In Brian Eno’s 50 years of making music, he’s released nearly 30 solo albums, pioneered his so-called “ambient music,” and influenced many artists after him, like Björk, Daft Punk, and LCD Soundsystem. As a producer, he helped create the sounds of U2, David Bowie, Talking Heads, and Coldplay. Now a new documentary called Eno highlights his innovative work and life.
Director Gary Hustwit says that in college, he became a fan of the now 75-year-old musician, who he describes as a “creative enabler” — someone who can disrupt bands’ creative processes and provide new ideas.
Eno himself attended art school in England in the late 1960s to early 1970s. While training as a painter, he formed bands and released records.
“He often talks about how he was either going to be a painter or a scientist. And I think there are elements of both those things in his music and just the way he's done things since. He's very analytical. He's very scientific. He's one of the most well-read people that I've ever met.”
Hustwit continues, “And I think he got into music as a non-musician. He knew how to use a tape recorder because he had done it in art school. And that's why Roxy Music wanted him to come over to the rehearsal studio to tape some songs. And he became a member of the band, and just went from there.”
Eventually, he left Roxy Music because he hated touring, Hustwit says. “He often talks about what a waste of time it is spending 23 hours of the day preparing for one hour of the day.”
He also wanted to be back in the studio to experiment and record tracks. “The recording studio became his instrument. He was an early pioneer of the use of synthesizers in rock music. But really, it was in the recording studio that he really expressed his creativity, and then also expanded that to working with other bands and becoming a producer.”
One particularly close relationship Eno had was with David Bowie. They were constantly cracking jokes and experimenting with new approaches to songs, Hustwit says.
“When Bowie did [the albums Low, “Heroes,” and Lodger] … he would have been living in LA and trying to get out of the limelight and become anonymous in Berlin. … There was a mutual respect there, and Bowie brought him in to reinvent his sound.”
Announcing my next film: ENO. The definitive career-spanning, multi-platform documentary about visionary musician and artist @BrianEno. It's like an art film about creativity, with the output of Brian’s 50-year career as its raw material. Coming in 2023.https://t.co/3QYwha2Khj pic.twitter.com/75tgfUAKqH
— Gary Hustwit (@gary_hustwit) April 27, 2022
“There's a couple billion potential versions of the film. The way it works is the beginning scene with Brian is the same in every cut, and the end scene with Brian is the same in every cut. And then there are a handful of scenes that are in every version that we think are important, or act as little signposts or a very loose structure for the narrative. And then in between those scenes, all kinds of things can happen.”
Hustwit continues, “What connects it all is it's all Brian. And it's like if you meet someone, the first time you meet them, you learn a few things about them. The second time or third time you meet them, you can learn a little bit more about them. And I feel like that's the experience of watching this film too.”
Showing the documentary in theaters — as opposed to premiering on a streaming service — is key because it creates a communal experience, and it’s an attempt to get audiences back to the big screen, Hustwit says.
Having multiple versions of the production is also a way to see if technology can give films “more agency,” he adds.
“He talks about in the film that the greatest need we have as human beings is this need to belong to someone. And music is a way that we can feel like we're part of a bigger thing. If you go to a concert, it's not just the music, it's being part of this crowd that's experienced this thing together.”
The documentary is screening in Glendale on May 4 at The Alex Theater.