If I tried to make a commercial album, it would be a complete flop. I have no idea what the world at large likes.
BRIAN ENOIf I tried to make a commercial album, it would be a complete flop. I have no idea what the world at large likes.
BRIAN ENOEmotion creates reality, reality demands action.
BRIAN ENOWhen people censor themselves they’re just as likely to get rid of the good bits as the bad bits.
BRIAN ENOSaying that cultural objects have value is like saying that telephones have conversations.
BRIAN ENOYou don’t have to act as if you know what you’re doing
BRIAN ENOIt’s easy to forget that your best work is done when your attention is fully engaged.
BRIAN ENOSomething I’ve realized lately, to my shock, is that I am an optimist, in that I think humans are almost infinitely capable of self-change and self-modification, and that we really can build the future that we want if we’re smart about it.
BRIAN ENOThe whole history of pop music had rested on the first person singular, with occasional intrusions of the second person singular.
BRIAN ENOEvery increase in your knowledge is a simultaneous decrease. You learn and you unlearn at the same time. A new certainty is a new doubt as well.
BRIAN ENOI’ve noticed a terrible thing, which is I will agree to anything if it’s far enough in the future.
BRIAN ENOBecause if someone does that, you can find your own position in relation to it: what is it that I don’t agree with? In the studio I want to articulate a position clearly enough so that other people can use it – or chuck it away if they don’t want it.
BRIAN ENOI hate the rock music tradition. I can’t bear it!
BRIAN ENOThere’s a kind of edge to what you’re doing, the kind of leading edge of what you’re doing. Inside that edge [are elements you] are familiar with, and are probably becoming slightly bored with, as well, over a period of time. “I’ve pulled that one out before. Oh, no, I can’t I’m just fed up with that.
BRIAN ENOI don’t like headphones very much, and I rarely listen to music on headphones.
BRIAN ENOWhen I went back to England after a year away, the country seemed stuck, dozing in a fairy tale, stifled by the weight of tradition.
BRIAN ENOI think very often producers are really trying to repeat things. When they hear something in the new songs that they recognize as being a bit like something that was a success on a previous record, they’re inclined to encourage that.
BRIAN ENO