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Interview with Dallas Schoo*
[SIMG]http://bonovox.interference.com/bios/dschoothumb.jpg[/SIMG]
By Mike Sturgess
President - Dallas Schoo Fan Club
Dallas Schoo, a down-to-earth, Louisville, Kentucky, native, has been Edge?s guitar technician since the second leg of the 1987 Joshua Tree Tour. Recalling that time when Edge contacted Dallas to first work for U2, ?right then they were on the cover of Time Magazine?so I thought, I?m gonna go with this,? he joked on VH1. Outside of the four members of U2, Dallas is one of the most recognizable members of the U2 organization (next to manager Paul McGuinness). His intense, hard work ethic has been a valuable factor in U2?s successful tours. Below is a recent interview Mike Sturgess conducted with Schoo.
(Photo Courtesy of the Dallas Schoo Fan Club)
Mike: Can you tell us a little about your upbringing/childhood? Where you grew up?
Dallas: I was born in Louisville, Kentucky, and was raised there by two wonderful parents. Left there when I was 18. Great family, lot of good times, lot of discipline and family values instilled and our parish interaction events all came into our home when I was little.
Played a lot of competitive and recreational tennis for most of my years through high school and into my first year of college. Not too great but definitely not bad either. During these young years through my tennis enthusiasm and then employment at Louisville?s main tennis clay court facility, I met the players who then were very personally influential and later went on to become into being part of the top 10 tennis players in the world including my closest tennis pal and teacher to me, Vitas Gerulaitis, who rose to the No. 3 player in the world at the time in professional tennis. Needless to say that tennis was once a huge part of my life.
Mike: When and how did you learn to play guitar?
Dallas: Was well into music through a good part of my elementary and high school years. Went to quite a few concerts and bought a good share of vinyl 45s and 33s. Also attended a lot of ?teen dance clubs? where local live bands played and were also great places to meet girls. Not much of a dancer but was good at chatting up some of the girls and all that.
My father and mother bought me a guitar when I was in elementary school after much begging and promising that there investment wouldn?t be just a ?passing phase? of mine. Really wanted to learn just some basic guitar chords and stuff that was getting played on the radio. Never tried to be in a band though, just wanted to be able to play along with my Beatles, Stones, Yardbirds, and The Kinks records. I was crap but had fun with the whole thing.
Saved up and bought the same English made VOX guitar amplifiers that I saw George Harrison and John Lennon playing through after I went to see a movie with my sister, the Beatles? ?A Hard Days Night.? I was hooked. I wanted to work at some type of job and maybe get to have all or some of the adoration of all those screaming babes, and that on stage excitement frenzy like those 4 had going and still get to wear the hair long, didn?t ever get into the cigarette smoking bit, though.
Mike: How did you get involved in becoming a guitar tech? How long have you been working the business?
Dallas: I attended college first in Ohio and then relocated out west to a school in Colorado. Signed up for the ?Entertainment Committee? there on campus and was given the task of collecting the bands and other entertainers who were to perform on the campus at organized and advertised events. I think this was the actual beginning for me. My roommate was the one who actually got me interested in this with his father being the president of Warner Bros Record! Amazing really.
Dallas: I am in with U2 some 12-14 hours everyday, about 18 months now with off and on breaks when Bono had to fly off to support his African AIDS Awareness campaign/talks and then the big break where The Edge, myself and Bono went to Capetown for the Nelson Mandela and AIDS Awareness event. Great show, great spirit at that one. Felt very close and like I was traveling around with ?my mates? at that particular one off I guess you would say on that long flight from Ireland to South Africa and back and then at the actual concert to two of the most wonderful people that God has ever sent to come through my ?journey," Bono and Edge—I mean this.
As I say, have done nothing but totally focused on this new U2 record for a year plus now. Just really get up every day, take the trains to my swimming workout, back on the train to Downtown Dublin and then the 45 minute walk into our U2 HQ studios. Edge always arrives in first, of course.
But, if I may, as I see it, this could be one of the greatest collection of songs for a new U2 CD/DVD ever made! The Edge has played some of his most innovative guitar moments and recording tracks that I have witnessed. Bono?s singing has been simply the most brilliant performances with his voice being in top form on this record. His guitar playing on this project is as well to be reckoned with and often provides the canvas for The Edge to follow with even more guitar ideas. Adam?s very, very fresh big time bass grooves and tremendous comments and direction with the record. Larry drums on this recording like he is 17 years old, really full on. When you hear this record, I can see no way that you will disagree with my take on this new work of art by this still to be reckoned with world important necessary and still very much ?current? band.
I think both the state of the music industry and the present day world events will welcome the music and the message of this fantastic new U2 music. I know I?m biased, so maybe I?m just biased, maybe not. And maybe we will actually be finally out of the studio and on the bleedin? stage again soon! That would be well different, right?
To read the rest of the interview with Dallas Schoo please visit the interview section at:
www.swaggerandstyle.com/dallas/indexds.htm
Used with permission from the author.
