Flying FuManchu
New Yorker
Condensed from The Irish Times:
Zing went the strings of their hearts
It is perhaps the defining instrument of the modern era: affordable, portable and versatile.
As the first chords are played in Dublin Guitar Week, some top guitar slingers
talk to Peter Crawley
Feb 25, 2002
The Edge
Guitarist, U2
As a guitar player, there are so many cliches you keep having to avoid. It's a case of
continually trying to find new things to do and say with the guitar. For me that's the
real challenge.
I suppose most people think of the lead-guitar player as the gunslinger of musicians.
Particularly in the 1970s, that approach reached its zenith. Coming after that rock 'n'roll
guitar virtuosity, I felt the only thing to do was try the opposite approach.
It suited our band and suits my personality, so I developed a much more minimalist
approach. I'd be busy trying to find the least number of notes that could convey the
maximum effect. I didn't want to sound like anyone else.
I'm not reverential about guitars. To me it was not really about the guitar, it was about
finding something interesting with whatever equipment I happened to have. You hear
a lot of guitar players talking about their guitars as if they are people. I could never
quite go there. I never felt the actual instrument was all that crucial.
My guitar only comes out on formal occasions. I write, but I don't play much for fun. I
don't goof around at home. I play U2 songs - I don't really play guitar.
Anybody have thoughts on these statements by The Edge? This viewpoint has driven the Edge for 20 years but is it really conducive to creativity?
------------------
~ "You can't resist her. She's in your bones. She is your marrow and your ride home. You can't avoid her. She's in the air; in between molecules of oxygen and carbon dioxide." ~ RC