And I think it was a way for us to be creative together in a world, at the time, that wasn’t perhaps so creative in terms of school. But that thing, that pull, was complete and utter “I have to do this.” There was no other question.Ĭolin Greenwood (bass): We loved the music that we were making together, and the songs Thom was writing. This is it.” If you have that, then the rest is just detail. And suddenly when the band came along it was like, “Voom. We went to private school, so there was all this stuff like, “What are you going to do? You’re going to do this, that?” And none of it resonated. I found my purpose in life.” It’s very lucky to feel that at 16. In 1985, high school friends Thom Yorke, Jonny Greenwood, Colin Greenwood, Ed O’Brien and Phil Selway began playing around their hometown of Oxford, England, as On a Friday.Įd O’Brien (guitar): From the very first band practice in high school I felt, “Oh, I found it. It features all five members of the group along with their producer Nigel Godrich, tourmates Michael Stipe and Alanis Morissette, art director Stanley Donwood, filmmaker Grant Gee, and actress Jane Seymour, who owned the house where they recorded the album. We couldn’t begin to fit everything they told us into the main story, so here’s an expansive oral history of OK Computer put together from the many, many outtakes.

The bends ok computer radiohead career