U2 Tribute Band Interview: The Joshua Tree

Last year, I began my quest to interview as many U2 tribute bands as possible. With at least four U2 tributes in the LA area, that might take some time – but today, I bring you my second U2 tribute band interview and it is with none other than The Joshua Tree. Note: This is not the Boston-based Joshua Tree or the Dublin-based Joshua Tree. As you might guess, The Joshua Tree is a naturally appealing name for a U2 tribute. This is the LA-based Joshua Tree.

After the band played the Hollywood Hangover festival in Riverside, CA two weeks ago, I caught up with its founder Charles Alm, who is also the guitarist and therefore the U2JT Edge.

Q: You formed The Joshua Tree in 2003. What inspired you to create a U2 tribute?

A: I’m a huge U2 fan. I started playing guitar in 1984, and when I heard the song “Bad,” it was like, “I want to play this.” Then when I was playing in an original band with some friends, we were doing some U2 covers and they were well-received. The singer and I were both huge U2 fans; we had the idea of doing this at the same time, and we were both afraid to talk about it to one another. We thought, “Oh, I’m going to tell him this and he’s going to tell me I’m stupid.” Somehow we got on the subject and talked about it, and we were both excited – but it was like, if we’re going to do this, let’s do it right. We don’t want to be a cover band, we don’t want to be a bar band, we want to do it right. If Edge is playing an Explorer on something, I want to play an Explorer. We want the sound to be right, we want to try to get the look right, the feel right…Because we’re U2 fans, we said, if we’re going to do this, let’s do it right.

Q: Did you envision becoming a well-known, touring U2 tribute?

A: At least from my position, it was really a narcissistic endeavor. It was an excuse for me to get to play a bunch of U2 songs that I wanted to play. We never thought that anything would come of it.

Q: Who was he, your first singer?

A: Jason from LAvation. Jason and I are the ones who started this.

There is a brief convo on the friendly, “incestuous” U2 tribute community, as LAvation is another popular U2 tribute and Charles has also played with Hollywood U2 when they needed a fill-in. “We’re friends with a lot of the tribute bands, really around the world,” he said.

Q: When did Xiren (the band’s current Bono, pronounced “seer-in”) come on?

A: Xiren’s been with us…seven years? In August, I think seven years for him. Time flies.

Q: What’s your favorite song to play?

It depends. To play just because I love it is “Bad,” because it’s the song that made me love U2. To play onstage, it’s gotta be “Where the Streets Have No Name” because as soon as the keyboards start, the temperature in the room goes up. And it doesn’t matter if it’s a place like this with a wide range of people, or a concert in the park, or the OC Fair…something about that song makes people lose their minds and I get it, because I love the song. That and “With or Without You,” because that’s another one that people sing along with and really get into.

(Speaking of WOWY, Charles filmed me thanking Xiren for doing “Shine Like Stars” that night – so of course, I asked him about U2 codas.)

Q: Things like that (codas) are very special to fans. I guess you’re aware of that, being real fans yourselves.

A: Here’s the dynamic within the band. I know all of that stuff – this version or that version…and Xiren, his dad is actually from Ireland and went to Mount Temple.

Q: WHAT?

A: Yeah, he’s there. And Howard, our bass player, is an incredible musician. He just played with Boy George on New Year’s Eve. Mike, my drummer who has been with me pretty much from the beginning, he’s a U2 fan but has a wide range of tastes. But back to (codas): She (Charles’ wife Rachel) came to a show when we had only been doing this for…not even a year yet.

A: (Rachel) And they did “Ring Those Bells.”

Q: The Elevation tour coda for “I Will Follow?”

A: (Rachel) Yeah. And I was like, these guys are FANS!

A: (Charles) So that, and “Shine Like Stars,” we definitely want to do that stuff for fans.

Q: How do you determine your setlist? Do you look at the venue and say, well we’re in this city, maybe the crowd will respond better to this song than that one?

A: Yeah, definitely. Something like this, we can get by with maybe a few obscure songs because people are music fans. Concerts in the park and civic things like that, you have to do “Sunday Bloody Sunday,” “New Year’s Day,” “With or Without You,” “Still Haven’t Found”…you know, all the hits. That’s the great thing about U2; you can do a two hour set and you don’t have to be a fan, you’re probably going to know a lot of the music. But we did a U2 fan thing in Las Vegas a few years ago and we did “God Part 2.” That was fun. Also, I’ll post on our Facebook page if we’re playing someplace and say, “If you’re going to be there, what do you want to hear?” And I’ll try to get it in. But the rule is, you have to be there. Don’t tell me to play “Out of Control” and then not show up!

Q: You really cover the whole catalog, then?

A: At last count, including the new album, I think we’re up to 106 songs. Then there’s songs like “New York” that we haven’t touched in 10 years.

Q: But neither has U2, so that’s okay. Even when they were in New York for 8 nights!

A: And then we’ve done “Do You Feel Loved,” “Hallelujah Here She Comes,” and “Spanish Eyes.”

Q: Oh wow, deep cuts! They just did “Spanish Eyes” in Spain…

A: Yeah, it was kind of cool to see they brought that back. So you know, if it’s a fan show, it gives us an opportunity to do that. Even in those cases, I try to do hit, hit, obscure, hit, hit…”Gloria,” that’s another fun one. Real upbeat.

Q: Your first show was in a church?

A: Yeah…March 2004. That was the start.

Although he hasn’t met the guys yet, Charles and his crew have had some cool experiences with the U2 family – one in particular that involves Dallas Schoo snagging the guitar that Charles’ guitar tech was eyeing at a Guitar Center in Hollywood. “So I can literally say Edge has my guitar,” Charles laughed. Fun stuff!

Southern California fans, check out one of The Joshua Tree‘s upcoming local shows – and East Coast fans, U2 can have some fun at The Joshua Tree’s show in Port Chester, New York on March 5.