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Liam Gallagher Talks Beady Eye, Oasis And More














Two pints - that's allegedly how long it took for the remnants of Oasis to decide to carry on as Beady Eye after Noel Gallagher pulled the pin on the notoriously fractious Britpop band in late 2009.

Chatting at the up-market Landmark London Hotel recently, Liam Gallagher says that while it wasn't quite that simple, it wasn't that hard either.

The 38-year-old bad boy is on his best behaviour today. Not only is Our Liam on time for the interview alongside Beady Eye bandmates guitarist Gem Archer and drummer Chris Sharrock (guitarist Andy Bell is MIA) but he is nice as pie during the chat.

Cup of coffee in hand, he's "buzzin', man"; clearly excited about the new project and super keen for their debut album, Different Gear, Still Speeding (out today), to be a raging success. Mainly, one suspects, so he can stick it right up his older brother.

"Me and Noel had an argument that had been brewing for a long time and it came to its head in Paris," the younger Gallagher says of the demise of Oasis and rise of Beady Eye.

"He f...ed off, we stuck about, went back to the hotel, ordered a couple of beers... I wouldn't say it was that blase, it was a shock. We all thought that was it."

The remaining members decided to reconvene in a couple of months, but "couldn't wait that long and got stuck into it the following week", according to Gallagher.

"And what we got stuck into was tunes that are on this album and they sounded amazing.

"They could've been s..t and then I don't know where we would've been.

"But the spirit seemed to be there and the passion and they sounded good, so we decided to do more and here we are."

Grammy Award-winning English studio veteran Steve Lillywhite produced Different Gear, Still Speeding; his work with Sharrock's old band the La's, as well as U2, making him Gallagher's first choice for the debut.

The album kicks off in fine style on Four Letter Word, with Gallagher spitting lines like "sleepwalk your life away if that turns you on" and "nothing lasts forever".

While the defiant sentiment seems aimed fair and square at Noel, Archer says Bell wrote the song before Oasis split.

"If Oasis was Muhammad Ali, this is Sugar Ray Leonard. We're still in the ring and it means the world to us," Archer adds during a rare break from Gallagher's expletive-riddled rants. But soon Liam is back in fine form.

"They think we don't have the passion, all them people who used to come (to Oasis shows) and look at Noel," he begins. "They all come to look at that little fellow? F...ing hell, mate, they all want their heads checked, you know what I mean. We know what we're f...ing doing. So maybe it's good that people have s..t expectations because they can be blown away."

What does he think Oasis fans would make of the Beady Eye album? "I hope they like it, man, but it's not all about Oasis fans, to be quite honest," Gallagher counters. The singer also gives short shrift to questions over whether Noel's departure spells the end of Oasis. "It looks like it, doesn't it," he sneers.

The Beady Eye members, whose collective past involves stints in the La's, Ride, Heavy Stereo, the Lightning Seeds and - of course - Oasis, all display remarkable passion for the new project. This is not a sideline, something to do until Noel returns.

"We want to make music that's going to inspire kids, man," Gallagher says. "We don't want to be the last f...ing great f...ing band in the world, even though we take some f...ing beating. That's just a natural thing. We want people to join bands because of us."

While Liam has a fashion line, Pretty Green (named after the Jam song), and a film production company, he insists that music is still number one in his life.

Forty-four year-old Archer, who joined Oasis in 1999 after founding member Paul "Bonehead" Arthurs departed, is equally passionate about rock'n'roll.

"I couldn't imagine a world without it. As far back as I can remember, I've never not had a gig, since I was about 14 or something," he laughs. "So, this is it."

Archer admits to being "gutted" when Noel walked out on Oasis, but says he didn't sit around crying. The taciturn Sharrock, 46, nods his agreement, as Gallagher launches into another spiel.

"We owe it to ourselves to give it another try," he says. "We're happy with what we've done. It's not the best album in the f...ing world, it ain't going to cure cancer or anything like that, but it's going to change people's lives for that hour and a half when they come and see us. Not everyone's going to like it but not everyone's going to hate it either."

Beady Eye made their live debut in Glasgow on March 3 and has gigs in the UK and Europe to the end of April, before the band tours Japan in May and hits the European summer festival circuit. Aussie dates are tipped to follow.

The quartet is determined not to line up too many shows, preferring to - in Gallagher's parlance - to "get in there, go f...ing 'bang' and leave more of an impression".

"The idea is to get around the world on this album without killing ourselves or boring people, or just killing it," he says. "And then come back and have a break - nothing too f...ing long - and then get stuck in to another album and not let up.

"We're not getting any younger and this is what we do. Get a couple of albums out of the way - classics - and then maybe get out of people's faces." As Gallagher sings on album track Beatles and Stones, he wants Beady Eye to stand the test of time, like his heroes. No false modesty here, then.

"Sometimes you get it right, sometimes you don't," he says. "But overall, you want people to look back and go 'They f...ing meant it, man. They were great. The music world was a better place for having them'."

Different Gear, Still Speeding is out now.

Source: au.news.yahoo.com

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