Ed O'Brien

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For the IRA Volunteer, see Edward O'Brien (Irish republican).
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Ed O'Brien
Ed O'Brien in 2006, playing live in Blackpool
Ed O'Brien in 2006, playing live in Blackpool
Background information
Birth name Edward John O'Brien
Born 15 April 1968 (1968-04-15) (age 41)
Oxford, England
Genre(s) Experimental rock, Alternative rock
Occupation(s) Musician
Instrument(s) Guitar, Misc. Effects manipulation, Harmony/Backing vocals, Drums
Years active 1991-Present
Label(s) XL, TBD
Associated acts Radiohead

Edward John O'Brien (born 15 April 1968, in Oxford, England) is a member of Radiohead. He plays guitar and is responsible for harmony vocals during live concerts and on many tracks from the band's albums (with drummer Phil Selway). He was ranked number 60 on Rolling Stone's "100 Greatest Guitarists of All Time".[1]

Contents

[edit] Personal life

O'Brien is the tallest member of Radiohead, standing at 6' 5" or 195 cm (no other band members exceed 6 feet tall). He has a wife named Susan and a son, Salvador, born in January 2004 and daughter, Oona, born in early 2006. He is a fan of Manchester United. [2]

[edit] Radiohead

Main article: Radiohead

O'Brien is known for his large collection of effects pedals, which are important in creating Radiohead's distinct sound. Even on tracks that do not feature any guitar work, his pedals are put to use for other purposes, such as altering Thom Yorke's vocals (he along with Jonny Greenwood uses the Korg Kaoss Pad). Though he served primarily as a rhythm guitarist on earlier albums, Radiohead's migration beyond alternative rock instrumentation often saw fellow guitarist Greenwood called on to play keyboards, the modular synthesizer, or the Ondes Martenot, moving O'Brien to the forefront as Radiohead's lead guitarist. As well as being a self-taught guitarist, he is an accomplished drummer; though his only drum contributions for Radiohead to date have been the auxiliary drums on Hail to the Thief track "There There", a task he shared with Greenwood, and an additional drum piece on the b-side Pearly*.

Although all members of the band are credited equally for all songs, O'Brien is not usually involved in songwriting. Notable exceptions include the opening riff on the songs "Go to Sleep", and the riff that makes up the closing song on The Bends, "Street Spirit (Fade Out)". He has also written the instrumental "Meeting in the Aisle", "Lull", and the music to "Big Boots".[citation needed]

He mainly helps to expand on the musical framework created by Thom Yorke, and is known for his contributions to "Karma Police", (creating the effect that closes the song), "Lucky" (he created the effect that opens the song, and his backing vocals during the chorus are an integral part of the track) and "Treefingers" (his guitar chords were processed electronically to sound like ambient music).

He also provides backing vocals to "Paranoid Android", "Idioteque", "You And Whose Army" "2+2=5", "There There", "Weird Fishes/Arpeggi", "Reckoner", "Down Is The New Up" "Bangers & Mash". He (not always exclusively) plays lead guitar on many of the post-The Bends songs including "Airbag", "Exit Music (For a Film)", "Let Down", "Climbing Up The Walls", "No Surprises", "How to Disappear Completely", "Morning Bell","Packt Like Sardines in a Crushd Tin Box", "Knives Out", "Dollars and Cents", "Scatterbrain", and the b-side "Talk Show Host".

[edit] Work outside Radiohead

O'Brien made contributions to a soundtrack project for the BBC drama series Eureka Street before recording Kid A. During sessions for Kid A and Amnesiac, he kept fans up to date with an open diary posted on the band's website, providing the most in-depth look at how those experimental albums were recorded. His most recent collaboration outside Radiohead involved guitar work on an Asian Dub Foundation album; he played on "1000 Mirrors" (with Sinéad O'Connor), "Blowback" and "Enemy of the Enemy". He also played live with Neil Finn and others in 7 Worlds Collide.

O'Brien and bandmate Phil Selway had programming lessons with producer/engineer Phelan Kane at Tech Music Schools in London in 2001, and the same two band members also joined the 7 Worlds Collide project.

[edit] Equipment

Guitars

Effects

These are pedals that have been identified over the years, Not all of these pedals may be used at one time. In 2006 a MIDI Controller possibly to rack Effects took the place of many Delays.

Amplifiers

  • VOX AC30 (2) (used for clean tones) most Modulation/Delay Pedals are used on this.
  • Mesa Boogie Dual Rectifier Trem-O-Verb (2) (used for the distorted tones)
  • Line 6 VETTA II
  • Fender Super-Sonic 112 combo, fed into a Super-Sonic 212 cabinet (seen used in the thumbs_down webcast).

[edit] External links

  • StringsReunited.com : Includes a regular blog by Plank, Radiohead technician, giving technical information.

[edit] References

  1. ^ "The 100 Greatest Guitarists of All Time". Rolling Stone. 2003-09-18. http://www.rollingstone.com/news/story/5937559/the_100_greatest_guitarists_of_all_time/. Retrieved on 2009-04-26. 
  2. ^ "Radiohead: Answerphone". citizeninsane.eu. 1995. http://www.citizeninsane.eu/media/m1995-04Answerphone-12.jpg. Retrieved on 2009-04-26. 
v • d • e
Radiohead
Colin Greenwood · Jonny Greenwood · Ed O'Brien · Phil Selway · Thom Yorke
Studio albums
Demos and EPs
Compilations
Singles
DVDs
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