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DJ: This is Bono from U2. Hello.
Bono: Hello. Good morning.
DJ: That's Edge from U2.
Edge: Hello.
DJ: Right. I'm just gonna play this clip. ::clip::Radio One:Close to the Edge::clip::
DJ: Now "Close to the Edge" was a competition that we ran last week so that people can get really, really close to the Edge. But they didn't quite - look if you turn around, they're all hanging off the balcony behind you. Just phone them up. (Calling out to them) Hello! (They call back "hello!". Ok now they're the winners. They're the "close to the Edge" winners who you heard. In fact, Adam was telling me yesterday he actually was listening to the competition last week which was really spooky. (Bono in background: Hmmmm...) And uh, they're all hanging around. There's about 30 of them all hanging off a balcony. You're sitting in this strange shop window with a studio on the other side. Do you, having played gigs with like 80,000 people, or so, do you get slightly, do you feel a bit different about this? This is a strange way to promote an album playing this stuff live for the first time. (Bono coughs)
Edge: I think its a bit strange when people can actually see you. Actually look at your expressions and you know-
DJ: It feels like you're playing in a front row-
Bono: In your case, your non-expressions, the Edge. (laughing)
Edge: It's actually...it's far harder at this point to actually play in front of 2 or 3 people than 60, 000 is the honest truth because we got to a place where that is kinda normal. But now, we're going the opposite way.
Bono: I can feel everyone on 60-70 thousand to Popmart. I feel everyone. If someone's taking a piss, I know. Ok. (laughter) I'm serious. I can feel it. You can feel it if you're a performer and you live by that feeling. You know if people are there.
DJ: Well, I was at Las Vegas a couple of years ago for the opening night and I went to the loo. You never noticed.
Bono: I did so.
DJ: You never did.
Bono: I did so.
DJ: Did you?
Bono: Yeah.
DJ: Well, ok.
Bono: Is that exciting?
DJ: Oh, it was fantastic. Well, you did notice it and worse more you could see. Now that's more disconcerting. Oh now, I ought to say, last time you were on the phone. And the last time you were on, you were also on the phone. And you're not going to go for the hat trick are you?
Bono: What do you mean by on the phone to somebody?
DJ: When you're on the phone. Last time I spoke to you was an interview. Do you remember? And we ended up being taken to the broadcasting standards council.
Bono: Oh no. Absolutely not.
DJ: There's no danger of that this time? Not going for the hat trick?
Bono: No, actually and I like bad language. Dublin people are very good at it. We're better at it than you here in London. Actually London's not bad. It's (inaudible) good but I think Dublin's better and I like the musicality of it so to speak. But I'm not gonna do that because...cuz I don't think it's very cool.
DJ: Ok, fair enough. Now you said a while back that there would be a time in U2's history where you'd get these albums out slightly quicker but it doesn't seem to be that way.
Bono: Well, you want to do something extraordinary, don't you? You don't just want to put out, you know, any old album. That's what happened with all those dinosaur groups in the 70's. You know, they all just started putting out any old tripe and because they had made it, they thought people would swallow it and we don't feel like that. And it's...to do anything extraordinary, you know, sometimes it's gonna take time. This album we just wanted, you know, 11 extraordinary songs. It wasn't like an extraordinary vibe or an extraordinary big concept or anything. It's just to get those songs and have no waste, no fat.
DJ: Yeah. Can I ask you, is there a concept Edge? Cuz there's always the album has led to a huge concept, you know, whether it be POP in POPmart. I don't get a concept on this album. I hear the 11 songs. Is there a concept?
Edge: Not really. No. We're still thinking that, you know. Is there one? But there isn't really. It's just 11 great songs and in that sense, it's probably our most stripped down and maybe revealing record, personal record because it's really just 11 songs that we wrote that over a period of time spent in Dublin, you know, they're the best songs.
Bono: But it's not like 11 "songs" like it's 11 singles. (Edge laughs). That's the wat we run into it. You know what I mean? Yeah! Death to progressive rock! Death to boring, you know, meandering stuff we just did last year. (laughter) That's not in this year. We're not into that, are we Edge?
Edge: No, no, not at all.
DJ: So, ATYCLB it's...I think Larry's already said, it's not going to look good on the T-shirt, is it?
Bono: That's all he cares about. What a great thing to be a drummer. You know what I mean? You know, Larry looks after are merchandizing and stuff, make sure people don't get ripped off in the T-shirts, takes it very seriously to the point where that's all he thinking about, the title. He loved the title "POP". You know, cuz he "Oh that's great, that fantanstic".
Edge: "Look good on a t-shirt."
Bono: "I can see that, yeah". But ATYCLB is not really, it's just one of those lines, it's a linme from a song. It seems to suggest the stuff, the essential, the essential stuff. You know. The stuff you can't live without. And in a band that's been in a room, playing together. Remember that?
DJ: Ok, can you hang around for a couple minutes before you need to do the song?
Bono: Sure.
DJ: Because if you don't I'm gonna carry on talking to you. You'll be hanging around for a couple minutes. I'll play another tune.