Thom Yorke says touring with R.E.M. recharged Radiohead

Thom Yorke credits R.E.M. with recharging Radiohead. Opening for them on American and European tours this year showed the band they could do things their own way, he tells Richard Cromelin of the Los Angeles Times before Radiohead's two nights at KROQ's sold-out “Almost Acoustic Christmas” at the Universal Amphitheatre on Sunday and Monday. Both shows go out live on the station.

'Cause it made us see, 'Hang on, you actually can do this on your own terms. It is possible.' And that just completely recharged us.

Thom Yorke¹

They needed it. Yorke, 27, calls the start of the Bends sessions last year a nightmare. The band had good songs but froze as soon as anyone else heard them, stopped talking to each other and were scared of every note. Going back on the road and playing the songs to audiences sorted it out, and he thinks they came through stronger and talking better than ever.

Without a single to follow “Creep”, The Bends has not come near the half-million sales of Pablo Honey, though its reviews were strong. Yorke has no intention of repeating himself. He finds most artists too frightened to take risks, and says a band has to be ready to wreck what it has made and move on. Once the touring is over he wants to start the next record somewhere remote in England.

I think the most beautiful music comes from isolation

Thom Yorke¹