David Howell Evans (born 8 August 1961 in
Barking, East London, UK), more widely known by his moniker The Edge, is a British-born
musician, known best as the guitarist, keyboardist, and backing vocalist for the Irish rock band U2. His
distinctive electric guitar timbre and percussive style of playing, along with his innovative use of digital sound processing —
delay in particular — have been instrumental in defining U2's unique sound.
Biography
The Edge was born to Welsh parents Garvin and Gwenda Evans.[1] When he was a year old, his family moved to Malahide in County
Dublin where The Edge attended St. Andrew's National School. The Edge received piano and
guitar lessons and often performed with his brother Dik Evans
before they both answered an advertisement posted by Larry Mullen, Jr. at their school,
Mount Temple Comprehensive School, seeking musicians to form a
band.[2] This band would go through several
incarnations before emerging as U2 in March 1978 (Dik Evans left the band just before the name change[3]). In 1982, The Edge came very close to leaving U2 for religious reasons, but he
was persuaded to stay.[2] During this
period, he became involved with a group called Shalom, in which bandmates Bono and Larry Mullen Jr.
were also involved.[4] Shortly after
deciding to remain with the band, he wrote a piece of music that was to become "Sunday Bloody Sunday".[2] The Edge married his secondary school girlfriend Aislinn O'Sullivan on 12 July 1983.[5] The couple had three daughters together: Hollie, in 1985, Arun, in 1986, and Blue Angel, in 1989.
[4] The Edge and O'Sullivan separated in
1990 but could not divorce due to Irish law; divorce was legalized in 1995 and the couple legally divorced in 1996.[4]
During U2's groundbreaking Zoo TV Tour, The Edge met Morleigh Steinberg, a professional
dancer and choreographer. The couple began dating in 1993, and had their daughter, Sian, in 1997, and a son, Levi, in
1999.[4] Steinberg and The Edge were
married on 22 June 2002.[4]
The Edge's hair started thinning in his early twenties, and as a result, he has worn hats or caps on stage, in photo shoots,
and on album covers since The Joshua Tree album and tour. From the period of
The Joshua Tree up until Achtung Baby and early Zoo TV, he had very long hair.[6] He now wears a wool cap at all times in public, and even wore one at his wedding
to Steinberg in 2002. He has since made very few public appearances without a hat or cap, such as during the 1995
"Pavarotti and Friends" concert where he performed "Miss Sarajevo" and "One" with Bono. This cap has become part of his
distinctive "look". He has also been distinguished by wearing shirts with numbers during the Elevation Tour, and by a cowboy hat and handlebar mustache during the PopMart Tour. He is currently focusing his humanitarian efforts on Music
Rising, a charity that provides musical instruments to those who lost instruments in Hurricane Katrina.
Nickname
There is considerable speculation as to how he received his nickname "The Edge". Bono made reference to the name in the
commentary track of the movie The Million Dollar Hotel, saying that The
Edge tends to stand close to the edges of buildings because of his comfort with heights. In another, book-length interview with
Michka Assayas, Bono mentions both the sharp profile of his face and nose, and the "insane love he had for walking on the edges
of very high walls, bridges, or buildings" (Bono: In Conversation with Michka Assayas, p. 47). In the book U2 by
U2, it states that the name originates from his angular facial features, which is then supported by The Edge's claims
himself. During an interview with Channel 4's weekend television programme T4, The Edge was asked how he got his nickname
and replied "it's the nose," referring to both his nose and angular facial features.
Music
Guitar playing
As a guitar player, The Edge is recognised as having a trademark sound typified by understatement, a chiming, shimmering sound
that is achieved with extensive use of digital delay effects, reverb, and a focus on texture and melody. 1987's
The Joshua Tree is probably the best example of the 'U2 sound', with songs like
"With or Without You" and "Where
the Streets Have No Name" being among the band's most critically acclaimed and best loved works. The album was recorded at
the height of the 1980s "shred-metal" era, but The Edge's guitar playing on it could not be further from the emphasis of the time
on technique and speed. The album showcases The Edge's approach to the guitar: rather than trying to push his guitar to the front
of the mix and make his contributions obvious, The Edge focuses on the song and the mood, often contributing just a few simple
lead lines given depth and richness by an ever-present digital delay. For example, the introduction to "Where the Streets Have No
Name" is simply a repeated six-note arpeggio, broadened by a modulated delay effect. The Edge
has said that he views musical notes as "expensive", in that he prefers to play as few notes as possible.
The Edge has stated that many of his guitar parts are based around guitar effects. This is especially true from the
Achtung Baby era onwards, although much of the band's 1980s material made heavy use of echo. His influence as a guitarist can be seen on many popular rock bands still
active such as Radiohead, Muse, Coldplay, Angels and Airwaves, progressive metal pioneers Dream Theater, and much of the indie
and alternative scene, such as current act the Editors. His style has also been widely copied by
bands such as Switchfoot.
