasis since their last studio album Don’t Believe The Truth.

New bands like ARCTIC MONKEYS and KASABIAN honour him as the godfather of modern music.

It is now taken as a given that Oasis are the most influential British band of the last 20 years - probably since The Clash or Sex Pistols.

And Noel is relishing his new-found status of the elder statesman during the 11th anniversary of his own band.

The former hellraiser has calmed down on all fronts - and relaxed into a life of quiet enjoyment.

He is blissfully happy with his girlfriend SARA MACDONALD - and refuses to do anything he doesn’t enjoy.

That includes making music when it doesn’t take his fancy. He explained: “In the early days if I wasn't writing songs I was in the studio recording songs. If I wasn't in the studio I was rehearsing. I was aggressively being creative. Cause I had goals to achieve. You won't get to be the biggest band in the world sitting on your arse watching telly all day.

“Soon as we were the biggest band in the world in 1996/7 I took the foot off the gas.

“You can keep re-inventing yourself, like U2 But then - look at the clothes they wear. It's not very graceful. So - I don't get up every day and go, right, pass me the guitar.

“I really do enjoy being lazy.

“Let me see what I've done this summer. I went to Ibiza for 6 weeks. I went to Miami for 2 weeks. World Cup. Moved house. Went to Republic of Ireland to visit my mother. Been to New York. I just get around. I enjoy doing nothing.”

When Oasis blew up in 1996 at the centre of Britpop they were linked in with the rise of the Labour government.

Noel was famously photographed attending a function at No10 Downing Street and shaking Tony Blair’s hand. It is an image he does NOT regret.

Noel recalled: “I don't feel any shame about that. The picture's a bit sh*t, cause I have a glass of champagne in my hand. And I was wearing a cheap suit, and that's not f**king like me. But I have no regrets about going.

"I was only in my twenties at the time, and I thought - "wants to meet ME? Well, f**ing bring it ON!" And I can't remember the mindset I was in. But looking back now I think I probably would have just been fascinated by it all.”

Noel is no fan of Blair - but he has an interesting take on the Iraq War.
Soldiers come in for a bashing from him - for complaining about having to fight.

He continued: “Blair made an almighty cock-up about going to war in Iraq.

“But when people go on about that it's like they're suggesting that if anybody else had been in power they wouldn't have gone in with the Americans.

“Because after WW2 we always have sided with the Americans.
“Don't think for one moment David Cameron wouldn't have sent the troops in, or the other guy from the Liberals.

“And another thing annoys me.

“You get a million people walking through Hyde Park, "don't send the troops", and all that.

“The troops they wanna go, all they want to do is fight! They're soldiers! They're lunatics! They're loving it until they get shot - and then they're claiming compensation.

“If you're bothered about getting shot - here's a thing - don't join the Army!”

Despite calming down on the work front - and enjoying life more - one thing has not changed.

The relationship between Noel and his singing brother LIAM remains as strained as ever.

Noel continued: “The problem with our relationship is that he doesn't like me.

“I know that. I can accept that. I actually don't mind that.

“And I'm indifferent to him. I'm not bothered what he does, I'm not bothered what he says, I'm not bothered about his music, his haircut or where he lives.

“I don't actively go out of my way to antagonise him. He does actively go out of his way to antagonise me.

“But I just keep out of his way. I can't be dealing with him, he's just a pain in the a**.

“He's got a split personality. He's either got a Messiah complex. When he looks in the mirror he sees the Messiah.

“Or he's got a Caesar complex. When he looks in the mirror he sees enemies everywhere.

“It's very difficult to deal with a person who thinks he's the centre of the universe one minute and the next minute everybody's out to get him.”

Luckily, despite their differences Oasis are around for the long-term.
Noel has compiled the greatest hits to satisfy a contract with Sony Records.

But then the band will go it alone - and start a new album which they plan to release themselves on their label Big Brother.

Noel explained: “Record labels are places you go and borrow money to make records. We don't need to borrow money any more. That's basically it.

“Why take all that money off them, put it in your bank - and then when your record comes out, for every record sold you get 15 Pence. Why not just not take the money and when it comes out, and it sells for £ 15, you get £15 of it. That makes business sense to me.”

Noel hinted that a new studio album will be ready next year.

But for now there’s the compilation to look forward to.

Stop The Clock features 18 of Oasis’ best tunes - and will be released in the UK on November 20.

Noel Gallagher - Reuters - 20th November 2006

2006-11-20T14:02:00.000Z

Online Link

Rock icons Oasis release their greatest songs album on Tuesday capturing more than a decade of hits, but the band's main songwriter Noel Gallagher says his best-known tunes are not so great.

For many Oasis fans, three songs -- "Wonderwall," "Don't Look Back in Anger" and "Champagne Supernova" from the blockbuster hit 1995 album "(What's the Story) Morning Glory?" -- were the defining moment for the band.

For Gallagher, the album was overrated.

"Morning Glory, I don't think it's the best-sounding record we have ever done," Gallagher told Reuters in an interview. "Some of the songs are not as great as people think they are."

As for the notion that "Don't Look Back in Anger" and "Wonderwall" captured the spirit of British optimism of the mid-1990s, Gallagher puts much of it down to timing.

"There was always going to be one defining British album that came out at that time, it just so happened we put ours out at the right time and the songs, being about hope and love, just struck a chord with people," Gallagher said.

"I don't much like 'Wonderwall,' but the effect that song has on people, I can't deny it," he said. "Great music is in the ear of the beholder."

"I still don't know who this chick Sally is," he said of the heroine of "Don't Look Back in Anger."

"I wrote the thing and I don't know what it means, but for some reason, for (fans) it means the world to them," he said.

"All those lyrics, like 'Champagne Supernova' and that, they were just nonsense ... you can think about those lyrics for the next 500 years and they still won't mean anything."

As Gallagher reviews the 18-song, 2-disc "Stop the Clocks" compilation, he says the band's first album "Definitely Maybe" from 1994 remains his best work.

"People are still hailing it as one of the greatest albums of all time," he said, calling it on a par with the seminal punk opus "Never Mind the Bollocks Here's the Sex Pistols."

Absent from the album, which includes some of the band's famed B-sides, is anything from their third effort, 1997's "Be Here Now," when the band came close to imploding under the weight of their own success and a blizzard of cocaine.

"As soon as you get involved in cocaine, it all goes out the window because you think that every note you play on the guitar is ... monumental," Gallagher said.

Now 39, Gallagher is more relaxed that at the height of his fame and drug abuse when he notoriously wished Blur frontman Damon Albarn death by AIDS before later apologising.

"It's shallow," Gallagher said of the life of drugs he gave up in 1998 after a moment of clarity.

"Back in the day, I was prone to making sweeping statements," he said, adding that he has no real regrets. "It was a time for heroes, it wasn't a time for being reserved and concise about our success. We were ... bigger than Jesus."

Now having completed a six-album record deal with Sony Music, Gallagher says he has no plans because for the first time since 1994, Oasis are without a recording contract.

"It's quite a liberating feeling," he said. "I'm sitting back at the minute and saying, 'I couldn't be bothered, I've achieved everything I ever set out to achieve.'"

"But on the other hand, Oasis is such a fantastic thing, you could never walk away from it, ever," he said. "While you still have breath in your lungs and could still stand up and weren't bald, you couldn't walk away from this."

Noel Gallagher - The West.com.au - 16th November 2006

2006-11-16T14:06:00.000Z

http://www.thewest.com.au/default.aspx?MenuID=25&ContentID=13284

At the end of 1994, Noel Gallagher was on tour with his band in the United States. The album he’d just written and recorded had gone straight to the No. 1 spot on British charts and was quickly becoming the (then) fastestselling debut album in British history.

But none of that meant much in Los Angeles. He’d just seen his younger brother, Liam, completely mess up a concert, bent on a cocktail of drugs and booze.

Gallagher grabbed his passport, went to the airport and, without telling a soul, boarded a plane for San Francisco. Oasis were over before they’d barely begun.

This was to be the first of many splits, fractures and punch-ups surrounding the enigma that is Oasis, one of the greatest episodes in the celebrated history of rock’n’roll.

Gallagher is enjoying a fairly relaxed day at his luxurious home in Chalfont St Giles, a short drive north of London. It’s been 15 years and more than 50 million album sales since he joined his brother’s band and drove it to the kind of fame and fortune that made instant rock’n’roll folklore.

“I didn’t think that we’d still be sitting here after however long it is discussing the merits of one’s back catalogue,” Gallagher laughs, reflecting on the tumultuous history of Oasis and the release of the band’s greatest hits album, Stop the Clocks.

“It was good to just be getting off the dole, really, and possibly making some money. Taking as much drugs as possible and have a good time. Rock’n’roll is not about making plans or achieving goals and that. It’s about doing what you want. Of course, Liam takes that to the absolute f...ing extreme, but there was no master plan, really.”

With the release of 1994’s debut, Definitely Maybe, there was no going back to the dole line for the five members of Oasis, which included the Gallaghers, Paul “Bonehead” Arthurs, Paul “Guigsy” McGuigan and Tony McCarroll.

Formed amid the crumbling decay of Thatcherism, for these Mancunians music was the only escape. And they were never going to leave quietly, as Liam so famously stated on the snarling Cigarettes and Alcohol: “Is it worth the aggravation/To find yourself a job when there’s nothing worth working for/It’s a crazy situation/But all I need are cigarettes and alcohol.”

Six albums later, including an impressive B-sides release, and Oasis have run and crawled rock’s gauntlet. (What’s the Story) Morning Glory created Brit-pop and made them filthy rich, Be Here Now pushed them out of favour with the hostile British music press and last year’s superb Don’t Believe the Truth reinstated them as heroes again.

There have been broken spirits and broken noses, and today Noel and Liam remain the only two original members in the band — and even they are hard pressed to muster any scrap of brotherly love.

“He’s a f...ing little idiot is what he is,” Gallagher says matter-of-factly. “I haven’t seen him for four months but I know wherever he is he is being a f...ing idiot. Genuinely, he doesn’t like me, I tell you that for a fact. And I am indifferent to his idiocy.”

Behind the brawls and tabloid fanfare, Oasis were quite simply a brilliant rock’n’roll group. Noel the pop mastermind, Liam the untameable rock star — together they were unstoppable. And hearing these 18 undeniable hits from Stop the Clocks blast through the stereo back to back is all the proof you need: Rock ’N’ Roll Star, Wonderwall, Slide Away, Cigarettes and Alcohol, Live Forever, Supersonic, Don’t Look Back in Anger and so many more.

“We tell it like it is,” Gallagher suggests of the reason for the band’s continued success. “And I guess people have been through the ups and downs with us, and ultimately there’s some good music in there. It’s real as well; I often see the rock stars on the tele and I think, ‘There’s something intrinsically fake about you’. And you don’t get that with Oasis. Ask me the f...ing question, I won’t tell you any lies.

“I guess the 90s would have been a little less exciting if it wasn’t for us.”

Add the 21st century to that as well. Not only did Oasis make English music exciting again in the 90s, the band’s influence stretched across the oceans and has today manifested itself in the contemporary rock vogue, headed by bands as diverse as Jet and the Killers.

While Gallagher, who turns 40 next May, is happy to accept his fate as rock’s elder statesmen — and says he’s currently working on the next Oasis album, which will see a release “later rather than sooner” — he humbly admits his time as rock’s bad boy genius has passed.

“Fundamentally, rock’n’roll is youth,” he explains, “so once you reach a certain age you cease to be rock’n’roll any more. It’s not about bad behaviour or about living on the edge or wearing a leather jacket or having a drug habit and drinking Jack Daniels all day. All of those things help, right, but it’s about being young.

“Then you get older and you’ve got more baggage and instead of music being the single most important thing in your life, it becomes one of many important things in your life.

“A kid who is 24 and has one electric guitar and a f.....g head full of ideas is far more interesting than someone who is in their 50s with five kids and six houses.”

Noel Gallagher - The Courier Mail - 15th November 2006

2006-11-15T14:07:00.000Z

http://www.news.com.au/couriermail/story/0,23739,20762059-5003421,00.html

AS A twenty-some-thing oik in Manchester, Noel Gallagher remembers using some of the money he had little of to buy Nirvana's In Utero album.

One song made his blood boil: the unfortunately prophetic I Hate Myself and I Want to Die.
"I remember thinking 'Here's this f---ing yank who's got everything I want'," Gallagher recalls of Kurt Cobain.

"He was in the biggest band in the world, he's critically acclaimed, revered by fans, he's a f---ing multi-millionaire. That was everything I wanted in life, he had it. And the c--- wants to kill himself. I started thinking, 'How can that be?'."

Gallagher, who had started writing the songs that would become Oasis' seminal debut Definitely Maybe, suddenly got the inspiration to write Live Forever.

The ballad became the band's signature tune, recently voted the best song ever by Q Magazine readers in the UK.

His lyrics became the antidote to Cobain's suicidal misery.

"At the time I had nothing, I was living in a council flat, I had nowt," Gallagher says. "I had one guitar, I could barely pay the rent on the rehearsal room, I didn't have a job but we kept it going. I still loved getting up every day because it was a pleasure to be alive. Live Forever just came out."

Fast forward to 2006 and the twenty-something Gallagher is now a thirty-something multi-millionaire who is the songwriting force behind one of the biggest rock bands in UK history.

He's got everything he thought Kurt Cobain was wasting . . . except Courtney Love. "I'm still working on that," he jokes, "but she won't have it."

Gallagher is on the phone to spruik an album he didn't want to release – Oasis' best of Stop the Clocks. You see, Oasis had left their label Sony BMG in the UK, but the company were going to release the album regardless, so Gallagher stepped in to, as he puts it, stop it being sh--.

"They're within their rights to do one," he says, "We got wind they were going to do one so we figured it's best to be involved, choose the tracks and the artwork and all that f---ing bollocks. But it's frustrating, we'd rather be working on new stuff."

Stop the Clocks features precisely no new tracks, resisting the recent trend for artists to throw a couple of new or previously unreleased songs on their "best of" albums.

"Best ofs aren't about new music," Gallagher says. "When you buy a best of, not by a classic band but by new bands like Supergrass or Blur or Manic Street Preachers, there's always two songs at the end that are so obviously new songs that have been lying around the studio – let's stick that on the best of and they're so obviously not the best."

Two unreleased songs, Stop the Clocks and The Boy with the Blues were mentioned by fans as possibilities to make the compilation.

Gallagher says the songs exist but were never going to make the best of.

Instead the best of features Liam and Noel Gallagher's pick of their songs – tellingly nothing from their critically mauled Be Here Now album and a large smattering of tracks from their debut and follow-up What's the Story Morning Glory. There's also four B-sides from that era, only two tracks from their recent "comeback" album Don't Believe the Truth and one track each from Heathen Chemistry and Standing on the Shoulder of Giants.

"This album is not for the Oasis generation, as they're called," Gallagher says. "If you're an Oasis fan you've probably got all these songs anyway. This album is for kids in 10 years time who will maybe get an introduction to Oasis the way I got into the Beatles, through a best of. Then there's plenty of other material they can discover for themselves, as opposed to the band going 'Here's all our best music'. There's songs like Rockin' Chair, D'Ya Know What I Mean, Listen Up, Fade Away, Headshrinker and all these B-sides that should have been on there, but people can discover those on their own."

Stop the Clocks is a best of, not a "greatest hits". There is a difference.

Indeed, there's not only eight singles left off Stop the Clock, but three UK No. 1 hits.

"There's another seven or eight songs that should be on there. But that would have meant stretching it to three CDs and I thought that was a bit f---ing sh--, really," Gallagher says.

"Two CDs is enough. It would have been nice to get it down to one CD, to get 12 killer tracks on one album but unfortunately I've written too many killer tracks."

Not that Gallagher isn't quick to point out which singles he automatically nixed from the potential tracklisting.

"Roll With It, All Around the World. Stand By Me, Sunday Morning Call. Quite a few really. But I wouldn't be surprised if a 'greatest hits' album is on the way very, very soon. The record label owns all the rights to our music. I've got a couple of record labels myself. I'm thinking if I run a record label I'd go 'Hmm, I can still milk this Oasis thing for another album'. There's eight singles not on it. I wouldn't be surprised if there's an Oasis 'greatest hits' imminent."

While rifling through the Oasis vault recently Gallagher says he found a "f---ing immense" live version of Some Might Say and a demo of Cigarettes and Alcohol he has "no recollection of recording".

His iPod contains only one Oasis album in full – Don't Believe the Truth – but plenty of demo and unreleased material.

Any chance of an anthology series, like his beloved Beatles?

"I don't know how these things work. Sony Records is going down the toilet mate. They own it all. I'd brace yourself if I was you, the barrage of any old sh-- is coming.

"There's a full unreleased album of Definitely Maybe, the one that was scrapped, plus a full unreleased album of stuff from Don't Believe the Truth that was scrapped because of, well, various reasons. Well, it was sh-- really."

While they're in nostalgia mode, Oasis will also release a tour documentary Lord Don't Slow Me Down filmed on their Don't Believe the Truth tour between 2005 and 2006.

"Swarthes of it are from Australia, actually," Gallagher says. "What's it about? I have no idea. There's lots of me f---ing about in it. Me swearing and playing guitar, signing autographs.

"People are expecting me to big it up, the people who made it. You see band documentaries and they're really exciting? This one seems f---ing boring to me but who am I to say? I'm in it."

The band are also in hibernation, and will begin negotiations for new record deals outside the UK.

"As for offers I don't know, my manager deals with all that, but I'm sure there's been millions and millions been offered," Gallagher states.

There's also no word on a new album, but Gallagher is not concerned.

"We had 11 songs leftover from the last album. Out of those seven were pretty good and four were great. I'm certainly not panicking. We could release an album now without even going into the studio to be honest. But there's no hurry. We only got back off that tour in March. F--- that. I'm not even interested yet to be honest. I haven't spent the money I made yet."

Stop the Clocks is out on Saturday through Sony BMG.

Noel Gallagher - Scottish Sunday Mail - 12th November 2006

2006-11-12T14:09:00.000Z

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When Noel Gallagher moves up a gear into verbal overdrive it's best to sit back, relax and enjoy the no-holds-barred ride.

The Oasis guitarist carefully picks off his targets with the skill of a deadly assassin.

So who's in his sights? H is volatile brother Liam for a start. Try this for size.

"We're in a period of unrest at the minute because he's a ******* idiot who insults my intelligence," said Noel, 39, sternly.

"I have to supress all my working class urges not to smash a chair over his head.

"The polite thing to say is that we do a dance around each other. He doesn't get in my way and I don't get in his.

"I know for a fact Liam doesn't like me. It's because I'm much more talented than him.

"I love him because he's my brother but I don't LIKE him. He says he loves me but I don't see much coming from him.

"Trouble is, Liam can never take yes for an answer. He tells me he's written a great song for the next Oasis record and I say: 'Okay, we'll put it on.' But then he'll start shouting that it should be included on the CD. I've just said yes, what part of that does Liam not get?"

Noel invited me to Oasis' secluded studio bolthole in the Buckinghamshire countryside to talk about the group's first greatest hits compilation, Stop The Clocks, due for release on November 20.

He is compelling company and our conversation covered a variety of diverse topics.

Last month, it was revealed Oasis are to receive an Outstanding Contribution to Music Award at the Brits in February.

The group have publicly snubbed the ceremony since winning a trio of gongs in 1996, so why the U-turn?

Noel told me: "Last year when we should have been nominated for best single they chose Shane Ward and Tony Christie. We should also have been in the running for best album and in there was Kate Bush and Westlife.

"That p***** me off, big time. They've asked us to accept this Outstanding Contribution award for the last few years and we've always said no.

"With Stop The Clocks coming out we thought, This isn't gonna go away so we either do it now or when we NEED to do it in five years and look more like a bunch of old fellas.

"I'd like to do it before I'm 40. It means Oasis will be the youngest ever band to get such an award. That's colossal.

"But it's live on telly. God help them - they've made the biggest mistake of their life."

The promo schedule for Stop The Clocks is relentless. On November 19, Channel Four screen Lord Don't Slow Me Down - a fly-on-the-wall tour documentary.

While Noel has agreed to be a guest on Parkinson on November 25.

He said: "About 70 per cent of the tracks on Stop The Clocks chose themselves then we had to work out which B-sides to use.

"Initially, I wrote down a list of 30-odd tracks but I didn't want to run to three CDs. The only criteria was to look at every track and say: 'Why should this song NOT be on the record?' In the end, it was put together like an Oasis fantasy set list."

Noel claims success sits comfortably on his shoulders. Not only is he one of rock's greatest ever songwriters ... he's also one of the richest.

Royalties from hits such as Live Forever, Morning Glory and Don't Look Back In Anger have made him a multi-millionaire.

What was it like when the huge royalty cheques dropped through his letter box?

He said "I went mental. I spent s*** loads of money buying cars and I don't have a driving licence.

"I've got a Rolls Royce that Alan McGee bought me for making him a multi-millionaire. Sixteen grand it cost him ... and I made him £20million.

"I've also got a 1967 Mark II Jaguar and a big black Range Rover. But I can't be a**** taking driving lessons. I was told I had to sit a written test. There's no chance of me taking an exam in a school gym with a load of toerags from Slough. It would be like sitting my 11 - plus again. No way.

"If that's what it takes, I'll go buy a HORSE!"

Noel added: "I've also spent a lot on s*** - drugs, clothes and parties. I've never been ashamed of that. I earned that money.

"An Oasis CD costs £16 and from that the five of us get a pound to share between us while somebody else earns £7.

"I've got a huge house. It's ******* enormous and takes me an hour and a half just to walk a round the grounds. But what do you expect me to do? Live in a council flat?"

At 39, Noel is wiser than the young upstart who exploded on to the UK rock scene in 1994.

He's sussed enough to realise he has occasionally overstepped the mark but says he has no regrets, despite once infamously saying he hoped Damon Albarn of arch-rivals Blur died of Aids.

He also dismissed Robbie Williams as "the fat dancer from Take That" sparking a 10-year feud which continues to this day. He said: "The Blur stuff was out of order and fuelled on booze and drugs. You could pick out just one line from any of my interviews, stick it in a magazine and it would look offensive.

"I've only ever spoken my mind. But I don't wish Damon any bad luck at all. I felt I was goaded into it by the guy doing the interview and I was a bit too dumb not to take the bait."

So what about Robbie?

Noel told me: "I don't like Robbie Williams' records, it's not my bag at all. But the guy has carved out a career for himself after really only being a backing dancer.

"I remember seeing him once at the Brits after he'd had one of his six-month periods of mouthing off. He put his hand out to shake mine and I said: 'Not when you're wearing eye liner, Sonny Jim.'

"Again, I bear Robbie no malice at all because he doesn't enter my way of thinking.

"I've heard about the secret track on his latest album Rudebox attacking us but I can't be bothered with it any more. He's got his thing, he sells out stadiums around the world - good luck to him." Noel did fire a warning to Mr. Williams though. The guitarist sings lead vocals on several of the hits on Stop The Clocks. Has he considered a solo career?

"Robbie is probably the biggest solo artist in the country but I'd eat him for breakfast," he said.

"Why? Because I write better songs, I'm a better singer and I've got soul. End of ******* argument.

"If I decided to go solo I'd be enormous. Just be thankful I can't dance AND play guitar at the same time or you'd be looking at the first gunslinging John Travolta.

"My heroes were Johnny Marr of The Smiths and John Squire of The Stone Roses and they never moved a muscle. So I'm not starting any of that.

"Much as Liam and me don't get on you DON'T leave a band like Oasis.

"Luckily, my head has never been turned by the prospect of making a country and western album."

OASIS guitarist Noel Gallagher has ruled out marrying his Scots girlfriend any time soon... because he can't be bothered with the hassle.

He's been with Sara MacDonald for seven years but insists he has NO plans to tie the knot.

Reports this week said he was planning to wed at Manchester's Urbis museum followed by a party at his beloved Manchester City's football ground.

But in an exclusive interview at his recording studio he revealed: "I've got no marriage plans at the minute.

