THE OASIST INTERVIEWS

Rip It Up, Issue 241, 1 September 1997, Page 20

THE OASIST INTERVIEWS

particularly appalling. It’s just disgraceful. Have you seen that bit with that fucking square magnifying glass? What the fucking hell was I up to there? Why did I agree to do that? Do you have much creative input on your videos? “No. the less I have to do with that the better. It’s usually Marcus (Oasis’ manager), he’s the video expert. I just turn up and fucking mime for three days, get pissed-off and go home. I don’t watch videos anyway. I don’t even watch MTV, except when we’re on it.” The cover artwork of Be Here Now is said to contain a whole heap of hidden messages and visual clues. Is that true? “Well, people were making up their own hidden messages really. There’s absolutely nothing, no hidden meanings on the album sleeve at all, apart from we put a Rolls Royce in the swimming pool that’s got a registration plate off one of the cars on the back of Abbey Road. That’s it really. It’s just a white Rolls Royce drove into a swimming pool, and us lot stood

round looking like cunts basically. Everyone seems to think it’s got these hidden Beatles references, but it hasn’t really.” Why is it called Be Here Now? “Which explanation do you want? I’ve got about 10 for you, all true. It doesn’t mean anything really. It’s just a good title for an album.” What songs are you most proud of having written? “I’m proud of writing ‘Champagne Supernova’, ‘Don’t Look Back in Anger’, ‘Wonderwall’, ‘Cast No Shadow’, ‘Magic Pie’, ‘Fade In-Out’. All of them really. There are ones I’d like to re-record and some of the early B-sides, cos they were just demos.” What song would you have liked to have written? “Can I have more than one? ‘Anarchy In The UK’, ‘My Generation’, ‘Jumping Jack Flash’, ‘Paperback Writer’, ‘I Am The Walrus’, ‘Search And Destroy’, ‘Redemption Song’ — loads mate!”

GARETH EVANS