Quotes
NEW!

"a real rock'n'roller... the only one in the band as such. He loves to party. He actually knows all the people in London and San Francisco and he's the person people want at their parties because he'll stand there in a smoking jacket and he'll drink, smoke cigars and he'll laugh at himself and other people. And they'll laugh back." -Bono on Adam's rock star lifestyle

"I would say there was an effort on your part to establish your own identity. You're not a man who takes things to excess. In fact, if the truth be known, Adam is such a boring old fart at this stage, it's myself and Bono that are hauled out of the nightclubs at two in the morning while Adam is home sleeping with his feet on a hot-water bottle. He's prematurely aged...I mean, that story about Adam and the corpse in that Holiday Inn..." -Edge on Adam's lifestyle (1985)

"I just think the album takes you somewhere. It's like a journey. You start in the desert, come swooping down in Central America. Running for your life. It takes me somewhere, and hopefully it does that for everyone else." -Adam on the Joshua Tree
"What Adam does with his willy is his business..." -Bono

"It never officially had another name. There was a brief moment when it might have been called 'Adam'. That depended on the photography. There might have been a much bigger fifth member on the sleeve." -Adam on 'Achtung Baby'

"It's taken us fifteen years to get an image together, or indeed to realize that
image is important. And not important."

"Larry's always been noticed cos he's the pretty one."

"I like the anonymity of being able to seek out things and reel them back to
my life, and then be able to create from that."

"Why Berlin? I can't really remember back that far!"

"Rock 'n' roll is a term that's been heavily abused. It's not

"Sometimes I wish I was as gifted as Edge on his guitar or Bono on his lyrics or Adam is on other things." -Larry

"Adam is a very melodic bass player. He doesn't play the usual lines." -Bono, February 1982

"When you start out, you make one or two records that put you solidly in debt with the record company. Then, if your third record makes some money, you have to pay back at the record company, and if you're lucky, you have enough money to live for a year. Then, after that, the band is bigger, you have to expand your organization and do more professional shows, so you're sort of back in debt again. You never really catch up; for those first five years you're probably better off on the dole. "

"I think the important thing to retain through life is optimism. It doesn't have to be something that you necessarily get from Christianity. You just have to feel that way about life."

"Although it's a confusing time, I think it is genuinely exciting. I think the world is filled with possibilities at the moment."

"Rock 'n' roll is a term that's been heavily abused. It's not something you can buy in a record shop. It's an attitude."

"All the women are gorgeous and all the men are gay. If you can't pull tonight, you're hopeless."
"You see Larry, you let an outsider taste your food for you. I'm not jealous, but if you need someone to eat off your plate you should always go to your bassplayer."

"What happens is like you get so big that you can't write a diary.
So you hire a film-crew to remind you of where you've been and what you've done."

"Some artists become dull when they stop drinking or drugging, but Adam's not one of them. He's his old self. He loses none of his rubber-band-shooting,water-gun-squirting, public-disrobing spirit when he doesn't drink." - Bono

"... and then I saw adam, and he just looked so cool. and I said, 'I want to be in a rock n' roll band with him.'" -Larry

"I simulate love-making by beating a piece of wood with a metal wire on which it vibrates."

THIS WEEK'S INTERVIEW

Adam Clayton, Balearic Beatmaster and U2's Eternal Peter Pan, Proposes A Low-Alcohol Toast

Q Magazine, October 01, 2001


Hello, where are you?

In Birmingham.

It's our round, what are you having?

These days I'd have a low alcohol Budvar. I gave up drinking quite a while ago.

What were you doing 15 years ago?

We were recording The Joshua Tree in between doing the Conspiracy Of Hope Tour in America to increase awareness of Amnesty International.

What was the worst thing about being 15?

You're too young to get into pubs, and too old to stay in the creche.

Did anything good happen to you when you were 15?

I was asked to leave public school.

What do you know now that you wish you knew then?

That I'd still be smoking.

What's your worst fashion faux pas of the last 15 years?

I had very bad haircuts until Joshua Tree.

What's the best record of the last 15 years?

Massive Attack vs. Mad Professor, No Protection.

What music are you listening to right now?

Elbow, New Order, Travis, Baxter Dury, Shaggy.

If you weren't a musician what would you be?

A bad photographer, or a landscape gardener.

What's been the highlight of the last 15 years?

Being able to take the PopMart tour into Sarajevo.

Where do you see yourself in 15 years'
time?

Having a facelift.

Why hold The Edge's birthday party in Ibiza?

He said he wanted to check it out. Isn't that the sort of place Ibiza's become? People go there for their 40th birthday.

What questions do you hate being asked?

Questions about lyrics, they're hard.

What's the strangest story you've heard about yourself?

I've not really heard any strange stories.

When was the last time you listened to Achtung Baby and The Joshua Tree?

At the beginning of this tour, we had to go back and research how we recorded them. Achtung Baby is probably the most complete record. Joshua Tree is nostalgic, it seems like a different person and a different band.

Have you ever smashed up a guitar?

I'd find it hard to deliberately break an instrument I have some affinity to.

What's your personal motto?

If it ain't broke, don't fix it.

What do you think of Radiohead?

They're truly special. They're going to be making exciting music for a long time.

What's next?

We want to get back in there and do another record. We feel like we're on a bit of a roll so we don't want to chill out too much.


© Q Magazine, 2001.


Adam's Top 5 Albums