I first heard Roger Eno via Apollo: Atmospheres and Soundtracks, the dreamy music written for the NASA footage-based documentary, For All Mankind. The album featured him collaborating with his brother, Brian Eno (Tape Op #85), and Daniel Lanois (#37, 127). Since then, Rogerās made countless solo albums, many of them which remain centered on his pastoral piano compositions. Mixing Colours, the first album of solely him and his brother, came out in 2020, and highlights Rogerās keyboard melodies, which were electronically modified by Brian. On his new release, The Turning Year (via the prestigious Deutsche Grammophon label), Roger instead blends his organic piano pieces with the string ensemble, Scoring Berlin, tracked at Berlinās venerable Teldex Studio.
My first introduction to your work was Apollo. I thought it was one of the most beautiful records Iād ever heard.
It was remarkable, that. It was the first time that Brian and I had worked together; as well as Daniel, who on his own is a remarkable talent. I didnāt realize what that record would come to mean to a lot of people. The word āseminalā is often overused, but it did kick something off, didnāt it?
Itās a different style of āambientā music. That record is so much about moods, but thereās also country music and almost classical, thematic music.
Exactly. It was a great thing. The making of it was an utter joy. We were making each other collapse laughing all the time. Put those two together, and youāve got a real blessed situation.
Did you go to Hamilton, Canada, to work at Danielās [Grant Avenue Studio]?
Yes. Iāve got very fond memories of it. Iāve still got a lucky Canadian dollar coin that a man gave me who was shoveling snow. We got to talking; he obviously recognized my accent and said, āHere, have one of these!ā Iāve still got it. I did a lottery scratch card with it. I hadnāt done one of those for ages. I scratched with this lucky coin, and I got enough money to get another scratch card. So, it works!
Low power magic.
Yes! [laughs]
With the collaboration on Apollo, what was the process for coming up with the basics of a piece and then adding to it?
It was a great situation, because there were noā¦ I was going to say ārules,ā but thatās not right. There wasnāt a leadership structure, so no one felt inhibited about saying, āIāve got this. Letās try this out.ā People would run with that. If there was any chance that it would be good, then it would be pursued. Also, and this is still true with Brian, Danny, and myself: There arenāt any egos to deal with. It wasnāt as if someone said, āNo, I donāt like it,ā that the other personās going to cry. It was very, very easy to work.
Did you have video of the film to view and write to?
Yes. It might have been on Betamax [videotape]. The great thing was it was the first cut of that film. I recently saw another version of it, which is covered in people talking. It ruined it. The first one was almost silent. There were a few people speaking at points. This second version piled on a load of dialog. The one that we worked to had these glorious, long images that ā in our opinion ā needed music to them. One of my favorites is when the landing craft is approaching the Moon, and the Moon gets closer and it gets bigger, but very slowly. Then, the landing module goes under the Moon into darkness. Itās such a beautiful thing, the gradation between this stark, white Moon and then to these different colors of blue until it ends up in darkness. It takes ages, and it is utterly beautiful. The mood is there. All we had to do was enhance it.
That would have been a quite fun project to work on. Nothing had to be carefully synced, as in some film score work.
Exactly right.
After Apollo, you did the solo albums Voices and Between Tides. How did you see every opportunity to make a record? Did you try to visualize each in a different way?
Pretty much. I didnāt think of them as progressions. I didnāt think, āI ought to do this now, because Iāve just done that.ā There are some artists that deliberately press boundaries, or explore all the time. I work the other way. I polish. Iāve got these little stones or gems that Iām constantly dealing with. Iām putting them in different orders and making them re-interesting. Thatās how I look at it. A lot of it is piano-based, rather than thinking, āI know, Iāll start programming synths.ā Come on! It doesnāt intrigue me. So, yes, the other thing is that someone will come along and say, āWeāve got these forces for you to use.ā Like, for example, āThereās this good quartet.ā Or I bump into a singer that I like. A lot of it is serendipity.