"It infuriates Sara when I say this cos I love that girl dearly... I just can't be a**** with a wedding. She says I need a slap.

"You ask me when I'm getting married all the time. Ask me a question on sport instead."

Noel revealed that when Oasis signed a deal with Creation Records in 1993 it killed off a previous relationship.

He said: "I remember going home to Manchester after a meeting with Alan McGee in London.

"I got into my flat about two in the morning and the girl I was living with at the time woke up. When I told her Oasis had a record deal she burst into tears... and they weren't tears of joy.

"I said: 'What is wrong with you?' And she said: 'You're gonna leave me now and move to London.'

"I replied: 'Don't be stupid babe'. But six weeks later I was off. I said: 'London's calling. I can't stay here, love. It's my destiny.' So while McGee gave me a record deal, he temporarily ruined my love life."

Noel invited the Sunday Mail to Oasis' studio in Buckinghamshire to talk about their greatest hits compilation, Stop The Clocks, released on November 20.

And our no-holds-barred chat - covered in full in seven-days magazine - ranged from his rivalry with younger brother Liam, his long-running feud with Robbie Williams and how he feels about being part of New Labour's Cool Britannia brand.

He was also vocal about Oasis being given the Outstanding Contribution to Music gong at next year's Brit Awards.

Noel said: "Last year we should have been nominated for Best Single and they chose Shane Ward and Tony Christie. That p***** me off, big time.

"They've asked us to accept this Outstanding Contribution award for the last few years and we've always said no.

"With Stop The Clocks coming out we thought, 'This isn't gonna go away.'

"I'd like to do it before I'm 40 next year. But it's live on telly. God help them!"

NOEL ON.. TONY BLAIR

It was the image which defined the Cool Britannia era... Noel Gallagher sipping red wine with Tony Blair at Downing Street prior to the 1997 general election.

But has the superstar lived to regret pinning his colours so firmly to the New Labour mast?

The answer appears to be definitely ... maybe.

Noel told me: "I didn't want to meet Tony Blair - he wanted to meet ME! I was the king of London. Looking back, it was a cynical ploy by his spin doctor Alistair Campbell.

"I was in a euphoric state of mind thinking: 'Of course Blair wants to meet me. I'm ******* amazing. Who wouldn't?'

"But I don't feel conned or used. As trivial as it sounds now, the fact that a guy who'd been in a band, owned an electric guitar and has probably had a spliff was Prime Minister really meant something at the time.

"It felt like it might be important after years of John Major and Margaret Thatcher. He just MIGHT be one of us.

"In hindsight, it turned out he was just a politician like all the rest. Initially, we all thought something was gonna change... it didn't.

"I was brought up as a Labour voter. I come from a working class family and was on the dole for seven years.

"I admit I got carried away by the whole Britpop-Cool Britannia thing. It WAS euphoric when the Labour Party got into power. I didn't realise it wasn't New Labour at all - it was the Tories dressed in red.

"History has shown it's really the Bank of England who got into power."

What does Noel think of those calling for Blair to resign and pull our troops out of Iraq?

He said: "What a lot of people fail to grasp is it doesn't matter who was in No. 10, Britain would STILL have gone to war. We're in America's a*** pocket and that's the end of that."

"We have this big inferiority complex because we're this tiny little island in the middle of nowhere. If there's something going on in Turkmanistan WE need to be involved. Why?

"We're a nation built on war. We still Troop the Colour... like anybodygivesa ****."

But Noel did have some words of praise for the PM.

"If you were to take the Iraq thing out of the equation, Labour do seem to have made a difference with things like the minimum wage.

"They also made education and health a priority."

NOEL ON.. THE FUTURE

Noel admits he's not sure if Oasis will still be on the go in another 10 years.

"I'd be 49 then," he said. "To be quite honest, I get up in the morning and it's a struggle pulling my socks on. I've got a bad back, a stiff neck and I don't get enough sleep.

"When I was young I was kind of fascist about not making music when I got to 30. Then I thought, 'I'll pack it in when I'm 35' and so it goes on. It all depends on how trim we look. "Groups like Pink Floyd started out playing middle-aged music and it's STILL middle-aged music. Oasis songs are more up.

"Will I be playing Cigarettes And Alcohol at 50? Probably not... but who knows?"

One thing Noel is determined to do again however is gig in Scotland.

"Scotland has always been a very special place for us. It's the whole Celtic thing.

"Scots see themselves as rebels. They saw Liam and me giving two fingers to society and instantly related to us. Our gigs there have always been extra special."

NOEL ON.. ALAN McGEE

Creation Records' boss Alan McGee wrote a new chapter in music history when he spotted Oasis playing at King Tut's in Glasgow in 1993.

He was so knocked out by the unknown Manchester band he offered them a deal on the spot.

Noel told me: "The story we were NOT booked to support 18 Wheeler is true... but the myth which says we threatened to smash up the club if they didn't let us on isn't.

"As anybody who's ever met a Glasgow doorman will tell you you're not smashing anything up in that town - particularly if you're five skinny kids from Manchester. You'd get your head kicked in.

"McGee asked us: 'What a re you called?' I said: 'Oasis'. I was trying to be quite cool so when he asked if we'd like a record deal I asked: 'Who with?'"

Noel revealed that when the group got home to Manchester they hit the phones to find out more about the charismatic McGee.

Noel said: "There used to be a big cardboard cut-out of McGee in Eastern Bloc Records in Manchester. That's how I knew who he was.

"I was into Primal Scream and Teenage Fanclub so I knew about i Creation. I phoned a couple of people who knew him and said: 'McGee is off his head, isn't he?'

"But they said that was what he did. That's when I realised he was serious. McGee is a superstar in my eyes."

Noel Gallagher - The Guardian - 10th November 2006

2006-11-10T14:16:00.000Z

http://arts.guardian.co.uk/filmandmusic/story/0,,1943181,00.html

'Liam doesn't like me," shrugs his older brother. "He confuses love with hate. 'I love you.' No, Liam, I think you'll find you fucking hate me." Sitting in his management's central London HQ, Noel Gallagher recounts a recent disagreement. Oasis are about to release Stop the Clocks, their first retrospective. In the accompanying booklet, the lyrics for each of the 18 songs appear beside an image. The picture Noel chose to go next to Songbird - the only track written by Liam - was a red brick wall. "Because it's a love song about his bird," explains Noel. "And red is the colour of love."

But Liam, who wrote the song for his long-term partner, Nicole Appleton of All Saints, didn't take it that way. "I got a message on my answer machine," sighs Gallagher. "He was like, 'The colour red? Beside the song I wrote about my missus? Who I've got a child with? How fucking dare you!'" Gallagher tells the tale with a mixture of amusement, resignation and disbelief. "He only had to say he'd like to change it. No problem. But instead it descended into personal abuse." Liam's rant continued until the tape ran out. "I listened to it with my missus," says Noel. "She was going, 'You and your kid are actually insane. It's amazing you've managed to get this far.'"
But, somehow, here they still are. The Gallaghers may be Oasis's only original members, but their massive following remains. Last year's warmly received Don't Believe the Truth sold 2.5m copies, propelling Oasis on to a worldwide tour to 1.7 million people in 26 countries. They plan to record the follow-up in 2007. "The empire is still building," says Gallagher.

For now, though, the 39-year-old is looking back. On completing their six-album deal with Sony, Oasis were asked to release a greatest-hits collection.

Gallagher wasn't keen, but aware that Sony actually owns the band's songs, he agreed to support a best-of, featuring his selection of Oasis favourites.

It's a belting collection, with an intriguing tracklisting. Of the 18 songs, four are B-sides and four album tracks - meaning only 10 of Oasis's 22 top-40 hits feature. The rejects include Roll With It, Oasis's contribution to the famous 1995 chart battle with Blur. "I don't like that song," admits Gallagher, who seems comfortable enough with his achievements - and himself - to be self-critical. But the most telling statistic is that 14 of the 18 tracks were released in 1994 or 1995. In other words, Gallagher seems to be admitting what many of us believed: that his band - and his songs - peaked over a decade ago.

"Yeah, of course," he shrugs. "We're talking about the best of Oasis here. If you stop the man in the street and ask 'What's Oasis's best album?', a few might say Don't Believe the Truth, which is great, but the squares will say Morning Glory and the cool people will say Definitely Maybe. That album should just be called the Best of Oasis." He leans forward. "Look. I was a superhero in the 90s. I said so at the time. McCartney, Weller, Townsend, Richards, my first album's better than all their first albums. Even they'd admit that."

So why didn't he remain a superhero into the next decade? "Because those songs were written in my 20s. All I had in the world was a guitar and a Dictaphone. When you're young, you write about being young and shagging and drugs and drinking. You can't do that when you're 39. I was a different person then."

These days, Gallagher's Saturday nights involve watching Match of the Day, and he hasn't touched cocaine since 1998.

"Cocaine itself isn't that bad," he says. "It just makes you drink more and that's the worst drug there is. Especially when you're surrounded by people whose psychosis sets in the more they drink. But people think I stood up at a party and announced, 'That was my last line of cocaine, from this day forth I shall take no more,' and everybody sighed and left. It wasn't like that. The reason I packed it in was that it was only meant to be a weekend, which became a week, which became a month and so on. I just decided I couldn't be arsed any more."

Although Gallagher says his songwriting passion was reignited by Don't Believe the Truth, his inescapable problem is that any new Oasis album must compete with their first two records. "Which is completely unfair. If I knew how to write another Definitely Maybe, I'd do one every year. It astounds me that I wrote those songs. But nobody has ever bettered Definitely Maybe, don't pin it on my shoulders. The Arctic Monkeys came close, but that's it. They've got the tunes and the attitude. If only they could front it out."

At times this year, the Arctic Monkeys have seemed almost embarrassed by their success. It's the antithesis of the Oasis way. "I've never understood that kind of thing. Like the Clash going, 'We're not playing on telly.' Well fuck off then. When we first started we said we were the greatest band in the world. We should have said we were the best band in the charts. 'Cos to me, the world is the charts. I don't give a fuck about Radiohead and all that indie nonsense. I was brought up on the top 10. Slade, T.Rex, David Bowie. If you're not in the charts, you don't exist. BMX Bandits? Four people are listening to it in Hull. I went in there to get Phil Collins' severed head in my fridge by the end of the decade."

Which, in a manner of speaking, he did. "I came from a shithole in Manchester, right, so it was all brilliant to me. Even touring in a transit van was better than being in my flat. Then when we got a deal, we were like: 'Bring it on!' I wanted the big hairdo, big shades, big car, big house, swimming pool, jet, drug habit, a mirrored top hat and a chimp. All of it. The Kasabian lads told me they'd only get out of bed to read about us in the paper. And what would you rather read? 'The guy from Keane's been to a rabbit sanctuary 'cos one of the rabbits needed a kidney implant, so he swapped his with it' - or 'Liam Gallagher sets fire to a policeman in cocaine madness, while his brother Noel runs down Oxford Street nude'?"

No doubt Kasabian loved the story about Gallagher visiting the victorious Tony Blair, in 1997, at his Downing Street reception and asking the new PM how he'd managed to stay up all night during the election; "Probably not by the same means you did," was Blair's knowing reply.

Having effectively been New Labour's house band, what does Gallagher think of Blair now? "Well, I think that Britain is a better place than it was before the Labour party took over. Personally, I'd have loved Neil Kinnock to get in. He was gonna rip Margaret Thatcher's head off and shit down her neck. Then Tony Blair came along and it was like: 'Ah, he's gonna outsmart all of these public schoolboy cunts.' But we all got carried away in 97. Once the veneer wore off - even taking the Iraq debacle out of the equation - we've all just given a massive shrug. I think the Labour party's crowning achievement is the death of politics. There's nothing left to vote for."

Gallagher is concerned David Cameron will win the next election, "although even if he does, it won't matter because it won't change anything. He's just saying the same as Tony Blair was saying. Gordon Brown over David Cameron? When I see them on television, I switch them both off."

Gallagher, though, is contented. He has no sympathy for those for whom fame is a burden. He doesn't sit in his country house (though he has one) counting his millions (though he has several). "Life is a great thing, why shut yourself away from it? I can't understand people like Elton John and Robbie Williams going straight from their blacked-out limos to a restaurant. I stand in the queue at Waitrose. More rock stars should do that. Forget therapy, go to the supermarket and interact. The staff in my local Waitrose are really blase about me now. They'll be like, 'Him? Oh he's in here all the fucking time. And between me and you, he doesn't eat very well.'"

Ten years ago, Gallagher's life was almost entirely focused on Oasis. But even though he says its not his sole passion any more, that he has a full life outside Oasis, he insists he is still very much the band's leader. "If I said the next album was going to be Irish reggae, then it would be." Nevertheless, he's relinquished control to the point where all four members contribute songs, something he admits would have been unthinkable in the mid-1990s. "I've got to say a lot of weight was lifted from my shoulders when Liam, Andy and Gem started to deliver songs for Don't Believe the Truth and they were actually good."

Gallagher readily concedes his brother's earliest songs weren't great. "But you either say, 'That's shit, fuck off,' and he retreats into his shell. Or you go, 'Look, I'm not into it, but if you believe in it, it goes on - but you're taking the flak for it.' Liam used to say in interviews, 'Noel won't let me write.' But back in the 1990s while I was grafting, he was shooting Stella into his arms 'cos he thought it would mainline into his brain quicker. So I was like, 'Well write one, and we'll take it from there.' I'm glad he's done it, because the great ones are great and the shit ones he gets slagged off for. And there's nothing I like more than reading people slagging Liam off." Gallagher cackles.

"The reason he doesn't like me is that I'm indifferent to him," he explains. "I can come off tour, put the bags down and shut the door. Liam can't do that. He wants to carry on. Plus, he insults me and I don't like being around people who insult me."

The brothers don't exchange Christmas or birthday presents and have only seen each other "two or three times" since returning from tour in March. "I just don't need to be in the gang all the time," says Gallagher.

Presumably he has considered the possibility that Liam's insults stem from jealousy; after all, Noel's the older, brighter one, the one who wrote 17 of 18 songs on Stop the Clocks, the one people respect more. "But he's got nothing to be jealous of. Thing is, you say about the 17 songs, but Oasis is dependent on three equal parts. That's him, me and the songs. It's all about that struggle and it wouldn't be Oasis without him. But Liam can't see that. 'Cos when he has a drink, he's got an enemy complex. And a serious inferiority complex. But, y'know, he is my brother. And although I don't like him, I do love him to bits."

Perhaps, I suggest, you should buy him a Christmas present this year. "Yeah, maybe I will," nods Noel, thoughtfully. "I'll get him a fucking straitjacket."

· Oasis's Stop the Clocks EP is released on Monday on Sony. The Stop the Clocks 2CD album is released on November 20.

Noel Gallagher - Toronto Sun - 8th November 2006

2006-11-08T14:18:00.000Z

Oasis braintrust Noel Gallagher has never been one to mince words, God bless him.

So if the Manchester-born songwriter and guitarist had his way, Oasis wouldn't be releasing a greatest hits package, the two-disc Stop The Clocks, on Nov. 21.

"If it was up to me, it wouldn't be coming out until Oasis wasn't around anymore," said Gallagher in Toronto yesterday before his acoustic performance last night with rhythm guitiarist Gem at the Danforth Music Hall.

SONY OWNS RIGHTS

However, it was either cooperate with the band's former label, Sony-BMG, from which they've since parted, or not be involved in Stop The Clocks' track listing and art work at all.

"They own all the rights to everything, so we were informed that they were going to do a retrospective of some description by Christimas -- did we want to get involved?" explained Gallagher. "Well, if it is has to be now, it has to be now. Don't be surprised if there's a singles album following this. They're well within their rights to do it."

A BATCH OF NEW SONGS

Gallagher, who said he's currently got about 30 new songs in rough form for the next Oasis studio album, isn't sure who Oasis will sign with next on this side of the pond but they'll stick with their own indie label, Big Brother, in England.

"We won't be going back to Sony," he said. "They're all right for us in Canada, so we might stay with them in Canada. In America, I feel they kind of let us down a wee bit. I balance that by saying they didn't really dig our unprofessionalism. They found it very difficult to actually grasp the concept that we actually didn't give a f---. And they thought, 'Well, if they don't give a f---, we don't give a f---.' That's how I see it anyway. I don't bear any malice towards any of them. They've got a business to run."

Gallagher said Oasis fans shouldn't hold their breath for the next studio disc -- it definitely won't be out in 2007 -- but he did offer a hint at the sound.

"Some of it's great,"he said. "But for what it's worth, a lot of my songs will probably end up being acoustic. But not in the Cat Stevens sense. 'Cause a lot of (2005's) Don't Believe The Truth was kind of acoustic-driven. But when you get into a studio, it all goes out the f---in' window and you just go, 'Let's rock!'"

To promote Stop The Clocks then, Gallagher and Gem are on a mini-tour of acoustic performances that began last Thursday in London and after Toronto will be followed by stops in L.A., Tokyo, Manchester, Paris and Milan.

Noel said his younger brother and Oasis lead singer Liam wasn't part of the trek because he "doesn't do acoustic performances. He doesn't do promotion. What's the point of him being here?"

Meanwhile, the Oasis road movie, Lord Don't Slow Me Down, was to be screened in Toronto last night at the Danforth before the acoustic set, and is expected to be released as a DVD in Canada next year.

Gallagher said director Baillie Walsh was given carte blanche to shoot the band on the road during their tour for Don't Believe The Truth. Sadly none of their stops in Canada were filmed.

"There's no gringey-bits for me in it," said Gallagher of the film. "Liam wears some very questionable clothes in it. Shorts at one point. That's no good for being in a band. And some very questionable headware. But there's a lot of drinking involved and a lot of talking absolute nonsense. It's quite funny in places.

"The opening scene is very funny. When I'd seen it, I cried with laughter. It involves extremely large bottles of champagne which are called methusals, and there's a scene of a lot of people trying to open this bottle of champagne. It gets, very, very, very, stupid 'cause everyone's f---in' a--holed.'"

Noel Gallagher - AOL Music - 7th November 2006

2006-11-07T14:20:00.000Z

http://www.aolmusicnewsblog.com/2006/11/07/oasis-stop-the-clocks-not-the-band/

Oasis' Noel Gallagher has embarked on a mini-world tour to promote his band's best-of CD, 'Stop the Clocks,' due out Nov. 21.

The axeman's next tour city will be Los Angeles, where he'll play Friday. So far Gallagher's solo sets have consisted of 14 songs, only half of which actually appear on the new CD/DVD package. Gallagher says the shows, including one in London, England, last week, have been, well, interesting.

"[It] was very boisterous. It was quite overwhelming, to be honest," he tells AOL Music. "I sat on a chair with a guitar, and I couldn't hear anything over the crowd singing. My sound engineer tried to rectify it and ended up blowing up the PA."

Known for their tumultuous history, which has seen walkouts by frontman Liam Gallagher and the departure of several members over the years, we wondered whether the album provides some kind of closure.

"I guess it's the end of something. I don't think it's the end of the band," Gallagher says. "Nobody's expressed any interest in doing anything else other than another album."

Noel Gallagher - NYC LDSMD Screening/NME.com - 4th November 2006

2006-11-04T14:22:00.000Z

http://www.nme.com/news/oasis/24974

Noel Gallagher made a special appearance in New York City on Saturday (November 4) at the world première of new Oasis documentary 'Lord Don't Slow Me Down'.

Around 400 fans, some queuing up from 3am, attended the screening at the CMJ festival and took part in the following Q&A session with the Oasis leader.

Directed by Bailie Walsh, the man behind Oasis' 'Let There Be Love' video, the film captures follows the band's Don't Believe The Truth' world tour with a collection of backstage footage, on the road perfomances along with a series of band interviews.

Following the screening, Gallagher then answered questions from fans present, discussing The Beatles, his relationship with brother Liam Gallagher - he insisted it was "as good or bad as it ever was" - and the group's forthcoming best of 'Stop The Clocks'.

He also explained why the track of the same name does not feature on the collection.

"Despite various demos we never nailed what version we're all happy with," explained Gallagher of the us-yet-unreleased song, "but the title fits where we are now."

A fan also asked the guitarist why he claims Oasis' are "the greatest band in the world".

"I only go by what's on the charts," declared Gallagher in response. "I'm not interested in what's hip to music critics, what I was actually saying when I was saying I was the greatest thing since Elvis Presley was: 'I think I'm the best thing in the Top 40 and I think anybody whose from England would probably agree with that!'."

Oasis are set to release 'Stop The Clocks' on November 20, while 'Lord Don't Slow Me Down' will be screened in the UK later this month.

Noel Gallagher - Exclaim.ca - 2nd November 2006

2006-11-02T14:28:00.000Z

http://www.exclaim.ca/index.asp?layid=22&csid1=5833

What are your current fixations?
Well I’m really into the Kasabian album, but I’ve just got an album in New York by a guy called M. Ward, it’s called Post-War. Fookin’ hell man. I’ve never heard this guy before, and I was doing a photo shoot, as us rock stars generally do, and some guy was playing it in the background. I was like, “What’s that fookin’ music?” And he’s like, [adopts American accent] “Dude, it’s M. Ward.” One of the best albums I’ve ever heard actually.

Why do you live where you do?
Why do I live in London? Because it’s the centre of the universe, young man. I think it’s everybody’s right and duty, if they’re not gonna leave the country that they live in, is to at least live in the capital because it’s the biggest fookin’ city. That’s not strictly true, because you wouldn’t go live in Washington if you were in America. I wouldn’t anyways. London’s the capital of Europe — it’s one of the great six, seven cities of the world. I came for the weekend in 1994 and I’ve never been back to Manchester.

What has been your most memorable or inspirational gig and why?
Can I pick two that I’ve attended? One was in 1992 at a place called G-Mex in Manchester and it was U2, Public Enemy and Kraftwerk on the same bill. Fookin’ dig that. It was on U2’s Zoo TV tour and it was mind-blowing. I wasn’t even in a band at that point, but it was like, “When I get in a fookin’ band that’s how I’m fookin’ havin’ it.” The second gig was about three years ago when Neil Young was doing his solo acoustic tour of Greendale. It was just him, an acoustic guitar and his mouth organ at the Hammersmith Apollo in London and it was just fookin’ outrageous. He played the whole album from start to finish and you kind of sit there watching him and think, “Fookin’ hell man, I haven’t made it yet.” D’ya know what I mean? He’s the master. And then of course, true to form, you go out and buy the album and it’s absolute dog shit. [The movie] is fookin’ dreadful. I kind of like Neil Young just because he’s fookin’ punk rock, he and Dylan. Crazy old dudes man.

What have been your career highs and lows?
Career high, I guess, is playing at Maine Road in Manchester because it was the grounds of the football team I’ve supported since I was a child [Manchester City FC]. It was the first stadium we played and it was amazing. It was so inconceivable that a kid from around the corner from the football ground would get to play that. And a career low? I don’t know because they’re all part of the story, so they’ve added something in a weird kind of way.

What’s the meanest thing ever said to you before, during or after a gig?
During? I don’t fookin’ listen to what any of those idiots have got to say during a gig. But Lars Ulrich came to see us one night — we tune our own guitars up because we’re still capable of doing that — and he was like, [adopts perfect Ulrich accent] “F-Fuck, you know, you know you guys should really fuckin’ get one of your fuckin’ road crew to tune your guitars. The fuckin’ spaces in between the songs are too long.” And it’s just like, “Look man, I don’t know if anyone’s ever pointed this out to you before, but you’re the fookin’ drummer in Metallica. Now you fookin’ get on with that and leave the rest of it to us.”

What should everyone shut up about?
George Bush, I guess. That’s kind of a lame thing to say though. I mean he’s a scary idiot, everybody knows that, don’t they? So just let him get on with it. He’s not gonna be around in two years anyway, is he? Thank the lord.

