Brian Eno Quotes
-
Editing is now the easiest thing on earth to do, and all the things that evolved out of word processing - 'Oh, let's put that sentence there, let's get rid of this' - have become commonplace in films and music too.
-
Sometimes something intrigues me about particular sounds, how they work together, and I think "Okay, I've found something here; I'm going to take it somewhere." And sometimes just to find a name for that sound, whatever it is, ends up becoming a title of the piece or becoming part of the title.
-
I believe in singing to such an extent that, if I were asked to redesign the British educational system, I would start by insisting that group singing becomes a central part of the daily routine. I believe it builds character and, more than anything else, encourages a taste for cooperation with others.
-
You either believe that people respond to authority, or that they respond to kindness and inclusion. I'm obviously in the latter camp. I think that people respond better to reward than punishment.
-
The way 'Lux' was made is that there are 12 sections in here, though two of them are joined together. So there are really 11 sections, in a sense, and each one uses five notes out of a palette of seven notes, and my palette is all the white notes on the piano. That was the original palette.
-
Not many people bought Velvet Underground LPs, but those who did, started a band.
-
Some people are very good at being 'stars' and it suits them. I'm grudging about it and I find it annoying.
-
People do dismiss ambient music, don't they? They call it 'easy listening,' as if to suggest that it should be hard to listen to.
-
Cooking is a way of listening to the radio.
-
Once you've grown to accept something and it becomes part of the system you've inherited, you don't even notice it any longer.
-
What matters in modern music is not the part you can write down, the words and the tune, but the rest - the texture, the atmosphere, the references and associations.
-
I had a lot of trouble with engineers, because their whole background is learning from a functional point of view, and then learning how to perform that function.
-
I often say to people that producing is the best-paid form of cowardice. When you produce things, you almost always get credit if it's a good record, but you hardly ever get the blame if it's not! You don't really take responsibility for your work.
-
I make a lot of pieces of music that I never release as CDs.
-
I had wanted a tape recorder since I was tiny. I thought it was a magic thing. I never got one until just before I went to art school.
-
The first Velvet Underground album only sold 10,000 copies, but everyone who bought it formed a band.
-
Every collaboration helps you grow. With Bowie, it's different every time. I know how to create settings, unusual aural environments. That inspires him. He's very quick.
-
Attention is what creates value. Artworks are made as well by how people interact with them - and therefore by what quality of interaction they can inspire.
-
In the wake of the events of 11 September 2001, it now seems clear that the shock of the attacks was exploited in America.
-
If you've spent a long time developing a skill and techniques, and now some 14 year-old upstart can get exactly the same result, you might feel a bit miffed I suppose, but that has happened forever.
-
If there is a new fascism, it won't come from skinheads and punks; it will come from people who eat granola and think they know how the world should be.
-
It's not the destination that matters. It's the change of scene.
-
I'm fascinated by musicians who don't completely understand their territory; that's when you do your best work.
-
Honor thy error as a hidden intention.