Larry Mullen Jr.

Larry Mullen Jr.

Mullen in 2006
Background information
Birth name Laurence Joseph Mullen Jr.
Born (1961-10-31) 31 October 1961
Artane, Dublin, Ireland
Genres Rock, post-punk, alternative rock
Occupation(s) Musician, songwriter, actor
Instruments Drums, percussion, vocals, synthesiser
Years active 1976–present
Associated acts U2, Automatic Baby, Passengers

Laurence Joseph "Larry" Mullen Jr. (born 31 October 1961) is an Irish musician and actor, best known as the drummer of the Irish rock band U2.[1] A member of the group since its inception, he has recorded 13 studio albums with U2. Mullen was born and raised in Dublin, and attended Mount Temple Comprehensive School, where, in 1976, he co-founded U2 after posting a message on the school's notice board. His drumming style developed from his playing martial beats in a childhood marching band, the Artane Boys Band. Some of his most famous contributions to the U2 catalogue include "Sunday Bloody Sunday", "Pride (In the Name of Love)", "Where the Streets Have No Name", "Zoo Station," "Mysterious Ways", and "City of Blinding Lights".

Mullen has worked on numerous side projects during his career, including a collaboration with Michael Stipe and Mike Mills of R.E.M. to form Automatic Baby in 1993 and working with bandmate Adam Clayton on the re-recording of the "Theme from Mission: Impossible" in 1996.[2][3] Through his work with U2, Mullen has received 22 Grammy Awards.[1] In 2016, Rolling Stone ranked Mullen the 96th-greatest drummer of all time.

As a member of the group, he has been involved in philanthropic causes throughout his career, including Amnesty International. He has sporadically acted in films, most notably in Man on the Train (2011) and A Thousand Times Good Night (2013).

Early life

Laurence Joseph Mullen Jr. was the middle child and only son of Laurence Joseph Mullen Sr. and Maureen (née Gaffney) Mullen, was born on 31 October 1961 in Artane, Dublin, Ireland, and lived there, on Rosemount Avenue, until his twenties. His father was a civil servant and his mother a homemaker. He has an elder sister, Cecilia, and had a younger sister, Mary (died 1973).[4]

He attended the School of Music in Chatham Row to learn piano at the age of eight and, then, began drumming in 1971,[4] at the age of 9, under the instruction of Irish drummer Joe Bonnie. After Joe's death, Bonnie's daughter, Monica, took over from him.[1] But Mullen gave up the lessons and started playing by himself. His mother died in a car accident in 1976.[4]

Before founding U2, Mullen was involved for three weeks, on the suggestion of his father,[4] in a Dublin marching band called the Artane Boys Band (now known as the Artane Band), contributing to the martial beats common in Mullen's work, such as "Sunday Bloody Sunday".[5] Mullen lost interest again and left the band after they asked him to cut his shoulder-length hair.[4]

He saved money and his father helped him out to buy a drum kit made by a Japanese toy company, which was for sale by a friend of his sister Cecilia. He set up the kit in his bedroom and his parents gave him certain times to practice. Then his father got him into the Post Office Workers Band, which played orchestral melodies with percussion, along with marching band standards. He attended Scoil Colmcille, Marlborough Street, Dublin. He took the exams for Chanel College and St. Paul's, two Catholic schools his father wanted his son to attend. After the accidental death of Larry's younger sister in 1973, his father gave up the idea of pushing his son into those schools and sent Larry to Mount Temple Comprehensive School, the first interdenominational school in Ireland.[4]

Musical career

Mullen (right) performing with U2 in 2009

Mullen's father suggested that he place a notice on the Mount Temple bulletin board,[4] saying something to the effect of "drummer seeks musicians to form band."[6] U2 was founded on 25 September 1976 in Mullen's kitchen in Artane.[4]

The band, originally consisting of Mullen, Paul "Bono" Hewson, David "The Edge" Evans, his brother Dik Evans, Adam Clayton, and Mullen's friends Ivan McCormick and Peter Martin, was originally known as the "Larry Mullen Band", but the name quickly changed to "Feedback", as that was one of the few musical terms they knew. McCormick and Martin soon left, and the band's name was changed to "The Hype".[1][5][7] Just before they won a talent contest in Limerick, Ireland, they changed their name again, for the final time, to U2 at a farewell concert for Dik Evans, becoming the 4-piece band they are today.[5][7]

Mullen left school in 1978, having taken his Intermediate Certificate exams. The school offered him the chance to complete his Leaving Certificate exams. He and his sister Cecelia worked for an American company in Dublin, involved in oil exploration off the coast of Ireland. Mullen worked there for a year in the purchasing department, with the prospect of becoming a computer programmer in their geology section.[4]

In 2016, Rolling Stone ranked Mullen the 96th-greatest drummer of all time.[8]

Style and techniques

Mullen playing keyboards

"People say, 'Why don't you do interviews? What do you think about this? What do you think about that?' My job in the band is to play drums, to get up on stage and hold the band together. That's what I do. At the end of the day that's all that's important. Everything else is irrelevant."

