NOS News•
Thanks to DJ Martin Garrix, Dutch musician Bram van den Berg is temporarily allowed to play drums at U2. In an interview with music magazine Rolling Stone says U2 guitarist The Edge that the Dutch DJ introduced the drummer to the band.
Van den Berg, who normally drums with Krezip, will replace U2 drummer Larry Mullen at a number of shows in Las Vegas this fall as Mullen has to recover from a back injury. The concerts are all about the successful album Attention baby from 1991.
When U2 announced last month that Van den Berg would temporarily take the drum stool, it was unclear how the Irish had ended up with him. Guitarist The Edge now says that Martin Garrix played an important role in that.
Fine person
“We met Bram through our friend Martin Garrix. We were very impressed with his game and the person he is. He’s a real powerhouse, but he’s also just great to be around,” says The Edge in the Rolling Stone interview.
“He’s a nice person to spend time with, which is of course crucial for us because U2 is all about those deep friendships and relationships. That was the criteria. We’ve worked together a bit more since then to see if it could work out. I think it’s going to be great.”
Garrix
Martin Garrix is good friends with the band members of U2. Together with the band, the Dutchman made the theme song for the 2021 European Football Championship, We Are The People. After that, Garrix worked on another U2 song, Your Song Saved My Life. The DJ knows Krezip’s drummer from the Herman Brood Academy.
It is the first time in the band’s existence that U2 has to do without the permanent drummer. “We’re so disappointed that he won’t be there to occupy the drum stool,” says The Edge. “But everyone has the right to call in sick. Forty years of working together and this is the first time it has happened. I find it amazing that we have never experienced this before.”
