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  1. Every month we put an U2 fan in the spotlights, the fan of the month July of 2014 is user aski. Read along for the interview we had this this U2 fan.

    "I still regret I didn’t ask Bono about Jeff Buckley when I met him"

    Tell us something about yourself, who are you and what do you do for a living?
    I’m from Norway, 39 years old, a father to three children (4,6 and 8). Work as a teacher and play drums in a band (Layman’s View – check us out at FB!)

    How did you become a fan of U2, tell us how it happened?
    My cousin introduced me to The Joshua Tree back in 1989. Was hooked immediately. By watching Larry over n over n over again in R&H i learned to play drums (“air drums” at the time, using two sticks i found in the forest!!!) Seen them live 5 times, the best was definitely indoor Globen 2001, N1.

    What would you like to ask U2 if you got the chance to?
    I met Bono back in 2002 outside their studio. I still regret i didn’t ask him about Jeff Buckley (if he met him when he was alive. I know Bono is a big fan of him too)

    What is your earliest U2 memory?
    That must be collecting all of the posters and newspaper articles i could find and hanging them on the wall. It covered basically all of my childhood bedroom!

    What does your U2 collection look like? What kind of stuff do you have and how is it organised?
    I am an avid bootleg collector, so i have two big shelves full of CDs (i’m an ‘old’ guy, so i still collect and burn CDs!) I have about 400 bootlegs + all the books+++) My most treasured item is of course the picture of me and Bono leaning against each other while Bono is doing the V-sign. The autograph is also inside the same frame.

    If you could go back in time, which U2-era would you like to be in, and why?
    Outside Broadcast, hands down. Their best tour ever and the best leg of that tour. Yes, please, all the dates!!

    What is your favourite U2 bootleg, and why? Do you often listen to bootlegs?
    It’s hard to choose just one bootleg, but i must go for Foxboro N3 1992 or maybe Chicago September 2005. I listen to U2 bootlegs in waves, now it’s been some time since i last listened to them properly. I’m more into DMB at the time, as they tour progressively and they play music that i feel i develop as a drummer myself just listening to the almighty Carter Beauford.

    If there would be only one U2 song you could hear the rest of your life, which one would it be?
    Only one?!? Erh... With or Without You? It’s hard to pick just one, the list is so long.

    How different is U2 compared to other artists that you like?
    They play really simple music compared to other artists i like, but the combination of Bono’s voice and lyrics and The Edge’s distinctive guitar playing is simply unique. But i also listen alot to DMB, Bruce Springsteen, Pearl Jam and Jeff Buckley.

    What are your hobbies and interests away from U2, musical or otherwise?
    I collect bootlegs by other artists, play drums in a band, exercise daily and make ends meet in my family (i like to cook for instance).




    Thanks for this interview aski!

    Note: Our crew members randomly pick fans of the month, you can't sign up for it.
  2. Nice read Aski !

    and that pic sure is a treasured item
  3. What a nice pic at HQ Great read, great to know you a little more!!
  4. I wonder how many have responded with "Zoo TV" when asked about time travelling?

    Nice read aski
  5. Listening to Layman's View right now - very cool new-wave-y sound.
  6. Thanks for all the kind words folks!!

    here's a better resolution of me and Bono (you can see alot more pictures me and my buddy took that day in my facebook profile (Asgeir Notvik))

    i have a 40 x 30 cm version of the picture on my wall so it's too big for my scanner.

    http://i8.photobucket.com/albums/a14/aski/787431c3-5379-4ffb-bca5-8a466913d084_zpsa35182a6.jpg

    i remember the first thing Bono said to me was "Nice suit, tin of fruit!" which he also signed my autograph with ("Asgeeir and the tin of fruit" (i misspelled my name to him when he wrote it, it's a kind of strange name abroad)

    I didn't get the pun at once; suit - tin of fruit? so i told him we were from Norway, the land of the vikings. "Oh, we know all about the vikings!" Bono replied with a chuckle.

