The Pink Floyd man talks drum lessons, moustaches and the forthcoming Pink Floyd Anthology
What have been some of your greatest achievements as a drummer?
“Pink Floyd and the success of the band is the most important thing. With something like the motor racing, however successful, it’s an indulgence. The great thing about the band is how seriously people take it and that is personally very rewarding. One couldn’t say it’s a gold record or an award as such, it’s that sense that you’ve given a lot of people something that’s quite important to them, and that’s really quite powerful.
I really began to understand that more clearly after I’d done the book [Inside Out: A Personal History of Pink Floyd] and I’d been on signing tours, because it’s much more individual. People want the book dedicated to them, they talk to you. Particularly in Eastern Europe where rock’n’roll wasn’t quite as easy as it was over here. It wasn’t a matter of your parents saying, ‘You call that music, it’s rubbish,’ – people actually suffered for it. You come away from that sort of thing a little more humbled and conscious of how important it was.”
You’ve been working on a film about the Pink Floyd. Searching through the archives, has that stirred any feelings in you?
“Oh yes, there’s lots of good stuff. Doing the book I’ve been through a lot of photographs. Some of them are very funny, seeing just how bad the moustache was and how big the flares were.”
Pardon the pun, but what drives you as a drummer?
“This comes back to a quote I made in Rhythm. It’s a funny half-world. The technique and, almost, the gymnastics is really something that tends to only be appreciated by other drummers because, actually, the job at the end of the day tends to be to integrate with the band and make that sound. One gets into some very interesting stuff about how people play and what they put into it. The comparisons between Ginger Baker and Ringo Starr. Actually Ginger wouldn’t have been the best person for The Beatles. There is this thing about sensitivity to the music that is so important. This gets forgotten with the drum clinics. The answer is that I’ve always enjoyed the thing of playing in a band, not playing on my own. For me the real excitement is that moment when the bass player plays, you set something out and the other musicians join in.”
“I’ve always enjoyed the thing of playing in a band, not playing on my own”
If you could teach your younger self one lesson what would it be?
“Easy, I’d take lessons. I’ve never had a lesson and I regret it. I think it’s too late, it would be so difficult to reveal to anyone just how poor my technique is! There is absolutely no doubt that my recommendation to anyone is to get lessons. There’s an interesting thing with formal training. In classical music it will drive out the ability to improvise. I think Gary Wallace once said, it’s like learning to read. If you can’t read you can’t read the books. It’s really good to get that grounding. My personal feeling is to listen to what everyone else is doing also.”
bron: musicradar