Below is 3/4s of the transcript of the BBC David Gilmour interview that went to air Sunday 22 November 1998. I have been unable to obtain the final part. If you happen to see this interview in full anywhere else, I would appreciate you sending me the URL. Below the transcript, I have left the ‘snippets’ for the parts of the interview that were not transcribed. My thanks go to Dave Ward for going to the trouble to transcribe what he has in fine detail.
BBC World Service “Pop On The Line” Sunday, 22 November 1998
Newsreader: And now it’s time to join Lynn Parsons for our global phone-in “Pop On the Line.”
[Intro begins]
Lynn Parsons: Hello. I’m Lynn Parsons and welcome to Pop on the Line, the program that gives you a chance to put questions to some of the world’s most popular music stars. Today I’m joined by David Gilmour of Pink Floyd. If you’d like to talk to David, then call us now. All you have to do is dial your international access code followed by the code for the United Kingdom — 44 — the London code, which is 171 — and then 379 7444. That’s your international access code, followed by 44 171 379 7444. And if you’re calling from within the United Kingdom, call 0171 379 0411. Once you’ve telephoned and placed your question, then we’ll endeavor to ring you back so that Pop On The Line pays for the call. If you have access to e-mail, you can send your question to David Gilmour right now to WS.Pop@bbc.co.uk- — that’s WS.Pop@bbc.co.uk.
[Part of “Money” plays.]
LP: Money by Pink Floyd originally featured on one of the biggest selling albums of all time, Dark Side of the Moon, which to date has sold over 25 million copies worldwide. A brilliantly produced album with a sharp awareness of stereo effects, it pioneered a whole new way of making records. It was soon followed by further classic albums, Wish You Were Here, Animals, The Wall, and most recently The Division Bell. These albums not only pushed back the boundaries of studio production, but also elevated the band to the forefront of stadium concert spectaculars with breathtaking state-of-the-art performances.
[Part of “Shine On You Crazy Diamond” plays.]
LP: David Gilmour has been a major force in Pink Floyd for over 30 years, and since the mid 1980s has been the chief songwriter and vocalist as well as one of the world’s leading guitarists. Outside of the band he’s found time to produce two solo albums, and make guest appearances on tracks with
Elton John, Pete Townshend, Paul McCartney and Kate Bush whom he also discovered. David has toured as a solo artist too, and in 1985 made an appearance at Live Aid with Brian Ferry.
[Part of “Take It Back” plays.]
LP: Pink Floyd released their last studio album, The Division Bell, four years ago, which was followed by an eight month world tour accompanied by the band’s biggest-ever stage show. The highly successful tour was documented on a double live CD called p.u.l.s.e. Since that tour David has guested on stage with The Who for a special performance of Quadrophenia in aid of Prince Charles’s Prince’s Trust, and he performed for the Dalai Lama at a benefit concert in London in 1996. Since then David’s been keeping a lower profile but he’s kindly agreed to join us today to answer your questions. Welcome, David. How are you?
David Gilmour: Oh, very well. I feel great after that introduction. Thank you!
LP: [laughs] We have so many calls from all over the world. Let’s cross to one from Germany to start with. Andrew, you’re through to David Gilmour:
Andrew: Hello there! Hello Dave.
DG: Hi.
Andrew: I’d like to kick off by just saying thanks for all the music. I’ve been a Pink Floyd fan since I saw you at the Roundhouse, I think it was, back in… seventy-three? You can probably correct me…
DG: Seventy-three? I thought it was earlier than that, the last time we were at the Roundhouse, but I can’t remember it though.
Andrew: Was it– was it earlier than that? Somebody took me there and there was this great guitar player on stage.
DG: Was he?
Andrew: Well, I thought he was quite good. Um… If you had to enter the music industry today, how would you go about it?
DG: Well, I– terrified, I think! I, I…
Andrew: What has changed over the past 30 years, because so many of the people who are making the breaks today seem to be produced by established figures such as yourself, or Aitkens & Waterman and so on.
DG: Well, I’m not sure if I like the comparison, but… [laughter] ehm… I have no idea how I’d– I haven’t even given a second’s thought how I’d enter into today. It’s a very, very difficult market. But I suppose one would try to enter it through the medium of modern technology, and the internet seems to be what a lot of independent bands are doing these days. They’re bypassing the studio — the big studios, EMI and all the record companies — and just doing it themselves, online, selling their stuff, getting known through that medium.