What traits do you most like and most dislike about yourself?
What I most dislike about myself is the fact that I think I’m capable of achieving anything. If somebody came up to me and said, “We’re just having a bet over there and my mate reckons that you couldn’t swim the English Channel.” And I’d say, “Really? Gimme the fookin’ trunks!” Now I can’t swim, but I’d still give it a go. Plus, I also interrupt people a lot. That annoys me. I love the fact that I’ve managed to generate myself an extraordinary amount of cash. I really am very proud of that… because it allows me to interrupt people.

What advice should you have taken, but did not?
Don’t fookin’ join your brother’s band. And this is my advice to people: if you’re ever gonna join a band, don’t have any family members in it. It’s wrong. The Everly Brothers and the Kinks will tell you the same fookin’ thing. It always ends in tears. Always.

What would make you kick someone out of your band and/or bed, and have you?
Well, there’s been a healthy turnover of band members, as you probably know. It doesn’t take much to get you fired in Oasis. Not turning up for band meetings is an instant dismissal. And kick someone out of bed? I guess if I was hungry or not and I needed feeding. “Just get on with my fookin’ bacon sandwiches and shut up!” Although, I’ve never done that before in my entire life, you see. I guess any form of flatulence. That would be wrong.

What do you think of when you think of Canada?
I think of being absolutely freezing fookin’ cold. And I also think of this fookin’ weird, weird French influence. What’s that all about? What business have they got over there? Why French? I was in a Dunkin Donuts in Canada, and the menu was in French — the whole thing, right. And I asked the woman for a coffee, and she only spoke French. Now, I’ve taken a lot of drugs in my time mate, but I’ve got to say that the single most frightening experience of my life was thinking, “I could have swore I was fookin’ in Canada when I got off that tour bus. And now I’m in… am I? No. I don’t know.” And then I said to the woman, “You can speak English, can’t you?” And I think she was getting annoyed that I was being a bit rude by that point, because she was only speaking French. I was going, “I know you can speak English. We’re in Canada. And I know you understand what I’m saying.” I may have brought up something about the war and then left.

What is your vital daily ritual?
A cup of very strong tea and a Marlboro Light in the morning. Gotta have that. And at least two hours from the point of opening one’s eyes to the point of getting ready for one’s business. Gotta be two hours. I can’t be getting up and going straight to practice. That’s out of order.

What are your feelings on piracy, internet or otherwise?
See, I like pirates. That’d be a good occupation, wouldn’t it? I’d like to have been a pirate, if I wasn’t a rock star. Some might say pirates are earlier day rock stars. Of course, on the sea. Fook internet piracy. How boring’s that? I just don’t think I have an opinion on that. We’ll leave that to Lars Ulrich. Make an arse of yourself. Hey, if it’s out there for free and you can find it, then good for you. To be quite honest, between me and you, can I say this off the record? I’ve got enough money. I don’t need any more. Lars Ulrich has got enough money. He don’t need anymore. Keith Richards or Paul McCartney have got more money than sense — look at the way they dress. It’s blatantly evident. We’re well paid, us successful people.

What was your most memorable day job?
Being a roadie [for the Inspiral Carpets]. It’s almost up there with being a rock star. In fact, it’s less hassle than being a rock star, but you don’t get paid as much.

How do you spoil yourself?
I own a lot of guitars, and if I see one I’ll just buy it. I own lots of shoes. Shoes are important. Since I don’t take drugs anymore, I have a real weakness for guitars and sunglasses.

If I wasn’t playing music I would be...
I guess I’d still be a roadie. I’d be setting guitars up for playing music.

What makes you want to take it off and get it on?
What does that mean? Get naked and start fooking goblins? I dunno, Viagra?

What has been your strangest celebrity encounter?
Well, I’m one of the rare breed of rock’n’rollers who I actually does my own shopping. You can catch me at various supermarkets round the west end, buyin’ various household appliances and bits of food, stuff like that. So I kind of mix quite well with the general public, and I don’t mind rubbing shoulders with the mere mortals in the street. I don’t consider myself to be a celebrity. It doesn’t freak me out going to buy a pint of milk. Not like Elton John or Robbie Williams — I don’t lock myself way from society and then claim that people don’t understand me. But, have you met Lars Ulrich? Although he’s a fookin’ geezer and I do love him, he’s a strange character. A strange, strange man. I met William Shatner once, in a lift. He got in a lift we were in and we actually did resist the urge as he pushed the button to his floor, to say, you know what I’m gonna say, don’t you? I don’t need to say it. But we all burst out laughing because we all wanted to say it. You know he’s a midget, and he was kind of looking at us and said, [Adopting a Shatner accent] “Are you in some kind of band?” Well, what? What does that fookin’ mean? We’re in a band. And then he went, “You look like the Doors.” Which one of us exactly?! Who looks like fookin’ Jim Morrison? D’ya know what I mean? “I’m not being Ray Manzarek,” that’s what I said. “Fook that! And I’m certainly not being Robby fookin’ Krieger!”

Who would be your ideal dinner guest, living or dead, and what would you serve them?
Right. What would I serve them? How many can I have? Right, well let’s see, my dining table seats eight, so that’s me and my girlfriend, so that’s six guests. Bono, Bill Hicks, John Lennon… I reckon it’s gonna be a shit party this, innit? Well let’s just do lunch with five, and ham sandwiches I think. And if people didn’t eat meat, just fookin’ eat the salad.

What does or did your mom wish you were doing instead?
My mum? She’s fookin’ havin’ a laugh. My mum actually thought we’d amount to zero, so the fact that I’m a fookin’ major rock star makes her happy. Maybe the fact that I just bought her a new house has something to do with it.

Given the opportunity to choose, how would you like to die?
I’d like to die in my sleep, take a real coward’s way out. Or overdose, preferably on heroin.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Perhaps the most verbally colourful band of the last 25 years, Oasis — primarily songwriter/guitarist/occasional singer Noel and front-man Liam Gallagher — know how to give the right sound bite at the right time without any care. But beyond their big gobs is a collection of songs that took Britain — and a good portion of the world — by storm, in a way unlike any other British band since their heroes: the Beatles and the Rolling Stones. This month, Oasis celebrate their 15-year existence with Stop the Clocks, a collection of the best songs, according to the band. Heavy on selections from their two masterpieces, debut album Definitely Maybe and its follow-up (What’s the Story) Morning Glory, the compilation may throw some off with its unbalanced track listing — namely the complete write-off of their third album, the cocaine-fuelled circus Be Here Now. According to Noel, it’s just about honesty. “You can’t be sentimental about these things. It was just like, ‘If it’s that good, then why haven’t we played it for fookin’ six years?’ Subconsciously, in the back of all our minds, we’ve dismissed [Be Here Now]. Anyway, who’s gonna argue that my best work was done over the first two records, and it’s only recently come back to work over the last two records.” But it’s also about having a laugh too, something the band have done plenty of, even at their own expense over the years. “The middle two, well, not much inspiration going on there… not that anybody out there shouldn’t go out and buy them!”

Noel Gallagher - BBC 6Music - 2nd November 2006

2006-11-02T14:26:00.000Z

Recorded backstage at KOKO, Camden, London prior to Noel's acoustic set.

http://www.savefile.com/files/225379

Liam Gallagher - Students.ch - 1st November 2006

2006-11-01T14:31:00.000Z

http://www.students.ch/events/page_news_article.php?id=3419

Hi Liam, how are you?
Thanks man, I’m sitting in my office in London.

First of all, congratulations to your Q Award (Best Act In The World Today).
Yeah man.

Is doing promo for this record different than for the other albums?
Well, not really. We’re not doing a lot of promo for this one. The music speaks for itself. We’re pretty proud of that record.

So you don’t feel kind of urged to do this interview?
No man.

Are you happy with how the album came out?
Yes, I’m pretty proud, it’s an important one. And all the songs are important. But it’s a pity that 'Rockin’ Chair' is not on it.

Please tell me about how you compiled the album.
Well, Noel came up with a list and it was pretty much decided. I wanted to put 'Rockin’ Chair' on it but I didn’t want to argue. They’re all important anyway. And they’re all great. My favourite? Maybe 'Songbird' because it is my song. (laughs)

Is there a hidden track?
Nah, I don’t think so but I don’t know anyway.

What does the title mean for you?
'Stop The Clocks'? It’s the end of a certain Oasis era and the time for a new beginning and also time to move on. It’s the last album with SonyBMG.

What about the cover by Peter Blake?
For me, it’s just a cover. Nice colours and nice stuff in it.

You never wanted to release a best-of album until Oasis would call it a day.
Of course, I’d rather be going to the studio and be talking to you about a new record. It’s better than to talk about old songs. It’s easy to put out a best-of. The label would have it done anyway so we thought we might join them instead of them releasing a singles collection.

So you don’t think that you’re going to sign a deal with a major label again?
That’s what we’re talking about right now. I don’t give a damn shit about all that business stuff. For me it’s music. At least, it will be the same people and management.

Are some Oasis shows in the pipeline?
Nah, Noel’s gonna do some acoustic shows. Andy and Gem will join him, Zak is back with The Who and I’m chilling with my children and my missus. I don’t like Oasis acoustic. I’m more into the rock’n’roll way of Oasis. I’d rather be at the shows as a guest.

You’ve written some great tunes and we’d like to hear more of them. Do you have any solo record plans?
No man. I’m Oasis. (laughs) Good title for your interview.

What does songwriting mean to you?
I’m doing it for fun, there’s not a lot of pressure. I’m kind of new and I’m still happy singing the others’ songs. I’m just sitting down and strumming some chords on my guitar. It happens as it happens.

Will there ever be a song that is written by you and sung by Noel?
I’d like to think so, that would be cool. A Gallagher/Gallagher song.

Is there anybody you’d like to collaborate with?
No.

You were on a huge tour until March. Any spectacular shows?
Oh, Manchester was amazing and also the Madison Square Garden. And some little shows as well.

Do you remember the gig in Switzerland?
That was in that small place. I didn’t like it, it was too noisy and strange.

Next year, you’re receiving the Outstanding Achievement Price at the Brit Awards.
It’s always nice to be getting an award but we’re doing this for 15 or 17 years, I can’t remember. We’re quite relaxed. We got top tunes and we don’t give a shit about awards. It’s great to have some free booze and to have a good time, though.

What bands do you like?
Kasabian, they’re good lads and yes, the Arctic Monkeys are cool as well. There are loads of bands out there but there are hardly any that are good.

What are your plans for next year?
I don’t know. I’m waiting until the big man is calling for a new record. (laughs) And maybe I’ll be buying some new clothes.

Football?
Nah, rubbish. It’s not really interesting at the moment.

Liam, thanks for the interview. Have a nice day.
Lovely, thanks man, take care, yeah man.

Noel Gallagher - Hotpress - November 2006

2006-11-01T14:24:00.000Z

The Noel truth and nothing but the truth

Renewing acquaintances with Hotpress, a chipper Noel Gallagher reveals how he helped Italy bag the World Cup, explains why Oasis are better than U2-sort of- and, oh yes, tells us about the band's new best of collection. WORDS Stuart Clark

"Fucking hell, where's the rest of you? The last time I saw you, you were a fat cunt and now you're skinnier than Pete Doherty. You on drugs or summat"

Ah, no one delivers a backhanded compliment quite like Noel Gallagher! It's been a while since our paths last crossed, and I must say I've missed the old rascal. While I'm diplomatically ignoring the final part of his inquiry, I have indeed shed 26lbs. of blubber, whish is just as well because the rest of me is in rag order.

Noel, on the other hand, actually looks better than he did in 1994 when we first met backstage at Slane Castle. Oasis had just comprehensively blown REM off stage and he was, well, dilated to see me.
"If it was 1994 I probably didn't know what continent I was on, but now I'm the most boring man on the planet and loving every minute of it," he laughs.

Noel knocking hedonism on the head coincided with him meeting his girlfriend of the past six years, Sara MacDonald. Among the P.R. woman's many admirable qualities is a willingness to let her chap spend the summer in Germany watching the World Cup.
"I can honestly say it's one of the most magnificent summers I've ever fucking had,R" the Mancunian beams. "The story is a couple of years ago I was on Italian radio and personally offered Alessandro Del Piero (top Italian footie player) a hundred grand a week to join Man City (not so top English footie team). Everyone took it as a joke bar his agent who was on the phone wanting to talk contracts. Luckily, he was okay when I told him I wasn't going to give his client £5.6 million a year and Alessandro came to a couple of Oasis gigs in Europe and hung out with us afterwards"

In a manner that was entirely in keeping with his status as a professional footballer, of course.
"Of course!" Noel deadpans. "We actually sent him back to Juventus in better condition that when he'd arrived. Anyway, come the World Cup he invites me to be his guest at the Italy games, which I say I will be once our lot gets knocked out. England being shit, I fly in for the semi finals against Germany and get picked up by a mate of his who takes me to the Italian team hotel to get the tickets. We arrive and, of course, there's this huge scrum of media and fans who start cheering. Even more surreally, when I walk into where the players are having their lunch they start clapping. Talk about the wrong way round! Alessandro's pissed off because he's just heard he's on the bench so I flippantly say, 'Don't worry man, I've a feeling you're going to come on and score in extra-time,' which is precisely what happens. Afterwards, amazed by my psychic briliance, he goes, 'You have to come to the final, and in the same clothes' A week later I walk into the stadium and Mrs. Del Piero -who's as fit as in, fuck by the way- immediately unzips my jacket and goes 'We will win, we will win' because down to my pants I've the same clobber on. The Italian press has heard about me being his lucky mascot, so when they went one down I was sweating on the top line. Eventually it goes to penalties, Italy win and I feel this mixture of relief and exhileration. If England ever get their hands on the World Cup, I think my heart will explode!"

According to the tale that made it back to Blighty, Noel was guest of honour at the victory party and serenaded the players with Oasis and Beatles songs.
"Alessandro phoned and said it was mental at the hotel, so I ended up going on the piss instead with Adrian Chiles, Martin O'Neill, Alan Hansen, Mark Lawrenson, Ray Stubbs, Gary Lineker and -very weirdly- Spike Lee who was with Marcell Desailly. Ray Stubbs was doing this party trick where he got two pints of German beer and necked 'em before everyone else finished the them tune to Match of the Day. He did four or five of them and was as pissed as a cunt. Every time I see him now on Grandstand I'm like, 'See Ray Stubbs? He's a fucking legend!' Hansen's going to me, 'You picked the wrong fucking team supporting City', while Lineker was tearing into Sven Goran Erikkson. It was the best night I've had in years"

For the benefit of Hotpress' non-football obsessive readers, we'll turn our attentions to the upcoming Oasis 'Best Of', Stop the Clocks, which they're cheekily releasing on the same day as U2's.
"I only found out yesterday," Noel reveals. "Neither of us would probably want to release original albums on the same day, but I imagine that people of a certain age will be going to HMV on the Saturday and buying both."

Very nice and concilatory, but who's going to grind fucking who into the ground on November 20?
"U2 will beat us 1-0 in Ireland, but we'll stick two past 'em in the return leg in England to win 2-1 on aggregate," he says slipping back into footiespeak. "U2 are the best band of the past thirty years, but we're the best of the past 15. I think Bono himself would admit that. And by the way it's them being cheeky releasing on the same day as us!"

Talking of Bono, what type of third world campaigning does Noel engage in when he's not on Oasis duty.
"I'm not just saying this to reinforce the stereotype but, apart from watching telly, I don't really have that many interests," he confesses. "Unlike Liam who picks up the phone and freaks if room service isn't on the other end, I love getting back to the humdrum of life 'cause where I write my songs is in the queue of Waitrose. If I spend too much time in the tour/celebrity bubble, I turn into this perpetually hungover character who's not always fun to be around."

Forgive the amateur psychoanalysis, but I get the impression Noel Gallagher's in a good place at the moment.
"Personally, my life is better than it's ever, ever, ever been," he enthuses. "So much so in fact that I'm waiting for it all to go wrong! Professionally, I'm still searching for the next fucking great tune. Putting together this 'Best Of' -which we did ourselves rather than leave it to the record company- reminded me that I've written some belters in my time, but I can and will do better."

Is there also an element of wanting to remind young pretenders like The Killers and Arctic Monkeys who's King still?
"I'm loathe to say the words 'cause I'm more Machiavellian than that but, yes, and if we can't show 'em we'll fucking sabotage what they do! Bono's like Liam in that way -always aggressively pursuing his muse and bigging up U2. The Edge and me, on the other hand, are the Yoda figures at the back going, 'Alright it will be.' If Oasis have been out of the limelight for two years I never panic 'cause I know what's coming next."

While still a mere child of 39 -his fortieth is on May 29th 2007 if you want to send him a card- does Noel have an age in mind for eventually hanging up his plectrum.
"I used to think that 30 as over the hill, but I saw Paul McCartney recently and he's still fucking got it. His last album's no Sgt. Pepper's, but it's still ten times better than fucking Hard-Fi. Getting Nigel Godrich in was a good move, and I imagine it'll be Rick Rubin next. The Rolling Stones are still worth paying into as well but Mick, mate, ditch the leggings!" he continues. "Everyone loves Keith -and for good reason- but the real heart n' soul of that band is Ronnie Wood. What a fucking amazing bloke."

Having spent a very pleasant night guzzling wine in the Shelbourne with Ronnie, Jimmy White and a poker player who declined to give me his name because he wasn't meant to be in Ireland, I'd have to concur. Talking as we are of rock's OAPs, has Noel run into New Order recently?
"No, but ony the other day I was telling somebody how Peter Hook barred me from the Hacienda live on radio," he chuckles. "Before getting a record deal even, we did a session for some tinpot Manchester Radio station in their usual in Studio A. The presenter says, 'Hi Oasis, we've got Peter Hook here', and I'm like, 'That's exciting, innit? Still wearing your fucking leather trousers Pete?' He shouts, 'Don't bother coming down the Hacienda 'cause you won't get in!' and I go, 'Good, it's been shit for two years anyway!' No matter what he or anyone else tells you, the Hacienda ceased being the centre of the universe on New Year's Eve 1989 when the clock struck twelve and everybody stopped taking E and started taking coke and crack instead. There was a fight between two blokes over a bird, which would have been unthinkable when everybody was loved up. Some other facts about the Hacienda -the sound was shit, the layout terrible and the beer lousy. They did sell skins behind the bar though, and have fantastic music courtesy of Mike Pickering who deserves a knighthood for services to clubbing,"

Hooky got ten out of ten for honesty a few years back when, introducing 'Blue Monday' at Lansdowne Road, he said, "Here's one you all love and we all hate." Are there any songs that Noel's fed up with, and felt obliged to put on Stop the Clocks?
"If Sony had done it, you'd have 'Roll With It' and 'Stand by Me' on there, but they didn't and they're not," he states triumphantly. "Bar seven tunes that should be on it but aren't 'cause we still want people to check out the back catalogue, this is genuinely the Best of Oasis. Archaeologists will dig it up in five thousand years and go, 'Fuck me, that civilisation was advanced!"

So what was cynically left off?
"'Cast No Shadow', 'Married With Children' and 'Do You Know What I Mean' are three that immediately spring to mind. Bands ought by law be made to stick some of their best stuff on B-sides."

He's already expressed his disdain for Hard-Fi, but what does Noel make of the other bands young people are listening to nowadays?
"My mate Mr. Weller has an eldest son who's a goth," he confides. "You'd think being the ultimate mod he'd be against this, but no, his attitude is, 'Kids have got to be what kids have got to be.' What's great about this scene is it's almost a surrogate family. They all look after each other and share make-up bags, which is better than smoking crack."

How's his own daughter Anais?
"Six and very well, thank you," he beams. She came out with a classic the other morning, We were going to her school in a cab and she said, 'Dad can I read you some stuff from my book Its eight o clockish and im absoulety fucked so I went just read the billboards to me as we go along, the first set of traffic lights its 'na na nation wide. second its Gol gol golden wonder, Still Okay. Third set of lights, I have a heart attack as she reads out fluently this time 'Spearmints Rhinos Gentelmans club. Whats a gentlemans club Daddy? 'You'll find out soon enough!!!"

Is she ready for a full-blown birds and the bees conversation?
"She's be having that with her mother, not me! I'm not one of those people who have plans for their daughter. She'l make her own mistakes and learn from them like I did. If she asks me what i think of the blokes shes going out with, i'll have him round and tell her whether I think he's either a nice guy or a fuckin toe rag. Women like to think they can sum up men in one nifty sentence, but as complicated as they are, fuck me we're worse! It's not all about beer and the pizza and the football -especially not to us intelligentsia."

Stop the Clocks is the last record Oasis will release through Sony BMG, the label they've been with since 1998 and don't seem unduly upset to be leaving. Sony BMG could be down two major acts soon if rumours of them sacking George Michael prove to be true.
"At their peril will they get rid of George Michael," he ventures. "He's the last major act they've got in the UK since we walked. That said, I don't feel in the least bit sorry for him. If he'd fallen asleep at the wheel once, with a spliff in the ashtray once, fair enough, there for the grace of God go I, and all that stuff. But twic... I respect George Michael, I really fucking do, but that's just inviting trouble. As for Sony invoking some sort of 'morality clause', our behaviour was a hundred times worse than his and they never said a dickie-bird."

What about that other hard-living, drug hoovering son of Satan, Tom Chaplin?
"The rest of us if we ever have to go to rehab deny it to the hilt, but he issues a statement going, 'No, no, no, I'm doing drugs, really I am.' He takes drugs and his music's shit -that's some sort of fucking achievement in itself. Keane have squeezed into that tiny, tiny gap there was between Coldplay and Travis."

Two groups, whom to quote Noel's little brother, are "Dido's with willies"
"(laughs) He does come up with some good lines, I have to admit."

George Michael, Keane, Travis and Coldplay insulted, let's return to Oasis and the fact they've co-opted Sgt. Popper's man Sir Peter Blake into designing the Stop the Clocks sleeve.
"He's seventy-something and mad keen for drink still," Noel says approvingly. "I met him out one night and he told me he's working on a set of prints -'Elvis is in there, The Beatles, The Stones, all the greats' 'Aren't we forgetting somebody?' 'Oh my dear boy, we'll work together one day!' So it comes to doing our cover and I think, 'Right, let's take him up on that.' We went down to his studio, which is a real throwback to the sixties, and he starts talking about the Foo Fighters. He's a really clued up old fella who'd done us fucking proud."

Which of Noel's covers does Noel rate?
"I think Morning-Glory is truly appalling. Be Here Now is a mish mash of cocaine ideas, but Heathen Chemistry is pretty good. We're on the front, but in an abstract way, and it just generally represents the music really, really well. In general, I'd have to say our single sleeves are better than the albums. From memory, I'd go with 'Shakermaker' and 'Who Feels Love' as the best."

It's a question I'm almost frightened to ask, but how's the brother?
"Still fucking moaning! I'll give you an example. Last December we headlined the Cardiff Millennium Stadium. There were 60,000 people there, all of them with their lighters out singing along. We come off stage and he's like, 'They weren't really into it, were they?' Why does he have to be the one person in 60,005 not having it?"

The 30,000 Irish people who've purchased The Killers' Sam's Town mightn't be aware that it was Noel whom Brandon Flowers turned when he got a bad attack of second album jitters.
"Him deciding what kind of music he wanted to make after being at an Oasis gig is the same as me seeing the Stone Roses and going, 'Right, I'm off home to get me fucking guitar out.' The 'elder statesemen' tag is something I seem to have inherited from Weller who helped every waif and stray out in the '90s, yours truly included. It's not so much Oasis as Definitely Maybe that your Kasabians and Razorlights and Kings of Leons cite as an inspiration, which is cool 'cause afterwards they all went off and did their own things. What that makes me feel old isn't old, but fucking proud."

Any other young whippersnappers who's caught his eye recently
"I was in New York for a photo-shoot, and they had this bloke on in the studio called M. Ward. He's an album out, Post-War, which is along the same lines as Elliot Smith and fucking brilliant. You've three records to buy on Saturday now when you go into HMV!"