That seems to be the key for the new record. Youāre on a more classical-known label, Deutsche Grammophon.
Yes.
Now youāve made a very organic-sounding, piano-based record with strings.
I knew Iād be making this for a while, so I was collecting pieces that I thought would be applicable. I realized this was going to be a good record right at the end, when I was doing the running order. I donāt like speaking like this, because it sounds very big-headed. I donāt mean it like that. Sometimes I just donāt know. Iāve ended up with something and I can go, āOh, thatās okay.ā Thank god it was better than that. It was the running order that put the cherry on top. Listen through, and it perfectly blends until the end, which blends back to the beginning. Itās got this lovely circular structure, where it goes back to the beginning; which, of course, is a very holistic way of looking at it, isnāt it?
Right, that makes sense. An album, as a piece of work, always needs an arc of some sort.
Exactly.
Itās not heavily mastered; not a very limited or compressed presentation. There are a lot of dynamics in the album.
Thatās the joy of working with great players. As far as I know, there was hardly any desk work done, in terms of faders. We were using beautiful vintage Neumann mics and preamps. We had truly great players. I also had a sensational instrument: I was using a mid-ā50s or ā60s Steinway B, which has a warmer sound than the later Steinway Ds. Those are made huge, to compete against orchestras. The Steinway B is more the āchamberā model. Itās got a lovely warmth to it. Put those together and we donāt need to do much at the end.
Were you playing live with the strings for this project?
For some, yes.
This was done at Teldex Studio, right?
Yes. In Berlin. Incredible facilities. Probably the best studio I have ever worked at. The engineer, Tobias Lehmann, is a Tonmeister. Heās amazing. Amazing ears and technical knowledge. Heās like a physicist as well as a musician.
How did the sessions proceed? Were some of the songs done as piano performances and then adding strings?
Yes. Why did we do that? Because I was scared to make a mistake, to be honest. I was the weak element in that, because Iām used to improvising, doodling, and thinking, āOh, thatās good,ā and following where the music is going from there. That wasnāt appropriate for this, because there were written structures for the strings to follow. In English terms, I got the willies. Quite often Iād do my bit, and then theyād put theirs on top. We had two or three days to record. I knew they [the string players] wouldnāt make errors, because theyāre fantastic.
With tracks like these, at this moderate tempo, was there a click track in your headphones for the piano performances?
No, I donāt think there was a click track. With a click track, the problem is that I havenāt got any element of flexibility. Even if itās just a tiny bit, like a hesitancy that allows humanity to pop in. Even if itās kind of a mistake, then we know humans made it.
āHesitancyā is the perfect way to describe an element of your playing.
Thatās a big part for me. The other thing I use a lot is space. I leave gaps. Which is a nightmare if Iām playing with a click track because Iāve never get silence. How can I possibly leave a long drift when Iāve got that bloody thing going?
And, on a technical front, if youāre wearing headphones it can bleed into the micāing of the grand piano, or especially upright pianos.
Yeah, sure.
Iāve run into that a thousand times in the studio. I love this record, but the previous record, with Brian, Mixing Colours, was completely different.
Yes.
I listened to that over and over for months. Finally, one day I was like, āMIDI! Heās sending his brother MIDI files.ā
Well done you for getting it. Thatās exactly what I did. Iād get up most mornings and ā if itās not lovely weather or I want to bike ride or walk my dog ā Iāll come straight upstairs to my studio. The bedroomās a floor below. Iāve got a good place to work here, and itās left alone. I made a point of improvising. I used [Apple] Logic. Whatever came out, Iād keep maybe a couple of editions or get rid of some notes, but then Iād send them as āpostcardsā to friends of mine. Iāve got a very good visual artist friend of mine, Dom Theobald, who did the cover for Mixing Colours. Iād send him a track I thought heād like, and Iād send my brother a track. Various people. Like postcards, āThis is what Iām up to at the moment.ā Of course, my brother, being brighter than me, thought, āOh, these could make good soundtracks; pieces for film.ā I think he collected about 80 pieces that Iād sent him. Then our manager, Ray Hearn, said, āNo, this isnāt film music. This is an album.ā Thatās where it came from. The birth was me doodling, half-asleep with a cup of tea, and then sending them to Brian. He asked, after a while, āCould you send MIDI files as well?ā So, youāre absolutely right. Thatās what happened.
