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July 25, 1996
Highlights from the Dave Fanning Conference
Wednesday, July 25th 1996 5:00PM EDT - 7:15PM EDT
Fan Club Forum on CompuServe
Melon - U2 SL It is my great pleasure to introduce Dave Fanning, who, as Ireland's most respected DJ at radio station 2FM has interviewed U2 many times since they first hit the music scene. Many of you have heard some of these interviews, such as the Nude Interview and the U2 Talkie, and know that the band is at their most relaxed and open when interviewed by Dave. Fanning has been at 2FM since its beginnings in the late 70's and has won Ireland's Top DJ Award several times. He currently has the primetime slot in the evenings at 2FM and also hosts a Sunday morning video show on TV on Ireland's Network 2. Over the years, Dave has developed a great friendship with the band and should have many very interesting comments. Everybody, welcome Dave Fanning!
Dave Fanning I'm just sitting here open mouthed at the wonder of it all..
Aingeal I can imagine, Dave. :) Welcome to our world.
Melon - U2 SL Hehehe, most people do the first time. :-) Ok, April, you're up!
Zooropa Child (HJ!) Dave-- What's your favorite memory of U2 so far?
Dave Fanning Probably no different than anybody else's...maybe on stage, like madison Sq gardens NY 1985, Leixlip Dublin supporting the Police 1980 or naked on the radio for the Joshua tree interview in 87 ...?
Aingeal Naked on the radio...I'm glad HE brought that up. :)
Zooropa Child (HJ!) Wow. Sounds like cool memories of them to me, Dave.
Caroline Von B in honour of this, I think we should all just strip
Dave Fanning Bono wore white y-fronts for the first half...
Ruairi, Derry
Aingeal Are we really going to dicuss Bono's knickers? I know they're fascinating...but...:)
Caroline Von B Calvins? or M&S ? naah... Dunnes :)
Melon - U2 SL Tracy, you have a question?
TrAcY Yes, thank you. Do you have any idea when the new album will be out and what it will be like?
Dave Fanning Yes I've heard some of it...and to be honest I can't put a specific finger on it. After bits of listens to bits of tracks, it reminds me of anything from AB to Z. I have heard they have to have the album wrapped and delivered by the end of Aug at the latest...They have a huge wqorld tour coming up
TrAcY As big as zooropa?
Dave Fanning Bigger
Aingeal Bigger? Holy schmoly
Dave Fanning But not in terms of the stage show
Caroline Von B oh no... the back to basics vibe
Aingeal behave yourself CVB. :) in terms of distance covered?
Dave Fanning Yes in terms of dates and length of time on the road
TrAcY I heard that they wouldn't be touring until next year, and that they would hit the stadiums first in the south. Is there any truth of this to your knowledge?
Dave Fanning Tracy, don't know the itinerary
Ruairi, Derry Did you see the 'Expect Nothing Post-Cards' then Dave
Melon - U2 SL OK, Ainge, you have a question?
Aingeal Yes, I have a question... Dave: What was your impression of the band as a whole, and as individuals, when you first met them?
Dave Fanning I met a lot of bands, around the time I first met U2..and as people i warmed to them more than any other. I used to play their Demo tapes when I was on pirate radio in the late 70s, in fact I still have a copy of that 1st demo...3 songs surfaced on Boy, 3 others were never released.
Caroline Von B Radio Dublin?
Dave Fanning When the national pop station started in 79, we brought u2 in 5 nights in a row to let the listeners decide on the a and b side of their debut single. To be honest, what the band had was just something real.. I wasn't too crazy about some of the music, in that I thought some other Irish bands of the time were at least as good if not better.