As is traditional when interviewing Noel Gallagher let's finish with a game of 'Confirm or Deny that Tabloid Rumour.' Okay, your starter for ten 'Him and Liam are planning to set up a chaing of Supernova Heights Hotels.
"(Cackles) Bollocks of a variety that has never been so utter.

The Arctic Monkeys beat him in a tequila-slamming contest.
"That one's true. I went drinking with the bass player who was fired/left, which was all very civilised at first 'cause we were on pints of Guinness. It stopped being civilised when he came back from the bar with a tray of shots that I shouldn't have gone near but, well, you try and keep up with the youngsters. I nearly hit the fucking deck on the way out."

Noel's gotten so thin his mum's started sending him food parcels
"Has she fuck! I met the guy responsible for that gem on holiday in Ibiza and he said, 'We have a source.'
'Who?'
'A neighbour'
'Is she an Irish lady, name of Mary?'
'Er, yes'
'She's winding you up, you fucking idiot!'"

Noel was in Charlestown, County Mayo last week.
"I wasn't, but Liam was and spent most of the time in bed with the 'flu. Our mam's as happy as a pig in shit 'cause we've just bought her a magnificent new place there. Talking of Ireland, I hear your Mr. Ahearn's been a very naughty boy. I'm sure he'll wriggle out of it though, same as our lot."

The recording of Oasis' next studio album will be put on hold while they tour Stop the Clocks.
"I've got a gig at Camden Palace on November 2 for the charity that got my good mate Russell Brand off crack -he's doing an hour of stand-up and I'm doing an hour of skiffle- and then I plan to sit on my arse for the rest of the year. There'll probably be an EP out in mid to late 2007, and a new studio album in 2008, which we can't postpone 'cause we havn't started it yet. We do have some rather excellent songs written though, so I think it'll be a good 'un."

Noel & Liam Gallagher, Gem Archer & Andy Bell - UNCUT - November 2006

2006-11-01T13:52:00.000Z

The November 2006 issue of UNCUT features an 11-page feature and interview with the band about the songs on 'Stop The Clocks'. Noel gives the bulk of the answers, Liam chips in with bits and bobs, and Andy and Gem have their own mini-interviews.

Highlights include Liam revealing he's got a new song called 'Guess I'm Out Of Time', and Noel revealing the original title of 'Wonderwall' was 'Wishing Stone'.

Noel Gallagher - Q Radio - 30th October 2006

2006-10-30T02:21:00.000Z

Interview with Noel and clips of his acceptance speeches for his awards.

http://www.savefile.com/files/210585

Noel Gallagher - Chart Attack - 27th October 2006

2006-10-27T02:15:00.000Z

http://www.chartattack.com/damn/2006/10/2710.cfm

After 12 years of rock 'n' roll stardom, Oasis have officially announced that, after compiling their Stop The Clocks greatest hits album (due out November 21), they're taking a break.

Since emerging in 1994 with the release of their Definitely Maybe debut, the band have maintained a profile unmatched by any of their former Brit-pop rivals. Guitarist Noel Gallagher says that Oasis' longevity has more to do with the universal quality of the band's music than their ambition or tenacity.

"I think a lot of bands from 1994, particularly the English bands, were so British that you couldn't get it if you weren't British, you know what I mean?" Gallagher says. "The irony and the painful fucking trendiness of it all.

"Whereas Oasis, it's universal, man. Like 'Cigarettes And Alcohol' means the same to people in Brooklyn as it does in Burnage. The sentiments of those songs are the kind of feelings that young kids get every day. I guess all those bands from 1994 were just trying too hard. And I don't ever attempt anything unless I can make it look effortless."

So, what will Gallagher do while Oasis take their much-needed break? Don't expect any animated side-projects or self-indulgent solo albums. Gallagher plans to spend his time just hanging out and not doing much of anything at all.

"I have to get coaxed back into doing work," he says. "I don't aggressively pursue my muse.

"I'm not one that always has to be creating — if I'm not writing songs, I'm painting, and if I'm not painting I'm fucking trying to make a bottle out of a fucking table leg. I'm not into all of that. In that sense, I'm not very creative at all. You get some idiots that if they have more than a day off they start throwing fucking paint around the living room. I don't give a fuck about the creative process. I'll do it when I get around to it."

When Gallagher will "get around to it" remains to be seen. To most savvy music fans, "hiatus" can usually be translated as "we're breaking up, but we want to keep our options open just in case there's some money to be made in the future." In typical Gallagher style, Noel is staying cunningly cryptic about Oasis' future. While he consistently speaks of Oasis in the present tense, he won't speculate when — or even if — there will be another album of new Oasis songs.

"It would be wrong for me to say yes," he says when asked if the band will ever go into the studio again. "But I'd be lying if I said no.

"It could be a long time. To be honest, we've got 11 songs left over from the last album and, of that 11, seven are really good. And of that seven, four are really great. We've really got the starting point for a new album, so we could go and start a record and get half it done next week. So, there's not really any rush."

Gallagher pauses. "And if you believe that, you'll believe quite literally anything."

Ben Jones - BBC Manchester - 24th October 2006

2006-10-24T02:04:00.000Z

Online Link

Q: What do LS Lowry and Oasis have in common? A: They cast no shadow (Take a look at a Lowry). Here’s another: Liam and Noel are the new matchstick figures in Lowry's paintings. The result could be a music video classic:

Ben Jones is dead chuffed. The video he made for Oasis’ The Masterplan had its first TV airing on TOTP2 on Saturday (21 October 2006). "It’s just great!" he says. "I mean, to have a video on Top of the Pops, it’s just one of those things you think: ‘that would be fantastic!"

Working with his partner Greg for production company Partizan, Ben wrote and directed the video in which a cartoon version of the Gallaghers wander through Lowry’s paintings of industrial Manchester and, along the way, tell the Oasis story.

Oasis fans can look out for: the house on Sandicroft Street where they were born; Noel’s first ever Man City game; Liam’s swagger; the gasworks where Noel wrote the songs for Definitely Maybe after breaking his leg; Johnny Roadhouse (where they bought their first guitars) and Sifters, where the Burnage boys used to buy their records.

While lovers of LS Lowry can enjoy paintings and characters including Man Lying on A Wall, Fairground in Daisy Nook and Going to the Match - all given a modern twist. Ben Jones explains all:

It’s a great idea. What was the plan for The Masterplan?
"Well, we were told that we couldn’t actually use the band themselves because they were in the middle of recording so we’d have to come up with another idea. eg use old footage; do a film that didn’t include them in it; or something else. Basically, we didn’t like any of the other routes, so we thought: how about animation? So particularly given the Yellow Submarine that was done for the Beatles, we thought: maybe there’s something in this."

Why set it in a Lowry landscape?
"To me the song is very much about Oasis’ past and the soul of the band. And to us, the soul of the band is Manchester. And Lowry is the obvious connection back to Manchester for us. So we went away, bought lots of books, and built up a narrative story of the band based on Lowry paintings. And that was all within a 24-hour period because we only got 24 hours to come up with an idea! Then we approached the band with it .. and they came back and said: 'We love it. Can you make it work?' "

How much help did you have from the Lowry?
"To be perfectly honest, we couldn’t have done this without them. They've been fantastic and very open-minded about the use of Lowry imagery. Basically, they realised that: here was a chance for a lot of the Lowry work to go to a completely new audience and get huge exposure, really. And I think because it was Oasis, and because it was Manchester, it just fitted really really well."

Who came up with the references to Oasis and Lowry?
"It was always our idea to layer the video with lots and lots of Lowry references, Oasis references and Manchester references. Because there’s no official biography of the band, we ended up with a huge list of stuff which we went to Noel with and said, we could potentially put into the video. Things like Sandicroft Street, which you see in the video, which is the street where they were born; you’ve got Hacienda in there, the G-Mex and so on…. We always said: what we want to do is to use huge chunks of Lowry paintings but add little bits on to give it a modern twist."

Was it difficult animating Lowry figures?
"We had to really try and interpret exactly how Lowry characters would move because we had no idea. But I think we tried to keep all the figures as basic as we possibly could in that fantastic Lowry style. If you look at it, there’s not a lot in there that have shadows. We purposely did that. Some things needed it like moving vehicles.. But a lot of the characters and the band don’t have shadows when they’re walking along the street. I think if we had done it would have probably looked very different. Lowry never painted in that way."

And what did Liam and Noel say when they saw it?
"Well, it’s interesting. The first thing we did was to animate Liam and Noel - and in particular Liam’s swagger! So we did a lot of drawings and showed them and said: look this is how you’ll walk, this is what you’ll look like on stage. So they kind of saw it bit by bit. Eventually we showed them what was nearly a finished version.. and they absolutely loved it. They just said: ‘This is fantastic! This is exactly what we wanted.’ And we were over the moon."

The video for ‘The Masterplan’ was first shown on TOTP2, Saturday, 9.05pm BBC Two, 21 October 2006
The Masterplan is featured on the Stop The Clocks EP (released 13 November) which is a preview of the first ever Oasis ‘Best Of’ of the same name, released on 20 November.

Noel Gallagher - BBC 6Music - 22nd October 2006

2006-10-22T02:11:00.000Z

The latest episode in this long running series was on today with Noel talking about his appearance on Parkinson earlier in the week.

Download Noel chatting away on Russell Brand's show here
http://www.savefile.com/files/184328

Noel Gallagher - Associated Australian Press - 19th October 2006

2006-10-19T14:00:00.000Z

http://www.smh.com.au/news/people/socceroos-you-are--gallagher/2006/10/19/1160851050654.html

Oasis frontman Noel Gallagher has let rip at the Socceroos, saying Australians should stick to sports they're better at.

The keen soccer fan saw the Socceroos play at the World Cup in Germany this year and says he wasn't impressed.

Gallagher, renowned for his controversial outbursts, said he did not have a great deal of respect for Australians playing soccer.

"Stick to the Aussie Rules and the tennis and the cricket and the rugby, you are good at that," he told AAP from the United Kingdom.

"Football is the game of the intelligentsia and you are shit at it.

"You will never win anything so give it up."

The 39-year-old is a keen follower of his hometown club Manchester City and was the unofficial mascot of Italian World Cup striker Alessandro Del Piero.

It was the Italians that dumped the Socceroos out of the World Cup under controversial circumstances, thanks to a hotly disputed last-minute penalty.

"What do they call them, the Socceroos?"

"Do me a f---ing favour, you could come up with a better nickname than that."

Gallagher says he has a particular dislike for Socceroos midfielder Tim Cahill, who plays for Liverpool club Everton.

"I don't know, there is something about him. I would love to kick him right in the bollocks."

Cahill scored two goals for the Socceroos in the World Cup match against Japan and was widely considered one of the country's best players of the tournament.

"He has just got one of those faces," said Gallagher, whose brother Liam is also in Oasis.

"Don't you find his face really slapable? I can assure you, lots of people in England do."

Oasis toured Australia last December and next month release a "best of" album, titled Stop the Clocks.

The album features a selection of what Gallagher considers the band's best work, including tracks such as Wonderwall and Morning Glory.

Despite his outburst, Gallagher said he liked visiting Australia and that he was "gagging" to get over for the Ashes cricket series.

"The last time was just brilliant so the sooner the better for me," he said.

Liam Gallagher - BBC Radio 1 - 19th October 2006

2006-10-19T01:53:00.000Z

Liam was on BBC Radio 1 on Thursday evening, chatting away to Colin Murray in a pre-recorded interview. It's a rare, lengthy interview by the man, around 30 minutes after editing out the songs.

http://www.savefile.com/files/175428

Bonehead - Manchester Evening News - 18th October 2006

2006-10-18T13:58:00.000Z

Online Link

PAUL “Bonehead” Arthurs, one of the founding members of Oasis, is back on the Manchester music scene.

But he’s put his guitar to one side to become manager of Manchester-based singer songwriter Vinny Peculiar and his band, which include ex-Smiths members Mike Joyce and Craig Gannon, ex-Fall bassist Karen Leatham and ex-World of Twist’s Ben Knott.

It’s his first foray into music management, but Bonehead tells me he’s ready for the new direction. He says: “I’m good friends with Mike and over the summer he brought me a copy of the Vinny Peculiar album round and I just couldn’t take it off the system.

“I loved it, especially the lyrics, I’d not heard anything like it for a long time.

“Technically it is the first time I’ve managed a band, although in the early days of Oasis I was pretty much roadie, organiser, everything. It’s a learning curve for me but I feel so passionately about the music.”

Bonehead has been appointed in time for the release of their new album, The Fall and Rise of Vinny Peculiar, out on Monday.

And they are just as pleased to have the ex-Oasis star on board as he is. Vinny tells me: “We wanted someone who had the same passion for the band and the music as we do. Bonehead has a genuine belief in the band.”

Ex-Smiths drummer Mike says: “Bonehead has been in bands before, he’s someone who has been there and understands the music industry. We have a good banter and we’re mates more than anything.”

Bonehead, one of the founder members of Oasis, quit the band in 1999 to spend more time with his family. But he’s still in touch with his “best mate” and fellow band founder Liam Gallagher. In fact, Bonehead tells me he’s hoping to get Liam down to Vinny Peculiar’s gig in London tonight.

Still, if Liam can’t make it to that one, perhaps he could journey home to Manchester next month – as I hear the band will be playing a gig at Club Academy on Oxford Road on November 4.

Meanwhile, The Diary couldn’t resist asking Bonehead his thoughts on the release of the Oasis “Best of” album released next month. It has caused some debate among fans about the tracks selected – including early B-sides and album tracks at the expense of more recent hit singles.

Bonehead said: “It’s something we said we’d never do, as a band, but good luck to them.

“I’m on 14 out of the 18 tracks they’ve put on the compilation, so I’m happy. I think it’s a pretty good selection of tracks.”

But he added: “I got a bit worried when I heard they’d re-recorded Acquiesce as a single, and thought ‘oh no they’re going to re-record the whole lot’, but thankfully that hasn’t happened.”

Noel Gallagher - Inside Bay Area / The Wave - 13th October 2006

2006-10-13T13:57:00.000Z

IF YOU PAID close attention to "Don't Believe the Truth" — last year's subtly scathing effort from Mancunian supergroup Oasis — the truth itself was obvious: Bandleader Noel Gallagher had had enough of his adopted hometown of London.

If one more obsessive fan approached him with a camera phone begging for a quick snapshot, he grumbled at the time, he would gladly dropkick said cellular straight up the street. So it's no surprise that the star has finally made his disdain official. "I've just moved out of London and back into the English countryside," Gallagher reveals. "I just moved into my new Buckinghamshire mansion."

The guitarist's bratty kid brother, Oasis frontman Liam, has just ditched his old digs, as well. "So he's living in a flat full of cardboard boxes at the moment," Noel chuckles, phoning from home. "Right now, he's in the pub'round the corner from my house, just drinking on his own. How sad is that?"

In reality, the Gallaghers were merely enjoying their post-world-tour down time, with no plans whatsoever of entering a recording studio in the near future.

But Oasis is still maintaining a high profile this fall. There's the long-overdue single release of its early B-side "Acquiesce" (which ships to radio this week), a new best-of anthology "Stop the Clocks" on Columbia and a full-length concert documentary hitting theaters, the aptly-titled "Lord Don't Slow Me Down."

Not to mention, of course, the current heavy TV/radio rotation of early chestnut "All Around the World," as heard in that steady stream of AT&T ads.

So how, exactly, does an artist of Noel Gallagher's stature suddenly change residence? Yard sales are simply out of the question when you want to jettison your belongings, he sighs.

But he hit on a unique solution. Over a laborious three-day period, he says, "I actually put all my junk and clothes and stuff I didn't need into black bin bags, we call'em, or refuse sacks. And then I called the local Oxfam, a charity shop, and I got someone else to be here when they arrived. Because if the guys had seen it was me, it would've all ended up in Sotheby's. So I gave it all to charity and nobody knows," he laughs.

"It's all out there somewhere — people are walking around in my old clothes, eating off my old plates, enjoying all the old bits that I don't need."

As he cleaned house, Gallagher stumbled on a few items he just couldn't part with. "Like loads of unmarked cassettes and CDs that didn't have any writing on'em. I'd stick them in, and a couple of'em were just me, sitting in my front room, playing acoustic guitar, just working out songs. And some of'em were songs that I've yet to record which I'd forgotten about, and that was quite special, just listening to all of those one night."

Gallagher wasn't finished rummaging. Carefully, he and his sibling combed the Oasis catalog to select the 18 classics for "Stop the Clocks."

They arrived at an interesting mix of U.S. hits ("Wonderwall," "Live Forever"), U.K. smashes ("Lyla," "Some Might Say," "Don't Look Back in Anger") and pet B-sides ("Talk Tonight," "The Masterplan," alongside the crowd-pleasing show staple "Acquiesce").

"All the choices for the album are quite obvious, so it's put together for the fans," says Gallagher. As a composer, he's most proud of his vintage "Slide Away" and "Truth's" recent "The Importance Being Idle," he says. "Simply because nobody writes songs like that anymore. I mean, 'Idle' is a song about being lazy, but it's very Kinks, very swinging'60s. And I love 'Slide Away,' because it should've been a single and never was, so it's the one song that hasn't been overplayed to death. I find big hit singles these days are all incredibly commercial. Even bands who claim to be punk like Green Day are anything but."

As Gallagher tells it, there was a three-year period shortly after the band's "Definitely Maybe" 1994 debut "where everything I wrote was fantastic."

"Acquiesce" and "The Masterplan" hail from that productive period. But if Oasis had saved those precious B-sides to release instead of its third coolly received "Be Here Now" album, he reckons, "We would've gone on to be possibly one of the biggest bands of all time. Uhhh, not that we're not anyway. But I think we would've been as big as U2."

Oasis — thanks to its media-fueled rivalry with fellow English outfit Blur — went on to launch, then practically define, the Britpop movement. Unlike Blur's chameleonesque Damon Albarn, though, Noel Gallagher never altered his trademark sound — pealing cathedral guitars propped by huge flying-buttress riffs and Liam's snippy, Lennon-inspired sneer. And persistence paid off.

The group would suffer several lineup changes, but go on to sell over 50 million records.

"All Around the World" was one of the few career coups that failed to make the "Clocks" cut. "Only because it was just too damned long and we couldn't find a place for it anywhere," Gallagher says. But thanks to AT&T, the track now receives more airplay than any other Oasis standard.

When he first heard of the offer, Gallagher quickly nixed the idea. "But Liam, bless him, said, 'Look — that song's 10 years old, we never play it, so why don't you just cash in on it?' And I said, 'How much is it again?' and the figure came back, and it wasn't a very difficult decision after that. But the advert has no presence in England at all. It's not shown anywhere. But you go to the States, and you're bombarded with our song, or the 10 seconds of it that comes on."

Oasis might be resting on its laurels this holiday season, but Gallagher himself is far from idle.

He just joined his pals Kasabian (also featured in Baillie Walsh's "Lord" flick, which follows the groups, plus Aussie upstarts Jet, on a nine-month tour) onstage at an NME-sponsored bash.

He also taped two Beatles covers for an upcoming BBC tribute to John Lennon, one with Stereophonics, another with Cornershop and Johnny Marr; as well as tracked a few new home demos, with 6-year-old daughter Anais singing along on a few. "She's got a fantastic voice — seriously!" dad enthuses. "But unfortunately, she does like Kylie Minogue, which is something that I'm not too pleased about."

Rich is the examined life, as they say. And reflecting on his illustrious career, Gallagher says, has been a quite pleasant experience indeed.

With, of course, a few minor glitches in the memory circuit.

For example, one time in Thailand in 1998. Gallagher laughs, "When we were out at some bar, and there was this incessant HI-NRG dance music playing in a bar across the street. And I was thinking 'Wait a minute! I'm sure that's a version of "Some Might Say"! So we went across the street and up to the DJ, and it was a HI-NRG disco version of our song, completely illegal, recorded by some Thai person.

"The DJ had no idea who I was. But I said 'Gimme that CD!' even though there were lots of British people in the bar going mad when he played it. And Liam and I were like, that doesn't sound like Oasis, that sounds atrocious! And that — not AT & T — is easily the weirdest place I've ever heard one of our songs."

----------------------------------------------
http://www.thewavemag.com/pagegen.php?pagename=article&articleid=26083

On the surface, all might seem quiet on the usually blustery Oasis front. The multi-platinum English outfit hasn’t recorded any new material since last year’s Don’t Believe The Truth, and has no plans to re-enter the studio any time soon. Dig deeper, however, and you’ll find their hive is actually buzzing with activity. Band Svengali Noel Gallagher just left London for rustic Buckinghamshire; joined his pals Kasabian onstage for a couple of numbers at an NME-sponsored bash; tracked two Beatles covers for an upcoming John Lennon tribute program (one with the Stereophonics, another with Johnny Marr and Cornershop); and just viewed the final cut of Lord Don’t Slow Me Down, an Oasis tour documentary hitting overseas theaters this fall. Somehow, he and his frontman/kid brother, Liam, also found the time to hand-pick 18 Oasis classics for upcoming Stop The Clocks anthology for Columbia, which kicks off with the long overdue release of early B-side single “Acquiesce,” one of the band’s best-loved standards. It also includes the recent Noel-sung smash, “The Importance of Being Idle,” although its composer is anything but these days.

Sipping afternoon tea in his new countryside mansion, Gallagher paused long enough to chat.

The Wave: So what’s the film’s story?
Noel Gallagher: I don’t know whether there is a story. I think that the guy who was making the film, Baillie Walsh, thought that his story would unfold across the nine months he filmed us. But I don’t think one ever did. The bulk of it is the American tour with us, Kasabian, and Jet, and then there are bits in England, bits in Japan, so it’s kinda broadly based all around the world. We weren’t in any hurry to let the cameras in to see what actually goes on backstage, and I think a bit of mystery in a band’s life is pretty much a good thing. But everybody was kinda on their best behavior. I think Baillie was expecting the drinking-champagne-out-of-cowboy-boots-at-seven-o’clock-in-the-morning-while-swinging-from-a-chandelier kinda thing. But he got onboard 10 years too late for that. So it’s the story of a band who are... errr... just kinda comfortable with where they are. I’ve seen the film once, and I thought it was great, beautifully shot. But, as for what it all means? Who the f--k knows? I don’t.

TW: Oddly enough, “All Around The World” is not on the collection. And thanks to those endless AT&T commercials, it’s probably now your most famous song – at least, in the States, where you hear it every five minutes.
NG: The reason it’s not on the anthology is that it’s just too f--king long – we couldn’t really find a place for it anywhere. But the reason that that came about for the advert was, we got an offer, and blah, blah, blah, my manager’s going on about it, and it was something that I’ve never kinda considered before, and there was a lot of cash involved. But I was like, “Nah, it’s not really my bag.” But Liam, bless him, said, “Look – that song’s 10 years old, right? We never f--king play it. It’s not one of the big famous songs, so why don’t you just f--king cash in on it?” And I was like, “Well, fine. Fair enough.”

And I said, “How much is it again?” [when] the figure came back, it wasn’t a very difficult decision after that. And, of course, living here, we don’t get to see the advert ’cause it wasn’t shown in England. But I was in Mexico and I’ve been in New York quite recently, and I hear it twice a day, every day, when I’m in the States.

TW: It’s great that “Acquiesce” is finally getting a shot at the charts. It never really got a fair shake.
NG: It was the same as “The Masterplan.” I was kinda sent into the studio to write a B-side, and that’s what I wrote. And when I wrote ’em, people were going, “Oooh – they’re a bit too good for B-sides!” And I was like, “Look – you f--king put me in the studio; that’s what I’ve written. And if you don’t f--king like it, don’t put me in the studio.” There was a two- or three-year period where everything I wrote was just fantastic. And, of course, if all the B-sides for the singles off Morning Glory would’ve been what became the Be Here Now album, I think we would’ve gone on to be possibly one of the biggest bands of all time. Not that we’re not anyway. But I think we would’ve been as big as U2, because I had an idea in my head for Be Here Now – it was to be the most bombastic, f--king hugest-sounding record of all time. And I didn’t worry too much about the words or the arrangements. But the really interesting stuff from around that period is the B-sides – there’s a lot more inspired music on the B-sides than there is on Be Here Now itself, I think.

