Walking into a music theory class while Katy Perry and Coldplay blast on the speaker system may seem like a foreign concept to many, but it’s just another day in the life for Christopher Endrinal’s students. Posters of Bono’s face decorate his office, and on his bulletin board is a page taken from a magazine featuring an article on Endrinal’s love of U2.
Christopher Endrinal, a music theory and aural skills professor at Florida Gulf Coast University, has surrounded his life around his love for Irish rock band U2.
Among posters, something else hanging up in his office is the ticket to the very first U2 concert he had ever been to in 2005. Since that night 11 years ago, he has seen U2 seven more times. “I don’t remember the exact time.” Said Endrinal when I asked about when the first time he heard U2. “I know I was in elementary school, and I remember listening to the Joshua Tree album.”
Endrinal's favorite album by the band is Achtung Baby. Endrinal also said he was too young to get caught up in the hype that the album brought originally, but that didn't stop him from becoming a huge fan later in life.
Music was not always his main focus in life, however. For the first two years of his undergrad at Loyola University Chicago, Endrinal was a pre-med major who pursued a minor in music. “Music theory did it.” Endrinal said about changing his major. “I just wanted to know more. The last two years of theory were restricted to music majors, so at the end of theory two, I just kept wanting to learn more.”
He attended graduate school at Northwestern University and Florida State University, and received his doctorate in music theory as a Seminole. It was during this time that Endrinal attended his very first U2 concert in Atlanta. “It’s an assault on the senses.” Endrinal said. “U2’s one of the best around at creating this intimate, revealing, overwhelming atmosphere.”
Endrinal further described his first concert experience as mind blowing. It was during this time that he was finally exposed to the world of U2 fanatics. He described collectors of merchandise and concertgoers while insisting he was not as “crazy” as them. When we came onto the subject of how this U2 concert affected his schoolwork, Endrinal said that it helped him decide that he wanted to write his doctoral dissertation on U2’s music.
“I had to skip class.” Endrinal said. “It was around this time that I was starting to think about maybe writing on U2… I took a doctoral seminar class, and my final project, I wrote on U2, and it turned into my first conference paper, which turned into my first article, which was the seed of my dissertation.” This doctoral dissertation further expanded his love for U2’s music. Endrinal said it deepened his connection with not only this band, but pop music in general.
When I asked about his favorite song by U2, Endrinal didn’t hesitate to say "Where The Streets Have No Name." He gave a similar response when talking about his favorite lyric by the band. “It’s a line from the song ‘One’.” Endrinal said. “It’s ‘we get to carry each other.’ It’s not we ‘have’ to; it’s we ‘get’ to.”
Endrinal values Bono’s humanitarian efforts and believes that helping people who are less fortunate makes the world a better place, His love of music ties into his love for helping others as well. His passion for teaching influenced his decision to become a professor. Endrinal has found himself recently listening to electronic music. He always has a pen and paper ready to write down things that he hears so he can write or teach about it later.
For his future plans, Endrinal hopes to write a research paper on the storytelling element of U2’s concerts. He always makes time for his love of U2.
I ended the interview by asking him how much U2 and music in general have influenced his life. Endrinal said, “It’s been everything. I can talk about it in a way I can’t talk about anything else.”
You can find his website, where he blogs about anything from new music to Apple products, here.
