Q&A: Brian Eno on relaunching Opal Records, ‘Music for Airports,’ AI and Palestine

LONDON (AP) — Brian Eno, the multi-hyphenate artist, producer and political activist best known for pioneering ambient music, will relaunch his transformative Opal Records on Friday. Founded in 1988 and put on hiatus in 1991, the label released works by formative names in experimental music: Jon Hassell, John Cale and Eno among them.

But why bring back Opal, and why now? For one, two of its records “had disappeared” and he wanted to rerelease them, Eno told The Associated Press in his home studio. (Collectors are aware: 2005’s “Another Day on Earth” and 2001’s “Drawn From Life” have been hard to locate outside of Japan.)

Revisiting old records is an opportunity to reflect for the legendary artist. And below, Eno discusses the future of Opal Records, artificial intelligence, his legacy and the recent news that rapper Macklemore was dropped as an opener for Ed Sheeran’s tour because of the rapper’s onstage pro-Palestinian comments.

This interview has been edited for clarity and brevity.

AP: Aside from releasing these two records, what else are you going to do with Opal?

ENO: I had an idea recently to release a 12-album set. I’ve got so much music I’ve made that I’ve never released and a lot of it fits together. It’s sort of similar utilitarian music and it’s the kind of thing you put on if you want to clean the house or read a book or something like that. You want some kind of music that helps you get the right atmosphere for a task of some kind. I’m now thinking about that. We could do that and I wouldn’t have to twist anybody’s arm.

AP: Your music already soundtracks so many different kinds of spaces and events.

ENO: It’s interesting to me that (my album) “Music For Airports,” which is now 48 years old, it is still very current. It’s still selling. People like it and I sometimes meet young people who’ve only just heard it and who think I’ve only just released it.

AP: Why do you think ‘Music for Airports’ still feels current?

ENO: I suppose because, you know, you often tell the age of something by certain stylistic and technical things that you unconsciously associate with that time. For instance, you can tell pretty much any pop record from the ’80s just from the way the snare drum is treated. “Music for Airports” is such a stripped-down piece. It doesn’t really have many of those signatures on it. It could have been made today, actually. Probably somebody is making a version of it today, something called “Music for Trains” or “Electric Bicycles” or something.

AP: A difference between when Opal was first around and now is that artificial intelligence is everywhere. What do you make of it?

ENO: I’m fascinated by the possibility of working with it. My problem with AI is the ownership of it and what I know are the moral and social values of the people who own it. And they are really some of the worst people to be in charge of something as powerful as that. And of course, the other problem is because they’re all so chasing the dollar so earnestly, they’re in competition with each other, so they’re trying to outdo each other only in terms of winning that particular competition, not in terms of what benefits the world.

The evolution of a technology, that means the time when it is emerging, is very important. And it’s very important that the public is somehow engaged in that. Otherwise, you end with this ludicrous situation we have now, of agentic AIs that are far too powerful for any of us to understand at the moment, including the people who make them. It’s a real failure of regulation.

AP: Last year you organized a “Together for Palestine” Concert. What did you make of the Ed Sheeran and Macklemore situation from a few weeks ago?

ENO: The people we should really be pointing at are the people who didn’t permit the show to go on. I mean, Ed, I think, was weak. He could have said “I’m an artist. You hired me as an artist. That means you get my decisions about what the band should be and who I’m playing with.” He could have insisted on that.

Though I have to say, also, that’s a very hard decision to make when tens of thousands of fans have got their tickets and have made their travel plans and their hotel plans and everything else. So, it’s not an easy thing for him to do. Nonetheless. He should have made some kind of reaction.

I was born on May the 15th, 1948, which is the day of the Nakba. It’s the day when Palestinians were forced out of their homes in Israel and told that they no longer belonged there. So, I have a very long connection, a lifetime connection, with that.

AP: You’ve been releasing music for many decades now. Do you think about legacy?

ENO: Not unless there’s an occasion to. For instance, somebody just recently asked me some questions about working with David (Bowie) in Berlin and France for those late ‘70s records we made. I thought, “OK I’ll have a go at answering.” And actually, it was quite fun. I didn’t expect it to be, but suddenly trying to remember how those things actually came about was interesting. But I don’t do it naturally. There’s always enough going on now to not keep revisiting the past. Maybe when I’m really old I will.

There’s more and more to do actually. I would really love to retire. But I don’t know what I’d do if I retired.

AP: So, no bucket list?

ENO: The only thing I’ve ever really wanted to do that I’ve never done is to get into a warm bath of olive oil.

I’ve never really been very much a goal-oriented person. I like thinking about how things are made, rather than what comes out at the end. So, I’m more of a means person. I like inventing new ways of doing things.

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AP Music Writer Maria Sherman in New York contributed to this report.