My brother gave me the gift of music through my first guitar. We formed a band. In truth, at the same stage, U2 were not as good as the kids in Sing Street. In truth most films you'll see this year won't touch Sing Street.

American filmmakers had a big effect on us — people like Scorsese, from Mean Streets on, recognizing those characters trying to come to terms with violence. Violence is not widely discussed in relationship to U2, but it has been an obsession. It came out of living in a very violent era.