Interview with Neil McCormick

U2 Brasil  (www.u2br.com)has posted their own interview with Neil Mc Cormick, a nice chat with one of the witness of the U2 phenomenon from the start.

German version of "Killing Bono"

1- Your book, "Killing Bono" is going to be released in Portuguese earlier 2013. Did you expect that? It must be really awesome seeing that your work is growing, and reaching different people, with a book, and later a movie...what do you think about that? It was weird seeing you in the movies? 

R: It is a thrill seeing my book translated into other languages. It is already available in Finnish and German, and will soon be in Italian, Polish and now Brazilian Portugese. It feels as if a stone I tossed into the world’s pond is still sending ripples out. I don’t envy the translators though. I’ve had some strange questions thrown at me. How do you explain teenage Bono’s jokey (and very Irish) remark “Up your bum, chum, with a big bass drum” in another language? It just means “Fuck that!” but a literal translation makes it sound both painful and physically impossible. The film is like another translation, another version. Yes it was very strange to see myself … but I know that it’s not me, and the film doesn’t replace my own memories.

 

2 - We've seen the book, we saw the movie, but how about the real life experience? How was growing up with not only the U2 boys, but with the other guys, like Gavin Friday and Guggi? Even today you guys are still in touch with each other?

R: Well, I hope the book tells you what that was like. It has been an adventure but it has also just been normality, these are guys I have known since my teens so it never seems quite as special as it would to someone who only got to discover them through their music. I am still in touch U2, of course, our lives intersect both professionally and personally. My friendship is mainly with Bono and we communicate mainly by text these days, and catch up when we happen to be in the same part of the world. And I see all the others through that friendship. I still run into Gavin and Guggi, both still impressively crazy.

 

3 - Let's talk about Frankie Corpse & the Undertakers. When did you realize that being a rockstar was not going to happen (ok, let me tell, I cheered for you guys, while seeing the movie)? When did the reality "punched" you in the face?

R: It wasn’t so much a sudden punch in the face as a slow knockout from an endless series of blows. The worst moment was when my girlfriend, Gloria, called me a loser. I was turning 30, still trying to get that elusive record deal but I didn’t want to be a loser in her eyes and that made me feel I needed to get my act together, even if it meant giving up music. But actually, even when I stopped chasing stardom, I still believed for years in my secret heart that it would happen one day. I still make music anyway. I’ve got a band who occasionally pop up in London called Groovy Dad … cos we are groovy … and we are dads. Music is for life. And I’m still with Gloria, anyway, so obviously she decided I wasn’t a complete loser.

 

4 - Reading you book, we could see clearly how hard was to deal with U2's success. I guess one of the greatest things about the book, is the fact that we can see ourselves in that story. Of course, we didn't go to school with U2, but we all had the experience of seeing a friend being successful in our own dream, while we stay there, and we have to deal with that. And how was that to you? Correct me if I'm wrong, but you spent almost 5 years without being in contact with Bono (yes, I'm pretty much your stalker too!). What changed in that time? You can say that seeing Bono in such a down to earth experience (the funeral of Bill Graham) made you feel  that "Bono" wasn't the rockstar, but the boy you went to school with?

R: A lot of people do have the experience of being overshadowed by friends or relatives, that is one of the universal emotions that drives the book, although having your friend turn out to be the biggest rock star on the planet makes it a little more unusual. It did become hard for me to take, even though I understood that it was my problem, not his. Although I didn’t see Bono for quite a few years, that was partly because I was busy getting my own life together as a journalist, and a stepfather. Life was different then too, it was pre-text and email, U2 were out travelling the world and I was hustling to make it in London. But actually we were still sort of in touch through occasional phone calls or messages that might be passed on through friends and I did hear from Bono from time to time, often quite unexpectedly.  What I stopped doing was actively keeping contact. There were no more expectations of going backstage if they were playing a concert. I let U2 drop, really, to get them out of my psyche. Meeting them all again at Bill’s funeral was an interesting moment because we all just fell in together, very old friends, gathered to mourn a very old friend. It was, I suppose, a kind of healing experience for me, to see them in  that light again.

 

5- In some recent interviews, Bono said that he is afraid of U2 being "irrelevant",  even with the numbers (The 360º tour became the biggest of all time), and all the success, do you think that U2 is still like "The Hype" and "Feedback"? A band who's always dealing with the pressure of doing the best they can? Maybe their reinvention is the key for the success? Knowing that you can always improve, and you can always be better, by taking chances and "risking themselves"?

R: They are very driven and a lot of that comes from Bono, who has a restlessness and relentlessness about him, which I think (as I make clear in my book, and then we talked about some more when I wrote U2 By U2 for them) comes from the death of his mother at a young age, and the absence he feels in his heart. It’s not really something to be envied. But it does keep him pushing forward. We have had several conversations about U2’s relevance. It’s been a big topic for Bono even during the 360 tour. The last time I saw him was in August in Berlin, and he was still full of enthusiasm and excitement and pride about the music U2 were making but unusually he seemed in no hurry. He knows the world doesn’t really need another U2 record. So he wants to make sure that when they deliver one, it’s the greatest album they can possibly make.

 

6- And can you provide us some sneak peek about U2's new album? We're guessing that maybe the album is going out somewhere in late 2013. Have you heard it? Is that something you could tell us about? We're not going to tell anyone. 

R: I am sworn to secrecy. Which is helped by the fact that I don’t really know anything.

 

7- How do you think is going to be music's future? And not only about U2, but do you think that the physical media like cd's are going to disappear? The future is: downloaded songs, digital albums, amazing mobile apps and this kinda of thing? Personally, I still buy cd's and even vinyls, but do you think that in some years these are going to be nothing but memorablia?

 

R: The future is here. The CD is dying and with it will go the album as a long form experience. Single downloads are the medium of the moment. But, for those special artists who need that long form to really express themselves (and I would count U2 in there), I think they will still find an audience willing to listen.

 

8- Well, I'll not prolong that, so we arrived at the last question, and I can only thank you for the opportunity! I knew you because of the band, but I became a fan of your work, and not only 'Killing Bono' and 'U2 by U2', but I enjoy reading your critics and reviews. But I really can't help: That footages in the end of the movie were just pure blast, and I just have to ask: what was that naked human being playing inside a trash can? It was just...art!

 

R: That was from a video we made one hot summer day about 1982 with our band Yeah!Yeah! – We borrowed a video camera and mimed to a demo we had recorded called Is That You. It was so hot, we took our shirts off. Ah to be young and thin again. I am sure you can find it on the internet somewhere. Everything else is there.

http://www.u2br.com