How much did he modify them? Were some of the tempos elongated?
Oh, god; you know my brother. [laughter] One of my favorite tracks on it is called āIris.ā Itās a piece of mine that Brian put into Logic and turned around, so weāre hearing it backwards. Itās one of my favorite pieces on the whole album. Isnāt that great? It goes back to the process of Apollo, doesnāt it? When he played me this, I didnāt get pissed off and say, āWhat the fuck are you doing, turning my music the wrong way around?ā This was a great approach.
Was that in any way tied in with the reissuing of Apollo, and making the For All Mankind newly-tracked bonus disc that you all did before this?
Interesting. There were a couple of points before this. An orchestra had transcribed Apollo to be played live. They invited me along to play my parts. There was the re-release of the Apollo film, and consequently the record was re-released as well.
With the new ābonus tracks.ā
Of course. So yeah, there was some of that, but it certainly wasnāt in the forefront of our minds. But put us both together, and maybe youāre going to get something similar! [laughs]
With your composition style, do pieces usually originate from improvisations?
Yeah. Largely thatās the case. As I said about polishing the stones, unless I deliberately want a different starting point, Iāll start with pieces that Iāve done before. Then Iāll think, āHang on. Iāve already done that god knows how many times.ā Then Iāve got the problem of saying, āDo I effect this?ā I can do anything now with Logic. āDo I alter the melody?ā Or frankly, āIs it really worth it?ā Would I rather go to the pub instead?
Sure! Understandable.
Yeah. Most of them are born from improvisation.
Before a concert, do you have to go back and study your own work to remember the form?
Yeah, Iāll write crib sheets. I donāt have to do the whole thing. Particularly in live performance, I like improvising anyway, so there will be a starting point that Iām solid on. This is the same process I use if Iām doing music live for silent film, which is another thing I love doing.
Right, I read about that.
Iāll start with a kind of āhomeā that I can always go back to. Itās also good for listeners to have reference points because it lends itself to, āOh, I see! That means that.ā
Themes for each character and such?
Yes.
Youāre doing quite a bit of composition for TV and movies and right now. Are you recording at your home studio?
Yeah, Iām doing a documentary right now, and recording it here. For State of the Union, I used a studio in London, because I wanted live players. It was me on a piano, with upright bass, a sax player, and a fantastic drummer, Sebastian āSebā Rochford. I used AIR Studios. We needed proper micāing, separation, and all that business.
Were you working up compositions at home and then bringing them in?
Exactly that.
How did scoring Nick Hornbyās State of the Union TV series come about?
When I got invited along, I spoke to Stephen Frears, the director. I donāt live in London; I live out in the sticks in East Anglia. I donāt network a lot, deliberately. I like being left on my own. But I asked Stephen, āWhat made you think about me?ā I naturally thought Brian would have mentioned me to him. He said, āIt was David Gilmour. [Tape Op #138]ā I worked with David a few years ago, on his Rattle That Lock album. I went down to his huge farm in East Sussex. A nice, easygoing bloke. Completely self-effacing. Heās got such a modesty to him.
Oh, nice.
This is how word spreads: When you work for someone, and they think youāre good. The critical thing is that youāre not an ass; youāre pleasant to be around. There are so many musicians who are capable, but you want someone you like spending the week with. Laraaji [Tape Op #141] was like that. Heās just a nice bloke to be around. You can buy technical skill, but you canāt buy personality.
