Noel & Liam Gallagher - NME - 17 February 2001
Along with Bono from U2.
U2 won NME's Best Rock and Godlike Genius awards - how does it feel?
Liam: "What me and him (Noel)? You said you two. Make your fucking mind up. Do you mean the lads from Ireland? Right, you said U2."
Noel: "Thoroughly deserved."
Liam: "No, they fucking are though, aren't they?"
Noel: "They taught me how to write songs anyway."
Bono: "It's a big compliment. They taught us how to write tunes."
Why do U2 deserve Godlike genius?
Bono: "Sorry? Are you Italian?"
Liam: "They don't fucking deserve it, I do.
Bono: "(In Italian accent) Don't understand that question."
Liam: "It's because they've got a lot of great songs man; that's the end of it, know what I mean?"
Bono: "Thank you."
Liam: "Next year I'll get it. We're a great fucking band; well personally I think we are, but you know, you's always get it wrong (jabs interviewer)."
Who are the miserable c**ts you mentioned when you collected the awards. Bono?
Liam: "Himself, he's a right miserable c**t. And him, and him (points at the rest of U2)."
Bono: "You know what I'm saying. It's like, they love you, they loathe you, they love you, hey loathe you, and then you wonder why we're dysfunctional."
How does it feel winning the awards?
Bono: "For us,at's about forgetting where we come from, it's just about the present tense. We're not even interested in the past. Written a few good tunes, great. But it's about the tunes you write tomorrow, it's about the tunes you're writing today. And Oasis raised the standard on the tunes - and thank you."
Would you like to work together?
Noel: "Well, we've played together."
Bono: "We tried to kill them."
Noel: "To be honest, I'm friends and I'm related to what I consider two of the best singers in British musical history. And I would be friends with John Lennon if he was alive and these two would be stood beside him."
So you're related to Bono?
Noel: "Did you not know he's my stepfather?"
Bono: "We used to babysit him when he was a kid. He was such trouble but he's a great lad."
Who do you think should have won Best Band?
Noel: "I think there's been a lot of great songs but I don't think there's been a lot of great bands. It hit a point, not last year but the year before, where I think British music was a bit stale. But you've got Coldplay and The Beta Band, these lot (U2) and Travis. But I think you'll find next year will be a pretty good year for British music. I hope so anyway."
Bono, you said last year you felt that 'pop is dead'. How do you feel today?
Bono: "The exciting time is when you're watching Top Of The Pops and on comes a rock band and they bite the arse off the pop band. You know that rock bands don't really belong at the top of the charts, it's like breaking and entering. But when they're there it's really exciting. We've been there this year, we're getting away with it. It's not like it's our home. It's somebody else's home. We were licked by the Kitten (U2 were beaten to the Number One spot by Atomic Kitten). Fair enough. That's where they live, we don't live there. We're about other things. "
U2 won NME's Best Rock and Godlike Genius awards - how does it feel?
Liam: "What me and him (Noel)? You said you two. Make your fucking mind up. Do you mean the lads from Ireland? Right, you said U2."
Noel: "Thoroughly deserved."
Liam: "No, they fucking are though, aren't they?"
Noel: "They taught me how to write songs anyway."
Bono: "It's a big compliment. They taught us how to write tunes."
Why do U2 deserve Godlike genius?
Bono: "Sorry? Are you Italian?"
Liam: "They don't fucking deserve it, I do.
Bono: "(In Italian accent) Don't understand that question."
Liam: "It's because they've got a lot of great songs man; that's the end of it, know what I mean?"
Bono: "Thank you."
Liam: "Next year I'll get it. We're a great fucking band; well personally I think we are, but you know, you's always get it wrong (jabs interviewer)."
Who are the miserable c**ts you mentioned when you collected the awards. Bono?
Liam: "Himself, he's a right miserable c**t. And him, and him (points at the rest of U2)."
Bono: "You know what I'm saying. It's like, they love you, they loathe you, they love you, hey loathe you, and then you wonder why we're dysfunctional."
How does it feel winning the awards?
Bono: "For us,at's about forgetting where we come from, it's just about the present tense. We're not even interested in the past. Written a few good tunes, great. But it's about the tunes you write tomorrow, it's about the tunes you're writing today. And Oasis raised the standard on the tunes - and thank you."
Would you like to work together?
Noel: "Well, we've played together."
Bono: "We tried to kill them."
Noel: "To be honest, I'm friends and I'm related to what I consider two of the best singers in British musical history. And I would be friends with John Lennon if he was alive and these two would be stood beside him."
So you're related to Bono?
Noel: "Did you not know he's my stepfather?"
Bono: "We used to babysit him when he was a kid. He was such trouble but he's a great lad."
Who do you think should have won Best Band?
Noel: "I think there's been a lot of great songs but I don't think there's been a lot of great bands. It hit a point, not last year but the year before, where I think British music was a bit stale. But you've got Coldplay and The Beta Band, these lot (U2) and Travis. But I think you'll find next year will be a pretty good year for British music. I hope so anyway."
Bono, you said last year you felt that 'pop is dead'. How do you feel today?
Bono: "The exciting time is when you're watching Top Of The Pops and on comes a rock band and they bite the arse off the pop band. You know that rock bands don't really belong at the top of the charts, it's like breaking and entering. But when they're there it's really exciting. We've been there this year, we're getting away with it. It's not like it's our home. It's somebody else's home. We were licked by the Kitten (U2 were beaten to the Number One spot by Atomic Kitten). Fair enough. That's where they live, we don't live there. We're about other things. "