Speaking Volumes 

In the second half of our special two-part interview with the man who turned 'Surrender' into an audiobook art-form, its director and producer Scott Sherratt shares with Brian Draper how he stepped through the looking-glass with Bono into a pioneering sound-scape - and what it's like to work with an artist who's just pulled the pin of a grenade.

 Read Part 1 of this conversation here. 

It's not just U2's catalogue you were working with for the audiobook, is it?

No! Aside from U2, there are hundreds of other music cues, from the Royal Philharmonic and all this wonderful opera with his father, to jazz from the 70s, gospel - every conceivable style of music. Bringing music choices to Bono was always an interesting challenge. Everything has to be vital. Badass. I would shape up mixes until I loved them and then see if they passed the test!

Bono is giving us the soundtrack of his entire life here - U2, as well as all these other influential artists that have guided and pushed him forward: the Ramones, the Clash, the Undertones. 'Teenage Kicks' was really important, as it becomes this marvellous, cinematic  scene with teenage Bono on a motorcycle, as Ali "appeared to float, turning to water in my mind, the coolest, clearest, stillest water." 

It's like American Graffiti - Irish Graffiti! - and it feels and sounds remarkable. 

Early on, there's a scene when Bono is backstage in 2015. We hear the crowd through the walls, and Gary Numan's 'Cars'. Bono sings along. Then Patti Smith's 'People Have the Power' - and U2 fans know that means they're going to come on soon. And then 'The Miracle of Joey Ramone' begins, with a huge, live audience singing the chorus.

This kicks off the entire book for me, as it is so visual. We've seen and heard Bono in these concerts, but now we know what it's like inside his head as he's walking toward the stage. Edge, Adam, and Larry are walking from the opposite end of the arena, and he's seeing them as the boys they were forty years ago.

I carved a sonic path with a guitar, an acoustic version of 'Out of Control'. As the crowd splits open and fades away, it feels as if Bono is walking through the room with his guitar as he starts singing "Sunday morning …" and delivers us to the next chapter. 

There are so, so many beautiful moments like this, and if you're listening on headphones, there are spectacular things happening with the stereo image. This took a while to nurture and developed into something innovative and exciting.

How carefully do you read a book before you start recording?

My default is a surgical read to get a feel for the text. Then I force myself to do a slow read. Once comfortable with that, I love the notion of exploring what's really there, what listeners may discover, even if they've read the book. With Bono sitting there reading it to me, I'm realising, "Oh, I missed that!" or "So that's how he feels!" 

We can absorb it intellectually in print, but Bono telling us about it… that is through the looking-glass!

Some of the scenes are emotionally so powerful. Did you have to manage that, rein it in, in any way?

Bono is such a natural, instinctual performer. I've always found that you can do almost anything you want if it's honest. If you happen to start crying, if you are angry, or if you allow yourself a laugh, then we, the audience feel that energy. That authenticity creates connection.

Interestingly, Bono never does things the same way twice. Doing any 'pick ups' with him was tricky, because he can be very jazz-like. It becomes a matter of recognising the best take in a collection of fabulous performances!

Would you ever worry that a 21-hour autobiography might sound - how shall we say? - self-indulgent?

Actually, I find the book to be about almost everybody but Bono. I don't believe he felt it was about him, while he was reading. If you zoom out, almost every moment is focused on somebody else, someone important to him, then and now. 

Bono is there - his voice and presence are the 'through-line' - but his mother Iris takes up so much space, his father Bob is enormous, Ali, U2, family, friends … It's true with so many people in his life that get so much attention and love from him throughout his one story. You can really feel it - he loves to love people. Relationships are everything, and he makes me think about my own.

You must be a world-class listener. What advice would you give the rest of us on how to listen well to the audiobook, and all that's contained in it?

Get out of your own way. Just listen!

Part of the process of me getting to know Bono was learning all about this nuance that he inhabits. If you listen, the spaces have purpose, the breathing is unique, it's not gulping and wet, it's calm; you can feel it accelerate when he's incredibly engaged, and you can hear him let it unwind. The mechanics of story telling are so natural for him.

It's going to take repeat listens for fans, because one thing I can guarantee is that there is much more in there than you imagine. Layers upon layers. The only thing I would caution against is listening at a higher rate of speed. Not only is it sacrilege, but you'll miss a lot. 

Keep an open mind while you listen. If I wasn't a U2 fan and listened to this, I think I would still enjoy it immensely because there's so much more to it - it's a human story, and it's unfailingly positive. You get the sense that when Bono gets knocked down, he's going to find his way back up. And if he can do it, we can too!

That final scene - his birth - feels so climactic.

If I look at that scene on paper, I could sound-design it in a zillion ways. There's a countdown, numbers he's leaping off … But I didn't have the heart to touch it. It's like Kerouac. It's like Bono.

His performance is so beautifully unrestrained. When I think about early U2 shows, I'm convinced Bono had no idea what he was going to do as he did it. He's about to sing, now he's on the speaker stack, oh look, he's jumping off it - does he not know it's 30 feet in the air? Bono singing in the 1980s reminds me of a grenade with the pin pulled.

And, during our recording, that guy would poke his head up every now and then. The Grenade. I could tell he didn't have a plan for that final section. He just turned the page, and was in it. He went wherever it took him, and I wouldn't dare do anything more to that scene. Bono needed to carry us out.

What do you think the legacy of this audiobook will be?

I lived this every waking hour for five months, staring at the trees all that time, so it's hard for me to see the forest, the scope and scale of it. Intellectually I know, but I don't have a complete sense of the grand picture that this work has painted.

I do think it is going to cause real waves in our industry. Other major artists are going to be very interested in trying to emulate this. It may cause a shift within publishing, the music industry, and with audiences.

I couldn't have done this, by the way, without an incredibly supportive audio publisher - Dan Zitt at Penguin Random House Audio went the extra mile and beyond to make sure we could move forward with all these crazy ideas. Anything like this requires tremendous foresight and trust.

Now that has been done, it can be done! It'll be very hard for fans to go back.

And for you, personally?

I'm still processing my summer with Bono. It's a lot. 

He's a big presence. Bono is, in every way, as giant as these magnificent characters he pays homage to in the book: Sinatra, Pavarotti, Cash … This mythical legend who's been a big part of my life and continues to be, in wildly unpredictable ways.

It's all been incredible and rewarding. Along the way, I've attempted to honour and respect everyone who has worked on all U2's songs, throughout the years. It's a weighty responsibility, but I aimed to make everybody proud. 

I hope that I did.

Whether it's the hardcover or the audiobook, Surrender is the perfect gift for the U2 fan, the hooligan, the literary savant, or the pilgrim with wanderlust in your life… or maybe just your ma, da, or dear friend. Purchase the book here.