Yes, Radio Dublin, but mainly radio Big D
Aingeal Yeah, isn't the popular saying right now, "I knew U2 when they were crap?" :)
Dave Fanning :-)
Melon - U2 SL OK, Caroline! :)
Caroline Von B right... I apologise for the NON U2 stuff and its length:
Hi Dave, In the early Eighties, RTE recorded three or more sessions with the Virgin Prunes. Half of that material never appeared on record. 1. Who owns the material? RTE or VP? 2. Is there any chance that RTE will ever release cd's of those sessions? 3. I'm preparing for a new book on GF's career (and there's an exclusive for ya Dave - this timestarting from VP until the end of the 20th century. Would you be willing to be interviewed by me about the early days of the Prunes?
Dave Fanning Yeah, some of the early gigs were not necessarily crap, but they were dodgy.
As regards the prunes, RTE owns those tapes. I do a TV prog called Planet Rock Profiles, it's in Australia and across Europe on VH1...Gavin is profiled soon
Caroline Von B
Rory, Derry Is there a U2 Planet Rock coming ?
Dave Fanning Most likely yes. Early 97
Caroline Von B Dave, what about me interviewing you on early prunes? ok or no?
Dave Fanning OK No problem
Chris Chamberlain Dave- I was wondering if you knew where the Mr Mcphisto thing originated and why it came about?
Dave Fanning It owes something to a famous Irish theatrical character called Micheal Mac Liammoir, probably the most famous of the 20th century...played in the Gate theatre
Chris Chamberlain So why did Bono decide to imitate that ? he looks proper weird
Aingeal That's interesting, Dave...I'd never thought of that...
Dave Fanning but obviously within the context of u2's evolution it was just a persona Bono was able to adapt and incorporate into Zooropa
Aingeal I'd attributed it partly to Klaus Manns' "Mephisto" book.
Caroline Von B (MacLiammoir was also one of the first Irish to be openly gay, I believe)
Chris Chamberlain So is that the end to Macphisto now Zoo TV's over ?
Dave Fanning Bowie did the same 100 times in the 70's...for Bono obviously Mephisto was the main inspiration.. yes caroline re end of McPhisto, no idea...probably, though
Chris Chamberlain thanks a lot Dave
Dave Fanning You are welcome
Rory, Derry You've been in the business such a long time now, and to quote one person "can we hire him to do all interview's", my question is who has been your favourite band to interview/introduce? (And thanks for asking Dolores on the last Planet Profile about that Dance Version of Zombie... I've always wondered about that one ). (Can you say something tomorrow night on the show about here, and play some special U2 song 'cus I would like to make a Computer Sound File to stick on the 'net) - Cheers Dave
Dave Fanning I've intro'd a lot of bands on stage & interviewed 3 or 400 down thru the years...specially enjoyed Madonna, REM, & The Frank And Walters
Rory, Derry Madonna
Dave Fanning Joni Mitchell & Neil Young meant a lot to me Cos they were both live here in studio
Aingeal American artists...what can I say?
Dave Fanning Canadian, actually :) who's next, Mel ?
Aingeal me again! I was recently involved in a discussion as to whether or not it would be ethical to have recorded a bootleg of the performances at Bill Graham's recent (and premature, in my humble opinion) funeral. I am firmly against the idea, as it would be hard for me to enjoy music from such an event, but others are not so...what are your thoughts on this, Dave? Sorry if this is a touchy subject, Dave. I think I speak for everyone when I offer my condolences.
Dave Fanning There's no harm in having a recording of it but I suppose it would be unethical in terms of letting it loose, but let's face it the decision is entirely yours. Bono and Adam recently took part in a 1-hour tribute to Bill which i broadcast here on 2 FM ...By the way, for anyone not in the know, that's Bill Graham, Irish rock Journalist, not the US promoterAnd thanks... he was a good friend of us all
Aingeal Yes, Dave, I agree. My problem with it was that the people who wanted the recording wanted it for the wrong reasons - they wanted the 'new song by Bono'.
