Next year is also the 20th anniversary of the band.
Exactly. So it kind of feels right that next year will be when we start making a new album. When I say I want to go back, I don't mean go back to the kind of music we made when we started. That would be disastrous. I mean, go back to the mentality that we had when we started, which was just us wanting to be good on instruments and wanting to play together and make music that was organic in nature. I think that will be where we set off on our next album.
Do you ever think about recording a solo album?
No, not really. No. I've got no interest in that. I really enjoying playing with the other band members, collaborating and so on. I would consider doing things on my own for film and stuff like that where it's not really a vanity kind of deal.
It's pretty amazing that it's been 20 years and you guys seem to get bigger with each album. Bands are usually cracking up by the 20-year mark.
Yeah, it's actually the industry. It's such a negative energy. I just stay away from record company people these days. I stay away from business talk because what you hear is always negative. I'm like, "What are you talking about? I just played for 60,000 people. It's fucking great."
It must have been nuts a few years back to headline your own stadium tour in Europe and then come to America and open for U2.
Certainly. I think that anyone who opens for them will get humbled because the level they're at is simply off the charts.
Do you think you'll wind up like U2, still going at this in your fifties?
I don't know. It's hard to predict, really. I can't imagine it, but I suppose all these big rock bands like the Rolling Stones and U2 seem to be changing the definition of what rock is about. It used to be die young, work hard and don't fade away into the distance, but these bands are changing the perception of what a rock band can do, so I don't know. I think there is a chance that we would still be vibrant in our fifties.
You play "Knights of Cydonia" at every single show. Do you ever see yourself dropping it from the setlist?
I can't imagine that. We haven't not played it since we wrote it, so it's hard to imagine not playing that song. You never know though. We knows. . . Maybe we'll unplug it on the next album.
It's sort of like your "Where the Streets Have No Name." It just brings the stadium into an absolute frenzy.
Exactly. When U2 plays "Streets," it's just crazy. We were lucky enough to jam that with The Edge in 2010 when U2 was supposed to play Glastonbury and got put back because of Bono's back. I remember Edge came out to play "Streets" and I got to feel what it's like to play that song and see 120,000 people just go mental.
How do you top that last tour? Can you go bigger?
Yeah, I think we can. Obviously, speaking in terms of America, we can go bigger because we play basketball arenas there. But I don't think that's what we really care about, bigness. I think we can definitely improve the quality of the show. I went to see The Wall to think about what's possible. I feel like we're a band, with the right kind of idea. . . I'm already starting to think about going a bit more conceptual, not necessarily narrative-based, but certainly a bit more in the direction where we could do something in the arena that's another level of production.
There's always new technologies coming out. Look at The Wall now as compared to what they did it back in the day. It's a massive difference, so in terms of bigness, we can go bigger. In Europe, I don't think there is anything we can do that's bigger. But I think in terms of what we can do in terms of the quality of the show, I think we can really refine that, for sure.
Right. But if the album is more stripped down, might the tour also be more stripped down next time out?
The idea is. . . I mean, it's early because we haven't made the album yet. I have to put a disclaimer here and say that whatever I say now is likely to be contradicted when I go into the studio. But if I was to predict now, as I said, we definitely want to get more expressive and a bit more about the musicianship of the band and the instruments that we play and who we are and make sure that is the prominent sound of the next album.
In other words, again, I want to strip away the electronics and the orchestral elements and so on. And I think you're right in terms of how we tour. I think it's possible we would probably mix things up a little more. We might play theaters at times. Other times, we would probably do a much higher concept arena show. Maybe not as extensive in the number of months that we do it, but maybe we go for a couple of nights in major cities and do something with a bit more higher concept.
On top of that, we might do festivals, too. We didn't do any this time outside of one in Japan and we might do one next year, but we missed all the European festivals. I can see us doing a combination of things, probably theaters for fun and to reconnect with what it's like to be in a small, sweaty venue and then do huge festivals to cover the fans that can't get into the theaters. Then, like I said, we might do a short run of really high-concept shows. We touched on that on this tour, but I think we can go a lot further.