TW: You and your ex, Meg Matthews, were just in the news, denying custody-battle rumors about your daughter, Anais. How is Anais holding up under all this press scrutiny?
NG: Ah, she’s alright. She’s like any normal six-year-old – she’s a little too cheeky for her own good, but she’s alright. I see her on a regular basis. And she’s only six, but unfortunately she already likes Kylie Minogue, which is something that I’m not too pleased about. And actually, my girlfriend took her to see Kylie Minogue last year, before Kylie got ill. But Anais is into animals now – she’s obsessed with dogs, cats, sheep, horses, spiders, and all sorts.

TW: It seems like you got into being a dad much more than you ever imagined you would.
NG: Well, I never had any dreams to be. I mean, I love kids, but I don’t really dig being a parent, so I’m kinda learning as I go along about parenthood. Especially for a guy. It’s different for women, because they carry the child for nine months and all that. So they have nine months to prepare for a child being born, whereas guys get about 10 minutes. For the eight months, 20-some days, you’re thinking, “This is all gonna be some horrible mistake, and I’m gonna wake up in a minute, and I’m still gonna be a single guy, and there’s gonna be no kids involved!” So you get about 10 minutes to prepare for it. But I think it’s a challenge to be a cool parent. But I don’t know – my parents split when I was young and all that, so Anais is following in my footsteps in that respect. But I have good days and bad days, being a dad. But it’s one of those things – you’ve just gotta get on with it and take it day by day, week by week. And I do my best.

Noel Gallagher - BBC 6Music - 8th October 2006

2006-10-08T13:54:00.000Z

Another appearance from Noel on Brand's show earlier today. The usual nonsense talked. Noel revealed that Kasabian will be appearing at the benefit show at KOKO on 2nd November. Paul Weller is also a possibility.

Download here

Noel Gallagher - BBC 6Music - 1st October 2006

2006-10-01T13:50:00.000Z

Noel was on Russell Brand's BBC 6 Music show today (for about the 10th time), talking about the usual random things, revealing that he done a very drunken interview last week with Paul Weller for Esquire Magazine and talking about the inspiration behind 'The Masterplan'.

Download the interview here:
http://www.savefile.com/files/122693

Noel Gallagher / Sir Peter Blake - NME - 27th September 2006

2006-09-27T13:47:00.000Z

Noel appeared in this weeks NME to talk about Stop The Clocks, and what tracks "should have made it, but didn't". Also an interview with Sir Peter Blake, designer of the cover art, talking about what inspired it's content.

Noel Gallagher - Billboard - 27th September 2006

2006-09-27T12:27:00.000Z

http://www.billboard.com/bbcom/news/article_display.jsp?vnu_content_id=1003187711

The greatest hits set "Stop the Clocks," coming Nov. 21 via Epic, will have to satisfy the appetites of Oasis fans for awhile, according to guitarist and chief songwriter Noel Gallagher. The band is also without a label, having fulfilled its worldwide deal with Sony Music.

"There's no plans to do anything," Gallagher says of future Oasis recording. "Saying that, there's no plans not to do anything, either. We're not like other bands in that respect. We're masters of our own destiny and take these things one album at a time. The last time we sat down and planned an album, it turned into 'Don't Believe the Truth,' and that took three years to record."

Those sessions, however, yielded plenty of songs; Gallagher notes that of 11 leftover tracks, "there's seven that are good and four that are really great, so we could put an album out tomorrow if we wanted."

But don't count on it. Instead, Oasis plan to focus on "Stop the Clocks" -- named after an unreleased Gallagher song -- which features 18 hits and favorites from Oasis' 12 years of recording, including the B-sides "Acquiesce" and "Half the World Away." Gallagher says he was approached about including some new songs on the album as well, but that he opted not to "because it takes the focus away from what you're actually trying to say with a retrospective."

Gallagher promises that a boxed set and other unreleased and archival material will one day come out of the Oasis vaults. He also says Oasis won't be resigning with Sony, and the band is currently weighing its options for the future.

"I'd like to do something on our own, but it's a bit of a big step," he says. "It depends on what works best for all of us, really. [Oasis vocalist] Liam (Gallagher) will want the big advance of $900 million and be drinking champagne for the rest of his life. I, on the other hand, would rather put the records out and keep all the money. So I don't know which way we'll go."

Bonehead - BBC Radio Manchester - 25th September 2006

2006-09-25T13:45:00.000Z

Bonehead appeared on Terry Christian's show today to talk Oasis, The Rain and his new band.

http://www.savefile.com/files/112066

Noel Gallagher - AOL The Interface - 19th September 2006

2006-09-19T02:17:00.000Z

Interview with Noel and an acoustic set of '(It's Good) To Be Free', 'Whatever' and 'Slide Away'.

Listen to this at http://music.aol.com/artists/the-interface/noel-gallagher

Noel Gallagher - NME.com - 12th September 2006

2006-09-12T13:41:00.000Z

Noel & Liam Gallagher & Gem Archer - MTV Canada - 1st August 2006

2006-08-01T17:55:00.000Z

Noel Gallagher - BBC 1/Match Of The Day - 9th July 2006

2006-07-09T22:04:00.000Z

Noel Gallagher - FIFA World Cup.com - 7th July 2006

2006-07-07T23:36:00.000Z

http://fifaworldcup.yahoo.com/06/en/060707/1/8myo.html

'I'm Del Piero's lucky mascot'

Noel Gallagher is the main songwriter, guitarist and sometime singer of the British band Oasis. Together with his brother Liam, they were at the forefront of the 'Britpop' phenomenon in the mid-1990s when they enjoyed huge success with the albums Definitely Maybe and (What's The Story) Morning Glory?. Be Here Now, the 1997 follow-up to Morning Glory became the fastest-selling album in UK chart history, shifting almost 500,000 copies on the day of release alone, and the band enjoyed a recent, critically-acclaimed return to form with their sixth studio album, Don't Believe the Truth. The 39-year-old is a keen follower of his hometown club Manchester City and is looking forward to attending his first FIFA World Cup™ Final on Sunday.

Where have you been watching this FIFA World Cup?
I actually went to the best game of the tournament, Germany v Italy the other night in Dortmund, which was just one of the best nights ever, and I went to England v Sweden too. I watched a few games in Ibiza and the rest just at home on my own.

The atmosphere looked amazing at the semi-final in Dortmund. The German supporters could not have done anything more to lift their team really. I've been to a lot of big football matches in my time but I have to say the atmosphere there was just sensational.

How about the match itself?
I think Italy deserved it because they went for it in extra time and it looked to me like the Germans had run out of gas and were playing for penalties. But I think Germany have been brilliant the whole tournament and the Italians are coming good just at the right time.

Do you have a prediction for the Final?
I think (Zinedine) Zidane has played his great game against Brazil because Brazil let him play. He is not going to be allowed to play on Sunday night. As for (Thierry) Henry, this is going to either be the defining moment in his career where he is going to be absolutely amazing or, as I think, he won't actually get a kick.

Do you think the Italians are that good?
Much of that French squad have won it already but the Italians need to win for Italian football. I said to my Italian friends the other night, 'If you beat Germany you'll win it', because to beat Germany in Dortmund is pretty special.

Were you watching with your Italian friends?
I kind of know (Alessandro) Del Piero so I was sat with a couple of his friends and his wife and (Francesco) Totti's wife as well.

Is Del Piero a fan of Oasis then?
He comes to see us when we're over in Italy and he's been to see us in France. We did an interview with him once for the Gazzetta dello Sport and we got to know him. He gives us shirts and he gave me a pair of his boots once, but I had to split them with Liam - he's got one boot and I've got the other.

I don't suppose you're going to the Final, are you?
Well funnily enough I am. It was the first time I'd seen Italy play and before the game we went to the hotel and Del Piero was a bit upset because he wasn't starting but he then said, 'I'm going to come off the bench and score'. After the game he said I'd become his lucky mascot so I've got to go to the Final and wear the exact same clothes and underwear and socks to bring him good luck.

So what will you be wearing?
I'll be wearing a white T-shirt and dark blue jeans and adidas trainers. I'm flying over Sunday morning and hopefully it'll be great. I've never been to a World Cup Final and you only get the chance once, don't you.

What are your overall impressions of this FIFA World Cup?
World Cups always follow a similar pattern – before the knockout stages they are always quite wild and brilliant because of all the lesser teams who are just going for it. The knockout stages are a bit cagey but I think it's been the best World Cup over the last two decades.

How have you found the organisation of the tournament?
It very well organised. Everything just runs like clockwork. Getting in and out of the grounds has been amazing and although the grounds are full to capacity it doesn't feel like it. If I was in charge I'd have it in Germany all the time and just be done with it.

Which players have caught your eye?
I liked some of the Mexicans and (Carlos) Tevez, who plays for Argentina, the little rough-looking fella, I thought was brilliant. But it is strange because the big players who we thought were going to be great have not turned up. Apart from Tevez, I'd go for Owen Hargreaves.

What did you make of England's campaign?
Just average. Not as bad as everyone was making out, though. English players are very valued in a team where they are surrounded by players from foreign countries but if you put 11 Englishmen together in a football team it is just dreadful. Back in England they're giving Sven (Goran Eriksson) lots of stick but there's too much talk of tactics – we have not got one player as skilful as Henry or Ronaldinho or Ronaldo, nor any goalkeepers who are as good as (Jens) Lehmann. We’ve only got (Wayne) Rooney really and (David) Beckham but he is coming to the end of his career. All our best players like Steven Gerrard, (Frank) Lampard, John Terry are powerhouse players - they are famed for their tough tackling and they can run all day.

What is the first FIFA World Cup you remember?
It was 1974 in Germany. I remember watching the Final and feeling really sorry for Holland and then in Argentina too as they lost out for the second time in a row.

Who was your first FIFA World Cup hero?
Probably Johan Cruyff from that brilliant Dutch team.

If you could go to one FIFA World Cup game from the past, which would it be?
The game where Holland beat Argentina at France 98. Or the Final in '66 would have been pretty good. But I have to say, the other night in Dortmund – if I never see another game in my entire life, that will do for me.

Noel Gallagher - MTV/1 Leicester Square - 7th May 2006

2006-05-07T21:46:00.000Z

Part 1

Part 2

Part 3

Noel Gallagher - Calgary Sun - 21st March 2006

2006-03-21T00:29:00.000Z

http://www.calgarysun.com/cgi-bin/publish.cgi?p=127899&x=articles&s=showbiz

Oasis braintrust Noel Gallagher doesn’t think success has come too fast or too soon for the Arctic Monkeys, who are currently enjoying “Next Big Thing” status in England.

The Sheffield band’s first CD, Whatever People Say I Am, That’s What I’m Not, broke first week record sales for a debut disc in England when it was released earlier this year.

But fellow Brit Morrissey was recently critical, saying the band members, who are all aged 19 or 20, haven’t earned their success and that it’s unnatural and undeserved.

“It happens when it happens man, and I would say thank God that it does happen,” said Gallagher, speaking to The Sun in a print exclusive interview, hours before the Arctic Monkeys opened at Oasis’ sold-out Toronto show.

“You’d be a bit of in idiot if you said, ‘No, I’m too young for a record deal.’ ”

Gallagher also stresses the notoriously enthusiastic British music press has gone a bit overboard in the myth-making department when it comes to the Arctic Monkeys.

“The way it’s written up in Britain is not really reflective of how it is,” he said. “They’ve not sold 50-million albums. They’re not on the cover of Time/Life magazine. And they’re not as big as The Beatles yet.”

One comparison in the English music press is that the Arctic Monkeys’ debut is the biggest thing to come out of England, since, well, Oasis’ 1994 debut, Definitely Maybe.

“We used to sit and read things about us and think, ‘Are they talking about the same band?’ ” remembered Gallagher.

“If the music didn’t stand up, but you’ve only got to listen to the tunes. They’re unique to themselves.

“It doesn’t sound like anybody else and I like the way that they don’t wear shirts and ties and blazers.

“You can always spot an English group by the amount of hats there is in the room.”

Still, Gallagher thinks their unique quality is frontman Alex Turner’s lyric-writing what he calls, “the word play and all that.”

“That hasn’t happened for awhile in England,” he said. “A lot of music since Oasis started has all been very melodic and about the songs more than the words.

“I think the Arctic Monkeys, a lot of it is about the wordplay. ’Cause they are quite stunning lyrics to be honest.”

And, ironically, that could be their downfall in terms of success beyond England and around the world.

“The thing about the words, it’s alright if you understand them, if you’re South American and can’t speak English, I don’t know,” said Gallagher.

“But will it translate? The sound is quite rock ’n’ roll, do you know what I mean? It’s kind of funky in a way. Whether it will translate, I don’t know.
And even if it doesn’t translate well, Gallagher says the Monkey’s probably don’t care.

“They’re just doing their thing. And when this kind of thing happens in the first two years, people will dislike the Arctic Monkeys purely for all the hype that surrounds them but that’s got nothin’ to do with them.”

Noel Gallagher - XFM Manchester - 15th March 2006

2006-03-15T23:26:00.000Z

http://www.xfmmanchester.co.uk/Article.asp?id=185046

Noel ‘The Guv’nor’ Gallagher spoke exclusively to Xfm’s Clint Boon about Oasis’s success, his desire to work with the Chemical Brothers again and Liam’s love-hate relationship with the tabloids.

With their sixth number one album, ‘Don’t Believe The Truth’, under their belts, and a US tour on the horizon, Oasis’s Noel Gallagher talks to his old boss Clint Boon about whether it’s all been down to good luck…

“There’re lots of tiny little things that have to fall into place, and there’s kind of too many to mention, but timing is probably the best one,” Noel began. “I think if we’d have put our first album out three or four years either side of when it come out we’d be talking about a completely different story here.

“We just kind of rode the crest of a wave really, I would say its fifty-fifty luck and hard graft.

“Manchester was the best place for that because there’s plenty of advertisements up in music shops of people wanting to join or form bands and stuff, there’s plenty of rehearsal rooms, there’s a mega, mega culture for starting groups in Manchester which kind of makes it really easy.”

And speaking about Manchester, Noel revealed he hasn’t ruled out the possibility of moving back up North.

“I did actually toy with the idea for a while,” he continued, “I should have done it maybe five or six years ago, but my daughter’s all grown up now and all that. But I’d definitely like to go back there to write at some point ‘cos I think some of the best stuff I ever wrote was back in town. Whether I could live there or not, I don’t know anymore. I probably could actually.”

With original producers Death In Vegas at the helm ‘Don’t Believe The Truth’ could have marked a new dance direction for Oasis, but Noel reckons it hasn’t put him off working with some of his old mates again.

“We kind of thought it’s time to step outside of our own studio and go and try something a bit different, and it’s well documented that we didn’t have the right songs to go and tackle the project.

“We thought it was gonna be great, we got in there and turned the tapes on and it was a little bit shit. But I would have loved to have worked more with the Chemicals, still would actually. I still think ‘Setting Sun’ to this day is one of the best things I’ve ever done, much to Liam’s disappointment.” Although Liam’s been out of the press recently Noel insists his brother hasn’t retired from slapping paparazzi and offering pop stars out.

“No he’ll never [retire], I just think that we’ve been on the road for most of the year and he’s been out of the country for a while. But no, I don’t think he’ll ever tire of that, he loves it, I mean he absolutely loves getting it on with the press”.

Oasis are currently on tour in South American before they move onto Canada and North America.

Noel Gallagher - Yahoo! - March 2006

2006-03-01T23:31:00.000Z

Online Link

Noel Gallagher wants Zak Starkey to become a full-time member of Oasis, he has revealed.
Ringo Starr's son has been filling in on drum duties since the departure of long-term sticksman Alan White during recordings for the band's last LP "Don't Believe The Truth".

Starr is currently performing with the band on their ongoing world tour, which is this week playing to audiences in Canada.

In a new interview, Noel explained that Zak would be playing with The Who on their upcoming live dates, but that he hoped to make his position in Oasis permanent in future.

"He's definitely, definitely, definitely going to record on the next (Oasis) record and definitely going to be out on the road, if he wants to," said Noel.

"We always said that we'd sit down and talk about that at the end of the tour. There's no point in getting in business discussions while you're soundchecking," said Noel, speaking about Starr joining the band.

"It just doesn't work. If he came to me tomorrow and said, 'I want to leave The Who and join you lot permanently,' I'd say, 'Brilliant. Get me your dad's autograph and you're in.'"

Noel Gallagher - Toronto Sun - March 2006

2006-03-01T23:28:00.000Z

http://torontosun.com/Entertainment/Music/2006/03/22/1499792-sun.html

Even Oasis guitarist-singer Noel Gallagher is impressed at the wealth of British rock bands in T.O. this week.

Oasis played the Air Canada Centre on Monday night with the Arctic Monkeys opening. The Arctic Monkeys headlined their own show at the Phoenix last night. And ex-Verve frontman Richard Ashcroft opens for Coldplay at the ACC tonight and tomorrow night.

"Oh, well, f--kin' hell, good week for Toronto, eh?" Gallagher told the Sun during a Canadian newspaper exclusive interview on Monday night at the ACC. "It doesn't really get any better than that, does it?"

Gallagher says this particular confluence of artists would never happen in his native country.

"Promoters wouldn't put Coldplay and Oasis in the same city in the same week. I'm sure the bands wouldn't give a f--k. I'm sure they'd (sell) but I'm not sure whether (promoters) would be prepared to take the risk of whether they would or not." Gallagher said he was unable to stick around Toronto to see any of the gigs by his fellow British rock stars as Oasis was flying down to Milwaukee last night for a gig as they finish off their last two weeks of a world tour that began in March 2005.

Gallagher, who doesn't write on the road and is planning on taking the summer off, doesn't expect the band to be back in the studio until at least the fall with "no serious work" until next year.

"I don't sit down and write words 'cause I think that's not a very noble thing to do on the road," he said. "I think on the road, you should drink and f--kin' live the life. Working and touring doesn't mix for me. I'll write when I get home."

Oasis last album, Don't Believe The Truth, was largely seen as a return to form with Gallagher sharing more songwriting duties than ever before with brother-singer Liam and other members of the band. But Gallagher was wary of the theory that increased competition will only make his songwriting better the next time out.

"I don't know. Every time we have a successful album, we always f--k the next one up," he only half-joked.

More seriously, Noel said he doesn't consider Liam a songwriting competitor nor vice-versa.

"Liam doesn't look at it like that either," he said. "It's not a case of competition really. I couldn't write a song called The Meaning Of Soul, lyrics like that, 'cause I'm almost 20 years into being a songwriter. Liam couldn't write a song like The Importance Of Being Idle, 'cause it's just not in him yet. Liam's songwriting is very youthful. Like Love Like A Bomb and The Meaning Of Soul is kind of very youthful songwriting. I've had that with Rock 'N' Roll Star from a long, long, long time ago."

Ultimately, Gallagher said, their sound will never change drastically from record to record.

"We're really pleased with what we sound like," he said. "We're really pleased with what we are. The identity we've carved out over the best part of 15 years. That's not something that we're about to toss up in the air and become a space-reggae f--kin' band, because I'm not just into that. I don't want to challenge my audience because they're friends of mine. I don't want to be like f--kin' saying to them, 'Well, I'm on a musical journey come along if you want but it might go a bit jazzy.' It's like we make Oasis music man and you all know what it sounds like."
Judging from Oasis' longevity, Gallagher may be on to something.

"The songs are not tied to any particular era or the lyrics don't deal with any ... you know we've never had our George Bush era," he said. "Or our 'Let's save the world, famine-in-Africa, album,' or our weirdy-beardy album. The songs are timeless. The lyrics, they're either profound or it's nonsense. That always lasts forever."

http://torontosun.com/Entertainment/Music/2006/03/22/1499793-sun.html

Liam Gallagher gave whole new meaning to the term "Top Of The Morning" this past St. Patrick's Day.

Brother Noel Gallagher told the Sun in a Canadian newspaper exclusive this week in Toronto that his sibling hit the green beer early that day in New York City.

"I've got to say that Liam did it for all of us," said Gallagher. "I bumped into him in Soho, it would have been about mid-day and he'd been drinking since half-nine that morning. I was with my girlfriend so we were kind of furniture shopping 'cause we're moving house (in London), but I'm glad Liam was doing it for the lads."

When it's suggested that Noel, 38, has finally grown up, he responds: "I find drinking at half-nine in the morning is a bit excessive. I can kind of start drinking at half-nine at night -- do you know what I mean? -- and I can kind of go on drinking 'til half-nine in the morning. I wouldn't start at half-nine in the morning. I'd be in bed by mid-day."

Unbelievably, Gallagher experienced his first-ever St. Patrick's Day in The Big Apple. "They do take it very seriously don't they?" said Gallagher. "I've seen Chinese people with green bowler hats on and I'm not sure the Chinese people knew what the f--k was going on, to be honest. To see them walking around the streets, as if someone's just stuck this green bowler hat on them (and said) 'Smile!' "

http://torontosun.com/Entertainment/Music/2006/03/21/1498153-sun.html

Oasis braintrust Noel Gallagher doesn't think success has come too fast or too soon for the Arctic Monkeys, the latest Next Big Thing export from England.

The Sheffield band's first CD, Whatever People Say I Am, That's What I'm Not, broke first-week record sales for a debut disc in England when it was released earlier this year.
But fellow Mancunian Morrissey was recently critical, saying the Arctic Monkeys -- all aged 19 or 20 -- haven't earned their success.

"It happens when it happens, man, and I would say thank God that it does happen," Gallagher told the Sun yesterday in a print exclusive interview in the bowels of the Air Canada Centre, just hours before the Arctic Monkeys opened Oasis' sold-out show.

"You'd be a bit of an idiot if you said, 'No, I'm too young for a record deal.' " Gallagher stressed that the famously enthusiastic British music press once again has gone a bit overboard with its coverage of the Arctic Monkeys.

"The way it's written up in Britain is not really reflective of how it is," he said. "They've not sold 50 million albums. They're not on the cover of Time/Life magazine. And they're not as big as The Beatles yet. But the way it's written in England is kind of (he roars)!' "

One comparison in the English music press is that the Arctic Monkeys' debut is the biggest thing to come out of England since, well, Oasis' 1994 debut Definitely Maybe.

"We used to sit and read things about us and think, 'Are they talking about the same band?' " Gallagher said. "'Cause we've sold a few records but we've not sold that many records, and we're not that popular.'

"But I would embrace success when it happens. Any level of it. Just f---ing get on with it. If the music didn't stand up ... but you've only got to listen to (their) tunes. They're unique to themselves. And they've got their own thing and I think it's great. It doesn't sound like anybody else and I like the way that they don't wear shirts and ties and blazers. You can always spot an English group by the amount of hats there is in the room. If you're in a room full of musicians, the Brits are always the one in the school uniform with a hat on. These kids seem to be pretty much like us. They kind of look like we do."

Gallagher says the Arctic Monkeys' unique quality comes from frontman Alex Turner's lyric-writing -- "the word play and all that."

"That hasn't happened for a while in England. A lot of music since Oasis started has all been very melodic and about the songs more than the words. I think with the Arctic Monkeys, a lot of it is about the world play. 'Cause they are quite stunning lyrics, to be honest."

Ironically, that could be their downfall as to whether they find the same monstrous success beyond England.

"The thing about the words, it's alright if you understand them. If you're South American and can't speak English, I don't know," Gallagher said. "But will it translate? The sound is quite rock 'n' roll, do you know what I mean? It's kind of funky in a way. Whether it will translate, I don't know.

"But I'm sure that the Arctic Monkey's couldn't really give a monkey's --- whether it translates to people in China or not. They're just doing their thing. And when this kind of thing happens in the first two years, people will dislike the Arctic Monkeys purely for all the hype that surrounds them but that's got nothin' to do with them. They're probably as embarrassed by it as people who don't like them, 'They don't f---in' deserve it.' They're probably as upset about it as Morrissey is, but there's nothing they can do about it. You've just got to f---in' get out there man and ride it out."

