Date sent: Thu, 14 Oct 1999 04:36:54 -0700 From: gregheywood@hotmail.com Subject: Questions from METRO Metro is a free newsaper that is distributed on the Tube (underground)in London Capital Questions What’s your first memory of London? Sleeping in a car in Tottenham Court Road. It was 1979 and we didn’t have any money in those days. I remember once staying six to a room in a hotel on Queensway. We’d go to the hotel bar all the time because the guy charged us £1 whether you bought ten double vodkas or a box of matches. Which is your favourite London Hotel? I liked the Landmark. To me, hotels are just somewhere to put your head down for the night. I’m not the sort of person that says “Oh, I need a suite.” Where do you go when you have time? My girlfriend and I used to look at all the hosery stuff on the top floor of Harrods. Other than that I just like walking up and down Kensington High Street and popping into the market. I’m more a Kensington Market than a Harrods kind of guy. Where do you eat out? I find the nicest Japanese restaurant and drown myself in sushi and saki. Does Damon Hill play guitar on your new album? He tries. He does all right. We gave him 20 seconds at the end of one song. He lives in Dublin where we were doing the album. He said he’d like to see what it’s like so we invited him over and he picked up a guitar. We told him that in return we want to be in the pit team or be flown to a Grand Prix. Rio de Janeiro in his private jet would be nice. Which of your songs suits which place in London? Shaftesbury Avenue, Soho, with steamy manholes and dark, sweaty doorways, fog coming down and one of our dark songs playing – Desert Song off RetroActive or Paper Sun from the Euphoria album. Where do you like to play? We’re right at home on a big stage. We’re playing Wembley Arena still and I’m happy there. I felt very comfortable at Earl’s Court a few years ago. It’s a big echoey, horrible place but the atmosphere’s fantastic. What was the last coversation you had with a cabbie? “Sorry mate, you got anything smaller?”. I’d offered him a £50 note for a £5 cab ride. Which is your favourite tourist attraction? The last time I played tourist in London I got my head stuck in the railings at Buckingham Palace. I was about five. My mother, my dad and a policeman had to butter my ears to get me out. Where do you like to go clubbing? We’ve been to Atlantic a couple of time. And I’m an honorary member of Stringfellows and very grateful for it. What Does London have that Dublin doesn’t? >From a positive point of view, there’s more choice. But people are rude a lot more than in Dublin because they know they’ll never see you again. Do you like jellied eels? No, I like unagi which is the eel you get in Japanese restaurants. They’re fantastic. What’s your favourite view? Looking across the river at the Houses of Parliament from the South Bank. What do you think of the Dome? I’ve only seen it from the air when we were coming in to land. From there it looks pretty strange. Like a dead spider on its back with its legs sticking up. Do you have a favourite Tube station? No, I hate the tube. The last time I went on it was two years ago and I almost had my head battered by some guy who took a dislike to my face and wanted to steal my newspaper. That was in the middle of the day. Money no object, where would you live in London? I’d have that big house in Hampstead that was going for £15 million. Either that or a Penthouse in Knightsbridge. What book at you reading? Three Dog Nightmare by the singer Chuck Negron. This guy took more drugs that anyone I’ve ever read about. He went from owning a mansion in Beverley Hills to sleeping in a car park and getting shot at by drug dealers. It’s mind-blowingly honest and a lesson in things to avoid. What do you sing in the shower? I normally do my vocal exercises, going up and down the scales. If I’m in a good mood, something I’ve heard on the radio. The last thing was Champagne Supernova by Oasis.