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- How long have you been a U2 fan? When did it happen and how did it escalate from normal fandom to this degree of devotion?
I have been a U2 fan since summer 1987. A friend of mine gave me a tape with The Joshua Tree album on it and it opened my mind to music. Before that I was used to listen to those radio stations where you only listen those bands they want you to listen….. and believe me, there was very few U2 there, basically Sunday Bloody Sunday, New Year’s Day and Pride (in the name of love). After that I decided to go deeper in U2’s music, got some of their previous albums and that’s it. I loved basically everything they did. I started collecting a few vinyls when Rattle and Hum was released and I got not only the album but also some 12” singles. The first time I saw them live was when the ZOO TV tour came to my city Barcelona and it took me a bit further on this crazy relationship I have with this band….devotion, as you said. After that I kept collecting and trying to see them live as many times as possible.
- What was your inspiration for starting this project? When did you decide you wanted to write a full book about the connection between U2 and Spain?
The truth is that I always had the idea in my head. Not to write a book but to write about them…some articles, a blog, whatever…. nothing too serious but something related to U2 to do in my spare time . There were a few things that pushed me to write the book. On one hand I was able to see the band rehearsing at Camp Nou several nights in June 2009. Don’t ask me how but I found myself seating on the huge stadium empty stands watching my favorite band testing and practicing what was going to be their new tour. On the other hand, I broke my leg, needed surgery and had to stay at home for a quite a long recovery process. It gave me plenty of free time and I took advantage to start writing about those magical nights inside Camp Nou stadium. You know, when you go to a show you later forget the little details quite easily, and I didn’t want this to happen with those rehearsals so decided to leave everything in my computer rather than in my head.
Once I had covered the BCN rehearsing period I decided to write about the proper concerts and to contact people that had been involved in some way with the band and those days in the city in June 2009. I had already decided by then that this might be interesting for a book if I covered all the visits that U2 had paid to Spain since they were born as a band.
- We guess that gathering all the information and interviewing the fans, journalists and workers has been an arduous work. What has been the most difficult task of all?
I had of course "ups and downs" in the process. It was really great when, after months looking for some data or some person, I finally found it or got the long awaited answer. To give you all an example I remember the day when I finally got the name of a photographer who took some pictures of U2 in Madrid in November 2000. I had a list of about 20 different guys and I finally found a picture on a website that took me to that name. Got to contact him, he gave me the name of the location and confirmed he was the author of a second photo shooting in the city.
It was also disappointing to discover how some people doesn’t want to spend 2 minutes of their life to answer a phone call, an email or whatever. They feel too important to waste their time on your stupid project. What you discover in the end is that they are not worth your attention and nothing they can share with you is important enough to be in the book.
- After meeting the band so many times and attending so many concerts -both in and outside Spain-, we guess that some anecdotes or personal memories have been left out of the book - if only for mere space reasons! Can you recall something you wished you had included in the book, a personal recollection of some sort that didn't make it into the final cut?
I did include basically everything to be honest. Had to simplify and reduce part of the text for space reasons as you said, but I don’t feel I left out anything relevant. Well, I actually left something out….. I got to discover who is the mother of Adam’s son. I got not only the name but also the birth date and a picture of the little boy, but I think it is part of their personal lives and this is not something to share around. I will keep it for me.
- Some band members have been given a copy of U2 En España by you. How did that happen? Was it coincidental or were you planning to give them copies of the book since you started to write it?
I met the band members many, many times so when I finished the book I felt I needed to give them all a copy of U2 en España. It would have been quite easy to send 4 copies of the book to their office and we are done but I would never be sure that they really got them so it was just a question of time and patience. In June 2014 Bono was in Cannes for the Cannes Lions Awards and I had the chance to hand him a copy of the book. A couple of months later we were on holidays in the South of France and heard about the band working there. We met Adam, The Edge and Bono but we only had one copy of the book with us. Adam was the first one to leave so he got the book. The last one to get the book so far was Larry. It just happened last July '15 as he was entering the Madison Square Garden for the first i+e night in New York. So, The Edge is the only one missing at the moment - but he will for sure get his copy. I promised Terry Lawless a copy too, I will give it to him sometime during the european leg. In the end, he is the real 5th member of the band.
Even though the book is full of exclusive documents and pictures never seen before, the text is in Spanish so I don’t really know what they'll do with it….. But as Bono told me when I gave him the book, “You know I speak spanish very well…. 1, 2, 3, 14!"
- The book includes an impressive exhibition of U2 memorabilia from your personal collection. What's the item (or items) you feel more attached to? How different is collecting memorabilia today as opposed to the early 90s, when you started your collection?
Collecting has changed dramatically after internet was something we all use everyday and everywhere. You had to go to your favourite record stores or to record fairs searching for that vinyl or cd you were looking for. Now you just sit at home, at any time and search up and down. Stores on the other side of the planet, Ebay, Gemm,... and you can find almost everything. It is more of a money, issue: if the price sounds good to you, you got it. To give you an example, 25 years ago it was quite difficult to own a copy of the first U2 12” release Out of control (numbered version, only 1.000 copies around). You had to find it first on a record store or a record fair. Today it is easier to buy one. It’s just a matter of time. It might take you one month, 6 months or a year but it will come up and you will be able to buy your copy if you are ready to pay what they ask for it.
Regarding my collection I have focused in the last five years or more in collecting memorabilia. I still buy cds, vinyls and everything U2 related but I really feel memorabilia is more exclusive and sometimes harder to find. If I had to choose I’d take a couple of things from my collection.
On one hand, there's my collection of U2 itinerary books. For those who never heard about it, these are the books that are issued only for the crew, management and band when they go on tour. Each book covers one leg of the tour and contains all the information related to tour staff, times, flights, hotels,…. I got to gather more than 50 different books from October to 360º tours that I am showing on www.u2itinerarybooks.blogspot.com.
On the other hand I would choose what I think is the top of my collection. A set of the four t-shirts the band wore during Popmart tour. They are taylor made, they were used and worn by the four members of U2 during the 1997-1998 tour. This set is a piece of memorabilia impossible to find nowadays. It’s nearly impossible to find one of them shirts, imagine getting the 4 of them! This is what I love about collecting memorabilia. You can be interested in a limited edition cd or vinyl but if in the end if you have patience and money you will get it….. but where in the world can you find a set like this one?
Anyway, what I love about collecting is that you decide the size of your collection. I have known fans who “only" buy cds, or “only" vinyls or “only" spanish editions….you decide.
- The book was written between 2009 and 2014, but the story between U2 and Spain isn't finished yet. In fact, there's a row of four upcoming shows in Barcelona (the longest residency U2 will have ever played in our country), and quite possibly they will play in Spain again in 2016. Are you planning to write a follow-up in the future, maybe after the band retires?
I would like to do it but I can not confirm it at all. It depends on the material or new stories I have to offer to U2 fans. The big and important part of the relationship between U2 and Spain is already on the book, which covers from the 80’s to the end of 360º tour. I also think that it was really interesting to have a compilation of everything U2 did in Spain in the past but nowadays, with so much information on the internet, it is quite easy to be aware of every step they take. Maybe the best would be to print an updated version adding a couple of chapters. I really don’t know. Only time will tell!
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If you, Spanish or foreigner, want to purchase this beautiful and carefully made piece of investigation and music devotion, take a look here: http://u2enespana.wix.com/u2enespana#!tour/c9a0 . It's on sale through different vendors, Amazon ships worldwide so it's probably your best option.
Thanks a lot Xavier for this interview! We wish you all the best luck with the book