Gallagher said the Arctic Monkeys' opening slot for last night's Oasis show at the ACC came up because the Monkeys were already in town for their own sold-out show tonight at the Phoenix.

http://torontosun.com/Entertainment/Music/2006/03/21/1498151-sun.html

For the record, Noel Gallagher's favourite Arctic Monkeys' song is the first single, I Bet You Look Good On The Dancefloor.

Not that he's had much chance to listen to the rest of the record.

"To be quite honest, I bought the album and I listened to it once. My girlfriend took it upstairs and I hear it through the bathroom door regularly. She f---in' loves it."

http://jam.canoe.ca/Music/2006/03/24/1503698-sun.html

Noel Gallagher, a.k.a. The Quote Machine, called Toronto his "home away from home, really," while speaking to the Sun this week at the Air Canada Centre in a Canadian newspaper exclusive before Oasis' sold-out show.

But he said he still has a hard time wrapping his head around the fans he sometimes encounters on the street.

"Fans can be a bit hysterical, the ones that I meet anyway," said Gallagher. "And what is it with the f---in' camera? I don't know why they're f---in' taking pictures. It's a f---in' insane obsession. Everybody wants a picture. I mean, f---in' hell, what are you going to do with it? Sit and look at it all day? (says enthusiastically) 'See there's me and Noel Gallagher -- in the same picture! I had my picture taken with him -- look!'

"Great. So what?," he shrugs.

SON OF RINGO: Meanwhile, drummer Zak Starkey, who has been out on the road with Oasis, is expected to tour with The Who this year, but Noel Gallagher hope's he'll return to the fold.

"He's definitely, definitely, definitely going to record on the next (Oasis) record and definitely going to be out on the road, if he wants to," said Gallagher of Starkey. So will the son of Ringo Starr become a permanent member of the Beatles-loving Oasis lineup?

"We always said that we'd sit down and talk about that at the end of the tour," Gallagher said.

"There's no point in getting in business discussions while you're soundchecking. It just doesn't work. If he came to me tomorrow and said, 'I want to leave The Who and join you lot permanently,' I'd say, 'Brilliant. Get me your dad's autograph and you're in.' "

Gallagher met Ringo when he came to see an Oasis gig in England last year.

MARDY WHAT? Noel Gallager attempted to clear up the meaning of Mardy Bum, the title of a song by the superhot British band Arctic Monkeys -- who opened for Oasis at the ACC -- for those of us who don't live in Northern England.

"It means p---y," said Gallagher, confusing us even more given the number of meanings that particular word has.

"And it's funny because in Manchester that's called 'mardy ass,' " he continued. "But if you go over the hills to Sheffield, it's called mardy bum."

Gallagher, of course, hails from Manchester while the Monkeys are from Sheffield.
And I'm still confused.

Noel Gallagher - CTV/Etalk Daily - March 2006

2006-03-01T22:25:00.000Z

Noel & Liam Gallagher - MTV Brasil - March 2006

2006-03-01T21:46:00.000Z

Noel Gallagher - CNN International - 25th February 2006

2006-02-25T01:12:00.000Z

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

2006-02-23T23:41:00.000Z

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

2006-02-21T23:13:00.000Z

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

2006-02-17T00:58:00.000Z

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

2006-02-11T22:26:00.000Z

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

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

Noel Gallagher - LCI - 5th February 2006

2006-02-05T21:40:00.000Z

Gem Archer - Unknown (Malaysia) - February 2006

2006-02-01T23:39:00.000Z

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

2006-02-01T23:22:00.000Z

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

2006-02-01T23:19:00.000Z

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.

Noel Gallagher - XFM Scotland - 9th January 2006

2006-01-09T23:11:00.000Z

http://www.xfm.co.uk/Article.asp?id=161790

To commemorate the launch of Xfm Scotland, Noel Gallagher came onto the station to talk with Breakfast DJ Dominik Diamond, who found the Oasis helmsman in typical form.

Speaking to Dominik on the new Xfm Scotland Breakfast Show, Noel set about looking back over some of the rather more controversial statements he’s made in his past, and quite impressively managed to offend a whole new collection of people.

First subject matter was KT Tunstall, who Noel recently slated, seemingly by accident, just before Christmas. And now, bless him, he regrets it,

“I gotta say this,” he starts, “I was in Q magazine a while ago slagging off KT Tunstall, and I was kind of shocked at that cos I’d only been speaking to her ten minutes before and I don’t really mind her music and she’s a really sweet girl.

“I really didn’t mean to lump her in with James Blunt, it’s just that she plays an acoustic guitar. I apologise for that cos I thought she was really cool but I was kinda horrified. I was like ‘Oh no, I didn’t say that?’ cos she was alright and she’s not as bad as James Blunt. He’s rubbish.”

Dominik also steered Noel’s sights toward Bloc Party (a band his brother Liam famously described as “A band off University Challenge”) and a comment he himself recently made about them saying “A band that constantly describes music as interesting makes me sick to my f**king stomach.”

“Every time I read an interview by that shower,” Noel clarifies, “It’s like they’re talking about their favourite music, ‘Yeah, I heard a Bjork B-side that was interesting…’ People that analyse music? It’s either good or its bad. So it either makes sense to your brain or it doesn’t.

“There’s no such thing as interesting. I’ve never sat down and listened to a record and gone and analysed it that much that that I was ‘interested’. It’s like, put it on and within two minutes you’re going, ‘Its rubbish, turn it off, turn it off!’ or stick it on again.”

There was no way Noel was going to get away without justifying his famously controversial quote where he hoped Damon Albarn and Alex James from Blur would catch AIDS and die.

“It was kinda a bit of a stitch up by the journalist,” Noel explained, “I was in this dressing room after we played Irvine Beach in that Big Top, and we were all f**ked taking drugs - she was taking drugs an all, and I won’t name her on the f**king radio because that’s probably not the best thing legally to do - but I kinda thought we were speaking off the record, but of course there was a tape recorder on.

“But, there you go. I obviously don’t wish that… A bad cold I should have said. Flu maybe?”

Noel Gallagher - Elle - 2006

2006-01-01T23:46:00.000Z

...Why Northerns do it better?
N:Northerners are better at football and music,they dress better and have got better accents.They have a greater sense of identity family,community and who they are.And that's why they do it better.

...What is guaranteed to make you laugh?
N:Seeing a dog sticking its head out of the window of a moving car.That tickles me in a way I can't explain.And dogs in hats.You can't beat that.

...Why your girlfriend says you're the most unromantic person of your generation?
N:Because I don't cry at soppy things and have to be forced to be romantic for birthtdays and Valentine's Day.But how can you call the man who wrote Live Forever unromantic?It exasperates Sara that I'm a gruff northerner.Massaging girls' feet?F*** right off.

...How many guitars you own?
N:At the last count 97.If I see a guitar in a shop,regardless of whether I've got four of them,I think "I've got to have one in that colour".When they ask"Would you like to plug it in?"I say"No, but have you got a mirror?"Then I stand there and go "That looks f***ing great!"

...If you've been lost for words?
N:My gast has been flabbered on more than one occasion and it usually involves Liam.We were on tour with Black Crowes-the lead singer is Mr Kate Hudson-and her mam,Goldie Hawn,came into our dressing room.Liam said"Was she in that film about the army?"I said"Yeah and Liam went up and said"I really loved you in Saving Private Ryan".I said"It's Private Benjamin,tou lunatic"

...When you last went dancing?
N:I was a bit of a mover back in the day at the Hacienda,but as soon as you become famous you have to stop dancing.It's a rule.Because people are like"Isn't that guy from that group?Look the way he's dancing,the ####."

...How to make a cup of tea?
N:I am widely regarded as one of the greatest tea-makers to come out of Manchester.It's got to be a mug,preferably white.You need two teabags per mug and if they say"I don't take sugar","You f***ing do in this house".When you add milk,the tea's got to be the colour of the round toffees in Quality Street.

...What you couldn't live without?
N:My missus.She sorts my life out6:When I say that to her,she says"Have you been drinking?".But if she were a possession of mine,she'd be the last thing I'd give up.

...How Hard is it to give up fags?
N:I've never tried and I'm not going to.Even if I get lung cancer.Smoking looks cool.It particulary looks cool if you're wearing a black leather jacket and sunglasses.You're telling me anything looks cooler than that?

...How far is it too far when it comes to male beauty routines?
N:I'm a traditionalist.People say"It's alright for men to wear nail varnish now:"Well,no,it's not.Or"It's alright for men to wear sarongs".Again no it's not.It's not even alright for men to wear flip flops.Flip flops and the word latte,make me uncomfortable.

...What the greatest lesson you've learned is?
N:Between the ages of 15 and 30,go mad.Go bananas.But when you get to 30,settle down.If you carry on in your thirties and fourties like you were in your twenties that's not right.I remember going to the Hacienda,seeing people who were 35 and thinking "You wanna go home Granddad".Doing Es at 35?If you don't stop when you're 30,you have to stop when you're 35.

...How To avoid the blues?
N:Borrow someone's dog,put it in the back of the car and put its head out of the window.

Noel Gallagher - News.com.au - 22nd December 2005

2005-12-22T23:01:00.000Z

OASIS guitarist Noel Gallagher talks about rivalry in the industry and his love of Australia.

You've said not only are Oasis better live than U2 and Coldplay, but they know it ...
They know that we s*** over them. Of course they know. We have two guitarists in our band. They have only two between them. End of story. They know. Me, Chris Martin (Coldplay) and Bono (U2) have a friendly rivalry, not that we're in some celebrity f*** club, but I do talk to the pair of them on a regular basis.

Is it an unspoken thing, that they just know?
Yeah. They know we're the bollocks. They were on their hands and knees begging us to play Live8. Sorry, it's not a big enough show for us.

It's the end of the year. In hindsight, what did you think of Coldplay's X&Y?
Of their three albums, it's definitely not the best. I love the opening track, Square One. The first single (Speed of Sound) grew on me more and more. Talk's OK. They're kind of in the same position we are ...

X&Y is their Be Here Now. Discuss.
No, no. It's not that bad. Parachutes will be their Definitely Maybe. A Rush of Blood ... will be their Morning Glory. I'm a mate of Chris, I wouldn't compare X&Y to Be Here Now. Theirs will sell about 25 million.

Their position is similar to the one you were in, though. How do you follow up two big albums?
It's a difficult position. I know he was a bit freaked out at the beginning of this year. It's where they go next that's important to them. If you become a group of that size, everyone has their Rattle and Hum. Ours is Be Here Now; theirs will go down as X&Y. It's what you do afterwards. U2 fell away but came back. We fell away and came back. It seems to be a trend - bands disappear and come back. He's a good enough songwriter to carry it off. But they'll have an albatross around their necks called Parachutes for the rest of their lives. It's a masterpiece.

While you're being a rock critic, as a Beatles obsessive, what did you think of Paul McCartney's new record?
There are a few songs I like. Jenny Wren is great, (Riding to) Vanity Fair is great. Fine Line the single is all right. English Tea is atrocious and he does it to you every time. But it kind of lives up to the hype and justifies him being on the road next year. I'd give it a solid 7 out of 10.

In the UK this year Pete Doherty of Babyshambles has taken over Oasis's role as bad boy of rock ...
He's a sweet kid, I've met him a few times. He's not the genius everyone makes him out to be. In fact, far from a genius if his new (Babyshambles) album's anything to go by. He'll go down in history as a Morrissey and Marr or Lennon and McCartney type character. Him and Carl (Barat, the Libertines) were great for each other. Apart they'll probably be shocking. There's a lot of hypocrisy in the British press about drugs. The people who write the stories are usually off their heads on cocaine anyway.

It's been a big year for Oasis. You've had two UK No.1 singles (Lyla, The Importance of Being Idle) and a No.2 (Let There Be Love) ...
It kind of cements our position as a bonafide great singles band, up there with the Kinks and the Smiths.

So what about an Oasis best-of? Is that on the cards for next year?
We've come to the end of our contract with Sony. We won't sign with them again. I'm worried they'll cash in and release a best-of. I've always said we'd never do one until we'd split. I think they're going to force our hand. I really wouldn't want to do one, but if they put one out we'll have to get involved otherwise it'll be s***. I hope we don't do one. It's all a scam. You should put one out only when you're finished - in chronological order. But I have a feeling they'll do the dirty on us.

You've been doing some good PR talking up the new Jet album ...
I'm a convert. I never liked them. I didn't dislike them, I just thought, Jet, they're all right. I wouldn't have gone out of my way to see them. But I had friends say, "Seriously, go see them". And I saw them one night and they were pretty good. I like AC/DC but I'm not a fan of that kind of music. But scratch below the surface with Jet and it's more punk. Some of the faster songs are really good.

After the Be Here Now shows you redeemed yourself on your last tour of Australia two years ago ...
Yeah, when we came the first time the band didn't do itself any favours.

They weren't your best shows ...
They were f***ing rubbish. But we had a great time. That's probably why they were so rubbish. I love Australia. I'd move to Australia if it wasn't so far away. If you were in Europe, if you were where Spain is, I'd live here. It's like America. Not that I like America. It's like America weather-wise, but it's not full of fat idiots.

When you play in Australia you attract a lot of British backpackers, which seems to annoy you.
OK, the British like to travel, we all like to travel. But you don't have to carry a Union Jack with you. I've been to see You Am I in London and I've never seen people waving Australian flags over there. I get a bit embarrassed when I see British people in Australia because they just act so ... English. They always have their tops off and are shouting at the tops of their voices. They annoy me. They all wear flip flops. I've got a problem with geezers in flip flops at gigs.

Your brother Liam wears shorts on stage now ...
It's f***ing out of order! It's embarrassing, a man of his age ...

It's not rock, is it?
Nor roll. It's neither rock nor roll.

# Don't Believe the Truth (Sony BMG) out now.

Noel Gallagher - The West Australian - 15th December 2005

2005-12-15T22:57:00.000Z

26,000 souls bellowed Don’t Look Back In Anger in the mud and rain at Sunday’s Rock-it Festival, proving rock veterans Oasis will always hold a nostalgic place in our hearts. There’s little argument the band’s music has informed the experiences of an entire generation.

Yet Oasis in 2005 is a very different beast to the rowdy Mancunian lad-pack who brewed the world into a storm back in Britpop’s heady days, and rare pre-gig chat with 38-year-old Noel Gallagher - scribe of the Oasis master plan - reveals a soul at ease, more than a decade after launching one of the most successful rock careers of our times.

Two hours before the show, Gallagher is ensconced with mineral water and a cheese and fruit platter in his 5-star hotel, and the whole Oasis team is buzzing around like a well-greased engine. Liam Gallagher is in the bar, ordering a latte.

It’s all a far cry from the coked-up mayhem that was their shambolic 1998 Perth visit, that saw Noel stomp through the gates at the Perth international airport brandishing his Union Jack emblazoned guitar in the air like a warrior’s club, surrounded by howling Britpop fans.

Noel cringes at mention of ‘that tour’.

“I mean at the time, you do know we were heavily into drugs?” inquires Gallagher in his well-honed satirical tone.

“I don’t know if you’ve heard the term ‘lost the plot’ but I tell you young man, you’ve got no f**king idea. I was surrounded by people who had totally lost the plot, in every way.

“No matter what it looked like, ‘98 was in the middle of some of my best times in Oasis, and that’s probably why the shows were so shite. We were taking drugs and partying, end of story.

“This time around I haven’t left me hotel room once. You’re the first person I’ve spoken to. I’m mean the football’s on TV, I’m not very well going to go sightseeing am I?”

Oasis’s latest album Don’t Believe The Truth has regained some well-needed critical press acclaim for the band, and is already being compared to Definitely Maybe era work.

Last week, Noel told a reporter Oasis was no doubt a bigger band than U2 and Coldplay. When pursuing Noel on this point, it was good to see his charming arrogance is still alive and well.

“I didn’t say we were bigger, I said we were better!” says Gallagher.

“If you ask Chris Martin or Bono who produced the better album this year, if they were being honest they’d say that Don’t Believe The Truth is far better quality. And that’s that.”

As for the future, Gallagher says Oasis has enough songs left in them for at least one more album, and admits that he’s not longer so precious about the fine details.

“I’ve distanced myself from Oasis for a few years now. It’s not 1994 anymore. Gem and Liam are writing good songs, and well I don’t speak for the band, but we conquered every f**king mountain there was to conquer years ago. We’ve got nothing to prove no more,” says Gallagher.

“Plus, you can’t go around acting like a 24 year old your whole life can you? I’ll be going on 60 years old in 20 years, and there’s no way I’m going to be acting like Mick Jagger then. I wouldn’t have the f**king energy.

“At the end of the day, this is it for me. Since 1993 when me girlfriend at the time and I rented a council flat and couldn’t pay the rent, I’ve only ever had one thing to dream about. That’s rock n’ roll. You’ve heard the songs, that’s what we’ll always be about.”

Later that night, as Live Forever pierced the skies, there was no doubt.

Marcus Russell - Wales On Sunday - 4th December 2005

2005-12-04T22:54:00.000Z

Online Link

WHEN Oasis take to the stage in Wales on Saturday, there'll be one Welsh voice cheering louder than all the rest - Ebbw Vale-born Marcus Russell, their manager and friend.

The softly-spoken former school teacher, also chief executive of Ebbw Vale RFC, has been managing the band for the past 12 years.

And despite having toured all over the world with the Gallagher brothers, the Noise and Confusion gig at the Millennium Stadium is the one that means the most.

Marcus, 45, said: "It's going to be a big day for everyone.

"Obviously I'm really pleased, coming from South Wales there's no greater venue for the band to play.

"Liam and Noel have been very keen to play at the stadium ever since it became available. This is the first real opportunity they've had to do it, the first time it has fit in with our touring schedule.

"It's great for them because it's fulfilling an ambition.

"They have never been in the stadium before. Everyone knows they're huge football fans but they've never even caught a game at Cardiff so this will be something incredibly special.

"People who've been there keep telling them the atmosphere and noise in there, with the roof on, is incredible. It'll be an emotional, fantastic night."

Marcus played a pivotal role in Oasis conquering both the UK and America.
But despite his globetrotting - he boards almost as many planes for far-off destinations as Liam and Noel now - his heart remains in Wales.

Speaking from Australia as the Gallaghers left the stage in Melbourne this week, he said: "I was actually at the stadium for the Wales v Australia game last weekend, just before flying to Australia to join the boys on tour.

"I've lost count of the number of games I've seen at the stadium but, strangely enough, I've never seen a concert there so next weekend will be a new experience for me too.

"I'm back and fore to Wales a lot because my family are still here. I probably make it back around twice a month."

In an amazing comeback year, Oasis have played 77 sell-out gigs around the world - from the UK, to Europe, Japan, America and Australia.

Their album, Don't Believe The Truth, which went straight to number one in the UK and Japan when it was released at the end of May, has already spawned two number one singles in the form of Lyla and The Importance Of Being Idle.

And with Scottish and Irish sell-out gigs taking them right up until December 22, a European tour planned for January and February next year, and Let There Be Love looking set to chart high in the singles chart this week, it seems there's no rest for Oasis or Marcus.

He says: "I think you can safely say 2005 is the best year we've ever had. We're just loving it. It has been a very successful year. The boys have a very good work ethic. They're still working hard."

So are the once-brawling brothers now all grown up?

"Yes. And I'm sure their families will be in Cardiff next weekend to support them.

"I think, if anything, they appreciate what they have got and where they are, as artists and individuals, now more than ever.

"And they definitely appreciate the fans. So getting out there and performing has been excellent."

As for Marcus, music has been a part of his life from his early teens, when he remembers his brother bringing home Rolling Stones singles.

He first left Ebbw Vale in 1975 to study education at Middlesex Polytechnic. While there he promoted several punk bands and even staged a show for the Sex Pistols.

When he finished college he settled with his wife in Essex, where he took up a teaching job. But when they split years later, disillusioned with teaching, he drifted into management with Eighties hopefuls Latin Quarter.

When the Smiths split in 1987 he managed guitarist Johnny Marr. And then he saw Oasis.

But his monumental success doesn't mean he's neglected Wales' music industry.

He said: "Oasis recorded their first two albums in Wales. The massive album, What's The Story, Morning Glory? was recorded at Rockfield and we've recorded at Caerleon and Monnow. But the boys have not been back to Wales since then.

"In January and February we are touring Europe and the band have invited the Stereophonics to tour with them. They've never played with them before so that looks set to be a great tour.

"The Super Furry Animals have also been with us for the big UK stadium gigs we did back in June.

"And there was a good relationship with the Manic Street Preachers.

"I don't think it's a conscious decision to keep the Wales connection but over the years everyone gets to know each other. Plus, you know, there are good bands in Wales and all of those who become successful deserve a place on the big stage."

Noel & Liam Gallagher - Sunrise - 4th December 2005

2005-12-04T16:28:00.000Z

Noel Gallagher - The Age - 2nd December 2005

2005-12-02T22:53:00.000Z

IT'S 5pm outside Festival Hall in West Melbourne — a good four hours before Oasis hit the stage. About 100 young fans are braving the heat for a glimpse of their heroes: knockabout Manchester songwriting siblings Noel and Liam Gallagher.

Some more dedicated fans are congregating around the corner at the Hotel Spencer, asking each other how long they've been "in the family".

Oasis fans show a fierce allegiance, more akin to a football team than a band. And with competition for the concert dollar from the Foo Fighters, Motley Crue and Green Day over the next fortnight, loyalty is paramount to staying at the top.

But the respect is not necessarily returned. Backstage, Noel Gallagher is discussing his relationship with the fans. "They get on my tits to be honest," Noel said. "If they're outside the gig and I've got the time, I don't mind signing album covers — you can go and sell it on eBay and go and buy another one — brilliant. But people come up to me wanting me to sign little bits of paper, but what are they gonna do with it?

"People were outside the hotel yesterday saying, 'Can I have a picture?' No, you don't need it and I don't want to do it. What do you want with it? Just because they buy the record doesn't give them any right to chase me up the street with a pen and a piece of paper."

But the band does love Melbourne — on their last tour Noel tried to buy Cherry bar in AC/DC Lane and they recently asked Jet to support them on their US tour. "I'm glad Jet are from Melbourne — it would have been crap if they were from Sydney, because I don't really like Sydney that much. There's a very nice harbour, but a certain lack of soul about it. I'd rather live here."

On this tour, the Mancunians have been paying tribute to late Manchester United soccer legend George Best — even though he didn't play for their team, Manchester City.

"Georgie transcended football," Noel said. "He was called the fifth Beatle and he looked cool as f---. He owned a nightclub and a clothes shop and drove a Ferrari and he shagged Miss World.

The only thing he didn't do in his life that was cool was play music, and he probably would have been good at that, too. I met him a few times. He was real good fun."

At 9pm, the brothers hit the stage with rhythm guitarist Gem Archer, bassist Andy Bell and new drummer Zak Starkey (who just happens to be Ringo Starr's son). In sweltering heat, the band presented their psychedelic wall of sound in songs from their recent album Don't Believe the Truth.

They haven't written a great album in 10 years, but they are still idolised by their fans who cheer, swing and sway along. Festival Hall had the atmosphere of a soccer game — where the fans couldn't lose. All that was missing was Georgie Best.

Noel Gallagher - Herald Sun - 2nd December 2005

2005-12-02T22:51:00.000Z

OASIS guitarist Noel Gallagher has declared that his band is better than U2 and Coldplay.

And he insists the other bands know it."They know that we s--- over them," Gallagher said yesterday on the eve of the British band's sold-out Festival Hall show.

"We've got two guitarists in our band. They've only got two between them. End of story.

"Me, Chris Martin (Coldplay) and Bono (U2) have a friendly rivalry. Not that we're in some celebrity club, but I do talk to them on a regular basis and they know we're the bollocks.

"They were on their hands and knees begging us to play Live8. It wasn't a big enough show for us."

