Jonny Greenwood on End of the Road

Jonny Greenwood talks backstage at the Dorset festival, just after performing his film scores with an ensemble.

The classical world, he says, resembles its reputation very little. The set list was settled at the last minute and built from whatever sounded good, which feels like being in a band; people assume something fixed and planned long in advance. He also makes the case for the short piece. Everyone has sat through a classical concert waiting for something to end, and three or four minutes at a time avoids that.

He is unsentimental about his record label. He is waiting to see whether the first two releases justify carrying on, because he knows how middle-aged musicians acquire vanity projects, and he would feel bad about one that did not get money to the players.

Old instruments, he argues, are the modern technology. The electronic music of the 1960s now sounds dated, while the quartet writing of the same period still sounds strange and fresh. He describes scoring as a running fight against sample libraries that keep improving, and expects to be outrun eventually.

On Radiohead, he confirms Ed O'Brien is making a record and that his own album with Tom Skinner is coming. They only tour when there are new songs, he explains, and new songs need the five of them in a room with the time and a reason to be there.