Caroline Von B Gav said Bill would have loved the funeral, and the music - others suggested he would have enjoyed a bootleg of it himself
Aingeal Rather than something sung for a departed friend
Caroline Von B exactly
Dave Fanning take your point Aingeal
Aingeal I live near San Francisco, Dave - Bill Graham (US) was a local hero.
Dave Fanning catch the moment as it flies
Aingeal I can tell the difference Well, the way I see it, I wouldn't want a bootleg of my mother's funeral, if she'd had one
Dave Fanning No disrespect to Bill Graham (US)...just for clarity
Aingeal that's where I'm coming from Oh I know, Dave! ;) It's confusing to have the two Bills but now we have none. :( But if she'd HAD a funeral, I'd want her to have one like Bill's. What a send off! :)
Zooropa Child (HJ!) Dave-- What do you like best about each of the members of U2 ?
Dave Fanning Bono's good fun, Edge is down to earth, Larry is Larry and Adam's willy..:)
Lis LOL
Caroline Von B LOL
Zooropa Child (HJ!) LOL
Dave Fanning Please what's LOL ?
Aingeal And only Dave would admit to that last one...;) LOL - Laughing Out Loud
Dave Fanning Oh I see :)
Caroline Von B OK, What on earth is Beep up to, and will he ever return to Irish radio?
Dave Fanning I'm heading down to Galway with Beep this weekend for a Radiohead concert
Caroline Von B ye are?. Great
Dave Fanning he's living in Dublin with his sister
Caroline Von B are you going to Millstreet too?
Dave Fanning and he's currently writing for the Sunday Independent...in fact i think he's spending most of his time writing...he's recently gone on the road with acts as diverse as the Corrs and Van Morrison. I'm not going to Millstreet
Sue Fell Which is your fave U2 album and why? And which do you like least?
Dave Fanning Maybe Rattle and Hum is my favourite
Sue Fell Why Rattle and Hum?
Dave Fanning The album was an attempt to delve into the roots of American music and from their own perspective, with their own songs...they made a great stab at it Also it was much maligned, and I think in many ways much misunderstood 1sttime I heard it Adam drove me through me through LA and put it on the car cassette...it was the 1st time he's heard it outside the studio
Sue Fell And which is your least favourite?
Aingeal LA as in Los Angeles? or what?
Dave Fanning Yip. Least fave would probably be October. Reason...none ?
Melon - U2 SL This is a question from one of our members, Matt McGee, who very much regrets that he couldn't make it today. Matt wants to know why Irish radio is so hesitant to play Irish music, to the point the govt. had to impose a mandatory 30% requirement, and what your unabridged opinion is of Irish radio in general?
Dave Fanning The Govt didn't have impose that., its a voluntary thing with 2 FM.
Melon - U2 SL So what do you make of the state of Irish radio and music these days?
Dave Fanning In general, I'm not a great fan of Irish radio...safe and bland is the order of the day, so its Phil Collins, Tina Turner and the eagles wall to wall...By the way that 30 percent thing ? I agree with it...there's at least 300 singles released each year by Irish bands. They could easily fit 10 of them every day on any given station without losing listeners...its shameful that they don't...remember nobody owns the airwaves, those who control them are merely custodians.
Rory And poor Dave fights the battle by himself (% of Demo's on the radio... I was even on one a few years ago! )
Dave Fanning Irish music...is only as good as it's been for the past 6 or 7 years which is better than 20 years ago, but probably no better than anywhere else Who was your band rory ?
Rory Rib Cage from Strabane Coming from a place of great conflict, do you think that the present situation here and in other places will find its way into the new album from what you've heard? (From what I have heard I'd say no).. I mean like Sunday Bloody Sunday, and more recently Love Is Blindness and Miss Sarajevo? And do you think we will ever see a settlement thus no more U2 songs about the suffering?
Dave Fanning I'd say no to the first bit, and after recent events, and the intransigence that shrouds the whole thing, I don't see a settlement in my lifetime, to be honest. I hope more than anything that I'm wrong.
Zooropa Child (HJ!) Dave-- Mine is not really a question. I would like to tell you I visited Dublin, Ireland in 1993 and it's a wonderful city. I enjoyed my stay there very much and hope to visit Dublin again very soon... As for your work, keep up the good work and tell U2 Zooropa Child and all of the U2 Section on CompuServe says hi! =-) I have to logoff now so Cya later and God Bless, Dave. Take care!
Dave Fanning Thanks Z C
Aingeal Dave: I'm going to be lynched for this non-U2 question, but I want to know what yer listening to these days? Any bands in particular that have caught your golden ear? Because, you know, U2 fans never listen to anything else. We're funny that way. ;)
Dave Fanning Yeah, quite a few actually...sparklehorse, Funlovin criminals, divine comedy, ash, screaming trees, underworld
Aingeal Wow... that's a lot of grungey-types... well, as least where the Trees are concerned
Rory Ash? :)
Aingeal please tell me you haven't fallen into the Oasis have you? :)
Dave Fanning Yeah, think they're great...Sorry ! My favourite band of all time is the Beatles...Now the re-creation of a favourite band doesn't make them great, but from a certain point of view there's a certain Beatles type edge to Oasis...and it's a good edge
Aingeal Actually, I think Oasis sounds nothing like the Beatles sorry
Alex G As Larry is so often not focused on, what is your opinion of him, and why did he wait till 34 to get a tattoo? (I agree with you, Screaming Trees are really good).
Dave Fanning Didn't realise he waited till 34 to get a tattoo ! Must check this more carefully
Aingeal Dave - what exactly fuelled the infamous 'In the Nude Interview'? Whose idea WAS it? Really?
Sue Fell I think it was fuelled by alcohol
Aingeal And is there photographic evidence of this event?
Dave Fanning It was 100 percent Bono's. We had done lots of interviews and he just decided it might be a laugh...add some spice. It did, and I have the photos to prove it :)
Aingeal What I can't believe is that they got YOUR pants off. I mean, I'd do a lot to be in a kick-ass rock 'n' roll group...but...well they'd have to buy me dinner first. :)
Rory A simple question for - according to Dusty -, "The man who discovered U2"; Why haven't you written a book on the guys?
Dave Fanning Too much like hard work...and I'm famously untogether
Rory I'm not surprised with your load.... 2fm, 2TV, Planet Rock, The Movie Show.... do'ya never get tired?
Dave Fanning You watch a lot of TV...You need to get out more :)
Aingeal Dave, what do you think was the driving force behind the picture of Bono and Liam Gallagher snogging at the POD?
Marcus Dunne their respective mouths
Aingeal very funny Marcus
Marcus Dunne yer welcome
Aingeal I'm sorry to bring it up but it's a burning question. we get bored easy between albums, y'see...
Dave Fanning Kindred spirits in rock's Rich Tapestry ?
Marcus Dunne or pissed as newts in a nightclub take yer pick
Dave Fanning Tour stuff : really don't know too exactly, just that it should last well into 98 They will have a new album completed by the end of august
Aingeal Dave: I'd heard that they'd missed their first deadline and had to pretty much lock themselves in the studio to meet the second one...truth? fiction? or something I should leave to Mulder and Scully? ;)
Dave Fanning No idea...I never heard about a first deadline. at the moment I think it's a question of picking the best bunch of tracks for the album Oh, and they're really happy in their new studio
Rory Dave, what are your views on the cranberries?
Dave Fanning Cranberries ?
Rory -are they "the next u2"
Aingeal the new studio being Hanover? AKA the Batcave?
Marcus Dunne aka very easy to find
Aingeal I can't FIND the bloody place. :( thanks Marcus. :)
Rory (where was that interview recorded from the Planet Rock?)
