On-line Interviews & Articles

When you've read them, be sure that you eat them up


These articles are in pretty good chronological order. New additions to this archive are flagged using a "date added" symbol like this:Oct98 - new file . We are always keen to add to this archive - if you can help, please contact us.

Want a specific year? 1973 --- 1974 --- 1975 --- 1976 --- 1977 --- 1978 --- 1979 --- 1980 --- 1981 --- 1982 --- 1983 --- 1984 --- 1985 --- 1986 --- 1988 --- 1989 --- 1990 --- 1992 --- 1993 --- 1994 --- 1995 --- 1996 --- 1997 --- 1998

1973
Eno Creates New Frictions / Naked and Neurotic
From Creem, probably 1973. Join Eno on a nude photo shoot. WARNING: this file refers to {ahem} adult subject-matter. Do not read if easily led. From the Jeffrey Morgan Archive.

Eros with Eno
A scan of a photocopy of some photos of Eno taking photos, probably 1973, by Pennie Smith. It's all right, Brian stays behind the camera this time. Worth including as an indication of his '70's image at the time, and also for the great captions. WARNING - this is a large jpeg image (379K). From the Jeffrey Morgan Archive.

Feb98 - new file Bubbly Bubbly Eno
Eno discusses Here Come The Warm Jets. From the Jeffrey Morgan Archive.

Oct98 - new file Fripp Pussyfoots With Eno
Robert Fripp discusses Fripp & Eno. From the Jeffrey Morgan Archive.

Oct98 - new file Cuttings
A collection of small snippets of Eno history, from Roxy's visit to Salvador Dali up to 1978. From the Jeffrey Morgan Archive.

1974
Everything you'd rather not have known about Brian Eno
From New Musical Express, February 2, 1974
Major revelation: Never give interviews when you're going through your Wild Rock Star phase.
Minor revelation: "Carpeting gives you a whole new outlook on life."

Here Come The Warm Jets
A review from Creem, October 1974


Oct98 - new file Eno: organizer of musical events
Brian fiddles with a toy ukelele and talks Roxy and June 1. From the Jeffrey Morgan Archive.

Oct98 - new file Eno and the Jets: Controlled Chaos
His advance publicity has emphasised the {ahem} social side of his nature -- but Brian has hit humid Chicago with the onset of flu. This makes him say the F-word a lot. From Rolling Stone and the Jeffrey Morgan Archive.

Eno: on top of Tiger Mountain
An interview from Melody Maker, October 1974. Carpeting doesn't even get a look-in.


Eno Music: the Roxy Rebellion
Interviews with Chris Thomas and Eno, from Phonograph Record, November 1974


The inmates have taken over
A review of an ACNE concert from Creem, December 1974


Mar98 - new file Eno
An examination of Eno's career and plans up to Taking Tiger Mountain. From the Jeffrey Morgan Archive.


Texans like...
From NME, December 1974.

Mar98 - new file Fripp and Eno: No Pussyfooting Around
An interview with Robert Fripp with comments from Brian, from Hit Parader, probably in 1974. From the Jeffrey Morgan Archive. Find out why Brian chose the title "Swastika Girls". The EnoWeb wonders: What kind of mean streets did Brian walk down in those days, if that's the kind of litter that just happened to be on the pavement? We only get crisp packets in the EnoWeb's area.


1975
Scaramouche of the synthesizer
An interview from Creem, July 1975

Eno: This studio is a musical instrument
Early musings on the role of the studio - and the spec of the Eno/Wyatt/Manzanera studio

I Want to be a Magnet for Tapes
Brian discusses plans for his new Obscure Records label; the title is a thought he has now wiped

1976
Rock-A-Rama: Another Green World
A brief review from Creem, March 1976, by Jeffrey Morgan


Nearer my Eno to thee
Reviews of Discreet Music and Another Green World, from Creem, April 1976

Interview with Brian Eno
Speaks for itself, really, as does Eno. From Punk, probably 1976. Courtesy of the Jeffrey Morgan Archive.


Oct98 - new file Reviews of 801 Live
Three reviews of 801 Live. From the Jeffrey Morgan Archive.

1977
8 days a week
Did you know Eno once kept a week's diary at the request of Melody Maker? This was published in January 1977.

Before and After Science
This classic two-part interview has it all (where "it" is a sub-set of stuff including Eno's view of the rise and fall of Roxy Music, his accident and ambient revelation, problems with Before and After Science, David Bowie's odd eating habits, and the last UK sighting of the word "gramophone"). Warning! Eno uses the "C" word - and I don't mean "Culture". From New Musical Express, November 1977.


