| Ed O'Brien | |
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 Ed O'Brien in 2006, playing live in Blackpool
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| Background information | |
| Birth name | Edward John O'Brien |
| Born | April 15 1968 |
| Origin | Oxford, England |
| Genre(s) | Experimental rock Alternative rock |
| Occupation(s) | Musician |
| Instrument(s) | Guitar, Misc. Effects manipulation, Harmony/Backing vocals |
| Years active | 1987-Present |
| Associated acts |
Radiohead |
Edward John O'Brien (born April 15, 1968, in Oxford, England) is a member of Radiohead. He plays rhythm guitar and is responsible for harmony vocals during live concerts and on many tracks from the band's albums. He was ranked number 60 on Rolling Stone's 100 Greatest Guitarists of All Time[1].
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Personal life
He is the tallest member of the band, at 6' 5" (no other band members exceed 6 feet tall). Ed has a wife named Susan and a son, Salvador, born in January 2004 and daughter, Oona, born in early 2006.
Radiohead work
Ed 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 (along with Greenwood on the Korg Kaoss Pad). Though he served primarily as a rhythm guitarist on the earlier albums, Radiohead's migration beyond alternative rock instrumentation often saw fellow guitarist Jonny Greenwood called on to play keyboards, the modular synthesizer, or the Ondes Martenot, moving Ed to the forefront as Radiohead's chief guitarist. He is a self-taught guitarist, but took drum lessons and is an accomplished drummer, though his only drum works for Radiohead to date have been the auxiliary drums on Hail to the Thief track "There There", a task he shared with Jonny Greenwood, and an additional drum piece on the b-side "Pearly*". Although all members of the band are credited equally for all songs, Ed is not usually involved in songwriting, apart from few notable exceptions, such as the opening riff on "Go To Sleep", which he wrote, and the riff that makes up the closing song on "The Bends", "Street Spirit (Fade Out)", which was also his. He mainly helps to expand on the musical framework created by Thom Yorke, and is known for his contributions to "Karma Police" (he created 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 (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", "Lucky", "How to Disappear Completely", "Packt Like Sardines in a Crushd Tin Box", "Knives Out", "Dollars and Cents", "Scatterbrain", and the fan favourite b-side and live staple, "Talk Show Host".
Work outside of Radiohead
Ed made contributions to a soundtrack project for the BBC drama series Eureka Street before recording Kid A. During sessions of Kid A and Amnesiac, Ed kept his 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 of Radiohead involved some guitar work on album of Asian Dub Foundation. He played on "1000 Mirrors" (with Sinéad O'Connor), "Blowback" and "Enemy of the enemy". He also played live with Neil Finn and various others in 7 Worlds Collide. Ed and bandmate Phil Selway had programming lessons with producer/engineer Phelan Kane at Tech Music Schools in London back in 2001.
Equipment
Guitars
- "Plank" guitar (custom built to Ed's specifications)
- Rickenbacker 360 (2)
- Fender Telecaster
- Gibson ES (2)
- Fender Stratocaster (white)
- Fender Eric Clapton Stratocaster (black)(2)
- Fernandes Native Pro
- Gibson Les Paul Goldtop
- Variax 700
Effects
- Digitech Whammy IV
- Akai Headrush
- Line 6 Dl-4 Delay
- BOSS DD-5 Digital Delay (4)
- BOSS GE-7 Equalizer
- Electro-Harmonix Deluxe Memory Man
- Electro-Harmonix Small Stone
- BOSS PN-2 Tremolo/Pan
- BOSS RV-3 Digital Reverb/Delay
- BOSS LS-2 Line Selector
- Crowther Hotcake
- MXR Dynacomp
- Lovetone Ring Stinger
- Lovetone Meatball
- MXR Micro Amp
- BOSS TU-2 Tuner
- Dunlop Cry Baby Wah
- BOSS FS-5U
- Dunlop Stereo Tremolo
- Mesa Boogie Amp Footswitch
- BOSS FV-300H
- Roland Space Echo (used pre-OK Computer)
- Electro-Harmonix Holy Grail Reverb
- Roger Linn Adrenalinn
- Pod PRO
- BOSS Dr Sample
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)
- VETTA II
- Fender Super-Sonic head, fed into a Super-Sonic 112 combo (seen used in the thumbs_down webcast).
External links
- StringsReunited.com : Includes a regular blog by Plank, Radiohead technician, giving technical information.
