“This question is null and void! The year before, The Killers’ Brandon Flowers won it and he had the trophy in his hand at the end of the night, but when I won in 2006, I never received the one-finger-salute statuette, so it’s a non-question!”
OK: Name the four acts you beat when you didn’t receive the Best Dressed Award…
“If I’d received it, I would be telling people whenever they looked at my award shelf: ‘You know who I beat for that…’, but I haven’t so I’ll guess Carl Barât, Alex Kapranos from Franz Ferdinand, the singer of Neils Children [John Linger] and The Cribs’ Ryan Jarman?”
WRONG. But close! You triumphed over Brandon Flowers, Alex Kapranos, Liam Gallagher, and Pete Doherty.
“There was always drama at the NME Awards. The first time I went in 2005, some guy from another record label made hand-signals at me when we were performing onstage. I was so pissed off, I marched around trying to find him afterwards. A year later, Ryan Jarman jumped onto our table and split his side open and I had to sit in the ambulance with him – he was trying to get out! [Laughs] I’d been on tour with The Cribs enough times to know he’s indestructible though. They’re in my Top Five bands of all time because they’re both rock’n’roll in the music they make and their attitude towards it. Their legacy will last forever and we’ll be listening them longer than most other bands from that time.”
Speaking of beating Liam Gallagher to Best Dressed…
“I didn’t beat Liam Gallagher to Best Dressed because I DIDN’T GET THE AWARD!!!”
…Oasis had a few pops over the years (for example, Noel Gallagher once quipped: “I did drugs for 18 years and I never got that bad to say, ‘You know what? I think the Kaiser Chiefs are brilliant’”). Ever encounter them afterwards and have a laugh about it?
“I’ve met up with them, but we haven’t laughed about old pops they’ve had at me, because I’m not the kind of guy who would confront Liam Gallagher about the things he’s said about me in the past, because I’m sure he’s forgotten most of them and I don’t care. Would I like to be his friend? Definitely. Do I think I could be? Probably not. I think he’s very good at being at hilarious. I don’t think he’s ever tried to be hurtful towards me – and long may he reign in his hilarity.”
