|
|
Liam's End
...of the NME Interview. He's a Sweetheart, and He'll Make You Laugh.
Liam Gallagher: the man with the child in his eyes. Funny,
unpredictable, hyperactive, bewitcghing and electric. The
pitch-perfect
but raw and emotional voice of his generation. The man of a thousand
moods, mad for many different things.
Here are just some of theings with which he is mad this morning: the
Wimbledon Lawn Tennis Association's finals, of which he has been
watching much of between Neighbours. It's top, and he's going to the
final. Patsy Kensit, his wife. She's lovely and he loves her.
Marriage:
it's top. Patsy's young son, James, his stepson. They do everything
together, they're mates. It's top.
What else? Hooch, he has just discovered, is a pretty nifty drink. It
tastes of orange squash, but it gets you pissed. Go to be a good
thing.
The island of Capri, where he reluctantly vacationed, is a place of
much
beauty, tranquility and mystery. And the word c***. One of his
favourites.
"C*** is a great word. I'm a c***, you're a c***, he's a c***, she's a
c***. Top swear word. C***!"
So, yeah, Liam is top for many things, but chat?
"No, I'm mad for that."
And he is, he's mad for chat. Mad for it, right up until he sits down
in
the brightly-lit make-up room and gets himself involved in the
question
and answer thing. He's polite and accomodating, he'll answer any
question asked. But if he can answer it in one word, then he will.
See, he's also pretty mad for getting out of here and getting to Paris.
Contrivance isn't really his bag.
Last time NME interviewed you, you said you still loved being a pop
star. Is that still the case?
"No, I'm not a pop star. I'm a rock'n'roll star. And I'm mad for it."
Even with all the tabloid press and TV intrusion you suffered?
"I like that. I need them, need them to give me a kick up the arse.
Otherwise I'd just be sat in getting fat, counting all me money. It's
good people living on your doorstep and looking through your bins.
Gives
you energy."
What happened then, when you left that last American tour at Heathrow,
claiming that you had to go look for a house?
"I went to get a house."
Why did you wait until then?
"Because we'd just sold the house that day, right, and we had to get
out
in the next ten days. I thought, 'F*** it, I'm not going to America if
I've got nowhere to live, spending two weeks in a hotel in America and
then coming back and going to a hotel in England.' It's not on. No
chance. Loads of people staring at you onstage all the time and you've
got nowhere to live? You need a f*****g home. Everybody does. It's the
most important thing in life."
Were you surprised about all the fuss it caused in the papers and on
the television?
"Yeah. Saying I don't give a shit about America! 'Cos I do! But we
should've sacked that tour anyway. Should have stayed at home and had
some time off. Stayed at hone and made the album."
Are you pleased with Noel's new songs?
"Top! The album is great, just great. Once we're all together as a
band
then that is normality. The rest of it is bollocks. Loads of f****g
knobs, who don't know shag chasing you around with cameras. Should be
home with their wives, taking the dog for a walk."
What do you think the single is about?
"Dunno. It's personal. I can't tell you what's it's about. If I say
it's
about people putting shooters to your head and he [Noel] comes and
says
something else, then it's whatever. You gotta decide yourself. But
it's
top. It's Oasis."
What's a typical Liam Gallagher day like, what do you get up to?
"Get up at six o'clock in the morning. Jog around the park. Shit and
fart all day. No. I just sit in, really. Do a bit of shopping and try
and keep it as normal as possible. I am normal, I'm just a normal lad,
but life's fast. You've just got to take it easy, clam it down. Watch
Neighbours. I'm sick of Neighbours, though. We did those gigs in
America. Came home. Chilled out. Didn't play golf. Just being a good
husband, really."
How is marriage?
"King top!"
Your marriage was a pretty tricky manoeuvre.
"All that tabloid stuff is a pain in the arse, isn't it? Gotta be
done,
I suppose, got f*** all else to write about. I'd rather they wrote
about
me than some other dick. I'm interesting."
Do you want to have kids?
"Yeah! I want 20! Sell 16 and keep four! Take the eyebrows off,
though,
they don't come with the eyebrows!"
I you had three wishes, what would they be?
"To live forever. No. I don't want to live forever. I will live
forever.
Love and peace. I'm a hippy, me. And I want to get a few quid in the
back pocket and chill, know what I mean? I'm happy now, got everything
I
want, done everything I want to do. I'm 24 years old, from Burnage,
Manchester, it's more than I could ever imagine. But the aliens might
land in 1999. You never know, do you?"
Do you believe in aliens?
"Mmmmm. Of course I do. I'm not frightened by them, though. I'm as
smart
as them. Probably thick as f***, aren't they? Big goggly-eyed big
heads,
man, they haven't got a f*****g clue, if they did they would come and
sort us out becuase we're as thick as f***. I'm not frightened of
them."
Do you fancy space travel?
"I'm well up for it. Only if I could get back though, I wouldn't want
to
get lost in space. Fancy just nipping out, just to check it out. I'd
dot
heir f*****' heads in, them aliens, man. Freak 'em right out. They'd
be
like, [puts on Mash Means Smash alien voice] ' Farking hell, farking
hell! Let's get back to Planet Knob!' I'd do their heads in, me,
frighten the life out of them! That's why they haven't landed yet.
They're going [for some reason these are now cockney aliens], 'F***
that, can't land while he's about!' I'd take 'em out and get them
f*****g slaughtered. I would make 'em turn green then!"
How are you and Noel getting on?
"Smashing. Still have the odd fight...actually, I want to smack him
right now! Right in the kipper. No, great. Everything's fine. We'll
never split up, we're brothers. And if Oasis ends, then it'll end on a
high. Who knows? We might still be together in 50 years, still playing
music, which'll be nice."
Have you learnt to play guitar yet?
"No. I'm getting there, though. I wrote something on it the other day,
on me Hummingbird. It's called 'The Lost Chord'. I've not really wrote
it, I'[ve wrote the tune. I'll start on the lyrics next. Do you know
'Scarface'? It's like that, moody as f***. I don't know whether to
have
a skiffly beat, or a slow one, keep changing it. Whatever happens in
the
future is good, though. I'm an optimistic bastard, me. There's a lyric
on the record that goes, 'They're trying hard to put me in my pace,
but
the future's mine, it's your disgarce.' That's us, man.
And that's Liam Gallagher, off to the pub with his minders to get
pissed
before catching a train to Paris to get pissed. A normal millionaire
heartthrob from Burnage, Manchester, a regular lad who's so far ahead
of the opposition now that he's had to start a slanging match with bands
from outer space.
-- Ted Kessler
|
Get your own Free Home Page