Did Daniel Lanois and Brian Enos writing credits make them try harder?
I don’t know about try harder but I think they were happier! [laughs] I think they both bring a phenomenal commitment to a U2 project in very different ways. Danny really does stay in the trenches and is the last one to leave the building. Brian tends to be the first man in in the morning, working on things that will influence the attitude of people, get them thinking in creative and inspired ways. Long, creative relationships are unusual in rock ‘n’ roll, but the mileage and the knowledge and the understanding from having been around with them for 20 years makes them a pleasure to work with. And they haven’t really changed much. They’re still questioning in the same way. Who has the final say? I think it is us. And it’s probably swung more that way. We’ve moved into a way of working where Brian will commit to a two or a three-week period then he goes off and does his other projects. And the same would be true of Danny [Lanois]. But there’ll be other periods when we’re just on our own.