—Larry Mullen Jr.[9]

In the early days of U2, his contributions to the band were often limited to fills and drum rolls, but he became more involved in the writing of the songs later, particularly in conjunction with Adam Clayton, his partner in the rhythm section, with whom he has collaborated on solo projects.[5] When the band was first being signed to CBS Records, they refused to sign the band unless Mullen was fired.[5] He was not, and as a result, his drumming became more integrated into the song structures. His experiences in the Artane Boys Band reportedly heavily contributed to the martial beat featured in many of U2's songs, helping to evoke military imagery.[10]

During the recording of the album Pop in 1996, Mullen suffered from severe back problems. Recording was delayed due to surgery.[11] When he left the hospital, he arrived back in the studio to find the rest of the band experimenting more than ever with electronic drum machines, something driven largely by guitarist The Edge's interest in dance and hip-hop music, and, given his weakness after the operation, he relented, allowing The Edge to continue using drum machines, which contributed heavily to the album's electronic feel.[12]

Mullen has had tendinitis problems throughout his career. As a means to reduce inflammation and pain, he began to use specially designed Pro-Mark drumsticks.[1] He uses Yamaha drums and Paiste cymbals. He was placed at # 21 in Stylus Magazine's list of the 50 Greatest Rock Drummers.[13] Although he occasionally plays keyboards and synthesiser in concerts, Mullen rarely sings during performances. He contributed backing vocals to the songs "Numb", "Get On Your Boots", "Moment of Surrender", "Elevation", "Miracle Drug", "Love and Peace or Else", "Unknown Caller", "Zoo Station" and "Daddy's Gonna Pay for Your Crashed Car" (only during Zoo TV Tour), and others. He occasionally performed a cover version of "Dirty Old Town" on the Zoo TV Tour.[14] During live performances of "I'll Go Crazy If I Don't Go Crazy Tonight", Mullen walks around the stage, contributing to the song with a large djembe strapped around his waist.[15]

Mullen is said to have a preternatural sense of rhythm. Brian Eno recounted that while working with Mullen on a U2 album, Mullen kept insisting that the click track was off and lagging behind the tracks that had already been recorded. Eno adjusted it, thinking that he was just humouring Mullen, but later found that Mullen was right and the click track had indeed been off by six milliseconds.[16]

Mullen has admitted his bass drum technique is not one of his strengths and has used a floor tom to his left to create the effect he wants (since The Unforgettable Fire era), using it for accents or in songs such as "With or Without You", "In God's Country", "One" and Pride (In the Name of Love)". Speaking in 1995, he said, "When it came to recording 'Pride' for The Unforgettable Fire album, Danny [Lanois] was able to pick up from me that I had some interesting ideas but here was a slight lack of focus. My kick drum technique was then, as it is now, completely underdeveloped and I never got a chance to practice and learn like most people would. In the marching bands, I only used a snare and when I first got a kit, I never learned how to properly use all the elements together. So I went and listened to a basic demo of 'Pride' and tried to play a beat just using the kick and snare. But I couldn't get the kick to do what I wanted, so I got a floor tom down and did what I'd done in the past, which was if I couldn't physically do what was necessary, I'd find another way around it. I couldn't do what most people would consider a normal beat for the song, so I chose alternatives."[10]

Solo projects

Mullen has worked on many solo projects in his career, including collaborations with Maria McKee, Nanci Griffith, and U2 producer Daniel Lanois. In 1990, Mullen co-wrote and arranged an official Republic of Ireland national football team song `Put 'Em Under Pressure' for the World Cup.[17] He played drums on many of the songs on Emmylou Harris' 1995 album, Wrecking Ball.[18]

Mullen and Adam Clayton recorded the soundtrack to the 1996 movie of Mission: Impossible, including the theme song, whose time signature was changed from the original 5/4 time signature to an easier and more danceable 4/4 time signature. The "Theme from Mission: Impossible" reached #8 on the U.S. Billboard chart, and was nominated for a Grammy award in the "Best Pop Instrumental Performance" category.[2][19][20] He worked with producer Daniel Lanois on his album Acadie.

Mullen and Clayton collaborated with Mike Mills and Michael Stipe from R.E.M. to form the one-performance group Automatic Baby, solely for the purpose of performing "One" for Bill Clinton's inauguration at MTV's 1993 inaugural ball. The group's name refers to the titles of both bands' latest albums, Achtung Baby and Automatic for the People. He performed on Underworld's song "Boy, Boy, Boy" from their 2007 album, Oblivion with Bells.[21]

Acting career

Mullen's film debut was in a film by Phil Joanou called Entropy where he played himself alongside bandmate Bono. He played a thief in Man on the Train, which starred Donald Sutherland. Filmed in Orangeville, Ontario, Canada, Man on the Train was released in 2011. The following year, it was announced that Mullen would appear in his second film, A Thousand Times Goodnight, starring Juliette Binoche.[22] On 3 September 2013 the film won Special Grand Prix of the Jury at Montreal World Film Festival.[23]

Personal life

"We all have views on what our Irishness means to us. Two members of the band were born in England and were raised in the Protestant faith. Bono's mother was Protestant and his father was Catholic. I was brought up Catholic. U2 are a living example of the kind of unity of faith and tradition that is possible in Northern Ireland."

