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Radiohead Know Who Stompin' Tom Is
by Noah Love

When Radiohead decided to release In Rainbows, their seventh full-length, first as an independent download, it sent shockwaves through the record industry. Half a year later, it's still considered one of the defining musical moments of this era.

Bassist Colin Greenwood doesn't entirely agree with that sentiment. As far as he's concerned, it had more of an impact in the blogosphere than in the real world. But he and the band are still proud of the move they made.

The move, however, led to some residual unpleasantness with Radiohead's old label, EMI, which re-released their previous albums in December and will put out a multi-format hits package in the spring — all of which were done without the band's input or approval.

ChartAttack: How did the download idea come about?
Colin Greenwood: It was a friend of our manager's. He's a lawyer. It's the idea of music as an art form as well as a commodity that's generally priced the same. So you pay as much for a Dylan record as Alanis Morissette or Stompin' Tom, so does that mean they're as good as each other, you know? There's a market, and what in the world does that mean? It's how much you value it. And that was kind of it, really. Originally, we talked about not putting out a CD and just having it as a download. But various people said that was a bad idea because obviously there are a lot of people who don't [download], who buy their music on CD, so that would exclude them. So it became a thing that we would put out however people wanted to have it.

Did the online sales exceed expectations?
I still don't know what the figures are, but when we started it, more people paid more, and then as the experiment continued, there were less people. But we didn't put it out there to try — it wasn't a fretted decision, it was more a source of excitement. But we felt it was the only thing we could do at the time. And the fact that the kids got to hear the music at the same time as [the media].

What led you guys to the labels you chose for the physical release?
We picked ATO Records because this is just one release we were talking about and we liked ATO in America. That was the most important thing for us, that the record get properly distributed and people would have a chance to listen to it and buy it. But it's just for this one record. There's no big deal or licensing thing. But it's brilliant because this is the only thing we're working on together, and we all love and care about it. Whatever happens, happens with this, and not five records down the road. And how can you make that kind of commitment? But we wanted to give it our best shot in terms of getting the record out there into the shops and people's hands.

Each new Radiohead album seems to take a different direction. Does the band set out to craft a specific sound from the outset?
No. There might be some itches and preoccupations. Like, Nigel's really into '90s, like, A Tribe Called Quest and Jungle Brothers, and he's interested in different techniques in recording and approaches involving percussion. Everyone might come in with axes to grind. I don't know how open we were. I think we need to work on being more open about our obsessions with what we're into when we go into the studio, because I think we could be really creative.

Was this the longest time Radiohead spent on the recording process?
The recording with Nigel wasn't that long, really. It was just stretched out because we went into rehearsals the year before, and I don't know how useful or necessary that was, really.

How did the 2006 tour impact the material on In Rainbows?
For a start, it was lots of fun. It really focused us and it felt really good. But, of course, when we went into the studio, trying to capture the right emotional register when we were all bashing away together, didn't always work. But that's fine, because as long as you all know that, the only problem then is if half the band thinks it's great and half the band thinks it's rubbish. Then you're all really screwed.

Is that often the problem with Radiohead?
Not with us, no. Everyone usually knows with us.

When you go out to tour this year, you'll essentially be touring In Rainbows a second time. Is that kind of a weird concept for the band?
It's not a particularly long tour, and it'll be two years since we last played. So I don't think anyone can say — I mean, compared to The Police tour, for example, which was 80 stadium dates around the world. I don't think anyone can accuse us of milking it.

Jonny and Thom obviously did a lot of solo work in the group's downtime. Do you aspire to do anything of your own?
No, I don't have their talent or ability to do anything musical like they have.

Here are Radiohead's Canadian tour dates: