Noel Gallagher's High Flying Birds SWEARING IT was for good, Noel Gallagher quit Oasis in 2009. His current band, High Flying Birds, is the next logical step for the consummate Britpop composer. By phone from Germany, Gallagher spoke with the Mercury . This conversation has been edited and condensed for publication; read the complete version right here .    MERCURY : How do you find touring in the US -- especially outside of New York or LA, in places like Portland? NOEL GALLAGHER: When I first went to America, in my early 20s, I didn't like it. There were too many rules for me. You couldn't smoke here and you couldn't drink there, you couldn't cross the road there. I thought it was a lot of unnecessary bullshit. I must say, the older that I've gotten, the more I've really connected with it in some way. It's a much slower pace of life than what I'm used to, living in a big city like London. After almost 20 years in Oasis, how did it feel to start fresh? I'm not one of the world's great thinkers. I don't overthink any situation I'm ever in. I didn't go into rehearsals, or try to put a band together thinking, "Oh wow, what's this going to be like? It's not Oasis. What's it going to be? How are these people going to be and what are they going to wear? What are they gonna fucking eat? What if one of 'em's