NEWS LYRICS PHOTOS CALENDAR BAND FORUM CONNECT ABOUT HOME

[Editor's note: in addition to his contributions for @U2, the author is an employee of a major U.S. television news network. This interview was one of many Edge did recently with media outlets around the world to promote the band's PopMart concert at U2.burst.com. It's not the same interview as the one posted on the Burst web site. This interview was edited into a couple sound bites and fed via satellite to network affiliates. This @U2 exclusive is the first time the entire transcript of the interview has been made available.]

"It's so un-rock 'n roll to be concerned about breaking the rules." -- The Edge, on the controversy surrounding web-accessible music.

Depending on what version of rock 'n roll folklore you prefer, U2's guitarist the Edge got his name either because of (a) the shape of his skull, or (b) because he's a pretty intense person.

To the true fan, however, how he got the name is hardly as important as how he makes the music.

Anyone who loves U2 will tell you, Bono is the man who gives the group its vocal passion...but it is the Edge who is responsible for giving the band both its sonic signature AND for helping shape its ever-changing sound.

Those who know Edge say he is one of the most introspective members of the group. Someone who is keen as much as he is calm. The truth is, he is MUCH more than that: he is a focused, intelligent, intelligent, amiable, sly, good-humored, well-versed, and a very witty man.

Oh, and laid-back. Waaaaaay back.

Yes, decidedly UN-edgy, that Edge: perhaps the only guitarist in the history of rock 'n roll whose hats are as cool as his music.

So, with wool skull cap in place, the Irish ax-master took some time out from the band's busy recording schedule in Nice, France for an exclusive televised chat with @U2 writer Kevin Byrne...during which he talked about web site concerts, the PopMart tour, the Internet's role in modern music, the new U2 album, lost laptops, crystal ware, men's fashions, and wedding bands.

Edge!! Can you hear me?

Hi! I can, Kevin. Can you hear me? 

Perfectly! How are ya, man?

I'm very good and yourself? 

Ah, I'm very well. I'm fantastic. You're in Nice, yeah?

I am.

Is it nice there, in Nice?

Nice is fantastic. It's beautiful down here. 

Do they have Guinness in Nice?

They do. Em, the Guinness, I have to be honest, is not the best here...but you wouldn't really be coming here for the Guinness. (Smiles) It's more the rosé you'd be coming down to Nice for. 

Very fine. So...you're here to celebrate the launch of some exclusive video of U2's PopMart show in Mexico on Burst.com.

That's true. 

How did the decision to put this video on the Web come about?

Well, it's kind of a convergence of a kind where Burst.com is a company we've known for a long time, ten years now. They're the company that came to us with some new ideas for technology. We kept in touch, we did some work with them on Zoo TV, and they've now got to the point where their technology is really the best available for distributing, on the Internet, moving pictures and sound. That's what they've been dedicated to for a very long time, and they are the best at it. So, when we were considering what we were gonna do on the Internet, it seemed like the perfect vehicle for us -- since we have this really amazing concert footage -- to use that technology to do something that had never been done before. And we talked to them and we put it together. We're very happy we're doing something that's never been done, and we're pretty confident that their technology is gonna give people a very, very stable and very, very good viewing experience, and that was the most important thing for us: whatever way we went, that the people could really enjoy it, and it wouldn't be a frustrating experience which, unfortunately, the Internet can often become.

Back in 19-97, you had said the band was, quote, "really sticking its collective neck out" with the PopMart tour, given its size and scope. As you look back on these images now being broadcast on Burst.com, how do you feel about the that tour, and do you think it worked in the end?

Well, I think we did certainly roll the dice in a major way when we decided to do a big stadium off the back of the Zoo TV tour, which was itself so big...and I don't regret that we did it. But I think that it took an awful lot of our energy. I think that, y'know, we probably suffered somewhat, putting so much of our time and energy into the show, particularly at the time that we did, when were also trying to finish our record. I think the video is the best testament to the success of the effort that we put in. I think it's an incredible document of that show. The show, as Zoo TV also did, developed for the whole duration of the tour. I mean, it was an eighteen month long tour. The show at the beginning and the show at the end of PopMart were very different. So with the Mexico show, towards the end, a lot of new elements had been put in. I was very happy with it.

Now, anyone who owns your albums or has been to your shows in the past ten years knows that electronica and video have helped influence U2's work. Is the expansion of the Web into the world of music and websites like Burst.com influencing what you and the band are doing now, and do you see the Internet affecting the band's future, given how sites like Napster are changing how fans gain access to music?

