David Byrne

Byrne's conversations are rewarding because his curiosity often points away from his own legend. The interviews around How Music Works ask how rooms, audiences, technology and money shape what we hear. In his 2012 Smithsonian exchange, he questions cultural hierarchies while acknowledging the oddity of a famous musician arguing that individual stars matter less than their surroundings. Start there, then try the contemporary Time Out interview. His appeal is the patient examination of assumptions that listeners and performers can easily take for granted.