‘As Long As There Is Weed, There Will Be Albums’ Says U2’s Producer

The man who honed U2's sound and helped make them the biggest band in the world reckons that the album format is here to stay – so long as there's weed to smoke.

Steve Lillywhite, who's also worked with The Rolling Stones and Morrissey, was flown in to Australia this week to speak at The Coopers Amp winners announcement yesterday.

Addressing an audience of artists and industry, Lillywhite discussed the current state of the recorded music – something particularly topical given the recent release of 2013's worrying wholesale figures.

“I don't know if the album will succeed,” he said, “but there's one thing I can: as long as there is weed there will be albums.”

Amidst audience laughs, Lillywhite said that he was serious about the correlation between weed and the album format.

“You had that older brother that would bring pot home… and so you'd listen to [Pink Floyd's] Dark Side Of The Moon and say, 'Yes, now I understand life.'”

With Big Scary taking home $30,000 on the day as winners of The Coopers Amp, Lillywhite also touched on Australian music – admitting that he wasn't originally a fan of INXS but had come around during the band's current resurgence in the mainstream.

“I wasn't much of a fan of INXS when they first came around… but Bono was always a big proponent of INXS.”

He said that his new found appreciation was partly due to how well the band stood the test of time.

“You can put their record on against the dance music of today and people [will enjoy it]… you couldn't do that with U2, it clears the fucking dance floor.”

He also described Morrissey as an 'unhealthy' vegetarian having spent months living with him while recording together.

“The studio had its own catering staff and they'd come to me and say, 'I'd love to cook you something nice but Morrissey hates the smell of garlic and onions'… we were eating baby food.”

He added of The Smiths' former frontman, “He's the only man I've worked with that wears his own t-shirts.”