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U2 is like a sponge

Before we get to MGMT, who just wrapped their set with The Kids, pull up a chair so we can talk about It Might Get Loud.

Just how did director Davis Guggenheim (An Inconvenient Truth) and producers Lesley Chilcott and Peter Afterman hatch the idea to tell the story of the electric guitar from the point-of-view of musicians Jack White, The Edge and Jimmy Page?

“We started with a list,” Chilcott said cryptically. And apparently the first three names on that list said yes.

Chosen because they’ve each helped bring guitar-based music to different generations of music fans, Page said he was attracted to the film because his “forte” is playing music.

“I most at home on stage,” he said.

“I thought Jimmy was going to make a fantastic Batman,” White grinned.

Jokes aside, the press conference was an engaging chat with three of rock’s biggest stars.

White reflected on how growing up, it was “uncool” to play the guitar in his Detroit hometown. He also freely acknowledged his incredible luck in finding fame. “I didn’t live in Los Angeles and I didn’t have an uncle that worked for a record label.”

When I asked Edge how U2 endures and continues to be relevant with each new release, he gave a frank answer.

“It’s never easy,” he said. “And we fail most of the time. But that’s the challenge.”

Apparently another reason U2 has maintained their high-level of popularity can be found in the kitchen sink.

“We’re like sponges; we’re open to everything.”

http://blog.canoe.ca/tiff/2008/09/06/u2_is_like_a_sponge