Brian Ferry in the reunited Roxy Music

"This was the result of that, of trying to make the music that I want to listen to now"

Brian Eno leapt to fame in the 1970s band Roxy Music which he co-founded with Brian Ferry.

Educated in fine arts, Eno used Roxy Music as a vehicle for putting avant-guarde art ideas into popular music.

"The things that I wanted to tie together into some new kind of music were from painting and experimental music," says Eno.

"I thought there was a lot going on in that music and wanted to bring it into the kind of music I loved, which was pop music."

Since he left Roxy Music in 1973 his technological wizardry has been called upon by a long list of artists.

As well as collaborating with David Bowie, David Byrne, U2 and James he has pursued a successful solo career.

In the 1970s he is largely credited as inventing electronic ambient music and in the 1980s he helped pioneer sampling.

Asked if he thought he had helped pioneer hip-hop music, he said: "I'd be pleased if I thought I contributed to it because I think that is one of the living forms of music now.

"But I didn't invent that, the thing that I was doing which is essentially collaging found vocals, there was a big history of that."

With three decades at the cutting edge of popular music, Eno is more qualified than most to predict future trends.

Despite being a pioneer of electronic music, he believes a "reimportation of human elements" will feature strongly.

"There's been 15 years of computers doing everything perfectly and locking everything together and making it all sound very sharp and designed," he says.

"Suddenly that sounds fatiguing, you suddenly want to hear somebody doing something as if they are alive the moment it was done."

Drawn From Life is released on 1 May