Another False World
The second part of the interview outlined above, from New Musical Express, December 1977

Brian Eno
"They think I'm Mr. Cold. But I'm not really you know." From RITZ, late in 1976. Courtesy of the Jeffrey Morgan Archive.


Oct98 - new file Island Biography of Eno
Island's biography of Brian, sent to reviewers when Before And After Science was released in the US. From the Jeffrey Morgan Archive.

1978
ENO
From Zigzag Magazine, January 1978
Major revelation: Beware Shadows.
Minor revelation: You may be famous, but that doesn't mean the interviewer has to be able to spell your name correctly.


Eno sings with the fishes
A review of Before and After Science, from Village Voice, 4th March 1978


Before and After Science
A review from Creem, April 1978


Before and After Science
A review from Rolling Stone, May 1978


Phil Manzanera and 801 Soar
A review from Rolling Stone, September 1978


Eno, before and after
Eno in New York to produce Talking Heads.

Oct98 - new file Math Qualities of Music Interest Eno
Eno talks Talking Heads and imagines a time when there will be special mood music records. From the Jeffrey Morgan Archive.

Eno At The Edge Of Rock
From Interview, sometime in 1978, kindly typed and supplied by James Bailey

ENO=MC²
An interview from Creem, December 1978
Major revelation: "you can be more intellectual"
Minor revelation: "I don't mind very much at the moment if I fail."


1979
Lester Bangs interviews Eno
From Musician sometime in 1979
Major revelation: Snake guitar.
Minor revelation: "I often work by avoidance."


No New York
A review from Creem, April 1979

Music for Films
Another review from Creem, April 1979


No New York
A review from Rolling Stone, May 1979

Music for Airports
A review from Rolling Stone, July 1979

More songs about typing and vacuuming
An extract from an interview with Tina Weymouth from Creem, October 1979


How to live with Fear
A review of Fear of Music, from Rolling Stone, November 1979, kindly typed and supplied by Steve


Creative Playtime with Brian Eno
From Hit Parader, sometime in 1979, part of the Jeffrey Morgan Archive

1980
Energy fails the magician
At last, we find out what happened in the Lost Years, in this interview from Melody Maker, January 1980. Also called "Energy foils the magician".

Eno: The electric boogaloo
Discussion and review of My Life in the Bush of Ghosts, from Melody Maker, February 1980

Africa Calling
A review of Remain in Light, from Rolling Stone, December 1980


1981
Eno: Keyboard Wizards
Originally published in 1981, then repeated (with a new introduction) in Keyboard Wizards, Winter 1985
Major revelation: "I must produce a hundred times the amount of music I release."
Minor revelation: The guitar Eno owns has only five strings.


The Life of Brian in the Bush of Ghosts
More on Ghosts, the Heads, the matches and the waitress, from Sounds, March 1981


Atmospheres in the home
A review of Ambient 4: On Land, probably from New Musical Express


Going, Going, Ghana!
from Trouser Press #61, May 1981. OFFWORLD: Article exists outside the EnoWeb.


Does this Global Village have two-way traffic?
A review of My Life in the Bush of Ghosts, from Rolling Stone, August 1981


Eno in Mad City
A comic strip lampooning Eno's serious image, by Alex Blair and Bruce Carleton, from the Jeffrey Morgan Archive. WARNING - this is a large gif image (497K).


Mar98 - new file Explorateur Musical En Afrique (Musical Explorers in Africa)
Reporters from Actuel meet up with David Byrne and Jon Hassell but Brian's not saying anything, in this dream-like stream of consciousness -- or possibly stream-like dream of consciousness. We are indebted to Juan German, who sourced it, and Richard Joly, who translated, typed and supplied it.


1982
Interview: An Evening with Brian Eno
From The Complete Music Magazine circa 1982
Major revelation: "I feel that life is more strange now than I did when I was young."
Minor revelation: "I have a box of 160 aromatic oils."


Brian Eno Against Interpretation
Brian's views on many subjects, from Trouser Press. From the Jeffrey Morgan Archive.


Oct98 - new file Profile: Brian Eno
In Modern Recording & Music, Brian discusses On Land. From the Jeffrey Morgan Archive.

1983
Brian Eno
From People, 1983
Major revelation: "I was glad when my lung collapsed."
Minor revelation: The Static.


The 'furniture music' of rock star Brian Eno
from The Christian Science Monitor. OFFWORLD: Article exists outside the EnoWeb.


Mar98 - new file The life of Brian
From The Observer Magazine, 23rd October 1983. A visit to the hermit-like Brian Eno's 13th-floor apartment in New York. And the first Eno interview to get the title that so appeals to journalists and sub-editors across the globe.


