Während die einen immer noch begeistert die neue U2-Single "Get On Your Boots" in Dauerschleife hören und die anderen immer noch nicht den Schock darüber verdaut haben (zu unserem Voting), warten wir alle sehnsüchtig auf Informationen zur Tour 2009. Die einzigen halbwegs fundierten Infos deuten darauf hin, dass die Tour Ende Juni in Barcelona beginnen wird. Dies berichten mittlerweile mehrere unabhängige Quellen voneinander. Ansonsten gibt es erstaunlicherweise keine wirklich handfesten Informationen über weitere Konzertorte oder Daten.

Immerhin erzählt jetzt U2-Produzent Daniel Lanois (zur Biographie) in einem Interview mit Alan Cross von exploremusic.com über die Entwürfe zum Bühnenaufbau. Hier erfahren wir, dass bei der kommenden Tour möglicherweise eine von allen Seiten einsehbare Bühne benutzt werden wird, was für Stadionkonzerte ja eher eine Seltenheit darstellt. Interessant wird sein, wie das ganze dann bei Open Airs funktionieren soll, sofern die Band diesen Plan wirklich umsetzt. Sollte dies der Fall sein, darf man zumindest davon ausgehen, dass ausschließlich Stadien und keine Äcker bzw. Wiesen gespielt werden, denn bei diesen würde die Bühne überhaupt keinen Sinn machen. Unsere Freunde von atu2.com haben zwei Ausschnitte aus dem Interview in mp3-Format auf ihrer Seite verlinkt, wo Lanois neben der Tour auch über "Get On Your Boots" redet.


Lanois über das Album (mp3) - klick
Lanois über die Tour (mp3) - klick

Ein komplettes Transcript des Interview wird im Blog von Alan Cross (hier klicken) erscheinen.

My Conversation with U2's Producer Daniel Lanois/Part 1
Wednesday, January 21, 2009

I had a chance to talk to Daniel Lanois on Monday about the new U2 album. Here's part one of that conversation.

Alan Cross: I was up this morning at ten after three downloading the U2 single.

DL: Oh! How was it?

AC: It’s not bad! It’s got some interesting sounds; I think that there was some pretty good production behind it.

DL: Ok.  [Laughs]

AC: There was some really interesting sounds in that song.  It’s kind of like when I first listened to “Achtung Baby” and heard “The Fly” and you think “This is the band that gave us “Pride in the Name of Love” and “With or Without You?” There are some really sophisticated sounds happening here.

DL: Yeah it’s a hell of a groove, and some of the sounds were provided by The Edge himself.  The main guitar parts.

And then there are some nice bits of processing in there, there is a little [makes a laser-like sound that goes “dew dew”]—like a little sound that sort of scoots by, like a high speed sound effect, that’s one that was born through the process of studio manipulation, and it’s one that stuck.   So that’s one of the little sounds, courtesy of Daniel Lanois.

AC: That’s got to be one of Adam’s best grooves in a very long time, no?

DL: I think the groove was fantastic. I like the fact that it’s got a  nice interesting mixture of technology and hand-played drums.

AC: Now I want to ask you about the drums. Are those electronic drums or is he triggering samples? They don’t sound acoustic…

DL: Oh, that’s an acoustic drum kit on there!

AC: It is?

DL: Absolutely, but there is a separate track that features kind of a bass drum loop that we did of Larry, and it runs along side of the main kit and is featured in certain sections of it.  I quite like the marriage of hand-played and the electro combination. I think is very special.

AC: Making a U2 album is never a simple process. They are an industry into themselves. You can measure part of the Irish GDP based on U2 output!

DL: [Laughs]  I’ll take your word for it!

AC: So, putting together an album is a very intricate sort of a thing.  You guys started working in Fez.  Where did you go from there?

DL: We started in Fez Morocco because we wanted a musical and exotic location. One of my first conversations with Bono was one about future hymns—spiritual songs for the future—and he was at the opinion that Morocco would be a great crossroads for a universal feeling for the album.