LP: Andrew, do you ask that question because you’d like to start a band up or you just…
Andrew: Well, I used to be in the music industry a long, long time ago and I’m at the middle of, I’ve just started to think about returning to the music industry, and all the old contacts and all the old ways of doing things seems to have just gone out of the window.
DG: Well, the old ways still apply. You can still send tapes to record companies, and there are record companies, you know, there are one or two of the record companies do declare proudly that they listen to every single one that comes…
Andrew: They seem to be looking for something, shall we say–one always has these accusations–something more “commercial”…. They seem to have an idea of what it is they’re looking for before they’ve found it.
DG: If you have, um, yes, obviously record companies tend to be following what the scene is rather than making the scene. For me, the way we did it, the way I think it has often worked, is that people gained a live reputation, and if you have a live reputation and your popularity is proven that way, then you’re bound to get signed up because they see all those people buying those tickets and they think some of those people will buy those records, and that’s what their business is primarily about.
LP: Andrew, if you wanted to send a tape to The Next Big Thing here at the World Service care of me, there’s a new series of programs trying to break new bands. You can always do that. You have the address.
Andrew: [laughs] Okay, I’m sure we will, along with…
LP: All right, God bless and thank you very much for your call. Next, cross to India. Krish, you’re through to David Gilmour.
Krish: Thank you, Lynn. Actually, all my friends when I tell them that I was talking to Dave Gilmour are going to have a heart attack, so God forgive me for that!
DG: Hm. Oh, I hope not.
Krish: And my question is this — Sorry?
DG: I hope not.
LP: You won’t, Krish. What’s your question?
Krish: [Laughs.] I hope not, too. My question is, is MTV doing more harm than good to [the] music industry?
DG: Ehm, the whole — I — I’ve no idea if it’s doing more harm than good. Personally, I’m not very keen on the visualization of absolutely everything. I think myself that, rather like books, music is meant to enter into the brain, well via your ears rather than your eyes but, it’s — I think a lot more should be left to the imagination. And I think once you’ve seen a song with a video, it limits your own mind’s ability to read into it anything other than what you’ve seen.
LP: Krish, does that make you happy, that answer?
Krish: Yeah, kind of. That’s true, actually. Being a — Actually, it was really a bad question for me, actually. MTV and the radio makes no difference at all. And so… [laughs nervously] I a was wondering if what, I mean, what do you think about it? A supplementary question, if I may, like, who is your favourite author? Who is your favourite author?
DG: My favourite author? God, I don’t know, I’ve… um…
LP: Do you get a chance to read?
DG: Ah, yes, yes! I read a lot! Um, in the last year or two… I’ll have to try and think what the last two were I read, I liked. “Correlli’s Madolin” quite recently and, God, hundreds of things, all the time.
LP: Krish, thank you very much for your call. Let’s go to Greece now: Theona Farmbridge.
Theona: Hello!
LP: What’s your question?
Theona: Oh, hello.
DG: Hello.
Theona: I’d like to say that, um, I think a lot of your music is rather sad and… poignant, perhaps?
DG: Yeah.
Theona: I wondered if you were at all aware of this?
DG: Ehm, it’s really tough to get happy music going, you know? And the music tends to be an expression of one’s darker moments.
Theona: Really.
DG: And I don’t– I find it incredibly difficult to write anything that’s really happy.
Theona: Yeah.
DG: It doesn’t mean that necessarily I or Roger or anyone else who’s written this stuff it permanently miserable.
Theona: Hmmm.
DG: Oh, I don’t know though!
Theona: Right… Well, I just wondered. Um, by the way, there’s a marvelous spot out here for a very small outdoor concert, an ancient Greek ampitheatre. [LP laughs]… off in the hills overlooking the ____ Gulf?
DG: Yes?
Theona: If you’re ever looking for place to do a concert, you’d love it.
DG: Mm hmm. Sounds brilliant! I’ll, I’ll jot it down.
Theona: You’ll bear it in mind…
DG: Yeah.
LP: We’ll take down the details, Theona. Thank you for your call.
Theona: Thank you very much and good luck with your future music.
DG: Thank you.
Theona: Thank you.
LP: We said earlier on that you were keeping a lower profile. Is that ‘cos you’re happy and you’re not writing new music?