1984
The Life Of Brian
Interviews with Brian Eno and Harold Budd from Electronic Soundmaker & Computer Music, October 1984. There it is again, you see.
Major revelation: "It was actually an EMS VCS3..."
Minor revelation: Eno lives in a Paris hotel. He does not own a DX7.

1985
New life of Brian
From an unknown UK colour supplement (date unknown, probably 1985). With that popular title that says so much.


A meeting of sound minds
John Cage and Brian Eno - together for the first time!


Musician Magazine, September 1985
A brief excerpted quote from an Eno feature.

The Sound of Silence: A Thursday Afternoon with Brian Eno
From Electronics & Music Maker, December 1985
Major revelation: "I'll just say something like 'import and export', and that stops people dead."
Minor revelation: Eno has cracked and bought a DX7.


NME: Proxy Music
An interview from New Musical Express, 9th November 1985
Major revelation: "Makes me feel like a hippy."
Minor revelation: "I can't do simple things like finding a flat."


A Real World Experience Park
Quotes from Brian Eno and Peter Gabriel on the Real World Experience Park projects.

1986
Over and over
From The Observer, Sunday 23 February 1986
Major revelation: "Eno compares the structure of his music to a slice of the earth's atmosphere."
Minor revelation: Eno is now "quietly spoken and quietly dressed." The interviewer seems slightly disappointed.

1988
Feb98 - new file Music For Earthquakes
Eno discusses On Land, Talking Heads and childhood games.

Oct98 - new file Brian Eno’s Luminous Fringe
U2, installations, lyrics, studio equipment, from Musician. From the Jeffrey Morgan Archive.

1989
Brian Eno: "A fervent nostalgia for the future" - Thoughts, Words, Music and Art. Part One.
From Sound On Sound, Vol 4 Issue 3, January 1989
Major revelation: "I have many, many rhythms, maybe 20 or 30 going on at once"
Minor revelation: "the girls' legs get longer and longer."


Brian Eno: "A fervent nostalgia for the future" - Thoughts, Words, Music and Art. Part Two.
From Sound On Sound, Vol 4 Issue 4, February 1989
Major revelation: "It is not generally the artist, but the critic/journalist who finds it necessary to pigeon-hole."
Minor revelation: "I never met a man more terrified by silence."


Sep98 - new file Man Out Of Time
Oracles, dreams, Zvuki Mu, Charlatan, Spin, May, 1989.

Keyboard: No Fast Cuts: Brian Eno - On Simplicity, Context, & The Necessity Of Urgency
An interview from Keyboard, June 1989
Major revelation: "I also call it 'ism-ism'."
Minor revelation: "that quiet voice, elegantly inflected, courteously inquiring whether I take my tea English-style, with milk."


1990
Back to the Future
From Q Issue 50, November 1990
Major revelation: "Eno actually enjoys approaching tasks the wrong way."
Minor revelation: "a sprig of lavender, which he twirls and sniffs appreciatively."

The making of Achtung Baby by Brian Eno
OFFWORLD: Article exists outside the EnoWeb.

Brian in Wonderland - Ein Interview mit Eno from jazzthetik magazine. Interview conducted by Michael Engelbrecht, kindly transcribed by Bommel. We had this mis-filed prior to July 1996. And even more mis-filed prior to September 1996.
Major revelation: First uncle.
Minor revelation: Eno is the termite of temptation.


Feb98 - new file The Odd Couple
The strife-torn creation of Wrong Way Up.

1992
Scents and Sensibility
From Details Magazine, July 1992
Major revelation: Nardo.
Minor revelation: Buttocks.


Sound and Vision
From the Independent on Sunday, 2nd August 1992
Major revelation: "He made one solo tour and lasted five nights before going to hospital with a collapsed lung."
Minor revelation: "I'm Mr Stingy, Mr Cut Through Options."


Brian Eno - Ambiguity, Yams & Ju-Ju Spacejazz
From Mondo 2000 magazine
Major revelation: "meaningless lyrics are actually not interesting, if they're clearly meaningless."
Minor revelation: The secret of Eno's cognac habit.

Searching high and low
A review of Eno's lecture "Perfume, Defence and David Bowie's Wedding", from The Independent, Thursday 23rd July 1992

New sounds mixed up with vision
From The Times, Saturday August 29th 1992
Major revelation: "It's a great time."
Minor revelation: "I suddenly discovered myself to be a post-modernist."


Taking Modern Culture by Strategy
From The Wire, Issue 104, October 1992
Major revelation: "if there is any unit of cultural intelligence, it's empathy."
Minor revelation: "this record isn't made for February, it's made for September."