AC: Did it work?

DL: I think it worked, it set a lovely tone. But the funny thing is everything sounded a little more Moroccan without even ever being to Morocco. So just by having the thought in our heads, it meant that are preparations prior to arriving in Morocco already had a little bit of exoticism in them.

Alan Cross: So, putting together an album is a very intricate sort of a thing.  You guys started working in Fez.  Where did you go from there?

Daneil Lanois: We started in Fez, Morocco because we wanted a musical and exotic location. One of my first conversations with Bono was one about future hymns—spiritual songs for the future—and he was at the opinion that Morocco would be a great crossroads for a universal feeling for the album.

AC: Did it work?


DL: I think it worked, it set a lovely tone. But the funny thing is everything sounded a little more Moroccan without even ever being to Morocco. So just by having the thought in our heads, it meant that are preparations prior to arriving in Morocco already had a little bit of exoticism in them.

AC: Where else was the album written and recorded?

DL: We were in the south of France for a good part of it, and that was fantastic because we were away from are usual pre occupations. And it was nice to be looking at the Mediterranean every morning. I feel that just as much came out of France as came out of Morocco.

But we have always done well in locations out of the ordinary, out of the formal recording studio actually, so working in Morocco and France was a continuation of that angle or philosophy that we always operated by.  

AC: Well I guess you have no place else to go because Hanover Quaye is gone. It’s been expropriated, the land has been expropriated they were suppose to build a tower there.

DL: Well U2 still have there digs in Dublin but I think there is talk about a relocation, but it has not happened yet.

AC: With this album were you again the hands on guy, and was Eno the Oblique Strategies boffin in the background?

DL: We had a great beginning on this record, Eno and I, with the band huddled up and no holds barred just had a lot of fun for a few weeks trying all kind of angles and jams.

We all brought something to the table on this time around, Eno is a great man for bringing in prepared rhythms for Larry to play. too. So we had a lot of fun with that and my technological beginnings.

Daniel Lanois: Well there is a few other titles, that have kind of exotic beginnings. There's one called “At the Moment of Surrender,” which is one of my personal favorites.

It's pretty much a collaborated piece. Myself and Eno are included as song writers on that one. It’s a very exotic and fantastic foundation.

Alan Cross: Is that the 7 Min song?

DL: Yes. It’s beautiful, it’s passionate, and full of soul. I’m very proud of it.

And it’s one of the first things we have created together. There were a few more like that, that came out of the early session. It was pretty much a creative and writing environment, and we have always done well that way.

Because a big part off U2 is its capacity to improvise --- and Eno and I also love to do that --- we could come up with several new tracks. So the beginning of that album had that freedom where people were allowed to bring whatever they wanted to the table.

AC: “Get on your Boots” is track 6 on the record, which was oddly deep for a first single. And it has me wondering: what happens through the first 5 songs of the CD?

DL: The first few songs on the CD are pretty magical. In fact, “No line on the Horizon,” the title song, is a fantastic mixture of hand played instruments; everybody really going for it. It’s kind of like science fiction rock and roll.

It’s definitely an incredible piece, and I can’t wait for you to hear it.

There is another one called “Being Born,” which again has that kind of band vitality. It's one of my favorite pieces on the new record for sure.  

AC: I can’t wait to hear it! I’ve been told but I'll just ask you: Is it more “Achtung Baby”  then “Atomic Bomb?” Or is it more "Pop" then “Atomic Aomb?"

DL: I believe this new record scores very high with its innovation. I suppose we can draw some comparisons to “Achtung Baby” that way because it was also an innovated time when we were determined to break some kind of ground sonically. And I think the same thing has happened here.

I wouldn’t make a direct comparison because all the ideas and the sounds are brand new. But I suppose it's similar in the sense that the band had the appetite to do something wildly new and interesting. So it’s less of a band huddle, and more of an exotic, innovated, huddle.


I have much more from Daniel next week. Check my blog on Monday for part four of that interview.