Oasis has had a remarkable comeback this year. Next week its new album Don't Believe the Truth is set to be the band's third consecutive British No. 1 this year with the Noel and Liam Gallagher duet Let There Be Love.

"Coldplay and U2 haven't had three No. 1s in a row," Gallagher joked. "Coldplay haven't had any No. 1s in the UK, actually."

Gallagher scoffed at rumours he's feuding with brother Liam after an incident in Brisbane.

"It's bollocks," Gallagher said. "It's quite preposterous. Things are fine."

Gallagher is a fan of Australia. "I'd move here if it wasn't so far away. It's like America weather-wise, but it's not full of fat idiots," he said.

Oasis's final Melbourne show is at Festival Hall tonight.

Noel Gallagher - Bangkok Post - December 2005

2005-12-01T23:06:00.000Z

What's the story?

Noel Gallagher, the Oasis guitarist/singer/songwriter, talks about the new album, what he thinks of new music these days and the upcoming gig in Bangkok

Noel Gallagher was right on the dot. Despite being in the midst of the Oasis Australian tour, the senior Gallagher managed to find time to place a call the minute that his label said he would. To make matters more intriguing, one half of the notoriously thugish pair of siblings did not swear once except at the mention of the new disco punk darlings, Bloc Party.

Why the big fuss over a punctual, polite musician, you may wonder. Isn't it the norm? No, not when it's Noel Gallagher, who, together with his brother Liam and their band Oasis, were swept along with the Brit Pop craze and were introduced to the world with their 1994 now classic debut album, Definitely Maybe.

This is a man whose constant, public feuds with everyone from the press to his own brother earned him more tabloid space and reputation than he cares to remember. This is a man who often litters his speech with ``fooking'' (a bit of Manchester accent there) and ``c***s''.
Maybe the mood has been lifted because Oasis had such a phenomenal gig in Melbourne two nights ago.

``I've got good days and bad days,'' said Gallagher, on the subject of being on the road. ``Some days I love it. Some days I wish I were home, but that's kind of the same for any artist, I think.''
Australia might not be the only place that will elevate Gallagher's spirits _ the band are booked as one of the headliners of an upcoming international rock festival to be held in Bangkok in February next year, which would be the second time that Oasis have played on these shores.

``Be patient. We will be with you next year,'' said Gallagher, in confirmation.

That's where Oasis are these days _ touring the world. They are no longer Brit Pop royalty, trading acidic barbs with Blur on a regular basis or even appearing too often in the tabloids, bruised and hammered. They are indeed one of the few who survived the abysmal end of the Brit Pop era in the mid-'90s, along with Blur. Oasis now play stadiums worldwide and dub themselves as ``the best band in the world''.

This ``best band in the world'' has come a long way. Formed by a group of Mancunian schoolmates Liam Gallagher (vocals), Paul ``Bonehead'' Arthurs (guitar), Paul McGuigan (bass) and Tony McCaroll (drums), brother Noel later joined the group upon his return home after a stint as the Inspiral Carpets' roadie. The band forced themselves and their demo onto the Creation Record head honcho Alan McGee, who, of course, signed them. The first single, Supersonic, released in 1994, paved the way for the rest of the Oasis saga.

They were hailed as one of the most exciting rock acts ever with the original line-up (former guitarist Bonehead now works with Sek Loso) during the height of Definitely Maybe and 1995's (What's the Story) Morning Glory?. They were helped by their true Brit lyrics, swelling guitars, anti-metrosexual poses and Liam's still intact sneer.

Even so, they have suffered since then from less than flattering reviews of their other studio albums, the last being Heathen Chemistry in 2002. Oasis have also suffered at the hands of critics who view the band as stagnant in terms of sonic development, but Gallagher does not seem to be concerned.

``We make Oasis music. We don't make any particular kind of music, you know what I mean? I don't think we've grown much as a band. And in 10 years' time, I think we'll be pretty much the same as we are now really, except we'll be old with grey hair and fatty bottoms.''

Their latest album, Don't Believe the Truth, released earlier this year, seems to be salvaging the band's reputation from being has-beens. It took three years to produce the album, one major overhaul where everything was scraped, and one fired-up pair of electronica wizards, Death in Vegas, to produce.

Gallagher concedes that the line-up is now better than ever with Andy Bell, the former member of Ride and the founder of Hurricane #1, on bass, and Gem Archer, the ex-guitarist of Heavy Stereo, on rhythm guitar. And after the departure of Alan White, Oasis got a bit of help from Zak Starkey (son of the Beatles' drummer Ringo Starr) whom critics said was the best drummer Oasis ever had.

``It makes it a lot easier to record music because everybody has fairly good ideas, not just for songs, but for parts of the songs as well,'' he said.

Don't Believe the Truth also sees the older Gallagher giving up his role as sole composer. Liam wrote three songs, the most he has ever contributed to one album, while Bell and Archer contributed two and one respectively. Surprisingly, Gallagher is not overly concerned that the writing torch is being passed around.

``My input is diminishing slightly, but I don't mind that as long as the record's still great. I can concentrate on the good songs that I've written, instead of trying to write a full album. And I much prefer it this way than the old way, where I was writing everything. It does tend to slow things down a little bit but I think that for the most part, it [turned out to be] for the better, so I'm pretty pleased,'' he said.

Gallagher senior, however, was still the one who selected which songs went onto the album.

``I suppose I'm the oldest, so I get to choose,'' he quipped, adding that he believed fellow band members trusted his ear.

``I just choose the ones that I think are the best and everyone seems to agree with me. I think I know a good song when I hear one, because I've been doing it for long enough.''

There was a rumour that super prolific Oasis wrote over 100 songs for this album _ which is actually not far from the truth.

``We wrote 66 songs for this album and we chose 11, so we got 55 left,'' Gallagher said. ``About 44 are not very good. So I think we got enough material for another record.''

The first single from this album, Lyla, went straight to No. 1 in the UK and many countries in Europe and quickly became a mass chant-along at recent Oasis gigs.

``It's about a girl who's like Cinderella,'' Gallagher said. ``But of course, Cinderella won't be a very good name for a song.''

Their second single, The Importance of Being Idle, is probably the most Oasis-sounding track on the album and won the Best Single of the Year Award from Q magazine. The latest single, Let There Be Love, is being claimed as a defining moment in the band's history. ``It's the oldest song on the album. It was written about seven years ago and it's only just finished off prior to the beginning of the recording of this album. It's a very special song. It's very beautiful.''

Cited as an influence on many new UK bands, and, at the same time, dubbed outdated and irrelevant, Gallagher is not all that enthusiastic about the music scene these days.

``It's nothing more than okay,'' he said. ``I don't think there's been a great album release for a few years now. I don't think bands are very concerned about making it big any more. I don't understand a lot of music these days.''

He does not hold a high opinion of Bloc Party, one of the most hyped new bands this year. Mention of them actually unleashed a few of the swear words for which he is famed.

For him, the last great album was Parachutes, the debut album by Coldplay. So it's probably not a surprise that Chris Martin has said how Coldplay were influenced by Definitely Maybe.

``I feel flattered,'' Gallagher said. ``I've got to say I don't hear it in the music, but that's cool because I like Coldplay a lot.''

So if a lot of new music is terrible, what's been playing on Noel Gallagher's stereo then? ``I listen to Kasabian a lot. I listen to the Coral a lot. I also listen to Bob Dylan, the Velvet Underground and the Beatles a lot,'' he said.

For their next UK tour, Oasis will be supported by Shack, a band that Gallagher believes to be an ``absolute f***ing legend''. He has just signed them to his label and they will be putting out a record by 2007 at the latest.

Gallagher has two record labels, but refuses to call himself a businessman. Rather, he describes himself as `` an ideas man''.

``Somebody else takes care of the business. I just come up with some fantastic ideas for music and bands,'' he said.

Before wrapping up the interview, one question had to be asked: Does Gallagher truly believe that Oasis is the best band in the world?
``I think we are the best band in my world,'' he said.

And for the 2005 Noel Gallagher, that seems to be enough.

Noel Gallagher - Unknown - 26th November 2005

2005-11-26T22:41:00.000Z

NOEL Gallagher looked more Johnny Cash than bad boy of rock in Sydney yesterday.
D
ressed in black, the 38-year-old Oasis guitarist had plenty of lip on the eve of their third Australian tour, but he was playing down the Manchester band's notoriety.

Gallagher said the band was more about the music than making headlines.

"I think we were always recognised for our music, first and foremost," he said. "There may have been a few years where the records weren't well received and we got more headlines for some of the things that went on."

Noel and his younger brother Liam have been a fixture on the front pages almost since they released their debut album, Definitely Maybe, in 1994.

Their Australian debut seven years ago was a low point, with Liam arrested for headbutting a fan.

"We weren't in a very good place as a group," Gallagher said of that first visit.

Oasis made amends with Australian fans four years later with an extensive tour that included some small-venue performances and not so much as a finger waved in anger.

This time the band is here on the back of their recent, critically acclaimed album, Don't Believe the Truth, an album "our kid" Liam had a hand in writing. The sibling rivalry is long gone, it seems.

"Our fallouts tend to be more public because we're quite forthright and we don't bullshit people," Gallagher said.

"I'm sure it's the same for Coldplay. I'm sure they don't always get on with each other, but if somebody asks us a question we're quite up-front about it.

"There are only two people in the world who are not fascinated by our relationship, and that's me and him.

"Nobody gives a f..k about it any more. It's not really relevant to what we do. Whatever we might say about each other in the press, it's all done with a very large pinch of salt."

That's not to say the elder brother doesn't regret some of the things he says.

"I'll be reading articles for the next two weeks in Australia going, 'That doesn't look good in print'. But, f..k it, that's the way I am."

Oasis have had a string of hits, including Live Forever, Rock'n'Roll Star and Don't Look Back in Anger. Many of those will be on parade when the tour begins in Brisbane tonight.

"This time it will be special," Gallagher said. "I'll be great, I can guarantee you that."

Noel Gallagher - The Age - 25th November 2005

2005-11-25T22:39:00.000Z

Online Link

REGRETS? Noel Gallagher has two. The first is not taking a year off after Oasis played Knebworth in August 1996, the peak of their Supersonic/ Wonderwall golden years.

The 250,000-strong homecoming fulfilled their destiny as saviours of British rock. The inevitable slide into exhaustion and mediocrity effectively began the next morning.

"The second is changing brands of cigarettes," the songwriter says, blowing smoke from his Barcelona hotel window, " 'cause Marlboro Lights are a ladies' fag and it makes me feel less of a man when I spark one up in the morning."

They're minor quibbles, really, 10 years after the infamous Blur versus Oasis comedy made Noel Gallagher rich and famous. His and his brother Liam's sixth album, Don't Believe the Truth, is another bloated wall of distorted guitars and vacuous macho bluster that both signifies and seals his contentment "I meet people in bands and they're obsessed with pushing things forward," he says.

"I just wanna stay the same, which kinda makes me unique, so that'll do me."

Bands like Radiohead and REM and U2 and Coldplay are constantly trying to change who they are, and I wonder if it's because their personal lives are so rock-solid that they need to constantly destroy and re-create in their professional lives."

My personal life is f--kin' chaos, right? Everything outside of my music is falling apart and being re-created on a weekly basis. So I have to have something that's solid as a rock and that is my f--kin' music. Thank f--k for this band, you knowarramean?

"I don't wanna be in the studio going, 'What are we on now? Are we doing reggae or space jazz?
Oh, it's the Beatles?' That'll do me, thanks very much, I f--kin' know where I am with that. I'm good at that."

In theory, Oasis are even better at that since Zak Starkey, son of Ringo, became their drummer last year.

Gallagher prefers not to dwell on the dynastic implications. "It might freak me out," he says. "I might wake up from a dream and I'll be in a band with (fashion designer) Stella McCartney instead."

Neither is he inclined to read too much history into his latest choice of album titles. Since Oasis arrived in a snowstorm of British music press hype in 1994, many observers have found the alleged truth of their greatness hard to believe.

On their first visit here in '98, most Australians agreed they were a first-rate media circus with a pretty lame musical score. The same description applies to most British acts that have emerged from the machinery that Oasis set in motion.

The Gallaghers are scathingly dismissive of the latest production line led by Franz Ferdinand. Nor is Noel convinced by England's most absurd new rock hero, the crackaddled former Libertines personality turned Kate Moss handbag, Pete Doherty."

Babyshambles (Doherty's new band) ... it does all smack of the emperor's new clothes at the minute."

They're kinda the opposite of Oasis in a way, in that we were trying to make it big and Babyshambles are trying to make it small."

You gotta make it big. Don't f--kin' make it medium."

In that sense, even Coldplay are OK by Gallagher: "The only rivalry Oasis have with Coldplay is in Liam's head, right? Chris (Martin) is actually a good mate of mine."

Melbourne's favourite rock exports du jour are likewise men after Uncle Noel's heart.

"We did five weeks in the (United) States with Jet," he says, "and I gotta tell you, I love them boys. The bass player threatened to drink every member of Oasis under the table on more than one occasion and would then promptly pass out."

But their new f--kin' record, man, I'm telling you, I am pretty f--kin' amazed by. One tune sounds like the Beach Boys. Not that I like the Beach Boys. I f--kin' hate the Beach Boys - I think Brian Wilson is a cabbage. But we had a great time with them and they are top, top geezers."

Speaking of Blur, the Gallaghers were in the same room as Gorillaz' Damon Albarn at the Q Awards in London last month.

Any 10th-anniversary olive branches exchanged?

"Damon?" Gallagher sighs.

"Bless him. My missus is a Gorillaz fan so she was passing his table and said to him 'Oh, I really like your album'. After, he told someone that we'd sent her over as an emissary to test the waters."

"Now, I like Damon's music. He's made some f--king great tunes. But he's a f--kin' knobhead, man."

Gem Archer & Andy Bell - DW World - 10th November 2005

2005-11-10T22:35:00.000Z

http://www.dw-world.de/dw/article/0,2144,1772337,00.html

DW-WORLD caught up with Andy Bell and Gem Archer from Oasis before the British rock band's Düsseldorf show on their current world tour to find out what life is like on the road with the Gallagher brothers.

Bass player Andy Bell and guitarist Gem Archer joined Oasis five years ago after two of the original members left the band. Since then, they have played on two albums and have toured the world's stadiums a number of times while living at the heart of one of Britain's most notoriously combustible rock bands.

DW-WORLD: You've both been with Oasis since 2000, what’s changed in the band over that period of time?
Andy: The ship is a lot steadier than it used to be. When I think back to the first couple of tours we did, it was pretty chaotic.
Gem: We’re older and wiser…and we've got a different drummer now, that’s the biggest difference really. But it’s ever changing.

DW: When (previous Oasis drummer) Alan White left the band, did you have any thoughts of "what have I got myself into"?
Andy: I did get that feeling when Noel left, which was quite soon after we joined the band. Noel had a big row with Liam and took off for about two months in the middle of the tour. That was a bit of a weird one but when Alan left, that was in between tours at the end of a long break so that didn’t really interrupt anything.

DW: But that didn’t make you think that you’d made a bad choice joining Oasis?
Gem: No, not at all. Anybody who knows the band knows that it's all about the chaos and I do remember Marcus (Russell) our manager saying when we joined, "a month in Oasis is like a year in any other band" and it still is.
Andy: And you can see that because we've aged twenty years in the last five.

DW: The band seems a more diplomatic concern these days, with everyone taking on song writing duties. Was that a very organic thing or was there a meeting where Noel sat everyone down and said, "I need you all to pick up the slack"?
Andy: There aren’t any meetings! You only get meetings if there’s a big crisis. We just let it organically move forward.
Gem: We can't speak for what it was like before our time but it just evolves, whether you’re just doing demos in the studio or talking about what you’re going to do in the sound check. I suppose back in the day it was more like "right, we’re doing this."
Andy: It just seems like it's been organic and we came into the band at a time when there was a space for songs. I think if we would’ve come into the band when Noel was in his first song writing flush, the first era, there wouldn’t have been space for it.
Gem: He was white hot. Liam was in the pub constantly, he'll be the first to admit that, so Noel had the responsibility.
Andy: And it was Liam who opened the door really when he started writing. Then Noel probably thought, "well there’s space here for more than just my tunes" and then we came along soon after.

DW: Over the past two albums, you've both contributed songs. Is there a chance the distribution of labour will be expanded and that we’ll be able to hear your songs in your own voices in future?
Gem: I don’t think that'll happen. Liam is the singer and Noel sings as well.

DW: But you were both singers in your previous bands…
Gem: I enjoy singing but Oasis for me is those two voices.
Andy: That would be a step too far. I think I'd resign if that happened.

DW: Andy, your song "Keep the Dream Alive" on the latest album ("Don’t Believe the Truth") seems to deal with the loneliness of being on the road. Is touring something you both still enjoy?
Andy: I actually wrote that for the German football team…
Gem: I completely still enjoy it, man. The bad thing is missing your kids. Even then you have to explain it to them that it's got to be done. I could be driving a cab, I could be on an oil rig…When we're at home, we're all there all the time. If you don't get a buzz from being on tour, you're in the wrong game, man.

DW: Is touring something that has gone to another level since joining Oasis?
Gem: Definitely. But all of us are from the old school; we've all done that up and down the motorways thing, sleeping on the amps and all that. We've heard the stories of when Definitely Maybe (Oasis' debut album) was out; Bonehead (original Oasis guitarist) was driving the van. We know what it's like.
Andy: When I was doing the tours with my previous bands, I always wondered if it felt different to be in U2 or something. What's their daily routine? And when you get that routine of being in a huge band, it isn't essentially any different than when you were all squeezed into a Transit van. It's just bigger halls, more people, but you’re still sitting in a dressing room with your mates before the gig…

DW: So you've just swapped the Transit van for the luxury air-conditioned tour bus?
Andy: You still wake up and feel like a rabbit's shat in your mouth at 3 a.m. when you’ve got to leave the bus and get into a hotel for a day room that you have to leave six hours later…still pulling your bag along a corridor with your hair all over the place…trying to find your room…But that's great though, I’m not complaining.

Andy Bell and Gem Archer talked to Nick Amies.

Noel Gallagher - Associated Free Press - 30th October 2005

2005-10-30T22:33:00.000Z

Oasis song-writing legend Noel Gallagher, currently on tour after the release of the band's sixth album, thinks the only thing that might put an end to live performances by the chart-topping group is the health of younger brother Liam's hair.

"The masterstroke in this band was having a singer five years younger than anyone else. As long as he doesn't go bald, we'll be around for a bit," 38-year-old Noel told AFP before a performance in Paris.

The surly Gallagher brothers, famed for their thick Manchester accents and bitter sibling rivalry, burst onto the British music scene more than a decade ago before going on to sell millions of records worldwide.

Their volatile relationship, fights, drug problems, celebrity relationships — and their prodigious talent for producing catchy pop songs — have filled thousands of news pages the world over.

But the fact that Noel is now joking about ageing and baldness suggests that he may have come to terms with the end of his hell-raising days.

Despite a long and much-publicised history of fraternal friction, Noel says he hasn't had a proper fight with Liam "for a few years."

"All those stupid fights about... whose jackets was better than the other's have all gone," he says.
He admits though that seeing teenagers in the audience singing along to some of the band's early releases "freaks him out."

"There's kids singing along to 'Rock 'n' Roll star' and they would have been like six when it came out," he says. "That took me like two months (of the tour) to get used to. Before, I wouldn't look young people in the eye."

The latest album "Don't Believe The Truth" has been well received by fans, and the return to public favour was cemented when Oasis picked up the Best Album award at Britain's prestigious Q music awards in early October.

The album is a return to a well-tested formula: Liam's strained, nasal vocals laid over powerful guitar chords, coupled with catchy choruses in both rock and ballad formats.

After six albums, it's clear Oasis are not about to reinvent themselves.

"I'm not going to develop anymore after 38. It's as simple as that," says Noel.

Does Noel have another "Wonderwall" or "Live Forever" in him, two of the band's most enduringly popular songs?

"I used to write five songs a day. But now you've got baggage and when you get older you've got things to do," he says. "I don't write as much as I used to, but I write often enough to satisfy my interest."

Not the talk of someone who's still got things to prove. Fatherhood, for one thing, has sapped some of his energy, he says.

But the singer-songwriter has lost none of his cockiness or taste for feuding with fellow musicians. Nor has bringing up a daughter curbed his colourful language.

Noel dismisses, for example, the revival of guitar-based pop music — called by some "Britpop II" after the Britpop of Oasis and Blur in the mid-1990s — as "Indie rubbish".

Noel has already publicly mocked British rivals Bloc Party, and he is no less scornful of bands such as Franz Ferdinand and Maximo Park because they perform in modish suits and ties.

Attending the NME music magazine awards in Britain, he said, was like being in a school disco, where rigid jacket-and-tie dress codes are enforced.

"We were the only people sat there without shirts and ties on. Everyone else was in school uniform," he says. "The first thing we did when got back from school was get that... tie off and get some casual clothes on."

Noel insists on leading a normal life and going to the shops near his home in West London because if not "you end up like Elton John, or... George Michael."

The sight of the Rolling Stones, still touring well into their sixties, is "sad," he said.

Not to be neglected in Noel's litany of abuse was Oasis nemesis and British pop rival Robbie Williams.

"I wouldn't walk a mile in his shoes because he seems to be a very lonely, unhappy, very confused young man," he says.

More surprising is Noel's readiness to loosen his grip on the direction of the band, something over which he has always maintained absolute control.

Noel wrote only half the new album. Band members Andy Bell and Gem Archer wrote one song each, and Liam did three.

"Liam 's only just started to write songs. He's like a... mad man," he says. "He's writing 10 songs a day. I was like that 20 years ago."

Noel on being a parent? "A big responsibility," "one of life's greatest things," "a... pain in the arse."

"If I had any advice, between the ages of 15 and 30 just absolutely go for it like every day was your last. As soon as you hit 30, take your foot off the gas a bit," he says.

Oasis are on tour until next March and will visit Japan and Australia in November.

Noel Gallagher - Associated Australian Press - 27th October 2005

2005-10-27T22:31:00.000Z

Oasis supremo Noel Gallagher has lavished glowing praise on Australian guitar-rock outfit Jet, calling their music a turn-on.

The British pop star, known for hurling abuse at pop contemporaries such as Robbie Williams or Bloc Party, says he's a convert to the Melbourne rockers, who recently supported Oasis for a series of gigs in the United States.

"When I first saw Jet it was too rock for me, but they're four of the coolest guys I ever met," Gallagher told AAP backstage in Paris, halfway through a world tour.

"You can't argue with Are You Gonna Be My Girl. I never listened to any of their singles and stuff but I'm a fan now."

Gallagher, who has made boasting an art form, still believes Oasis is the best band in the world, but in a display of eyebrow-raising generosity, the 38-year-old star is happy to oil the Jet engine.

"They played me some of their new record which is incredible. It's nothing like the one out last year. It's really, really great. They turn me on, really."

Oasis's sixth album, Don't Believe the Truth, was released in May and is widely heralded as a return to form more than a decade since arm-waving pop anthems like Wonderwall and Don't Look Back in Anger rocked up the charts and helped launch Britpop.

Gallagher and his brother Liam's drug and alcohol-fuelled antics have been making salacious tabloid fodder ever since, but while bands like The Happy Mondays and the Stone Roses never recovered from the Britpop hangover, Oasis are still selling albums and packing out stadiums around the world.

That, of course, is no surprise to the ever-confident Gallagher.

"We were listening back to this (album) thinking it's great and absolutely totally convinced everyone's going to get it and everyone did. So I'm pleased the fans like it and the people who've stood by us for years".

As a pop veteran, Gallagher has little time for the new generation of skinny-trouser and tie-clad guitar-driven bands such as Franz Ferdinand and Kaiser Chiefs, dismissing them as "indie s***".

"Within that realm of indie s***, Franz Ferdinand is about as good as it gets. Take Me Out is a tune that wins hands down but, really, it's f****** indie rubbish," Gallagher said.

