Formation of the band

In 1976, Larry Mullen Jr. , then a 14-year-old pupil of Mount Temple Comprehensive School in Dublin, Ireland, posted a note on the school’s notice board in search of musicians for a new band. For the first practice, which was held on 25 September in Mullen’s kitchen, Mullen played drums and was joined by at least five other people: Paul Hewson (“Bono Vox”) on lead vocals; David Evans (“the Edge”) and his older brother Dik Evans on guitar; Adam Clayton , a friend of the Evans brothers, on bass guitar; and Ivan McCormick. Mullen later described it as “‘The Larry Mullen Band’ for about ten minutes, then Bono walked in and blew any chance I had of being in charge.” Peter Martin, a friend of Mullen and McCormick, loaned his guitar and amplifier for the first practice, but he could not play and was quickly phased out; sources differ on whether he was in attendance at the first meeting or not. Within a few weeks, McCormick was also dropped from the group. The remaining five members settled on the name “Feedback” for the group because it was one of the few technical terms they knew. Early rehearsals took place in their music teacher’s classroom at Mount Temple. Most of their initial material consisted of cover songs , which they admitted was not their forte. The emergence of punk rock , in particular the influence of acts such as the Stranglers , the Jam , the Clash , Buzzcocks , and Sex Pistols , convinced them that musical proficiency was not a prerequisite to success.