LARS ULRICH Is 'A Strange, Strange Man,' Says OASIS' NOEL GALLAGHER

In a recent interview with Canada's Exclaim! magazine, OASIS' Noel Gallagher makes several mentions of METALLICA drummer Lars Ulrich, who is said to be a big OASIS fan and a longtime friend of the band. A couple of excerpts from the interview follow:

Exclaim!: What's the meanest thing ever said to you before, during or after a gig?

Noel: During? I don't fookin' listen to what any of those idiots have got to say during a gig. But Lars Ulrich came to see us one night — we tune our own guitars up because we're still capable of doing that — and he was like, [adopts perfect Ulrich accent] "F-Fuck, you know, you know you guys should really fuckin' get one of your fuckin' road crew to tune your guitars. The fuckin' spaces in between the songs are too long." And it's just like, "Look man, I don't know if anyone's ever pointed this out to you before, but you're the fookin' drummer in METALLICA. Now you fookin' get on with that and leave the rest of it to us."

Exclaim!: What are your feelings on piracy, Internet or otherwise?

Noel: See, I like pirates. That'd be a good occupation, wouldn't it? I'd like to have been a pirate, if I wasn't a rock star. Some might say pirates are earlier day rock stars. Of course, on the sea. Fook Internet piracy. How boring's that? I just don't think I have an opinion on that. We'll leave that to Lars Ulrich. Make an arse of yourself. Hey, if it's out there for free and you can find it, then good for you. To be quite honest, between me and you, can I say this off the record? I've got enough money. I don't need any more. Lars Ulrich has got enough money. He don't need anymore. Keith Richards or Paul McCartney have got more money than sense — look at the way they dress. It's blatantly evident. We're well paid, us successful people.

Exclaim!: What has been your strangest celebrity encounter?

Noel: Well, I'm one of the rare breed of rock'n'rollers who I actually does my own shopping. You can catch me at various supermarkets round the west end, buyin' various household appliances and bits of food, stuff like that. So I kind of mix quite well with the general public, and I don't mind rubbing shoulders with the mere mortals in the street. I don't consider myself to be a celebrity. It doesn't freak me out going to buy a pint of milk. Not like Elton John or Robbie Williams — I don't lock myself way from society and then claim that people don't understand me. But, have you met Lars Ulrich? Although he's a fookin' geezer and I do love him, he's a strange character. A strange, strange man. I met William Shatner once, in a lift. He got in a lift we were in and we actually did resist the urge as he pushed the button to his floor, to say, you know what I'm gonna say, don't you? I don't need to say it. But we all burst out laughing because we all wanted to say it. You know he's a midget, and he was kind of looking at us and said, [Adopting a Shatner accent] "Are you in some kind of band?" Well, what? What does that fookin' mean? We're in a band. And then he went, "You look like THE DOORS." Which one of us exactly?! Who looks like fookin' Jim Morrison? D'ya know what I mean? "I'm not being Ray Manzarek," that's what I said. "Fook that! And I'm certainly not being Robby fookin' Krieger!"

Read the entire interview at www.exclaim.ca.

(Thanks: www.chileanhorsemen.cl)