There was quite a grand guest appearance at your Living Room show a few nights ago in New York…
Oh, that was lovely. Because [Bono] doesn't do that at all. We go busking together at Christmas. That's something we do every year. I would love to think, and Bono would be a good man to make it happen in a lot of ways because he's got all the numbers, but I would love to think that everyone goes home at Christmas. So what if you've got Lou Reed in New York, and you've got Radiohead in Oxford and Coldplay in London, and you've got Paul McCartney in Liverpool, Bill Callahan in Austin or whatever it happens to be. What if they all just went busking on Christmas Eve in their hometowns? And just made some money and gave it to the shelter? We just do it for a homeless shelter in Dublin. It's a lovely idea ― no security, no bullshit, no PA, no lights, no stage. It doesn't cost anything to do. And you make some money and get a sense of community. He's been really gracious with that. Every year he's come out and done it. It's always a lovely surprise for the audience when he shows up at Christmas. It's a couple thousand people on Grafton Street just watching guys sing songs.
So anyway, he was in town [in New York], and he was like, "What are you up to?" and I said, "Well I'm playing the Living Room for this radio thing." And he said, "Maybe I'll come down." And I thought, "There's no way he's coming down." I totally get it. He really can't go anywhere. And yet, he came down and was standing at the back of the room. Just before I went on, he said to me, "Are you doing 'The Auld Triangle' in your set?" And I said, "I can if you want." And he said, "Why don't you do it last? Maybe I'll do a verse." I could see that he was like, "I'm in." The audience was genuinely surprised and really happy. And no one bothered him. No one asked for an autograph. He was just another singer in the band. He got up and then he sang and then he left. And I was so happy he did it, because he just never does that. I was so happy that he had it in him, to step outside of that massive position. It's humbling.
Is Bono a big hero for you?
He's sort of always been there. [U2 are] the biggest band in Ireland, of course. They're the biggest band in the world to some people, probably to most people. U2 are that amazing, funny thing where you kind of want to hate them and then every couple of years they release a song that makes you go, "Shit. That's really good. Respect." It's definitely a complicated relationship with U2. With him, it's a whole different story. He is a sweetheart. I remember meeting him as a kid, and he was a really nice guy.
Where did you meet him, as a kid?
I actually met him late at night. He was out of petrol. And I was on my scooter. And I was coming up the Strand, on the coast of Dublin. He was out pushing his car to a garage. I jumped off my bike and helped him push the car. We chatted a bit. I was really into R.E.M.'s Green at the time, and he asked what I was listening to. And I was like, "R.E.M., Green, do you know it?" And he said, "Oh I love that record." And he knew Pixies and Surfer Rosa really well. I was really impressed. I think it was around Rattle and Hum time, or maybe it was just after Joshua Tree. I know it was early on. And he knew all of this music. He would have seen me in town busking. The thing about busking on Grafton Street is that you see everyone in Dublin. They all pass by at some point. It's the main shopping street of the city. So if you can see them, they can see you, and if you make any impression on them whatsoever, they'll be like, "You're the guy who busks on Grafton Street." So he recognized me from that.
But the most significant meeting me and Bono had was just before the Oscars. There was a moment where our nomination had come into dispute. We got nominated and it was big news. Two days later, the nomination was being pulled because some Czech journalist had found a recording of me and Markéta [Irglová] a year previous, playing the song in a club. And apparently you could never have played the song publicly before the production of the film. We were being disqualified and Bono called me up and said, "I heard about this thing." We only had about 12 hours before they were going to officially knock us out. And he said, "Do you mind if I at least petition on your behalf? Because this is just a little technical thing, and it's not a big deal." He said, "Poetic arc is what we're all about. We believe in poetry. Poetry is what drives the world. We need to complete the poetry. A guy from Grafton Street making this film with his mates and then ending up on the Kodak stage in Los Angeles, that's a poetic arc that we need to complete." So he sent this beautiful letter to the academy, all about poetry. He said, "I can't try and help you with the nomination, but I will talk about poetry." And that's what he did.
Thanks for posting it, Ronnie 
