ראיון עם ליאם
A few weeks before the formal announcement that Oasis is bypassing China on the Asian leg of their tour, CW chatted with Liam about everything from Mao to song writing. Getting to Know Each Other CW: Hi Liam, this is Blake from City Weekend Magazine. Liam: Cool. A Man of Many Hats CW: Hey man, alright, well I’ve got some questions for you, I’ll probably just go right into them as time’s short. Mmm, first of all, as you’ve done more the writing on each successive album, how do you separate the roles of vocalist and song writer and which means more to you these days? Liam: Well, the singing is the most important thing ever, being a singer for Oasis is the most important thing. Song writing is summit' I do in the house just as a hobby, just to clear the head and you know, if people like it then it goes on an Oasis record and if it doesn’t then it stays as a hobby, you know what I mean? And I certainly don’t force people to put my music on, I’m not, I’m not interested, I’m not mythered [read: bothered] either way, whether it’s Oasis or not, but people like the songs, i.e. Noel, some of the band members and away it goes, it goes onto the record, we work at it, we try to make it cool but if I never wrote another song I wouldn’t mind it. CW: Hehe, right on. Liam: My, my, my main thing is singing, it’s, I’m more worried about losing my voice than writing another song. Role Models CW: Mmm, let me ask you, Oasis formed about, more than 15 years ago now, are there any bands you look to as examples of how you’d want to develop in your second and perhaps third decade as a band? Liam: Not really, I mean I respect Neil Young 'cause he keeps putting music out, and The Rolling Stones keep going and stuff, but they don’t really put any music out. I suppose U2, they’re the nearest ones that, have been going long and they keep putting music out and they seem to be active all the time, you know ever couple of years they’re doing things where as The Rolling Stones sort of just go on tours, and you know, don’t try and make any new music, so, not them. CW: You, you just mentioned Neil Young, mmm, I think a few months back Noel in an interview with the Guardian mentioned that he had already began work on a follow-up to Dig Out Your Soul, which he had likened to Neil Young’s Greendale and The Kinks. Is that for real and if so could you tell me a little bit more about it? Liam: I mean, we recorded quite a few songs, for Dig Out Your Soul, a couple didn’t make it on to the album just cause, you know, we didn’t finish them in time and stuff, and they were sounding good. And then we’re always writing, so Noel’s always sort of in the studios, whether it’s for his solo record or whether he’s doing it for Oasis, who knows, you’d have to ask him man. I mean, me personally, once we’ve finished this tour I’d like to have a couple of months off just to relax ,and then, I’d like to get back into Abbey Road man, I mean, we’re not getting any younger, and if we’ve got the music, let’s make Oasis music… CW: Right on… Liam: Me personally, I haven’t got any time to be making solo records, you know, life’s too short to be fucking about trying to be Robbie Williams or Rod Steward or anything like that. Thoughts on "The Business "CW: [Laughs] I’m curious, what producers would you like to work with in the future, and why? Liam: Eh, I really don’t know much, any producers really, I’m not really mythered. People keep always going on about Rick Ruben and stuff, but, you know, I don’t know what Dave Sardy, I don’t know what Rick Ruben would do that Dave Sardy doesn’t do, and plus I don’t like working with big time producers. I don’t mean that in a bad way to Dave Sardy, Dave’s a great producer but, he knows that we have the final say, so all these big time producers like Eno and all these fucking idiots that people work with today, it’s like, they wouldn’t last five minutes in the studio with Oasis. So, you know, Dave Sardy, I like to keep working with him. Or maybe, I’d like to do one ourselves, do you know what I mean? Get someone in to help but, but I mean, we sort of produce our records anyway, you know what I mean, we sort of, Dave does the twiddling of the knobs but we sort of try and tell him how it sounds. Looking to the Future CW: Have you ever thought of, I mean, do you think you guys might do that in the future? Just, eh, take the studio over. Liam: Maybe, yeah, maybe do, maybe do like a really downtown record, not so over produced or anything. I think we’re getting to that stage at some point. I think Gem could produce Oasis, but it’s big band, it’s a big album but I think Gem could piss it, you know what I mean? CW: No, that would be amazing. Liam: Well I thinks so, save paying some other fucking clown to make you sound how you want to sound, I don’t understand it? So, I think Gem could produce it, Gem and Noel but it depends whether they want to do it or not, I’m not, I’m easy. Oasis In China: Mao Who? CW: Thinking about the live show here in China, mmm, Oasis is bigger than almost anything in China, and has defined so much of the music that’s come out of here for the past decade and a half, I’m curious, what do you think of the idea of 1.3 billion people learning English to the lyrics of "Love Like A Bomb"? Liam: What, who’s done that? CW: Hahaha, The Chinese nation Liam: What they like that, they like that song, do they? CW: It’s, well all Oasis songs are pretty popular here and you know, people quote Oasis to me and always try to impress me with … Liam: Of course man, well, that’s beautiful, that’s what I’m in a band for. To touch people on the other side of the world, you know what I mean, and also touch people who are stood right in front of you, but, yeah it’s cool man, I down with it mate.