Interview: unpublished was done for a magazine that went under before this was published. This was posted to alt.music.brian-eno. We had this mis-filed prior to July 1996.
Major revelation: Godlessness.
Minor revelation: "I'm the last surviving user of the DX7, I think."
1993
Sep98 - new file Brian Eno: Music For Listeners
In the Audio Interview, Brian discusses My Squelchy Life, Nerve Net, remixing and how he gave Phil Collins a start on the ladder of fame.

Eno on James and Wah-Wah

The Guardian, November 26, 1993
Some quotes from an interview with Eno by Jon Savage, published in The Guardian (a British national newspaper) on Friday November 26th, 1993.


The Wire Dec./Jan. 1993-94: Eno on Miles Davis

Eno's Graduation Address to the Art Center College of Design (Europe)

1994
Interview: Observer Life: A Room of My Own. published early 1994?

From Jams to James
From The Mix, September 1994
Major revelation: "An important question to ask is 'what wouldn't you do?'"
Minor revelation: "Ring modulation is a whole subject on its own."


1995
Interview: An Hour of Silence
An excerpt from a radio program on John Cage, broadcast January 1995.


Eno: Gossip is Philosophy
From Wired, 1995. OFFWORLD: Article exists outside the EnoWeb.


Eno
From Keyboard, March 1995. OFFWORLD: Article exists outside the EnoWeb.


The Oblique Strategist
from Mojo, June 1995
Major revelation: "We're making magazines not novels."
Minor revelation: "Anal is the word."

Boys Keep Swinging
An interview with David Bowie and Brian Eno from Time Out, August 23-30 1995
Major revelation: "I have millions of tapes at home I haven't released."
Minor revelation: "it's shocking to say ... 'I am a piece of meat'."


Eno on War Child
From Melody Maker, 9th September 1995
Major revelation: "I'm perhaps more politically interested than I ought to be."
Minor revelation: "What politicians want more than anything else is stability."


Immaculate Conceptions
From the Independent on Sunday, 10th September 1995 - same session of interviews as the Time Out article
Major revelation: "The advantage the popular arts have is that they are not ideologically proud."
Minor revelation: "My palette is open."


Bowie on Eno
From Interview magazine, September 1995. OFFWORLD: Article exists outside the EnoWeb.


Strategies for making sense
From The Wire, Issue 139, September 1995.
Major revelation: [after Cage] "the act of listening is in fact an act of composing."
Minor revelation: "I'd rather talk about abstract things."


Ambient Reflections
From Studio Sound, October 1995. OFFWORLD: Article exists outside the EnoWeb.


Jingle the other one
from The Guardian, October 1995


Ambient is all around
from The Daily Telegraph, Friday November 17 1995
Major revelation: "I invented Ambient music."
Minor revelation: "I like having ideas but I'm not particularly keen on flogging them to death."


Games for Musicians
From Raygun sometime in 1995, sourced by Albert Carrasco

Review of Eno's recent work
from the Boston Phoenix, Nov 10-16, 1995. OFFWORLD: Article exists outside the EnoWeb.

Profile - Brian Eno
From Future Music, Issue 38, December 1995; this local file will be replaced with a link to the Futurenet site when the article is posted there.
Major revelation: "Technology should be chosen by a meritocracy - but it never is."
Minor revelation: Eno has two DX7s and a DX7 MkII.

1996
The Black Box of Culture
From The Oregonian, January 18th 1996


In Defence Of Jarvis by Brian Eno
From the "Another View" column of The Independent, Thursday 22nd February 1996

Eno on KOAN Pro
From The Independent, Friday 1st March 1996


PC Format: Before and After Science
From PC Format, Issue 54, March 1996; this local file will be replaced with a link to the Futurenet site when the article is posted there.

Major revelation: "[Koan Pro] is a new future for music."
Minor revelation: Eno's views on Headcandy

Ideas of infinity and falling apart
Exclusive to the EnoWeb in this language, this interview highlights some of Eno's ideas for his shelved 1996 album


Brian Eno by Tom Hart
A cartoon from Pulse! magazine, March 1996, with Eno On Some Faraway Beach. WARNING - GRAPHICS-INTENSIVE!


Wish 'n' Chips
An article from Time Out, April-May 1996


Presents for future use
Extracts from the "Now You See it" Hypersymposium, from The Wire, May 1996, with contributions from Eno, DJ Spooky and Peter Gabriel, amongst others.


