IN YOUR DEVELOPMENT AS A COMPOSER YOU’VE SPOKEN OF FORGING A PATH TOWARD YOUR OWN STYLE OF MINIMALISM. HOW WOULD YOU DEFINE THIS STYLE – AND TO WHAT DEGREE (IF ANY) HAVE YOU BEEN INFLUENCED BY OTHER ENGLISH MINIMALISTS?
I have been influenced less by composers than by Eastern art, philosophy and (Western) poetry. These forms are concerned with much contained in little, snapshots of moments caught in their passing. Musically I attempt to create the same effect that one well-chosen word can have… it is all about condensing and reducing.

YOU WORKED FOR A TIME AS A MUSIC THERAPIST IN A PSYCHIATRIC HOSPITAL. DID THIS WORK IMPACT ON YOUR SUBSEQUENT RECORDED OUTPUT? I’M THINKING, IN PARTICULAR, OF THE SLOW RATE OF HARMONIC CHANGE THAT OCCURS IN A NUMBER OF YOUR PIECES, AND THE CALMING EFFECT THIS HAS ON THE EMOTIONAL STATE OF THE LISTENER…
My two-and-a-half year spell as head of a music therapy department encouraged me to consider music when divorced from the role of entertainment. It forced me to consider its social roles (non-directed interactions for example), it’s very obvious calming / relaxative qualities and, perhaps above all, it’s remarkable stimulating quality on memory. Doors of recollection are opened through the use of music and my later and current work continues to investigate this area.

LANDSCAPE HAS BEEN AN INFLUENCE ON MANY COMPOSERS – THERE’S A RICH TRADITION OF ENGLISH ‘PASTORALISTS’ WHOSE WORK IS ROOTED IN THE RURAL LANDSCAPE. DO YOU SEE YOURSELF AS CONTINUING THIS? HOW HAVE THE SIGHTS AND SOUNDS OF YOUR NATIVE SUFFOLK INFLUENCED YOUR WORK?
I like very much the idea that it’s possible to create a soundtrack to one’s own life. I thus create music that sits well with my own existence. I’m often to be found walking along the coast or cycling near car-free country roads and intentionally drinking in the influences to recreate in a musical form for others to explore. An exact replication of experience may not be possible – but strains of stillness and a lack of pressure will be found. I have no interest in ‘picturing’ or living in a city.

YOU’RE A COMPOSER WHO COMPOSES EVERY DAY. WHAT’S THE NATURE OF YOUR DAILY ROUTINE – AND WHAT TOOLS DO YOU USE TO NOTATE AND WEAVE YOUR MELODIES, COUNTERPOINTS AND HARMONIES? 
I am currently writing ‘Harmonic Homeopathies’, so called due to their increasing lack of ‘musical’ content. Silences and sustain are, it appears, the main components of these pieces. But here we encounter a philosophical dilemma – that the fewer notes or ‘events’ in a piece the more significant and ‘engaging’ they become. It appears that the more you take away the more you have left! When the last national census was taken I put down my occupation as ‘Decomposer’. This still holds true…

MANY OF YOUR PIECES COULD BE DESCRIBED AS BEING ‘PERFECTLY FORMED MINIATURES’, BUT HAVE YOU EVER CONSIDERED CREATING MORE EXTENDED WORKS FOR LARGER INSTRUMENTAL FORCES?
Thank you, firstly, for the compliment. The problem I find with writing longer pieces is the necessity of either ‘development’ of stated ideas or a constant inventing of new ones. I dislike both processes. Development contains that which has been heard before mutate and change into a new idea – this is the ‘classical’ symphonic form. On the other hand constant ‘invention’ causes a rather tedious journey that can still seem pointless – loss of ‘tunes’… As I mentioned earlier, I am happiest when creating ‘pictures of moments’. It is the difference between a poem and a novel.

THE INTEGRATION OF MUSIC, SOUND AND IMAGE SEEMS TO BE A THREAD RUNNING THROUGHOUT YOUR ENTIRE OUTPUT. THERE ARE THE OBVIOUS FILM SCORES AND OTHER MOVING IMAGE COMMISSIONS. COULD YOU SAY HOW IT MIGHT BE THAT IMAGES HAVE INFLUENCED YOUR AUDIOSCAPES? WHAT COMPOSITIONAL PROCESSES DO YOU USE TO TRANSLATE IMAGE INTO SOUND, BOTH IN INSTALLATIONS AND IN AUTONOMOUS INSTRUMENTAL PIECES?
What influences me is not necessarily an ‘image’ but an atmosphere – and atmospheres are translated beautifully into music. A ‘trick’ I use is taking great care in choosing the ‘voices’ for a piece, as these are key to pinpointing either a time or a place. An example is this – think of a banjo (I know, what a thing!)  then think of where that instrument conjures up, and when. Now add to it a pump organ and where do you find yourself? You will already have a picture of a place or places that these two sounds would illustrate. It is techniques such as this that allows ‘sound painting’.

