Oasis in '95: "It might seem that we’re a bunch of ramshackle pissed-up drug addicts but we’re actually pretty organised and when things get done, they get done well"

'95:

Ahead of (What’s The Story) Morning Glory? giving them their second UK No. 1 in October, Oasis helicoptered down to Slane in July and proceeded to blow headliners R.E.M. off stage. As they prepared to launch into ‘Roll With It’, a rock was thrown at the stage, prompting Liam to tell the miscreant, “If you don’t like it, go fucking hang yourself!”

Shortly after they’d finished spectacularly kicking out the jams, I managed to sneak past security to meet the band. The first person I ran into was Liam, which resulted in the following brief but spirited exchange:

Him: “You from Hot Press? Cool, I used to read you as a kid. Are you going to put us on the cover?”

Me: “I am and, yes, we are!”

Him: “Great! You’ll have to talk to these twats because I’m going off now to get fucking shitfaced!”

I was then ushered into a portacabin to meet Noel who had a strangely diluted look in his eyes...

“I was petrified it was going to deteriorate into another Hillsborough. This massive hole in the crowd just appeared with people falling in and getting trampled on as it filled up. I saw four or five bodies pulled out that didn’t appear to be breathing but from what security tell me, most of them came to on the other side of the barrier demanding to be let back for the rest of the set!

“As for being nervous, the only gig I flapped at was Glastonbury and that lasted about 15 seconds. My main concern before going on stage is, ‘What frame of mind is Our Kid going to be in?’ Will he get pissed off and walk which, believe me, he’s perfectly capable of doing. He was annoyed today when some cunt threw a rock at him but after threatening to kick their heads in, he got on with it. The fucker responsible was lucky because if we hadn’t been having such a good time, we’d have jumped in and put him in intensive care. We’re not the psychopaths we’re made out to be but you don’t take shit, do you?”

“It might seem that we’re a bunch of ramshackle pissed-up drug addicts but we’re actually pretty organised and when things get done, they get done well. Definitely Maybe was a classic and the next one is even better played, better recorded and better produced. Some people are going to read that and go, ‘egotistical bastard’, but I reckon it demonstrates a confidence in our ability that’s 100% healthy.

“Bands have no right releasing records unless they, hand on heart, believe that they’re better than anything in the charts. Or come to think of it, anything that’s come before. I felt passionate about the Pistols and The Jam and The Smiths but I realise they weren’t Gods, they were normal blokes who happened to be highly talented musicians. The Beatles are the same.

“If by some miracle I met John Lennon, I’m sure he’d be no different to me. Some chancer on the piss who managed to string a few chords together and sell a lot of records.”

“Maybe it does exist but I’ve certainly never experienced ‘difficult second album syndrome’. I’m happy that Morning Glory’s the best record we could possibly have made and if people disagree with that, fair enough, they’re entitled to their opinion. Even if it’s wrong. The only time I feel pressured is when someone comes up, recites the lyrics from ‘Live Forever’ and says, ‘that song prevented me from committing suicide’. I mean, I’m delighted it gave you the strength to carry on but it’s a heavy responsibility, particularly when they’re total strangers.”

Read the full 14-page Oasis feature in the current issue of Hot Press, out now: