Ed O’Brien: “I don’t listen to indie music anymore”

What lies behind the musical tastes of a member of one of the most influential and celebrated bands in rock history? Ed O’Brien he lays himself bare in an intimate, nostalgic and at times decidedly ironic journey through the songs that have marked his existence. From teenage crushes to the craziest backstories of tours, the historic guitarist of Radiohead tells the “Guardian” the soundtrack of his life.

Ed’s musical journey starts from afar, to be precise 1978. A child O’Brien gets completely caught up in World Cup fever thanks to Ally’s Tartan Armythe anthem of the Scottish national team. A bizarre choice for an Englishman, but dictated by a harsh reality: “England hadn’t qualified. But I loved that Scottish team – Alan Rough, Martin Buchan, Kenny Dalglish – and at 10 I let myself be carried away.”

But it was at 17 that music intertwined for the first time with the heart and with the first sentimental disappointments:

I fell in love with a girl called Mary, who was a huge Smiths fan. I bought Hatful of Hollow so I can serenade her with William, It Was Really Nothing. I don’t think, though, that she adored me as much as she adored Morrissey and co.

Shortly after, comes the shock that will change everything. They are the Police with Walking on the Moon to give him the definitive push to become a musician. The secret? The alien sound of Andy Summers: “It makes the guitar sound like it was recorded on the moon“.

Growing up also means ending up in the blender of global success with Radiohead. O’Brien recalls with enormous amusement his 29th birthday in Japan, in the midst of promoting the legendary album OK Computer. That evening, Toshiba EMI boss Mr. Inagawa dragged the band to a karaoke bar:

At 1am we were wearing fake animal heads and Mr. Inagawa was in tears while Thom (Yorke) sang My Way. I love karaoke when people are so drunk they say, ‘I fucking love you, let’s sing Copacabana for the third time!

If we talk about pop, the guitarist is not afraid to admit his “guilty pleasures”, such as a visceral admiration for Fastlove by George Michaelwho bluntly calls him a genius: “Holy shit, what a voice… which might sound strange coming from a guy from Radiohead.” And when it comes to shaking up a party that’s a little too rigid, like a Halloween party in Los Angeles that he attended, there’s only one solution: Daft Punk Is Playing at My House of the LCD Soundsystem. “There I thought: ‘Holy shit, here we go’.”

Today, however, O’Brien’s relationship with the genre that made him famous has radically changed. The musician admits that he is done with guitars: “I don’t listen to indie music anymoreI’ve had enough. In a way, I’m done with guitar music. And I’m certainly glad I don’t have to listen anymore How Do You? by Radiohead”.

His approach has become so analytical that it is difficult for him to simply listen casually. He often finds himself sequestering himself with friends to dissect a tune, as happened to him recently with The Captain of Her Heart of the Double: “There was a time when I would have dismissed it as a questionable track, but now I’m like, ‘This is a fucking good song.’“. Even in moments of maximum intimacy, music must take a step back. When asked what the perfect song for having sex is, Ed has no doubts: “For me it’s either the music or the sex. I much prefer the sounds of nature: the river, the wind, the two of us“.

Ed O’Brien’s current daily life is marked by a strong emotional and spiritual component. If the morning needs the solemnity of Mass in B minor Of Bach to get active, the real emotion comes when he looks at his family’s past. His new solo song, Blue Morphoevokes achingly beautiful memories: “When the children were little, we lived in Brazil on a farm on the edge of the rainforest. It’s amazing how music can capture emotions. Every time I think about their childhood, I start to cry.”

Finally, an inevitable look at the most distant future, that of his funeral. No rock piece, no electronic experimentation, but a return to the origins of his childhood, when he sang in a choir: theIn Paradise taken from Requiem Of Gabriel Faure. “It’s one of the most beautiful and seemingly simple pieces of music there is. So I’ll take that, please.”