WE’VE ALREADY REFERENCED THE INFLUENCE OF ELGAR, DELIUS AND SATIE ON YOUR WORK. IN OTHER PROJECTS YOU’VE EMPLOYED ‘ALEATORIC’ SOUND – IS THERE ANY INFLUENCE HERE FROM THE WORK OF JOHN CAGE AND HIS USE OF CHANCE ELEMENTS?
I began exploring chance when working on THE FLATLANDS with a live string band. I write notes of no specified value (length of time) and no specific ‘points of entry’. I was fascinated how people naturally waited for or somehow sought concord. The drive for co-operation was heart-warming. In my recorded work (for installations) I carefully pick around thirty ‘elements’ – including tracks of silence – that will fit with other regardless of position of occurrence. I then record events on four identical CDs which are played on four machines set to ‘random select / repeat all’ and then let things run. The effect is rather lovely – it’s always so nearly the same but ever changing, a musical stream. I enjoy the ‘lo-tech’ style of this, no computers, just pre-recorded discs and players – it’s like it’s been made in a shed! I have not studied Cage but hold his IN A LANDSCAPE (1968) to be an exquisite piece.

ON SEVERAL OCCASIONS YOU’VE COLLABORATED WITH YOUR BROTHER BRIAN. TO WHAT DEGREE HAS HIS THEORY AND PRACTICE FILTERED INTO YOUR OWN CREATIVE OUTPUT? 
Brian and I first worked together after I’d sent him a cassette tape of all but stationary music. I’ve always admired his rather oblique way of looking at music – a subject we rarely talk about. We coincide in our shared interests and investigations into ‘non-entertainment’ music and we find ‘overshowmanship’ a difficult area. We talk of what we have read, what we have seen and what we’ve laughed at. His use of colour and space is extraordinary..

DO YOU COMPOSE ‘FOR YOURSELF’, OR IS THERE A DESIRE FOR YOUR MUSIC TO EMOTIONALLY RESONATE WITH THE LISTENER? IS WHAT YOU DO EXPRESSION OR COMMUNICATION?
I recently found (I’d forgotten) that creating music is my personal therapy, all effects or uses are, I think secondary to this. If I do not work, usually between 9am and 2pm give or take, I am restless.  I stare at walls and feel utterly useless. This has less to do with any ‘artistic desire’ than a mental imbalance. It is not something I’m particularly proud of or embarrassed about – some of the ‘outpourings’ can be of use but the actual desire, I think, is personal therapy.

LITTLE THINGS LEFT BEHIND COLLECTS TOGETHER PIECES FROM SEVERAL ALBUMS, SOME NOW OUT OF PRINT. WHEN COMPILING WHAT IS ESSENTIALLY A ‘GUIDE’ TO YOUR WORK, WERE THERE CERTAIN CONSIDERATIONS TO BE MADE – PERHAPS IN TERMS OF GIVING AS BROAD A PICTURE AS POSSIBLE OF YOUR OUTPUT IN THE PERIOD COVERED (1988 TO 1998), OR PERHAPS HAVING THE PIECES INTERRELATE? WAS IT AN ESPECIALLY DIFFICULT PROCESS TO ‘WHITTLE DOWN’ THE WORK?
For me this was an extremely simple process as the selection you hear was not chosen by myself but by the extremely likeable Matthew Jones at Warp Records. I enjoyed the selection so much that, aside from a minor change, I left it as it was. I thought the running order was exemplary – hats off Matthew. Another personal joy was that all photography was taken by my elder daughter, Cecily Eno. I am an unashamed proud dad!

WHAT’S NEXT FOR YOU? WHAT AMBITIONS REMAIN FOR YOU, MUSICALLY?
I am currently collaborating with my long term friend and fellow musician, Jon Goddard. Jon has extraordinary skills, so modest and a real pleasure to work with. We are currently compiling a collection of the aforementioned ‘Harmonic Homoeopathies’ for the explicit use of visuals. Jon is an expert guitarist / slide guitar player who shares my high regard for space and textures. We have written some beautifully still pieces. On another track – I am currently organizing a British / European(?) tour of a travelling silent cinema. In its early stages, this will include a large van, a digital screen and upright piano. I intend to take this silent cinema to Scottish fishing villages, the outsides of West Country pubs and cathedral cities.

{ interview by BD }

Buy LITTLE THINGS LEFT BEHIND on CD from Burning Shed, here.