Ed & Thom @ Steve Lamacq's BBC 6 Music.
Where was the band on the day of the download of ‘In Rainbows’?
Ed: It was a Wednesday. We probably had a meeting about it. We had a lot of meetings beforehand about it.
Thom: I seem to remember sitting at home thinking there’s something I'm supposed to be doing today. I didn't do anything that day.
How many songs did you work on?
Ed: Nigel limited us. We had the old blackboard out. Which in the 'Kid A' days had about 60 titles.
Thom: And I'm the only who knew what they were.
Ed: Nigel sorta said: Why don't we hone it down to 15 or 16 songs. By the time we were in the studio with Nigel, we've been playing some of these songs for a year and a half. So there was a slight sense of desperation. We had to get rid of them. We had to try to do them as quickly as possible and do them the best we could. So they only way to do that was to really concentrate. To nail it down.
Which track set the mood for this record?
Ed: The big breakthrough was... We've done a load of recording with Nigel. We've done about 8 weeks before Christmas, last year. And then we came back and listened to a lot of it. A lot of it wasn't good enough, but the second day in the studio and we basically cut ‘15 Step’ in a day. Everybody was playing live. That gave us lot confidence.
You finally recorded ‘Nude’...
Thom: I don't think we’ve been ever able to do that song until now. Even though it's been kicking around for 10 years. Whatever it meant then is not what it means to us now. I think it's because i used to hate the way I sung it. It was just too intimate. I felt really uncomfortable.
And the new version of ‘Reckoner’...
Thom: It's not the same song. There was a song called 'Reckoner'. I wrote a second part to it and then Jonny wrote another part to it and the song as it was left the building.
Why wasn't ‘Down Is The New Up’ on Disc 1?
Thom: That was the hardest decision we had to make. It blew my mind. You wait till you heard, cause the recording of it is mental. It's great. Best drumming Phil has ever done. I just didn't fit. It's weird. It just did not fit. We had like two weeks trying to work out what went on?
Ed: Yeah, we had 16-17 songs. We knew we wanted to make a record that was concise. It couldn't really be more than 10-11 songs. So, we tried to make things fit. For instance, Jigsaw almost didn’t make it on to it. That was like the last song that went on. Went it comes to the tracklisting everything's up in the air. It becomes something else only we you get that tracklisting right.
One of the things I found strange was that there didn't seem to be a centre to this record, some sort of focus...
Thom: The centre of the record is 'Reckoner'. Because we separate like ripples on blank shore. Everything is leading to that point and then going away from that point. I'll tell you what though. There’s all these mad theories on the net - I'm not one of these people who ever reads them - but someone read one out to me - It's all about tens and mathmatically, that is the centre point. The golden section theory. So if you’re really really really stuck for something to do, you can always read about that.
A fan said: this is the first Radiohead record which works on shuffle...
Ed: Oh really? That's cool.
Thom: I'm glad to hear we wasted two weeks working it out!
Ed: Maybe you have to find the right ten songs you have to shuffle to make it work.
Thom: Let's unbundle.
Ed also confirmed that the previously reported tour will start in May next year. But said that it's all up in the air. All unconfirmed, but Glastonbury is on the agenda and the tour will start in America. Though not finalized or confirmed, they may be playing the US for a couple of weeks starting in May. Europe would follow in June/July.
via [ateaseweb.com] [greenplastic.com]
Full interview on [BBC 6 Music]
[radiohead.com] [radiohead.com/deadairspace]
Where was the band on the day of the download of ‘In Rainbows’?
Ed: It was a Wednesday. We probably had a meeting about it. We had a lot of meetings beforehand about it.
Thom: I seem to remember sitting at home thinking there’s something I'm supposed to be doing today. I didn't do anything that day.
How many songs did you work on?
Ed: Nigel limited us. We had the old blackboard out. Which in the 'Kid A' days had about 60 titles.
Thom: And I'm the only who knew what they were.
Ed: Nigel sorta said: Why don't we hone it down to 15 or 16 songs. By the time we were in the studio with Nigel, we've been playing some of these songs for a year and a half. So there was a slight sense of desperation. We had to get rid of them. We had to try to do them as quickly as possible and do them the best we could. So they only way to do that was to really concentrate. To nail it down.
Which track set the mood for this record?
Ed: The big breakthrough was... We've done a load of recording with Nigel. We've done about 8 weeks before Christmas, last year. And then we came back and listened to a lot of it. A lot of it wasn't good enough, but the second day in the studio and we basically cut ‘15 Step’ in a day. Everybody was playing live. That gave us lot confidence.
You finally recorded ‘Nude’...
Thom: I don't think we’ve been ever able to do that song until now. Even though it's been kicking around for 10 years. Whatever it meant then is not what it means to us now. I think it's because i used to hate the way I sung it. It was just too intimate. I felt really uncomfortable.
And the new version of ‘Reckoner’...
Thom: It's not the same song. There was a song called 'Reckoner'. I wrote a second part to it and then Jonny wrote another part to it and the song as it was left the building.
Why wasn't ‘Down Is The New Up’ on Disc 1?
Thom: That was the hardest decision we had to make. It blew my mind. You wait till you heard, cause the recording of it is mental. It's great. Best drumming Phil has ever done. I just didn't fit. It's weird. It just did not fit. We had like two weeks trying to work out what went on?
Ed: Yeah, we had 16-17 songs. We knew we wanted to make a record that was concise. It couldn't really be more than 10-11 songs. So, we tried to make things fit. For instance, Jigsaw almost didn’t make it on to it. That was like the last song that went on. Went it comes to the tracklisting everything's up in the air. It becomes something else only we you get that tracklisting right.
One of the things I found strange was that there didn't seem to be a centre to this record, some sort of focus...
Thom: The centre of the record is 'Reckoner'. Because we separate like ripples on blank shore. Everything is leading to that point and then going away from that point. I'll tell you what though. There’s all these mad theories on the net - I'm not one of these people who ever reads them - but someone read one out to me - It's all about tens and mathmatically, that is the centre point. The golden section theory. So if you’re really really really stuck for something to do, you can always read about that.
A fan said: this is the first Radiohead record which works on shuffle...
Ed: Oh really? That's cool.
Thom: I'm glad to hear we wasted two weeks working it out!
Ed: Maybe you have to find the right ten songs you have to shuffle to make it work.
Thom: Let's unbundle.
Ed also confirmed that the previously reported tour will start in May next year. But said that it's all up in the air. All unconfirmed, but Glastonbury is on the agenda and the tour will start in America. Though not finalized or confirmed, they may be playing the US for a couple of weeks starting in May. Europe would follow in June/July.
via [ateaseweb.com] [greenplastic.com]
Full interview on [BBC 6 Music]
[radiohead.com] [radiohead.com/deadairspace]
wasix - 20. Nov, 15:50 - [2007 Xtras]