    i bought the suit in a second-hand store in Norway just before we left because i wanted to look a bit more Irish i thought at that time, but no one else in Ireland wore that kind of clothes i soon realized!! (i even had a fedora hat on but i took it of when we were waiting outside Hanover)

    the rhyme Bono told me were something the men or women would do back in the old days to give compliments to each other, and so they just made up a simple rhyme of the thing they wanted to compliment. my friend Børge has ever since called me "tin of fruit"!

    then my friend asked Bono if it was ok for us to play some of U2's songs in our local church back home and he replied enthusiastically and wondered which songs we played. We said The First Time and 40. "Ah, 40, that song changes my heart everytime we play it," Bono said. That line stuck with me forever after.

    what a genuine down to earth guy, it was so unreal to talk to him like an old friend you'd seen countless times on TV and many times in concert.

    i felt so sad when he finally had to go (there were about 10 other people there from all over the world (USA, Italy, Japan and us from Norway), there was so lot to talk about and he seemed to have all the time in the world posing for each and every one of us and writing autographs while talking.

    that meeting is still one of the highlights of my life.
  7. i just wanted to add one last thought, as i still got the "spotlight" this month

    i really really love the last song from their last album; Cedars of Lebanon. this song draws me back all the way to The Unforgettable Fire album and Elvis Presley & America. I could have listened to a whole record of Bono reading his own poetry while the The Edge is adding gentle harmonies. i picture Bono sitting in a couch holding his mic crouched over his notebook a la the session picture from the Achtung Baby recording sessions.

    http://i8.photobucket.com/albums/a14/aski/7addde2b-ac05-442b-a955-9793f74ff036_zps124fa790.jpg

    i must be getting older!!

    and one last note, the biggest let down for me was that they never played White As Snow nor the rehearsed Drowning Man live during the 360 tour.
  8. Originally posted by aski:Thanks for all the kind words folks!!

    here's a better resolution of me and Bono (you can see alot more pictures me and my buddy took that day in my facebook profile (Asgeir Notvik))

    i have a 40 x 30 cm version of the picture on my wall so it's too big for my scanner.

    http://i8.photobucket.com/albums/a14/aski/787431c3-5379-4ffb-bca5-8a466913d084_zpsa35182a6.jpg

    i remember the first thing Bono said to me was "Nice suit, tin of fruit!" which he also signed my autograph with ("Asgeeir and the tin of fruit" (i misspelled my name to him when he wrote it, it's a kind of strange name abroad)

    I didn't get the pun at once; suit - tin of fruit? so i told him we were from Norway, the land of the vikings. "Oh, we know all about the vikings!" Bono replied with a chuckle.

    i bought the suit in a second-hand store in Norway just before we left because i wanted to look a bit more Irish i thought at that time, but no one else in Ireland wore that kind of clothes i soon realized!! (i even had a fedora hat on but i took it of when we were waiting outside Hanover)

    the rhyme Bono told me were something the men or women would do back in the old days to give compliments to each other, and so they just made up a simple rhyme of the thing they wanted to compliment. my friend Børge has ever since called me "tin of fruit"!

    then my friend asked Bono if it was ok for us to play some of U2's songs in our local church back home and he replied enthusiastically and wondered which songs we played. We said The First Time and 40. "Ah, 40, that song changes my heart everytime we play it," Bono said. That line stuck with me forever after.

    what a genuine down to earth guy, it was so unreal to talk to him like an old friend you'd seen countless times on TV and many times in concert.

    i felt so sad when he finally had to go (there were about 10 other people there from all over the world (USA, Italy, Japan and us from Norway), there was so lot to talk about and he seemed to have all the time in the world posing for each and every one of us and writing autographs while talking.

    that meeting is still one of the highlights of my life.

    What a great story!


  9. Great history

    Great Bono