Originally from Marino, Dublin, but calling Sligo home, Wickham was a founding member of In Tua Nua and played violin on the classic U2 song "Sunday Bloody Sunday", as well as recordings by Elvis Costello, the Hothouse Flowers, Sinead O'Connor, and World Party.
13 Facts About Steve Wickham
2.
Steve Wickham plays both rock and roll and traditional Irish music, and has developed a rock music technique for violin he calls the "fuzz fiddle".
3.
Steve Wickham is accomplished with the mandolin, tin whistle, concertina, saxophone, piano, guitar and bones.
4.
Steve Wickham identifies Lou Reed, Van Morrison, Toni Marcus, and Mozart as musical influences, amongst others, and Mick Ronson.
5.
Scott invited Steve Wickham to participate in The Waterboys after hearing his work on an O'Connor demo tape at Wallinger's studio.
6.
Steve Wickham contributed his fiddle to the song "The Pan Within" on The Waterboys' This Is the Sea.
7.
Steve Wickham invited Scott to move The Waterboys to Dublin, Ireland in 1986.
8.
In 1990, Steve Wickham, preferring an acoustic sound over rock, disagreed with Scott and Anthony Thistlethwaite over the direction of The Waterboys, and the group disbanded.
9.
Steve Wickham appeared as a guest at some Waterboys concerts in Dublin in 2000, and, according to Scott "it felt so good he re-joined the band".
10.
Steve Wickham has experimented with a technique he calls "fuzz fiddle", partially inspired by rock fiddler Warren Ellis and the genre of grunge music.
11.
Steve Wickham fed his fiddle through a guitar distortion pedal, but disliked the amount of feedback and the fact that it "was very difficult to control".
12.
Steve Wickham, after experimenting with some combinations, settled upon an amplifier, fiddle and pedal combination he was pleased with, "and the fuzz-fiddle was reborn".
13.
Steve Wickham has performed on numerous albums as a guest or band member.