Julian Anderson

Summary

‘I’d rather be surprised by what I write than merely fill out music according to a pre-decided aesthetic position.’

I’m sometimes asked after conducting an interview, ‘How did it go?’ And the answer isn't always straightforward because two elements are involved: the technical and the personal. While the first of these can (and must) be prepared for beforehand, the fact remains that some musicians dislike the interview process and engage with it reluctantly; and so I don't automatically expect them to enjoy what's essentially a professional obligation. And I try to remember, each time I switch on my voice recorder and ask my first question, that my interviewee may be having a difficult day or week or month. I’m therefore aware of being both prepared and unprepared for how ‘it’ will go.

The majority of my most memorable interviews have been with musicians whose personalities were quite different from what I’d expected, and the surprise has nearly always been pleasant. What interests me about this are the mental processes (largely unconscious, perhaps) by which I form a preconception of the character of interviewees. This might be based on their personality as expressed in previous interviews, perhaps their level of celebrity and therefore their accessibility to me, and possibly even the style of music that they write or perform. And sometimes I get it wrong.

The above is an attempt to describe how I approached the task of interviewing the contributors to this book who were previously unknown to me. They included Julian Anderson, who’d been apologetic that the interview couldn't take place at his home but whom I met in February 2012 at a location that has a musical association: the Heights Restaurant and Bar on the top floor of the Saint George's Hotel in Langham Place, London, built on the site of the famous Queen's Hall.

Like many of the composers, he was familiar with Paul Griffiths's book and pleased to be contributing to its successor. But the interview got off to an uneasy start because of the sudden, blaring intrusion of piped music that seemed totally inappropriate stylistically and, in any case, unendurably loud. While I was wondering what to do about this unwanted accompaniment he got up, confronted the staff and told them very firmly about the importance of our conversation; the volume of the music was reduced, he returned to our table and we both relaxed.