Aingeal I've seen the inside of the place but not the outside, if that makes sense. :P
Dave Fanning What a frightening thought ! (Crans as next U2)....the interview was recorded in the south of France and London
Rory Do you like them/music and what do you think about 'to the faithful departed' ? Like Dolores is for ever thanking you on stage etc.
Dave Fanning I like some of the Cranberries' music...They did get an early session on the programme and we used to play their demos when they were the cranberry Saw-Us
Dave Fanning Michelle Smith is about to win another Gold in the swimming in Atlanta...can I go watch please ?
Aingeal Yes, go raibh mhaith agat, Dave (I prolly spelled that wrong but hell, I'm tired) lol dave!!!!
Dave Fanning You got the irish right ...the prolly looks suspect
Aingeal I think we need a theme song to close... "And they call it puppy loooove..." okay okay, I won't do it. :)
Marcus Dunne When you walk through a storm
Aingeal oh no!!!
Lis Let's join hands all..
Dave Fanning hold your head up high
Aingeal rotflmao
Dave Fanning Bye folks, it's been fun . Oiche mhaith agus codladh samh
Posted by Jonathan at 09:32 PM | Comments (0)
July 04, 1996
Brian Eno - in conference with CompuServe
Brian Eno - in conference with CompuServe on July 4th, 1996 at his London studio.
***IMPORTANT***
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Permission is granted for distribution (of this document unedited) to the Nerve-Net mailing list, the Brian Eno web sites, the Brian Eno newsgroup, and the CompuServe UKMUSIC forum.
For more information, please contact Jason Gibbs, the UKMUSIC SYSOP at 75162,2317.
Jason Gibbs asks: Why do you think generative systems (like Koan) are so important?
Brian Eno: This is such a profound change in the way people think about music.
For a start, it relates to a lot of new ideas about how things organise themselves, and it moves our thinking away from what I call the 'symphonic metaphor' to wards the 'generative metaphor.
The difference between those two metaphors is quite profound.
Mark Edwards: Switching away romgenerative music for a second - I think a lot of people will have read in Q that your next album has been cancelled or postponed. What's happening?
Brian Eno: What's happened is that I have become nauseated by the stacks of CDs accumulating in the dusty corners of my studio.
I always wanted to be part of a conversation that people were paying attention to, and my feeling is that music has slightly died, stifled by over saturation.
So for me it's a little dull to make records at the moment...though I might change that thought.
Mark Edwards: If music has slightly died, what music are you listening to at the moment - if any?
Brian Eno: I'm listening to vinyl a lot - mostly because you get less music on a record - it just doesn't last so long.
I hate the way CDs just drone on for bloody hours and you stop caring.
Graham Harrison asks: What do you feel is different in your compositional method, compared to other composers who use and have used chance in composition, e.g. Stockhausen, Boulez, Cage?
Brian Eno: The difference is that I reject the results of chance if they don't excite me sensually - whereas the composers you mentioned were rather more doctrinaire about it.
Their feeling was that they 'believed' in chance as though it had a sort of mystical dimension.
I don't. I think chance is what you use when you can't think of a better basis on which to make a decision, or when you want to take yourself into territory that you haven't been before.
Mark Edwards: So what do you believe in?
Brian Eno: I don't believe in much. In fact I was thinking of doing a version of that Chris Andrews song, but mine would be 'I'm not a believer'.
Mark Baartse asks: With the never ending popularity of Black Dog, Smoke on the Water and other songs that have been played far more often than we all would like, do people really want music that changes? It seems people in general prefer things that stay the same.
Brian Eno: People want a lot of different things. One of them is music that sounds identical from play to play, another, I've discovered, is music that never repeats. I'm not suggesting that generative music will replace anything - but add to it.
Kaon Koo asks: Do you have any plans in the near future for more generative albums? And what other future applications for this type of music do you envision?
Brian Eno: The best future applications probably have to do with relieving the unutterable tedium of CD ROMs.
There is an example of a medium totally without a message.