The Brain of Brian
From The Guardian, Friday May 10th 1996
Major revelation: Generative Music
Minor revelation: Judi Dench


The Interview
From The Independent on Sunday, 12th May 1996.
Major revelation: Why, when Eno offers you a drink, it's safer to decline
Minor revelation: Mud-wrestling


This is the future
From The Observer Preview, 12th-18th May 1996.
Major revelation: Minister for the future
Minor revelation: Outrageous ideas

A brief snippet from The Independent
From The Independent, 16th May 1996.


Q & A with Brian Eno
From The San Francisco Chronicle, June 1996. OFFWORLD: Article exists outside the EnoWeb.


HotWired Interview with Eno
The transcript from HotWired, June 1996. OFFWORLD: Article exists outside the EnoWeb.


HotWired Overview of the Imagination Conference
Text and RealAudio files, including presentations from Brian Eno, Spike Lee and Laurie Anderson, from HotWired, June 1996. OFFWORLD: Article exists outside the EnoWeb.


Generative Music
The text of Eno's Imagination lecture, from the In Motion site. OFFWORLD: Article exists outside the EnoWeb.


My Ever Changing Moogs
From Q magazine, July 1996.
Major revelation: "I'm so evangelistic"
Minor revelation: "It's like hiding a little jewel"


Brian Eno in Conference with CompuServe
Major revelation: "My feeling is that music has slightly died"
Minor revelation: "I spend a lot of time talking"


Brian Eno's generation game
From The Independent, 29 July 1996

Getting the picture by Eno, from W magazine, Summer 1996
Major revelation: Why do people make art?
Minor revelation: "elaborately prepared curries with silver leaf"


GQ&A: Lenny Henry and Brian Eno from GQ, September 1996
Major revelation: Eno listens to bootleg shock!
Minor revelation: The Darwin of culture

William Gibson on Brian Eno
The godfather of Cyberpunk on the Guru of New Age. Oh, sorry, we meant "on the godfather of Ambient", from Arena, November 1996


Art for art's sake...
A report on War Child's Milestones event from the Observer, December 1996. Eno confirms something we've suspected for some time.

I thought, My God, is helping this easy?
From The Independent, December 1996. Eno explains his Scrooge-like conversion.

1997
Musical Milestones: White Light/White Heat
Eno explains about his one-off single in the Independent, January 1997


Son, Arise
Lennon-esque wordplay from Eno on the occasion of David Bowie's 50th, from GQ, January 1997


What this country needs is...
A few modest proposals - Eno's election manifesto for 1997, from New Statesman, March 1997


A big theory of Culture
From EDGE, April 1997. OFFWORLD: THIS ARTICLE EXISTS OUTSIDE THE ENOWEB.


Eno
Eno on Krautrock & Cluster, from Mojo, April 1997

Voting intentions
Eno's voting intentions, from New Statesman, April 1997

This just in...
Eno explains his motives for moving to St Petersburg, from Mojo, May 1997

You can do anything, just don't fall asleep
Eno turns columnist, from The Observer, June 1997.


Look back in languor
Whatever happened to Roxy Music, from The Guardian, June 1997.


Where the shops have no name
Another e-mail, from The Observer, July 1997.

Untitled
From The Wire, July 1997, kindly typed and provided by Robert Phan.


Russia. Not a pighole (honest)
Yet another e-mail, from The Observer, August 1997.

Of mice and me
Look, it's an e-mail, okay? From The Observer, September 1997.


Review of The Drop
By Michael Engelbrecht, translated by Bommel


Who Said Vodka Wasn't A Tonic?
The final e-mail from St Petersburg, from The Observer, November 1997.


Feb98 - new file Russia: A temple to ambient light and sound
Brian talks about Russia and his Lightness installation. Great to see the old grumpster back in action! Kindly supplied by the article's writer, John O'Mahony.

1998
Sep98 - new file 50 Eno Moments
As part of Great Britain's National Celebrations to mark the 50th Birthday of Brian Eno, this Independent On Sunday article showcases 50 "decisive, influential... or just plain Eno-ish" moments, including mention of recordings done earlier in 1998. May 1998.

Sep98 - new file Eno's no bounds
The party continues, with this Guardian article, including mention of Dolly Parton. May 1998.

Sep98 - new file To Infinity and Beyond
Brian talks about most of his albums, from MOJO, June 1998, including mention of Warm Jets.

Oct98 - new file How We Met: Brian Eno and Tom Phillips
Brian and Tom discuss their friendship, from The Independent On Sunday.

Mis-scans
Oct98 - new file Warped realities from our Optical Character Recognition Software... Getting stranger by the month, but each showing a new insight into Brian's moods and motivations.

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