In 2003, Rolling Stone magazine named The Edge #24 on their list of
"The 100 Greatest Guitarists of All Time".[7]
Vocals
The Edge also supplies the backing vocals for Bono. U2's 1983 live album and video release, Under a Blood Red Sky and Live At Red Rocks are good reference points for his singing
(as are the live DVDs from the Elevation Tour, U2 Go Home: Live from
Slane Castle and Elevation: Live from Boston). For
example, he sings the chorus to "Sunday Bloody Sunday" (Bono harmonizes on
the final 'Sunday'). U2 used this tradeoff technique later in "Bullet the Blue Sky"
as well. His backing vocals are often in the form of a repeated cry; this style was probably at least partially inspired by later
Beatles recordings such as "Helter Skelter" (of
which U2 has recorded a cover version). Examples of songs that use this approach include:
"Beautiful Day" and "New Year's Day". The
Edge sings the lead vocal on "Van Diemen's Land", "Numb", the first half of the song "Seconds", and the bridge in the song "Miracle Drug". [8] His backing vocals
are often in falsetto, such as "Stuck in a Moment You Can't Get Out
Of", "Sometimes You Can't Make It on Your Own",
"The Wanderer", and "Window in the
Skies". He also sings the occasional lead vocal in live renditions of other songs (such as "Sunday Bloody Sunday" during
the PopMart Tour and "Party Girl" during the Rotterdam Zoo TV show when it was Bono's
birthday [9]).
Other instruments
He has played piano and keyboards on a myriad of the band's songs, including "I Fall Down", "October", "So Cruel", "New
Year's Day", "Running to Stand Still", "Miss Sarajevo", "The Hands that Built America", and "Original of
the Species" and others. He plays the organ on "Please" . In live versions of
"New Year's Day", he plays both the piano and guitar parts alternately. After opening with the main piano melody, he plays the
guitar and piano alternately on the first verse. This is true with "The
Unforgettable Fire" too. In most live versions of "Original of the Species" (Two notable exceptions being the shows in
Milan and Amsterdam), piano is the only instrument played during the song.
Although The Edge is the band's lead guitarist, he has played the bass guitar on at least one occasion. For the song "40" The Edge and
bassist Adam Clayton switch instruments on both the album and live versions with the
exceptions of the performances of the song during the PopMart Tour where The Edge played it with his guitar.
Solo recordings
In addition to his regular role within U2, The Edge has also recorded with artists like Johnny
Cash, B. B. King, Tina Turner, and
Ron Wood.
The Edge connected with Brian Eno and Lanois
collaborator Michael Brook (the creator of the infinite
guitar, which he regularly uses), working with him on the score to the film
Captive (1986).
He also created the theme song used Season 1 and 2 of The Batman.
Musical equipment
The Edge plays: electric guitar, acoustic guitar, keyboards, piano, bass guitar (on "40" and "Race Against Time") and lap
steel guitar. He has also played the Banjo during a live studio performance of 'Vertigo' which appeared on a bonus DVD with the
special edition version of 'How To Dismantle An Atomic bomb'.
Compared to many lead guitarists, The Edge is known for using many more guitars during a show. According to his guitar tech
Dallas Schoo, a typical lead guitarist uses four or five different guitars in one night, whereas The Edge takes 45 on the road,
and uses 17 to 19 in one 2.5-hour concert. He is estimated to have more than 200 guitars in the studio.
- Guitars/keyboards
- The Edge donated his cream Les Paul Custom to an auction to benefit Music
Rising.
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When he plays Adam's bass for "40", He used the Ibanez Musician in The 1980s and the
Lakland Daryll Jones Signature for The Vertigo Tour
"MLK" is the only U2 song The Edge has never played guitar or keyboard on.
- Amps
- Vox AC30- his 1964 AC30 has been used to record every single U2 album and has been used for every single concert. He has said in interviews that he owns
over thirty AC30's.
- Fender Deluxe Tweed
- Fender Blues Jr
- Roland JC120
- Pedals and Rack
- "Floor board" - Digitech WH-1, Dunlop Wah, Skrydstrup SC-1 (foot controller which controls the gear in rack, and the pedals
as well.)
- "Rack" -Lexicon PCM, TC 2290 Dynamic Delay, Line6 Pod Pro, Korg SDD 3000, AMS S-DMX, Korg A3, Line 6 CUSTOM Distortion Pro,
Rockton DVC
- "Pedals" - BOSS CS-2, BOSS DD-3, BOSS FA-1, BOSS GE-7, BOSS PW-2, EHX Big Muff,
Ibanez Tube Screamer, Lovetone Doppelganger, Lovetone Meatball,
See also
References
External links
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