From midday at the moment, audiences can glimpse and listen to to U2’s Bono and The Edge develop for Radio 2’s Piano Room on BBC iPlayer right here and in an hourlong special, which comprises a long interview, on BBC Sounds
In the hourlong special, listeners hear about their musical influences and inspirations, reminiscences of recording old U2 classes at Maida Vale, their treasure of radio as a medium, the brand new anniversary of their album Warfare, the improvisation at the abet of their track recordings and additional.
From the extended interview on BBC Sounds:
On radio as a medium
Bono: We’re believers in radio namely at the present as an immersive medium. […] Folk gain up, they gain dressed, they have their breakfast, they transfer round. They’re now not looking at the small screen television when they attain that or on the laptop, YouTube, all of that stuff. Now, the time that folks are most vulnerable to being moved, [it’s] now not records, is in their ears. Earbuds, on the subway, on the Tube, listening to song and listening to the radio in their cars.
On their work with Steve Jobs
Bono: Would your listeners be attracted to – it’s now not even a filthy secret, nonetheless I have about a personalities… no doubt one of them is properly travelling salesperson. I near from a prolonged line of them on my mother’s aspect. And I offered, along with Edge, this track to Steve Jobs, the founder of Apple. We had been invited to his condominium and we acknowledged, ‘We’d no doubt admire to offer you with a track for no doubt one of your Apple commercials.’ Here’s when Apple commercials had been honest correct the most shimmering, most unheard of, shiny silhouettes, if you happen to remember them abet then. He acknowledged, ‘Thanks! You’re giving me this track?!’ [And we said] ‘We don’t attain commercials, nonetheless we’d give it to you.’ And he acknowledged, ‘Successfully that’s unimaginable. Thank you very noteworthy. Any catches?’ and I acknowledged, ‘Successfully, we want to be within the commercial.’ And he acknowledged, ‘What attain you mean? We have gotten silhouettes of followers.’ And I acknowledged, ‘yeah, nonetheless it’s time to also have artists in these commercials. We’ll be the silhouettes.’ He acknowledged, ‘What?!’. I acknowledged ‘Yeah, we’d admire to be for your commercial with our new track. Thank you very noteworthy.’ And he went: ‘K’.
Edge: We didn’t gain paid or something, it turn out to be now not admire an endorsement where you gain money. […] We belief that is a saviour, because song turn out to be being sent on the receive round with out cost. Folk had been downloading. And [Steve Jobs] turn out to be going, ‘No, musicians would possibly possibly well possibly possibly also peaceable gain paid.’ So we had been supporting that.
On Bono’s e book and their album
Gary: Which came first, the e book or the album belief?
Bono: The e book.
Edge: It turn out to be a runt little bit of opportunism because we had this belief to be [an acoustic album] for some time, nonetheless when Bono came out with the e book and it had 40 chapters, we belief withhold on, there’s an inner rhyme right here we are in a position to employ. So we loosely tied the two collectively – 40 chapters within the e book and 40 songs on the document. Nonetheless they don’t correspond exactly.
Bono: Edge and I had this phrase that we had been throwing round, ‘Intimacy is the brand new punk rock’. And I do understand it sounds a runt bit pretentious now asserting it at the BBC, nonetheless the most unhealthy song for me within the mean time is the most vulnerable. And we let artists that we cherish into our lifestyles in methods that we don’t let our closest chums or lovers most regularly.
On ABBA
Edge: We’re large followers of this Scandinavian band, appreciators of their work in one diagram that grew over years. We’re followers of the Bee Gees which contributors wouldn’t have imagined. We’re followers of hundreds grand songwriters who aren’t basically seen as very hip, and I declare we’re honest correct appreciators of their work.
Bono: I turn out to be asserting to no doubt one of the most cellists at the moment that I didn’t have the courage to discontinuance smart with this subsequent band after I turn out to be 16 within the middle of punk rock, nonetheless I did gain to the Bee Gees and I turn out to be in a position to discontinuance smart with Massachusetts and Tragedy, I mean these are honest correct loopy correct. John Lennon owned as much as loving the Bee Gees. Nonetheless there’s a runt little bit of a macho, ‘I don’t want to discontinuance smart with ABBA.’ Nonetheless I’ll picture you what, they’re honest correct higher songs. It’s likely you’ll well possibly possibly also’t be empirical about all the pieces in art work.
Bono: There would possibly possibly be something about ABBA. I’m in a position to remember ABBA as admire the national anthem for younger moms. No doubt at closing time at our native pub, in most cases younger ladies folks would assert Thank You For The Music, and I’d assert it and I turn out to be very thankful for the song! Nonetheless I turn out to be admire, what is this phenomenon? Here’s ahead of their musicals and all that. What is occurring with ABBA? After which Benny [Andersson] came to no doubt one of our displays, after we murdered Dancing Queen. And [they] played with us on stage. Nonetheless that is now not Dancing Queen.
Gary: Which one is it?
Bono: Here’s the grand ABBA. And that’s a marketing gimmick from U2 called SOS!
On celebrating the 40th anniversary of their album, Warfare
Gary: Any special celebrations lined up for that?
Edge: A pint of Guinness presumably down in Finnegan’s at the very least!