Miles was interview for the December 1995 issue of RAW magazine...

Is hair now a four letter word?

Always was. I've no plans to grow it long again if that's what you mean.

You bump into Liam Gallagher in a bar. He's pissed and starts telling you that you are the granddad of Britpop. What do you do?

I'd say, "Thank you for your patronage," and then ask him to get the beers in for me and all my entourage. The word granddad wouldn't bother me, no. I'm looking forward to old age.

What happened to Billy Duffy (former Cult guitarist who briefly joined Miles' new band Vent)?

Billy had to go back to LA. To be honest, what he's done with his career has been so much bigger than any of the rest of us that I can't really blame him. A life in transit vans that break down between gigs can't be that appealing.

What was wrong with presenting alternative music programmes on MTV?

There was nothing wrong with it at all, it's just that I had to gear myself up to being the Mr. Nice Guy who introduced the bands, some of whom I found to be totally innocuous. And that Mr Nice Guy persona didn't sit with me very well when I started writing songs again. I tried to split my week into two halves so that I could do both, but it really wasn't working out.

You felt a need to return to your creative impulses?

Well, I don't want to be driving around in a transit van that keeps breaking down between gigs later in life, so I might as well get it out of my system now.

What do you think of WeKnowWhereYouLive, the band containing evervone else who used to be in the Wonder Stuff?

I've only seen them once. So I don't really have an opinion.

Have you made a lot of money?

No, not as much as I'd have hoped from being in a band for eight years having made four albums and that many Top 40 appearances. But I've made enough to pay the rent

You can join any band in the world. Who do you choose?

If I could open my mouth and have any noise come out of it, I'd like to have Jeff Buckley's voice. I imagine you could charm the birds down off the trees with a voice like that..

Are you still a mouthy git?

No, not really. I drink gin and tonics now and they work wonders for my equilibrium. Plus, you don't wake up in the morning with a mouth like a badger's arse.

If a reader had never heard one of your records, how would you describe it to them?

None of the readers are likely to have heard them, seeing as there's nothing out yet. I don't like desperately trying to persuade anyone to listen to my records. So I'd just say it's a poppy, guitary band, with words and singy things.

You were mates with Paul Weller long before Noel Gallagher. Were you insulted when you weren't invited to be on the 'Help' record with him?

What? Who? Oh, Oasis are on that, are they? Good luck to them. I didn't know anything about it.

Who's the friendliest bloke in Therapy??

I haven't really spent any time with them. I think Andy probably has the same bladder capacity as me, because one night when we were at the same gig he was always going into the gents at the same time as I was. So I suppose it has to be Andy.

The tattoo on your leg which gives your date of birth - what inspired it?

It was Henry Rollins. He named his book publishing company 2.13.61. after his date of birth and that's how I got the idea. I've always wanted a tattoo but I've never been sure of what to have and there's no point having it done until you find an image of something you have an enduring love for. So far the only enduring love in my life has been for Marmite, so I was going to have a Marmite pot tattooed on my arm, but luckily someone said to me, "You shouldn't turn your body into a joke."

You're signed to the same label as Cast. Have you got pissed with them?

No, not yet. We met each other briefly at Reading, but not for enough time to set up a proper drinking relationship.

Who's the biggest baby - Reeves or Mortimer?

Biggest baby as in most childish? Vic, definitely.

What's your fondest memory of being in The Wonder Stuff?

I suppose the best memory I can think of was sitting in a jacuzzi with Rob Jones (aka The Bass Thing, original Wonder Stuff bassist, now sadly deceased) the first time we went to America, with a bottle of champagne in one hand and a giant spliff in the other. I remember saying to him, "Life had better always be this fucking good!"

Any tips for Damon Albarn on being tactful to Americans?

You're asking the wrong person for that. Blur are fucked out there. They're far too English for anyone to want to have anything to do with them.

I meant that Damon has been as rude about America as you once were on The Wonder Stuff's infamous first trip out there.

Oh, has he? Then he's doubly fucked. No one's ever gonna want to have anything to do with him. And riding Lambrettas around Los Angeles isn't going to impress anyone either.

What's the worst thing anybody's ever said about you?

I don't take much notice of what critics write about me in the music press. To hurt me it would have to be personal, and, since school, none of my friends has ever said anything bad about me that I've heard about I'm far too nice a person for that.

What's the worst thing you've ever said about anybody?

Too many things. When I read that Oasis have been shooting their mouths off I think, "I hope you're happy saying all that, knowing that you're gonna have to look at it in print and that everyone will be giggling at you. Because that's what they do. They giggle.

Miles Talked to Cathi Unsworth

Thanks to Anders Nilsson for sending this to me.....