But what is really interesting is the future in generative - generative graphics, generative narratives, generative architecture, there is a place for forms of culture also that are evolutionary, which somehow pay attention to your interests and modify themselves accordingly
I can see this happening with generative work - it needs to be able to complete a feedback loop with its users.
Mark Edwards: What would "generative architecture" be?
Brian Eno: The idea of generative architecture is to suggest a way of building which first of all responds to its users.
And which accents that the architects job is to set in place a grammar of possibilities which the users then articulate into meaningful structures.
This will be a bit of a blow for most architects, who currently are completely stuck in the 'symphonic metaphor'.
Mark Edwards: So you mean easily customisable houses.
Brian Eno: I mean a way of thinking about building that accepts that what is there when the architect leaves the site is the beginning, not the end, of the process.
For example, most buildings change their 'services' - bathrooms, kitchens etc - very often - like every ten years.
Yet architects continue to design and build as though this is never going to happen.
And make it bloody difficult for it to actually be done.
My feeling is that building a house should involve setting in place all the things that would make it easy to change it, adapt it.
Mark Edwards: Most people who create, well, anything want to believe that the creation is in some way perfect.
You're quite unusual as an artist who's happy to see his work manipulated after its left you (the album with Jah Wobble springs to mind, just as an aside.
Brian Eno: I don't accept this. I want to believe that what I make is a good start, a strong place to begin. I then hope that at least it will be better in the user's (listener's) mind than it is in mine. I want to plant seeds that will grow when they leave me.
If I thought the music was only going to remain as I left it, then why would I want to release it? You released things so that they will grow.
And have interesting other lives without you. Just like kids...
Mark Edwards: We've got a question here asking you to finish the Turner speech. That's a huge answer. If people want the full answer, you've written an essay in the Waterstone's magazine, I think. Maybe you could give the three sentence summary. (question was from mark Harrop by the way)
Brian Eno: 1) if you as a scientist what he's doing, he'd probably be able to answer that it has something to do with learning about the world, how things work.
2) If you ask an artist the same question, you would get a thousand muddled answers.
My feeling is that the conversation about art is about in the same place as that about biology was before Darwin: we have lots of observations but no single frame in which to locate them all and make sense of them.
3) I think it is possible to discuss all culture in one language (in the same way that evolution theory allows you to discuss all living things in one language). I look for a theory that will unify cake decoration, Cezanne, and Little Richard.
Mark Edwards: Maybe part of being an artist is not knowing why you're doing it. Like a child playing - it's important, but they couldn't verbalise why. (except maybe' it's fun', which would be a good answer for an artist to make, although funding to the arts might get cut).
Brian Eno: I think this is a load of old bo***cks, actually of course I should be fun, but why shouldn't you ask why you're doing it?
It doesn't matter if you can't come up with an answer, but not to even ask the question strikes me as rather bizarre.
Mark Edwards: We've got another question that would take several books to answer. After this maybe someone there has some simpler ones.
David Addison asks: On p61 of diary you ask "what will we leave behind that future generations will be this impressed by? What about space exploration as a cultural activity?
Mark Edwards: .
Brian Eno: I said in the diary that surely our most notable activity in this era is defence spending.
Have you any idea how much of our money and talent is bound up in that? (And the internet is just one of its little spinoffs)
So, like it or not, all those wonderful Damien Hirst cows will fade away to nothing and the people of the future will be admiring our wonderful surface to air missile systems.
Mark Edwards: Back to the Turner speech - do you know any individual artists who have a decent answer to the question why they're doing it (that as "surface to air" in Brian's last comment, by he way, not a system to attack school teachers)
Brian Eno: I don't know many artists who even want to have this conversation.
There's a feeling that we might turn over a few stones that we wish we hadn't.
Mark Edwards: That as what my question that you referred to as bollocks was all about, maybe the artists motives aren't as wonderful as those of the scientist - maybe they're more selfish.