I am very interested in the Internet and have been following developments in the Internet for really the last seven or eight years, and Burst.com's technology has been something we've followed as well as other things because the Internet, for sure, is gonna make a HUGE impact on every facet of life. Ya know, as Bob Dylan says "The times they are a-changin'"...and there's no doubt that, right now, what's changing our world the most is the Internet. We're not so paranoid about the issue of copyright ownership and all that. We actually feel that, okay, it is actually completely turning on its head a lot of the principles of how musicians get paid for what they do but it's still throwing off huge benefits in terms of promotion and publicity for bands. We're looking at the positives, we're looking at the way that we can make it work for us and not concentrate on the negatives. I don't think it serves anybody to panic and to get all paranoid about, ya know, your livelihood being eaten up by this new way of communicating. I think bands will always be able to sell records, they'll always be able go on the road...and I think the Internet should be seen as a separate thing. Ya know, "What can we do with this? This is exciting!"

Now, as many of us know...you and the fellas are now in the midst of recording the new album. Some of it in Dublin, some of it now in Nice, France. How's it coming along?

It's really coming on very well. We're very happy. We've spent a lot of the last couple of years working on songs and we now have an awful lot of material to choose from, to put the record together...which is good AND bad. Ya know, this is the difficult stuff. You've gotta...you gotta actually GIVE UP some of the songs that you really thought were definitely going on the record. In the end, it's only gonna be...ya know, we don't want to make a reaaaally LONG record. I think people are bored by that. So, ya know, we're only...

I wouldn't be bored by that AT ALL, Edge. Make it as LONG as you want, man.

(Laughs) Well, our vibe right now is we want, like, eleven or twelve songs...and that's it. As long as they're all classics, we don't think that that's a problem. I think if you can have a 25 track record, ya know, and half the tracks are AWFUL, I really don't think you're doing anyone any favors. I think a shortish, but really GOOD record is what people like, and that's what we're trying to make...and, we're getting there, ya know. We've got about eight weeks to go...but, in true U2 style, a lot of the important work is being done at the very end. We're still changing songs around a lot and re-writing things as we go.

Speaking of WRITING...what did you guys say to Bono, your lyric writer, after he lost the laptop? Did you take him into a back room and beat the shit out of him?

(Hearty laughter) That was bad news. But, em...he got it back, which was incredible. I dunno how, I dunno WHAT he said to the police, but...I've never seen more publicity around a single item that has gone missing than that laptop...and (snaps fingers) within a week! I think the criminal fraternity of Dublin were BEGGING for somebody to turn it in so the heat would be taken OFF them...and sure enough it turned up. So, we were saved. But yeah, (more laughter) it was a difficult couple of days.

During a recent Web chat, Bono described U2 as having "no backwards gears" in their tank when it comes to the new album. How is this album different from the other records the band has made? Is it a different sound? A different theme within the songs?

Well, we've taken it back...really, to the band, to start with. All the material is in some ways quite personal. From there, we're really starting to explore new ways of treating that in those songs and, ya know, abstracting things slightly. But I think it will retain that sense of, y'know, the heart and soul of the band. I think that will be consistent throughout, whatever way it goes from here. I think that will be very much present.

Do you have a favorite song on the new album, what's the title, and why do you like it?

Ya know what, I don't even know what's going on the album, so I wouldn't like to give you any titles, but...I mean, I think there are some really strong songs. Maybe some of the strongest songs we've written for quite a while. I'm really very happy with how things are going.

You and the lads were recently awarded the Freedom of Dublin?

This is true.

And you had a chance to graze lambs on St. Stephen's Green.

Yes!

So the natural follow-up question to that moment is: where do you keep your Waterford Crystal Joshua Tree? In the jacks? Or somewhere else?

The Waterford Crystal Joshua Tree...hasn't found it's way to my house yet.

What??

Yeah, I don't know. Maybe it's still at the engravers, I'm not sure. I just hope...I hope the postman didn't drop it. That's my only fear. I haven't, as yet, decided where it's going...but obviously in some place of great honor in my house. It's a difficult one, though, because it IS very fragile.

You probably have heard this before, but a lot of people, like myself, think you are one of rock 'n' roll's most original and brilliant sounding axe-men to come along in a very long time...

Oh thank you, Kevin.

...but you also have a helluva cool fashion sense. So, the world wants to know: what secret fashion tip do you think every guitarist should know?

(Pauses for a moment to think) Mmm. Never wear a jacket and your guitar at the same time. Ya know, it's just not a good look...but cool hats are good.

The last one's a personal question, but I figure what the heck: are you fellas free to play a wedding in October?

(Laughs) I'll check my book! I'll check.

I was gonna say, "We can pay you in Guinness"...but I would imagine you probably don't accept that form of remuneration these days.

(with a mischievous smile) Well, we do play the odd bar mitzvah.

 

© 2000 @U2/Byrne. All rights reserved.

@U2 Calendar

August 6 2010 09:00 PM - 02:00 AM - Hollywood U2 Tribute Band Performance Proceeds benefit Gulf Coast cleanup efforts. August 6 2010 U2 in Turin Opening band: Kasabian Full Calendar