Exactly. So it kind of feels right that next year will be when we start making a new album. When I say I want to go back, I don't mean go back to the kind of music we made when we started. That would be disastrous. I mean, go back to the mentality that we had when we started, which was just us wanting to be good on instruments and wanting to play together and make music that was organic in nature. I think that will be where we set off on our next album.
Do you ever think about recording a solo album?
No, not really. No. I've got no interest in that. I really enjoying playing with the other band members, collaborating and so on. I would consider doing things on my own for film and stuff like that where it's not really a vanity kind of deal.
It's pretty amazing that it's been 20 years and you guys seem to get bigger with each album. Bands are usually cracking up by the 20-year mark.
Yeah, it's actually the industry. It's such a negative energy. I just stay away from record company people these days. I stay away from business talk because what you hear is always negative. I'm like, "What are you talking about? I just played for 60,000 people. It's fucking great."
It must have been nuts a few years back to headline your own stadium tour in Europe and then come to America and open for U2.
Certainly. I think that anyone who opens for them will get humbled because the level they're at is simply off the charts.
Do you think you'll wind up like U2, still going at this in your fifties?
I don't know. It's hard to predict, really. I can't imagine it, but I suppose all these big rock bands like the Rolling Stones and U2 seem to be changing the definition of what rock is about. It used to be die young, work hard and don't fade away into the distance, but these bands are changing the perception of what a rock band can do, so I don't know. I think there is a chance that we would still be vibrant in our fifties.
You play "Knights of Cydonia" at every single show. Do you ever see yourself dropping it from the setlist?
I can't imagine that. We haven't not played it since we wrote it, so it's hard to imagine not playing that song. You never know though. We knows. . . Maybe we'll unplug it on the next album.
It's sort of like your "Where the Streets Have No Name." It just brings the stadium into an absolute frenzy.
Exactly. When U2 plays "Streets," it's just crazy. We were lucky enough to jam that with The Edge in 2010 when U2 was supposed to play Glastonbury and got put back because of Bono's back. I remember Edge came out to play "Streets" and I got to feel what it's like to play that song and see 120,000 people just go mental.
How do you top that last tour? Can you go bigger?
Yeah, I think we can. Obviously, speaking in terms of America, we can go bigger because we play basketball arenas there. But I don't think that's what we really care about, bigness. I think we can definitely improve the quality of the show. I went to see The Wall to think about what's possible. I feel like we're a band, with the right kind of idea. . . I'm already starting to think about going a bit more conceptual, not necessarily narrative-based, but certainly a bit more in the direction where we could do something in the arena that's another level of production.
There's always new technologies coming out. Look at The Wall now as compared to what they did it back in the day. It's a massive difference, so in terms of bigness, we can go bigger. In Europe, I don't think there is anything we can do that's bigger. But I think in terms of what we can do in terms of the quality of the show, I think we can really refine that, for sure.
Right. But if the album is more stripped down, might the tour also be more stripped down next time out?
The idea is. . . I mean, it's early because we haven't made the album yet. I have to put a disclaimer here and say that whatever I say now is likely to be contradicted when I go into the studio. But if I was to predict now, as I said, we definitely want to get more expressive and a bit more about the musicianship of the band and the instruments that we play and who we are and make sure that is the prominent sound of the next album.
In other words, again, I want to strip away the electronics and the orchestral elements and so on. And I think you're right in terms of how we tour. I think it's possible we would probably mix things up a little more. We might play theaters at times. Other times, we would probably do a much higher concept arena show. Maybe not as extensive in the number of months that we do it, but maybe we go for a couple of nights in major cities and do something with a bit more higher concept.
On top of that, we might do festivals, too. We didn't do any this time outside of one in Japan and we might do one next year, but we missed all the European festivals. I can see us doing a combination of things, probably theaters for fun and to reconnect with what it's like to be in a small, sweaty venue and then do huge festivals to cover the fans that can't get into the theaters. Then, like I said, we might do a short run of really high-concept shows. We touched on that on this tour, but I think we can go a lot further.
haha