"We were at the NME awards last year and we were the only ones not sat there with shirts and ties on. Everyone else was there in school uniforms, it was like being at a school disco."

Few things, though, rub a Gallagher up the wrong way quite as much as Robbie Williams.

The tabloids' favourite pop feud reared its head again after Williams hinted a track on his new album was a sexually explicit expose of his ex-girlfriend, All Saints star Nicole Appleton, now 33-year-old Liam's fiancee and mother of his youngest child, Gene.

"I feel sorry for Robbie Williams because nobody once ever mentions his music," laughs Gallagher cheekily.

"I wouldn't walk a mile in his shoes because he seems to be a very lonely and unhappy, very confused young man. He doesn't know whether he's straight or gay. He's forever going on about wanting a girlfriend and seems to be a lonely, sad man."

Gallagher still knows how to throw a verbal punch but after years of pop superstardom, fatherhood and eyeing 40, he admits he increasingly enjoys what he calls an ordinary life in his west London home.

"It's a bit weird going to the supermarket (sometimes) you kind of freak people out when you've got four bags of shopping," he says.

"But you've got to have a real life because if you don't, you end up like Elton John or George Michael.

"Can you imagine George Michael buying toothpaste and a toothbrush and a newspaper or some lemons?

"Ordinary people are determined to make you feel bad, though. You'll be in the queue at the supermarket with a pint of milk, some bread and a newspaper and someone will say, 'what you doing here?'

"I turn around and say, f*** off, I'm doing my f***ing shopping like you are."

The star says he's horrified by the prospect of becoming a rock dinosaur in the mould of the Rolling Stones, although the band has no intention of hanging up their guitar straps just yet.

"As long as (Liam) looks good we'll be around for a bit. So when he hits 40, that's when we'll start having problems," he laughs.

"Luckily we're blessed with great hair, I don't dye mine, nor does Liam, so we're still hanging in there."

Gallagher's days of heavy drug abuse, hell raising and general rock 'n' roll mayhem may be easing off as he takes his foot off the pedal, but there's no doubt what still gets one of Britain's most colourful pop icons revved up.

"You can't beat walking out into a football stadium and have 20,000 people simultaneously fall in love with you."

Australian fans will have a chance to lose their hearts to Oasis when the band tours later this month. Gallagher promises no repeats of their disastrous 1998 visit, which culminated in Liam being charged for headbutting a fan in Brisbane.

"I can't remember it really, I was just too f***ing out of it at the time," Gallagher says of the incident.

"We'd gone off the rails completely, it was great being in the band but I wouldn't have liked to have been in the audience. We had a great time but I'm sure all the people who paid all that money didn't.

"We were f***ing appalling, we were shocking, which is why the next time (in 2002) was so fantastic because we made a conscious effort to really turn it on.

"We're really looking forward to going back this time."

Oasis kick off their Australian tour on November 26 at the Brisbane Entertainment Centre, before concerts in Sydney and Melbourne.

Noel & Liam Gallagher - Taratata - 7th October 2005

2005-10-07T16:30:00.000Z

Noel

Liam

Performance date: 9th June 2005

Noel Gallagher - SignOnSanDiego - 8th September 2005

2005-09-08T00:44:00.000Z

http://www.signonsandiego.com/news/features/20050908-9999-lz1w08oasis.html

The things you hear about the brothers in the British rock group Oasis – that they're bratty and offensive and they love to brawl – those things are all pretty much the truth.

In the more than 10 years that Liam and Noel Gallagher have been playing Beatles-tinged rock together, they've done the following: started feuds with other bands, canceled concerts on a whim, stormed off TV interviews and insulted each other on stage.

And still, fans can't get enough of their rock-star behavior.

Even now, at age 38, Noel Gallagher still loves to bash the bands he hates, such as current media darlings (and competition) Bloc Party: "It's amazing that bands like Bloc Party get record deals," he said by phone while vacationing with his girlfriend in Cabo San Lucas. "You've seen a photograph of them, right? You look at photographs of these people and think 'How does that happen?'"

Thanks to its heavily publicized feuds with fellow Brits Blur and most recently the Libertines, Noel Gallagher has become as natural at rattling off attention-grabbing quotes as he is at writing anthemic rock songs.

Look, here's another one:

"I have not heard a masterpiece of British music since (Coldplay's debut) 'Parachutes,'" he said. "There are about a dozen bands, like Franz Ferdinand, who have great songs but have yet to make great albums."

It's easy to see why Noel Gallagher's standards are set so high.

Since forming in the early 1990s, Oasis has sold 34 million albums around the world. Its first release, "Definitely Maybe," was the fastest-selling debut album in British history. And its second disc, "(What's the Story) Morning Glory?" released in 1995, continues to be one of Britain's top three albums of all time.

"I don't think we can achieve anymore in terms of record sales," said Noel Gallagher. "If I had something better to do, I'd probably do it. But music is all I'm good at. If I wasn't doing this, I'd just be getting fat at home."

As the group's guitarist and main songwriter, Noel Gallagher is the one responsible for penning practically every one of the band's Top-10 hits, including "Live Forever" and "Wonderwall."

After being turned down as a frontman for the band Inspiral Carpets when he was 24, Noel Gallagher then focused his attention on his younger brother's band.

He joined Liam Gallagher's group on the condition that he could have complete control.

But that dynamic changed over the summer, when Oasis released "Don't Believe the Truth."

Rare for the band's long, tumultuous history, the album includes songs written by the rest of the band: frontman Liam Gallagher, guitarist Gem Archer and bassist Andy Bell.

"Not writing the full record meant I didn't have to work as hard," Noel Gallagher said. "I always get the final say on songs. In the past, when the guys would bring me their songs, I didn't feel like they fit in with where we were going. But this time around, I thought their songs were fantastic."

The result is a record that, after several years of uninspired releases, recaptures the energy and excitement of the group's earlier music.

Sure, it still sounds distinctly like Oasis – roaring guitars, nasal vocals – but there's a new level of diversity to the music.

Noel Gallagher's classic, arena-friendly song "Lyla" fits well next to Liam Gallagher's short, indie-influenced "The Meaning of Soul."

The band isn't breaking any new ground – it's still obvious they love the Beatles, especially on "Love Like a Bomb." (Ringo Starr's son, Zak Starkey, plays drums on most of the songs.)

But what is surprising is that Noel Gallagher enjoyed watching his brother succeed at songwriting.

So what about that famous sibling rivalry?

"It doesn't rear it's ugly head as regularly as it used to," Noel Gallagher said. "Liam's only just started to write songs, so he's playing catch-up. I didn't teach him how, I think he must be watching and learning. I don't think I could teach him, he wouldn't be the best pupil. He tends to focus a lot on the extracurricular stuff."

Because Oasis is scheduled to tour well into next year, including stopping at Coors Amphitheatre Wednesday, that doesn't leave much time for goofing off, especially for the more responsible, older brother.

When Noel Gallagher's not on stage, he's usually the one spending his free time plugged on the phone talking to reporters.

"It certainly feels like I'm the one who does all the press," he said. "But that's because the rest of the three don't exude any kind of charisma. They just don't have much to say. I on the other hand. ..."

Just because Noel Gallagher has plenty to talk about, it doesn't mean he's ready to take centerstage. Even though he has to put up with his brother's drunken rages and on-stage outbursts, Noel Gallagher is happy in the background.

"I'd much rather be the Keith Richards character," he said. "Who wants to be Mick Jagger? I wouldn't wish it upon my worst enemy."

Noel Gallagher, Gem Archer & Andy Bell - 25th August 2005

2005-08-25T21:35:00.000Z

http://www.savefile.com/files/256660

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

Noel Gallagher - MSNBC/Billboard/AZ Central - 21st August 2005

2005-08-21T00:00:00.000Z

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/9033024/
http://www.azcentral.com/ent/music/articles/0823oasis.html

It has often been a rocky decade, but Oasis has rolled with it.

Reinvigorating the dreary British music scene of the pre-Britpop 1990s, these dropouts hailing from a Manchester, England, housing project sparkled and soared like the champagne supernova of their famous song.

Steadfast in the belief that it is better to risk a bad opinion than excite no opinion at all, the band raced up the rankings in U.K. rock without looking back. When it hit the top 10 for the first time in the summer of 1994 with the song “Live Forever,” fans knew the title was no empty promise.

The swagger of Oasis’ first chart singles earlier that year, “Supersonic” and “Shakermaker,” presented an offer that a somnambulant British music industry could not, and did not, want to resist.

But the group’s braggadocio was founded in hard work, endless rehearsals and gigs with little glamour from as early as 1991.

Noel Gallagher, then 24, was a Stone Roses fan who had been turned down as the frontman by another popular local act, Inspiral Carpets, and went to work instead as their roadie. Younger brother Liam was a mere 19. The pair even then were prone to the public sparring that would colorfully punctuate their eventual rock conquest.

The decision by Creation Records founder Alan McGee to sign and champion Oasis produced more than just personal riches. Beginning with the band's debut album, "Definitely Maybe," the collaboration sparked a decade-plus career that has grown into a musical landmark for a generation, first in Britain and then around the world.

The history of a truly larger-than-life British rock band has unfolded in the last 10 years. Working with a variety of band members from that day through to the release of their current album, “Don’t Believe the Truth,” brothers Noel and Liam Gallagher have walked it exactly as they’ve talked it.

Except, of course, on those occasions when either or both of the brothers do not care to talk at all and fail to show for interviews. It is a frustration this writer already has experienced and one which, true to form, Liam chose to reprise for this report.

Nevertheless, his older brother was in an expansive yet thoughtful mood as he reflected on the past, present and future of Oasis.

What do you recall of the British music scene you gate-crashed in 1994?
Let me see. Suede were the great white hopes. Blur were a ----ing mess. Carter the Unstoppable Sex Machine were still getting front covers. It wasn't that long since Ned's Atomic Dustbin. Primal Scream were in absolute limbo, and it was all kind of going down the toilet.

As I remember, nobody looked good, nobody sounded good, nobody was pointing to the sky and going, "Come on, let's have it!" The music press, the writers and photographers were ----; it was horrible.

We were in a rehearsal space in Manchester, in a little room at the Boardwalk. We were doing this set with "Live Forever," "Rock & Roll Star," "Bring It On Down" and "I Am the Walrus." And we were just waiting for somebody. We weren't going to go into East West Records or XL and say, "We're the greatest band in England, you've got to sign us," because then you're automatically in debt to them before they've even given you a pound.

We knew that if we got it right, we would wipe the floor with everyone. Added to that, me and Liam were eminently quotable the whole time.

Billboard: Now that you have become a long-serving band, does that help you to understand better the motivation behind groups like U2, R.E.M. and even the Rolling Stones?
Gallagher: I’m a massive fan of the Stones, and I don’t think anybody should deny them the right to carry on making music. I just wish they wouldn’t wear leggings.

In the case of R.E.M., I don’t own any of their records, but we kind of meet them on the road every now and again. Peter Buck and the bass player are great. But it’s the big blue stripe (makeup that frontman Michael Stipe sometimes wears) — there’s no need for that.

U2, I love, I grew up listening to them, and I own all their albums. I remember going to see them on the Zoo TV tour and Bono in his alter ego as the Fly was ridiculing the guy with the mullet and the campaigning rock star. It’s funny how it’s now come full circle, and he’s back.

The longer you go on, it magnifies more of what you are. The longer we do it, the more we look like where we come from.

In the case of me and Liam, who’ve been there the longest, we look like a couple of guys from a council estate in Burnage and always will be. We never went to college, we were kicked out of school and went straight onto building sites. There was no time for pretension.

Billboard: But you were very single-minded about going after success, weren’t you?
Gallagher: When we started off, we wanted the girls, the cocaine, the fur coats ... we never got to the leather trousers though, thank God. It wasn’t like an act, it was almost like working-class people winning the pools. We went bananas. I’ve got a fleet of cars I bought at that period, and I’ve never had a driving license, ever.

Do you think it's possible for a long-running band to be on an upward curve all the time? Don't there have to be bad times?
I wrote the first three Oasis albums all before I had a record deal. So I never had to sit down and reinvent the band until 2000's "Standing on the Shoulder of Giants," and I kind of took that too far. The band never needed reinventing, it was great as it was. You start using different techniques, like drum loops, and we kind of went away from what we were, and it was difficult to get that back.

All the songs off "Definitely Maybe" and "Morning Glory" I wrote when I was 21, so I was then trying to rewrite the script at the age of 31, and you're a completely different character. I do like all the words on "Giants," but I lost the formula, whatever it was.

Billboard: After a band achieves the iconic status that you did, is that when you start questioning your motivation?
Gallagher: There are periods where you think, “What am I doing?” or “What am I doing it for?”; that’s a more scary question. “I’ve made s---loads of money, I’ve left my mark in music, why am I still doing this?,” and it takes a while to answer that question. It comes back every time we’re at the end of a tour and you have three or four months off and then you’ve got to get back on the saddle. More often than not, the answer that comes back from me is, “What else are you going to do?”

I struggle with this conundrum. It’s not a very noble thing to carry on, it’s not very dashing. But I often meet people who’ve been in great bands and you go, “What are you doing now?” and they say, “I’m not doing anything,” and I think that’s more sad.

So I'd rather be doing something that I think is good. I never even rated that song "Lyla" [the first single off "Don't Believe the Truth"], and then you see 70,000 people going mad to it and singing the song, and you think, "What do I know?"

Billboard: Your trials and tribulations with band in-fighting and canceled tours soured your reputation, especially in America. Do you feel more well-disposed toward the American market now?
Gallagher: I’ve never had a blatant disregard for it in the first place. It’s just that America is a really delicate flower that needs a lot of attention, and we’re not those kind of people.

The reason U2 and R.E.M. and Coldplay are the biggest white rock bands in America is because of their frontmen. Not being negative toward Liam, he’s just not Chris Martin, he’s not Bono, he’s not Michael Stipe. He’s Liam. For all intents and purposes, Americans don’t get Liams. I think we’re musically as strong as those three bands put together, but as characters we’re different.

Billboard: Did starting your own label, Big Brother, in 2000, change the way you view the record industry?
Gallagher: The thing about bands these days is everybody wants to be the next Oasis, and that doesn’t mean slogging it out around the toilet [gigs], it means, “Give me the check, I need to go to the Levis shop and I need a 1960s Gibson.”

It’s all about advances these days, and most managers of these new bands are idiots. We signed to Creation for 50 grand, and we didn’t get any money for about three years. You tell that to a kid these days, and they’ll vomit.

Billboard: Have you ever thought seriously about going solo?
Gallagher: I think about it all the time. I’m doing a bit of a soundtrack for some film that’s coming out next year. But because I enjoy time off so much, by the time I’ve had my time off, it’s time to do Oasis again. I always think I’ll write the songs on the road, come back and in the six months Oasis are not doing anything, I’ll put out a solo album. But because I’m [lazy], it never gets done, and by the time I want to start doing stuff, it’s Oasis time. I hope it happens before I’m 40, but I’m 38 now.

Billboard: What about Liam?
Gallagher: I think he’ll do it before I will. He’s got more songs, and he’s a lot more driven in that department, because although he’s 30-odd, he’s only just started writing songs, so he’s kind of where I was when I was 21.

Billboard: Now, in the United Kingdom, you can’t move for bands paying tribute to your influence.
Gallagher: We thought bands would read [our interviews in] NME and immediately form groups, which they did. But it's only becoming apparent now, [with] the likes of Razorlight, the Libertines, the Killers, the Strokes, Kings of Leon and Jet, all these bands are [citing] "Definitely Maybe." They don't even go "Oasis, Oasis," it's that album.

We were the first people to come out and say, “The world’s a great place, life is for living. Forget grunge music. Get a pint of Guinness down your neck, and pick that guitar up.”

Liam Gallagher - Channel 4/V Festival - 20th August 2005

2005-08-20T17:13:00.000Z

Noel Gallagher - Channel 4/T4 - 2nd July 2005

2005-07-02T22:35:00.000Z

Part 1

Part 2

Noel Gallagher - Key 103/Manchester Evening News - 1st July 2005

2005-07-01T00:32:00.000Z

Online Link

LAST night's City of Manchester stadium gig was a novel experience for Oasis star Noel Gallagher.

In an interview with Key 103 DJ Mike Toolan, minutes before the band played to thousands of hometown fans, the die-hard Manchester City fan revealed he had never seen the team play at the ground that has been their home since 2003.

Then Burnage-raised rock star went on to say, "I always go and see them get hammered in London."

Later on he tried to reaffirm his blue credentials by slamming the Manchester United fans who held Malcolm Glazer's family under siege at the ground on Wednesday night.

He said to Mike Toolan, "You're a Red, I can tell by that stupid look on your face. 500 million fans worldwide and many turned up to protest? 200. You're s*** you are, you're rubbish."

Gallagher described Manchester as the most stressful gig because of family and friends, before adding that the Eastlands show was more "international" than Mancunian.

The millionaire artist then admitted the Gallagher brothers snubbed Manchester in the run-up to the massive homecoming show and stayed in Liverpool instead.

He explained: "The bar always gets mobbed. Then you wake up the next day and you're checking out with someone saying, `you owe me £1700 on the bar bill', and you realise all the scallies put drinks on it - and we have got a lot of mates over in Liverpool."

The guitarist also claimed there was no way the band could have played Live 8 and dismissed suggestions they would let down fans by postponing gigs that clashed with the high-profile charity event, before throwing in a catty aside.

He said: "U2, Paul McCartney and Coldplay have all got gigs on the same night, but of course us not being as important as U2 or Coldplay. I just don't think it would have been possible to do it."

He then described Coldplay's lead singer Chris Martin as a good friend, but "very, very, very weird."

The singer also revealed age has not mellowed him with some near-the-knuckle remarks about female celebrities. When asked whether asked if he would bed, marry or push off a cliff Hollywood hellraiser Courtney Love, he answered: "I would bludgeon her to death with a baseball bat and then knife her."

Gallagher has also lost none of his trademark bravado with the passing years. When asked if he was nervous before the gig, he replied: "Not really. Nerves suggest you're some kind of charlatan who can't pull it off. "

The self-styled hardman of indie rock dropped his macho guard a little towards the end of the interview, when asked if he had any unfulfilled ambitions, saying: "It would be nice to have a no 1 album in America", before grumbling "Americans need a "lot of attention - and we're not really that kind of band."

Liam Gallagher & Andy Bell - Globeandmail.com - 21st June 2005

2005-06-21T15:17:00.000Z

One of the band's handlers enters the hotel meeting room and asks if I've ever met Liam Gallagher before. His tone is wary. Then he mumbles something about the singer walking out on interviews.

Gallagher's reputation precedes him, to say the least. Over the 12 years Oasis has been at it, Gallagher's public brawls with older brother Noel, troubled past marriage to actress Patsy Kensit and paparazzi-ready swagger have served as a kind of Coronation Street for the Mojo magazine crowd. Compulsory viewing.

The stories are numerous. The singer has walked out on the band mid-performance (as recently as last week in Italy) and insulted audiences. He once flicked cigarette ashes in Mick Jagger's hair at a British awards show.

And early in the band's career, Gallagher was kept in a holding cell on a ferry for being too unruly while travelling to a gig in Holland. He spent the trip standing up as a bucket of his urine sloshed at his feet.

So how does this jibe with the sight of a serenely calm Liam Gallagher in the Toronto hotel? With his two sons and Ontario-born fiancée Nicole Appleton in tow and using the Toronto concert as an excuse to visit family, Gallagher looks like a hip, wealthy dad returning from vacation, smiling in cut-off khakis and updated, Yoko Ono-like wraparound sunglasses.

He's stouter than expected, and at 32, with deepening wrinkles, he looks on the cusp of entering his aging, modish rock-star phase. Once finally sitting down for a brief interview, there's none of the aggressive blankness he's known for. He shocks with his congeniality, even while berating others.

"I'd hate to be in U2 or Coldplay or these other drab bands, where the fans go, 'Oh, there's the record. I'll buy that.' I'm glad our fans expect more. It shows there's passion," he says, expletives removed.

Oasis's sixth studio album, Don't Believe the Truth, is being praised by many as a return to form, even while the title carries on Oasis's penchant for meaningless phrases. And like the band's massive-selling debut, 1994's Definitely Maybe, recording Don't Believe the Truth was arduous. "The spark wasn't there, man," Gallagher says.

The band had tried to record in the same studio as the first album, Sawmills, in Cornwall, with the electronica duo Death in Vegas producing. But it wasn't working. Meanwhile, drummer Alan White, Gallagher's old drinking pal who hadn't shown up for group meetings, had been asked to leave. Recording resumed in Los Angeles with producer Dave Sardy (Hot Hot Heat, Marilyn Manson) and Zac Starkey (Ringo's son) on drums.

The record's not going to reach Definitely Maybe-calibre sales, Gallagher says, struggling to contain himself in his chair. "But totally, 100-per-cent, everyone of us is right behind the record," he adds.

"We take our influence from the greats, man. You don't get that from day one?" The inner swagger is revving. "Who are we going to get it from, Nick Drake or some idiots? We're the Who, the Kinks, the Beatles, the Stones, the Sex Pistols, the early Bee Gees. That's all you need."
But then the criticism is that Oasis remains bent on classic-rock rehash. One theory for this self-limiting sound is that Noel, the main songwriter in the band, who penned such stadium anthems as Live Forever and Wonderwall, basically only had a few dozen songs in him, and that he now has had to cede more of the song-writing to his brother and newer band members Andy Bell and Gem Archer because he has run dry and can't write the way he did in the mid-1990s.

"It's definitely not dry," Liam Gallagher says, quashing that myth. "We've got more songs than we've had ever. The nineties were the nineties, and that is that. And people have got to get over that. We are in a different place. The passion's there, and there is nothing going dry. Noel can write five great songs, instead of a load of . . . others."

Bell, the band's bassist, sitting in on the interview, adds with a much softer voice, "With the bunch of songs that we've written for this album and demoed, we could have easily gotten a Noel album out of it, or a great Liam album out of it."

Noel stays clear of writing songs he feels are too predictable, Liam insists. "And I admire him for that, instead of putting out what people expect him to put out."

"Admire?" It is the most surprising comment in the interview.

At one point Gallagher gives the finger to an imaginary Noel, for remarks the brother apparently made that the singer only wants to tour for the media attention. "For the record, I couldn't give a . . . whether I'm in the papers or not. He's the man that's out, him and his bird."
But then on the subject of brotherly rivalry, the singer adds: "There's no problem, man. There never has been really. People say, 'It's because you don't hang out together.' But why would you want to hang out with your brother? I see enough of [him] on stage."

Indeed, while performing in Toronto, both barely notice the other's presence, only taking musical cues. Swaggering with more of a barrel chest now, Liam rises from his crouched singing position and stands around, idly spinning the cymbals of his tambourine. He also still likes to show off his skill of balancing the cresent-shaped tambourine on his head.

Between songs, he bends down and turns large cheat sheets of song lyrics resting on his stage monitors. There's a line in an older Oasis song about Gallagher forgetting the words. But with his voice in top form, his physically demanding stance on stage, his head bobbing up and down for breath like someone doing the breaststroke on Live Forever, and the sight of a roadie on the side pumping his fist in the air with each line Gallagher sings, the band's performance and their joyous songs become all the more gratifying.

"We're on the ball, man. We go on stage five minutes before we're supposed to because we're into it! We're there before the producer, because we're into it," Gallagher says in the hotel.

"The biggest shock when I joined the band was how on time they were," Bell adds.

Gallagher then jumps out of the chair as he tells a story of how it drives him mad when people are late. This from a father who wakes up at 6 every morning back at home to get his kids off to school.

"I'd have been on the scene before the nineties, man, if it weren't for me ma and dad, man." He's on a roll, time-travelling into classic rock history. "I'd have been in the sixties, seventies; I'd have been a glitter head, the lot, man, but for these . . . people assing around!"

The energy is riling up, more emotion than coherence. It's the side that probably gives him his reputation, but which has also kept Oasis going for all these years.