Well, it started - as these things always do - with everybody getting drunk. It was just one of those days when I wasn't going to leave the room. Usually I get up and walk out at any point in an argument. I just felt extra stubborn that day and I thought, `That's it, I'll sit and I'll ride this one out.'

It got more and more personal until it got to a point where Liam actually said stuff about my family - he was asking for a smack in the mouth and he got one! I ended up with a cut under my eye and there were a few bumps and bruises and I thought, `Well, I'm not going round Europe with a black eye... I'm too good looking for that! And the girls will cry.'

It got to a point where there's a six-week tour left - who is the most irreplaceable guy in the band? It's Liam! They can get another guy on guitar and they got my mate Matt, so you know one of us had to go... and I'm the one with the beach in Spain!

We've had things like this millions of times before and people have said sorry. Nothing has changed over the last ten years, so someone has got to draw the line somewhere and that someone is going to be me!

Situations that we were in six weeks ago, with the main member of the band sat on a beach in Spain and the rest of the band performing in Germany - I can assure people that'll never happen again!

How that is going to present itself in the future I don't know. There's either going to be a really, really big, long meeting... or a really, really short, brief one.

Time is one of the greatest things that you can ever be given, by anyone, to go and get your head together. When I walked out on the tour-that was it. I was quitting the group. And no one was convincing me of anything different. Three weeks later, you're in a different frame of mind. You've been on the phone to a few people, or you've met a few fans in the street, a few people have straightened your head out... then it's like, `OK, alright.'

It might be a bit petulant to leave when there were big gigs like Wembley and Reading coming up. But that was weeks ago. Now after doing a couple of gigs it's like, `We made the right decision there.'

I don't know, I never said that I was leaving the group. My argument was Oasis should always be a rock'n'roll band. Sometimes I don't write rock'n'roll music, sometimes I write stuff that may be considered to be folk music. What's the point of accumulating a load of folk songs? I mean, what would be the problem with that and then sticking them out on an album? I wasn't putting a band together or anything. But you know, singers being singers, they take it as a personal affront to their masculine whatever it is... 'How dare I go and write some songs for myself?' This is coming from the guy that claims to have written eight songs for the new Oasis album and he thinks he's singing them all himself. So it's like, `I write songs for you and you write songs for yourself and I get nothing out of it. Well, thanks very much - I'll do all the work and you get all the applause. Great, fine - I don't think so!'

If it means that much to people - and it's obviously caused a lot of self-doubt in the poor little flower's head - it might have to be out on the back burner for a while. But I have to say I do reserve the right as a songwriter to write things for myself. I mean whatshisname out of Blur-the guitarist - he's out on the road with a solo record. They're obviously more adult than we are about it. Someone's said, `Go and do your thing and then we'll reconvene and go and do another record.'

What would I know? I've only been in a band with him for ten years and known him for 28. I mean, what would I know? I only shared a room with him for 16 years, so don't ask me -you'd probably know better than I would.

He's actually threatening to move to the same part of the country. We've got a very strong chief of police round there - I'm
sure he'll keep him in order... and of course I do starve my Dobermans and they have got a picture of him in their kennel.

You know Liam's got his problems, but then haven't we all? There's your personal life and there's your professional life - I think once the two start getting crossed you're on dangerous ground, because I'm sure he doesn't want to hear about my problems and I've got lots of stuff that happens to me. Luckily it never gets written about. Unfortunately for Liam, it gets written about all the time.

I never take family stuff into the studio or on tour because Alan doesn't want to hear it, Gem and Andy don't want to hear it. You're in a band to escape from all that stuff. That's what music is all about. What a lot of people don't realise is that we do not hang out as a band, never have done. I really don't know why Liam and Pasty have split up - only Liam and Patsy know that. To be honest, I'm not even interested; it's none of my business.

I think I have to say this. Over the past few weeks he's been a lot happier than I've ever seen him, so some good might come out of this. I'm sorry for the little lad to be honest with you, but there you go. It won't be the first divorce this year and it certainly won't be the last that's for sure.

It's happening right now in every single council estate in England. Just because you've got money doesn't make it any different. Just because you're in the public eye doesn't make it any different. It makes it easier, sometimes it makes it harder - it's part of life, man, that's it!

It's how you cope with it, isn't it? I worked out very quickly that you can't sell 15 million albums and be anonymous. You can be anonymous and sell 500,000 albums and have to work for the rest of your life - you can't have it both ways.

You can't be the biggest thing to hit England for 30 years and hope to even have a private life! For all intents and purposes, we were The Beatles of the '90s - it's as simple as that. No one had ever done what we'd done on the scale that we did it. It's how you deal with it.

If we were The Beatles then there wasn't a Rolling Stones for us to compete with, 'cos we just blasted everything out of the water. There was only us and that was it. We got the most attention which is great and I'm not knocking it 'cos you wanna see my garage -it's full of cars.

My favourite is my Jag, Mark 2, 1967, convertible - only one of two ever made and the only one in the country! I bought a '67 chassis in the States. I took it back to England and completely renovated it. Being a rock star, I thought that in the three years it takes to get it built I'd learn to drive, it can't be that hard, everyone's doing it... my missus is doing it.

I've got a Rolls in the garage that costs me more a year to keep than the car is actually worth... I've got a Jag that I can't drive and my missus won't even get behind the wheel 'cos it's too powerful, so I'm going to have to try and palm that one off on my daughter when she's 17.