Noel Gallagher recently gave one of his trademark candid interviews to the Irish Independent to promote his band Noel Gallagher’s High Flying Birds‘ forthcoming EP This Is The Place. The new record, due out September 27, was announced shortly after the release of the band’s most recent EP, Black Star Dancing, which was released in June.
The Oasis co-founder was his typically acerbic self as he rehashed stories about getting drunk with Bono and his unabiding love for his hometown soccer team Manchester City. Some of the less well-worn topics include Gallagher’s love of MasterChef, his opinions on rapper Eminem, and the reason he and his family are fleeing their posh London neighborhood.
In a 2005 interview with The Observer, Gallagher called Eminem “a fucking idiot.” When the Irish Independent asked if he still felt that way, the singer-songwriter, who is no stranger to addiction himself, said: “Er, he is one of those guys that goes into rehab and then they sing about it for the next 20 years. ‘You did a bit of fucking coke. You had a drink. Haven’t we all’. [Claps hands]”
He added: “I have never felt the need to be one of those fucking people. It’s boring. But writing songs about drugs is as boring as writing songs about coming out the other side of drugs.”
As for his TV-viewing habits, watching MasterChef is something of a family affair between him and his brood. When asked about his fandom, Gallagher acknowledged that cranky chef Gordon Ramsay‘s cooking show takes priority over all the prestige dramas.
“I wouldn’t say I’m a massive fan! [Laughs]. But every time there’s a new series of MasterChef, there’s always this thing where I always seem to have 12 weeks off where I can sit and watch it,” he said. “So, I missed The Wire and fucking Breaking Bad and all that because I was away on tour, but, for some reason, I’m always around for MasterChef. We do like it as a family. The four of us will sit down. The kids love it.”
When asked if he enjoyed cooking, Gallagher responded: “No! That’s what I got fucking married for! (Laughing). I don’t cook.”
Speaking of Gallagher’s family, he also discussed why he’s moving his family away from London and the tony block he apparently shares with U2 bassist Adam Clayton.
“We’ve had two stabbings outside our house in the last while. I live as you can imagine in quite an affluent area,” Gallagher said. “At one end of the street is one housing estate and the other end is another housing estate, and they are currently at war.” He continued: “One guy was multiple stabbed in the middle of the f**king day and an air ambulance had to come and land in the middle of the street and all the streets were taped off. Anyway, our lad is 11 and is now coming to go to secondary school and we were just saying it would be too fucking stressful if he is on the Tube and he is coming home and he is being mugged for his phone. So we decided that we are going to go out to the country and put them to school in the country. We’ll just commute into London.”
You can read the entire interview here. Noel Gallagher’s High Flying Birds are currently on tour with Smashing Pumpkins.