Brian Eno: On of the problems is that any theory that unifies all of culture - from haircuts to Hokusai - is in danger of reducing the 'dignity' of the fine artist..
Just as Darwin reduced the dignity and separateness of humans from all other creatures.
And of course this has dire economic questions.
After the Turner speech (which was after all to a room full of dealers and curators who depend on that dignity) I got a few rather cold looks.
Tony Walsh asks: The GM I've heard so far has been instrumental. How do you see lyrics, or the human voice in general, fitting into this chance methodology? Is it a thing of the past?
Brian Eno: To answer what you said, everyone's selfish but some people's selfishness pays off for other people.
No, I think song is the thing of the future.
I love the idea of songs and voices. I despise most song writing as lazy and pathetic. There are so many other things we could be doing with voices.
Thank God for rap artists. At least they annoyed everyone.
I didn't really answer the question...can I come back to that?
Mark Edwards: Andrew Sigal wants to know if putting generative music on CD defeats the purpose.
Brian Eno: I can't see any reason for not putting it on CD if you happened to want to hear a particular 'performance' of a piece over and over.
I have recorded several of these pieces and enjoy listening to them off tape but the thrill is not knowing what is going to happen, so I go back to the clunky, under-developed piece of junk that is called 'my computer'.
Peter Gunn asks: Should we not SACK the architects if they arenRt working ?
Brian Eno: Yes, what's more, I think there should be much more public attention paid to architects who build ugly and stupid things.
Just as their should be more credit to those who build well.
Mark Edwards: Let's talk about your diaries (recently published). On the back cover is a list of words or phrases describing yourself. One of them is 'a drifting clarifier'. what is that?
Brian Eno: That was Steart Brand's description... he meant to describe me as someone who generally helps out in thinking situations, but is not stuck to one in particular.
It's flattering but I hope it's true.
Mark Edwards: Are you spending more of your time doing that - being in thinking situations of one kind or another - rather than doing the work you're better known for (eg being a musician or a record producer.
Brian Eno: I spend a lot of time talking, lecturing etc. I like it - sort of cuts out the middle man.
Alex McCourty asks: You seem to be deeply involved in change and directions for the future, but what's your view on history?
Brian Eno: History......it's out of date
In broadcasting this is called dead air - people live in total fear of it - executives get fired for it - sent back into the gutter.
Mark Edwards: Tell me - are you happier collaborating or working on your own?
Brian Eno: I'm happier working with other people. I get further working on my own.
Benjamin Cohen asks: You said earlier you were listening to music on vinyl, but you didn't say what exactly. I'm curious to know how you perceive the current dance music scene, particularly techno and drum and bass. Have these genres influenced you at all?
Brian Eno: By that I mean I sometimes touch something that I wouldn't in company.
Because it might fail too dramatically.
Dance music....oh god...I think I used to be able to dance once. I can't remember.
Mark Edwards: It's true. I've seen you do it.
Brian Eno: Indeed, with the princess of somewhere wasn't it?
Mark Edwards: What were you thinking about up there on stage with Pavarotti, and were you miming or really playing the omnichord.
Brian Eno: I was in a strange bliss... are you miming?
Mark Edwards: Yes. I'm miming. Jimmy Page plays all my parts.
Brian Eno: Doesn't play them very well.
A question from Loony Laura: Do you see silicon evolution superseding carbon evolution? Is generative music the first step in handing over the keys to the generative motor?
Brian Eno: I see co-evolution, but I think silicon is just a phase. We might not be working with electricity even in fifty years time.
Think of what happened to steam - 100 years ago it must have seemed absolutely irreplaceable.
But yes, we are and have always been beings who add things to ourselves.
It used to be sensory things we added - extensions of our strength and senses.
But now we've learnt to build our intelligence and incidentally, our abilities to cooperate and deceive (the same ability, actually).
Mark Edwards: How does this experience compare to being interviewed for a magazine or on the radio?
