Rob Johnson

I've been telling stories my entire professional life, but the story I'm about to tell you is 100 per cent true. I was once, 20 years ago, a young rock critic working at a cool indie music magazine. I went on a backpacking holiday with my girlfriend, and because it was so rare that we knew any writers in Europe, the magazine asked me to line up an interview with U2, who were at the peak of their fame.

I managed to do it, interviewing them in a tent behind the Hippodrome Vincennes in Paris (where they were playing), then writing up the story in longhand later on in a seedy hotel near the train station in Lyon. I had to fax it back to Australia from the post office. Cost me 90 francs.

At the end of that same year, when I was back from the holiday, U2 made it to Sydney for that leg of their tour. My editors took a copy of the story to the band to get them to autograph it for me. Bono said to them, "Oh yeah, I liked that one," and proceeded to quote parts of the story to them.

All of which goes to show the power of stories. It's why I love them. Stories connect individuals, no matter who they are, where they're from, or which rock band they front. They whisper in your ear, and change the way you understand the world.