[SIMG]http://bonovox.interference.com/bios/dschoothumb.jpg[/SIMG]
By Mike Sturgess
President - Dallas Schoo Fan Club
Dallas Schoo, a down-to-earth, Louisville, Kentucky, native, has been Edge?s guitar technician since the second leg of the 1987 Joshua Tree Tour. Recalling that time when Edge contacted Dallas to first work for U2, ?right then they were on the cover of Time Magazine?so I thought, I?m gonna go with this,? he joked on VH1. Outside of the four members of U2, Dallas is one of the most recognizable members of the U2 organization (next to manager Paul McGuinness). His intense, hard work ethic has been a valuable factor in U2?s successful tours. Below is a recent interview Mike Sturgess conducted with Schoo.
(Photo Courtesy of the Dallas Schoo Fan Club)
Mike: Can you tell us a little about your upbringing/childhood? Where you grew up?
Dallas: I was born in Louisville, Kentucky, and was raised there by two wonderful parents. Left there when I was 18. Great family, lot of good times, lot of discipline and family values instilled and our parish interaction events all came into our home when I was little.
Played a lot of competitive and recreational tennis for most of my years through high school and into my first year of college. Not too great but definitely not bad either. During these young years through my tennis enthusiasm and then employment at Louisville?s main tennis clay court facility, I met the players who then were very personally influential and later went on to become into being part of the top 10 tennis players in the world including my closest tennis pal and teacher to me, Vitas Gerulaitis, who rose to the No. 3 player in the world at the time in professional tennis. Needless to say that tennis was once a huge part of my life.
Mike: When and how did you learn to play guitar?
Dallas: Was well into music through a good part of my elementary and high school years. Went to quite a few concerts and bought a good share of vinyl 45s and 33s. Also attended a lot of ?teen dance clubs? where local live bands played and were also great places to meet girls. Not much of a dancer but was good at chatting up some of the girls and all that.
My father and mother bought me a guitar when I was in elementary school after much begging and promising that there investment wouldn?t be just a ?passing phase? of mine. Really wanted to learn just some basic guitar chords and stuff that was getting played on the radio. Never tried to be in a band though, just wanted to be able to play along with my Beatles, Stones, Yardbirds, and The Kinks records. I was crap but had fun with the whole thing.
Saved up and bought the same English made VOX guitar amplifiers that I saw George Harrison and John Lennon playing through after I went to see a movie with my sister, the Beatles? ?A Hard Days Night.? I was hooked. I wanted to work at some type of job and maybe get to have all or some of the adoration of all those screaming babes, and that on stage excitement frenzy like those 4 had going and still get to wear the hair long, didn?t ever get into the cigarette smoking bit, though.
Mike: How did you get involved in becoming a guitar tech? How long have you been working the business?
Dallas: I attended college first in Ohio and then relocated out west to a school in Colorado. Signed up for the ?Entertainment Committee? there on campus and was given the task of collecting the bands and other entertainers who were to perform on the campus at organized and advertised events. I think this was the actual beginning for me. My roommate was the one who actually got me interested in this with his father being the president of Warner Bros Record! Amazing really.
Dallas: I am in with U2 some 12-14 hours everyday, about 18 months now with off and on breaks when Bono had to fly off to support his African AIDS Awareness campaign/talks and then the big break where The Edge, myself and Bono went to Capetown for the Nelson Mandela and AIDS Awareness event. Great show, great spirit at that one. Felt very close and like I was traveling around with ?my mates? at that particular one off I guess you would say on that long flight from Ireland to South Africa and back and then at the actual concert to two of the most wonderful people that God has ever sent to come through my ?journey," Bono and Edge—I mean this.
As I say, have done nothing but totally focused on this new U2 record for a year plus now. Just really get up every day, take the trains to my swimming workout, back on the train to Downtown Dublin and then the 45 minute walk into our U2 HQ studios. Edge always arrives in first, of course.
But, if I may, as I see it, this could be one of the greatest collection of songs for a new U2 CD/DVD ever made! The Edge has played some of his most innovative guitar moments and recording tracks that I have witnessed. Bono?s singing has been simply the most brilliant performances with his voice being in top form on this record. His guitar playing on this project is as well to be reckoned with and often provides the canvas for The Edge to follow with even more guitar ideas. Adam?s very, very fresh big time bass grooves and tremendous comments and direction with the record. Larry drums on this recording like he is 17 years old, really full on. When you hear this record, I can see no way that you will disagree with my take on this new work of art by this still to be reckoned with world important necessary and still very much ?current? band.
I think both the state of the music industry and the present day world events will welcome the music and the message of this fantastic new U2 music. I know I?m biased, so maybe I?m just biased, maybe not. And maybe we will actually be finally out of the studio and on the bleedin? stage again soon! That would be well different, right?
To read the rest of the interview with Dallas Schoo please visit the interview section at:
www.swaggerandstyle.com/dallas/indexds.htm
Used with permission from the author.
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