Brian Eno: It's awful - frantic, everyone talking about something that you're not thinking about. It's extremely primitive, especially when you've been spoiled to getting a journalists full attention (or the pretence of it).
This is like shouting in a market in Marrakesh with a sore throat on a public holiday. .
Graham Harrison asks: Do you think Prince Charles will appreciate generative architecture?
Brian Eno: I think he's certain to - the people who've been working towards this include some of his favourites (Leon Krier, Chris Alexander) but there are also several he might not like so much.
I'm not down on PC for his stand on architecture. I think he's perhaps a little simplistic, but someone had to say it.
Jason Gibbs asks: Does your inspiration mainly come from music or the visual arts?
Brian Eno: From the visual arts, actually. I always wanted to make things that felt more like paintings than music.
Mark Edwards: What are you working on at the moment? What Eno products will we see soon?
Brian Eno: This is the question I dread when I meet people at dinner parties. I can never remember a thing I'm doing unless I was doing it today. What was I doing today? I went to talk to Michael Morris of Artangel about the possibility of doing a show that works by hi-jacking other existing shows - visual shows, I mean.
Mark Edwards: If your inspiration mainly comes from the visual arts, what have you seen recently that you really liked?
Brian Eno: I've seen an amazing photographic book today by Richard Billingham - just pictures of his family who live on a council estate. It's the best photobook I've seen in years. His family is an alky dad and a tattooed mother.
Mark Edwards: A show that hi-jacks other shows. What? You go to one show, but something else is actually happening there?
Brian Eno: It's called `Ron's a laugh' I think (Ron is his dad). Hi-jacking... imagine, for example, just replacing all the labels beside existing paintings so that you change the reading of them completely - (most people spend longer on the label than on the painting, by the way) - similarly, parasitize TV shows etc. etc.
Mark Edwards: The world is divided between those who read the labels first to find out what it is they're supposed to be seeing in it and those who look at them afterwards.
Will Lawless asks: Where in the past would you wish to go to experience art at its best.
Brian Eno: I wouldn't mind being in Russia between 1906 and 1917.
Polina Barshteyn asks: Is not the reason, the ultimate reason for doing anything, to find out, in vain it might seem, what we are doing here, here in existence, why life?
Brian Eno: I don't know if I'd say we are looking for purpose in the sense you imply.
But what I do think is that we are inveterately fascinated by our subjective experiences, and it's those that also yield the scientific and technical results we depend on. What I mean is: our tendency to attempt unanswerable questions is the same tendency that makes us invent things.
Mark Edwards: Jim Dodd wants to know if you have a scientific education?
Brian Eno: I don't have a scientific education formally, but for years (since my teens) I've been fascinated by the conversation that's been going on in the sciences - particularly the life sciences and the commuter sciences.
That conversation has put the arts to shame, in my opinion and we really ought to try a bit harder to get something like the same kind of openness and clarity.
Why? because to include more people is to include more intelligence and that's what art needs.
Mark Edwards: We're wrapping up now. We've got one last question, a suitably calm and chilled one to end on.
Jenny Minjung Kay asks: Describe your ideal environment for being relaxed and having a clear mind... are you at your most creative in this kind of atmosphere?
Brian Eno: I have a nice studio. I sometimes get here early (3 or 4) and work in silence for several hours. That is very nice, especially in early winter.
Mark Edwards: There's a competition question. you can win a copy of Koan Pro and a signed copy of Generative Music. You need to send you e-mails to 76004,3476. The draw will be picked at the end of the month . And that question is .... where does the title 'Supporting Circle' come from?
Brian Eno: When you've sorted that out, send it in. Meanwhile thanks a lot for your questions - bye now.
Mark Edwards: Thanks for your time Brian. And for the typing lessons.
Charon Wood: Thanks everyone for attending. Don't forget to post your answers to Mark's questions to that e-mail address.
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Posted by Jonathan at 09:30 PM | Comments (0)