FAST DOWNLOAD
The native of Northamptonshire (England) is now 56 years old and has been chairing the destiny of The Smile since 2022.
In addition to the nine albums released by Radiohead from 1993 to 2016, Thom Yorke has led other parallel projects: three solo albums, the short-lived supergroup Atoms For Peace (with Flea, bassist of the Red Hot Chili Peppers) and the almost peaceful but still vindictive The Smile, already responsible for two albums including “Wall Of Eyes” released in 2024. A tireless activist, Thom Yorke does not abandon any of the causes for which he has committed himself at one point in his life: Amnesty International of course, Tibet still in the hands of China, animal welfare and especially Greenpeace. Taking advantage of the sounding board that his status as an artist provides him, Thom Yorke regularly transforms himself into an activist always advocating non-violence.
I had the chance to meet him in 1995 at the release of “The Bends”, Radiohead’s second album. The success of “Creep” had already passed by but the singer was no less attentive to the questions that were asked of him. A kindness tinged with humility and even shyness that does not seem to have abandoned him nearly thirty years later. Here is a seemingly innocuous question, not to say corny, which nevertheless brought a most unexpected answer!
For the recording of this second album, you chose, for the most part, The Manor studio not far from Oxford. Was this an important choice for you?
Thom Yorke : “It allows us to add to our repertoire a host of slightly spooky stories that we learned there! Want to hear the one about the clock? I was staying in a room that turned out to be the most popular with the spirits. Just glancing in the mirror made my hair stand on end. One night, my girlfriend (Rachel Owen, who would become the mother of his two children) went to bed while we were still working. She put a very expensive watch that her grandmother had given her on the bedside table. Her grandmother appeared to her in a dream, warning her, insistently, to be careful with the watch. When she woke up, the dial was broken and the hands had stopped pointing to three in the morning. Oouuaahh!!”.
Which proves that it’s not just Thom Yorke’s songs that give you goosebumps. His recording anecdotes too!