—Larry Mullen Jr.[4]

Mullen has never been married, but has lived with his girlfriend Ann Acheson for more than 30 years.[1] They met in their first year in Mount Temple and they have three children. He is a first cousin of Irish actor Conor Mullen. As U2 became increasingly successful, Larry Mullen had to add the suffix "Junior" to his surname to avoid confusion with his father, who was receiving large tax bills meant for his son.[1] In 1995 Mullen had surgery on his back because he had been carrying an injury since The Joshua Tree tour. He and Clayton own places near Bono and Edge in Southern France to make the work easier.[4]

He prefers to let the other band members take the spotlight at interviews. He has played synthesiser or keyboards on several songs, including "United Colours" from 1995's Original Soundtracks 1, an album that Mullen has always disliked.[5][24] In the 1980s, The Prunes gave him the nickname of "The Jam Jar'".[4]

Kit configuration

Mullen drumming in 2005.

Awards

Main article: List of U2's Awards

Mullen and U2 have won more than 60 awards, including 22 Grammy Awards.[26] At the Grammy Awards, the band has won Best Rock Duo or Group with Vocal seven times, Album of the Year twice, Record of the Year twice, Song of the Year twice, and Best Rock Album twice.[26]

See also

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 Colombaro, Sherry. "Larry Mullen Jr. profile at atu2.com". U2 Online. Retrieved 15 September 2007.
  2. 1 2 U2 Wanderer. "Mission:Impossible Soundtrack Album". U2wanderer.com. Retrieved 8 September 2007.
  3. ↑ "Larry Mullen Jr. biography at". U2Online. Retrieved 15 September 2007.
  4. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 Edge, Adam Clayton, Larry Mullen Jr. U2 by U2. HarperCollins. ISBN 978-0-06-077674-9.
  5. 1 2 3 4 5 6 U2 (2006). McCormick, Neil, ed. U2 by U2. New York: HarperCollins. ISBN 978-0-00-719668-5.
  6. ↑ Conner, Thomas. "True Blue to U2". Chicago Sun-Times. Retrieved 15 September 2007.
  7. 1 2 Matt McGee. "U2 biography". @U2. Retrieved 15 September 2007.
  8. ↑ Diehl, Matt; Dolan, Jon; Gehr, Richard; et al. (31 March 2016). "100 Greatest Drummers of All Time". Rolling Stone. Retrieved 31 March 2016.
  9. ↑ Flanagan, Bill (1995). U2 at the End of the World. Delacorte Press. p. 15. ISBN 0-385-31154-0.
  10. 1 2 3 Cunningham, Mark (April 1995). "The Larry Mullen Jr. Interview". U2 Propaganda (22).
  11. ↑ U2 (2006). McCormick, Neil, ed. U2 by U2. London: HarperCollins. p. 262. ISBN 0-00-719668-7.
  12. ↑ Tingen, Paul (July 1997). "Pop Art: Flood & Howie B". Sound on Sound. Retrieved 29 September 2009.
  13. ↑ "Stylus Magazine's 50 Greatest Rock Drummers". Retrieved 16 September 2007.
  14. ↑ Let Larry Sing!, ZooStation
  15. ↑ Austin, Steve (17 September 2009). "Review - U2 360 Tour - Toronto - Night One - Sept. 16, 2009". CityNews. Retrieved 26 September 2009.
  16. ↑ Bilger, Burkhard. "The Possibilian". Retrieved 20 July 2011.
  17. ↑ McGee, Matt (2008). U2: A Diary. London: Omnibus Press. p. 318. ISBN 978-1-84772-108-2.
  18. ↑ Discumentary: Emmylou Harris "Wrecking Ball" - WYEP
  19. ↑ Flick, Larry (27 April 1996). "Mission: Impossible Theme Mixes Suspense, Funk". Billboard. Retrieved 8 September 2007.
  20. ↑ U2wanderer.com. "Adam Clayton solo discography". U2wanderer.com. Retrieved 8 September 2007.
  21. ↑ "Larry Mullen Solo Projects Listing". u2wanderer.org. 2013. Retrieved 16 July 2013.
  22. ↑ Scheib, Ronnie (September 16, 2013). "Montreal Film Review: 'A Thousand Times Goodnight'". Variety. Retrieved October 30, 2013.
  23. ↑ "A Thousand Times Goodnight wins Special Grand Prix of the Jury at Montreal World Film Festival". Irish Film Board. 3 September 2013.
  24. ↑ "Original Soundtracks 1 information". U2wanderer.org. Retrieved 5 August 2010.
  25. 1 2 3 4 "U2's drum setup in pictures: Larry Mullen Jr's 360° Tour kit revealed". Rhythm magazine. July 18, 2011. Retrieved January 2, 2016.
  26. 1 2 "Grammy Awards". Archived from the original on 17 January 2010. Retrieved 23 September 2007.
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