DG: Eh, that’s pretty much it. Yes. I haven’t felt compelled to go back in the studio and do anything serious. I have a little sort of home studio thing which I potter about in occasionally. I’ve sort of remarried a few years ago and have had a couple more children in the last couple of years. And so home life is taking up a lot of my time, and my wife is writing a book at the moment. And so I’m leaving the space to he, as far as work is concerned mostly, at the moment.
LP: Which leads us slightly into a question from Jennifer Lignes which was emailed to us from Paris, um, and she said, “Please ask David Gilmour, ‘Are any of your children interested in music, or do they play any type of music?'”
DG: Well, I think they’re all stunningly talented but, of course, naturally…
LP: [laughs] You’re biased.
DG: I’m a little bit biased. Uh, none of them have really decided to make it a career. None of the ones who are old enough to make it a career have decided to make it a career. But I live in hope.
LP: John Almrud is in Crowley in the U.K. You’re through to David Gilmour.
John: Thank you. Hello, David. Nice to talk to you.
DG: Hi.
John: If you’re looking for somewhere to do that concert, by the way, my back garden is very suitable for an outdoor concert… [LP laughs]
DG: It’s much closer to home! Thank you. I must get the address.
John: [laughs] Thank you. David, I wanted to ask you, The Division Bell was fantastic, Pink Floyd are going from strength to strength in my view, but what was it that made you decide to make your own solo material, and do you have any plans to continue that?
DG: Ehm, if you are in a band or in any situation with other people there are obviously brilliant aspects to it, but there are also things that you start finding yourself tied to. And sometimes you write pieces of music that you don’t feel suits the group as it stands, or even bits of music that they’ve not liked that you do like, and um… or sometimes they don’t want to work and you do want to work, so there’s a number of reasons why one might find oneself doing these things. And asked whether I shall do it again, I expect so, but I don’t really know when.
John: Okay, well, that would be great. Thank you very much for talking to me.
DG: It’s my pleasure.
LP: John, thank you for your call. And Donna Henry is in Arizona. Donna, you’re through to David.
Donna: Hi, David. How are you.
DG: Hi! I loved ‘The Age of Innocense.”
Donna: It’s a priviledge for me.
DG: Sorry?
Donna: Pardon me?
DG: Yeah? Carry on.
Donna: Okay, what I wanted to know is, will you be releasing any solo material in the future?
DG: Ehm, I just said to the previous ___ I expect to one day but I haven’t- — To be honest with you, I haven’t actually got any plans. I haven’t made a plan yet. Umm… I’m afraid this is a very pleasant opportunity to chat, but without a great deal of hard information.
LP: Donna, you also had another question, didn’t you?
Donna: Well, I understand that you’ve recently become a born-again Christian?
DG: Uh, you understand wrong.
Donna: Is that wrong?
DG: Where did you hear that?
Donna: Um, on an interview that you had supposedly given over the internet, well, it was posted on the internet.
DG: Oh, right, one of those things. Well, they’re notoriously unreliable. You don’t want to believe everything you hear–
Donna: Okay!
DG: –unless it’s um, I mean, you can’t even see it’s me now, so it might not be. It might be an imposter the BBC had put in here, but…
LP: [laughs]
Donna: No, I recognize the voice!
DG: Oh, good, good! No, I’m afraid I haven’t become a born-again Christian. I’m sort of ‘Church of England, lapsed’ is about as far as I go.
LP: So the moral of the story is, don’t believe everything you read on the internet, Donna.
Donna: I guess so. Well, that would void out my second question, and that was just that if that was going to influence your future writings with Pink Floyd and solo. I guess not. [laughs]
DG: Yeah, well…
LP: Certainly not, but thank you very much for your call anyway, Donna.
Donna: Well, thank you.
LP: All right. Bye bye. Uh, we have another email here for you which is slightly more complicated, ah, complex I should say. It’s from Singapore, and it’s Gary Fryjunia who says, “Dear Mr. Gilmour, I think there is a misconception about your interaction betweem Nick Mason and Rick Wright. Could you expand upon what your relationship in between the three of you is? Are you close? Do you spend time together? Or do you mainly maintain your private lives with occasional interaction concerning the business of Pink Floyd?”
DG: Ehm, you know, Nick is the best drummer that Pink Floyd has had for Pink Floyd, and Rick is the best keyboard player that Pink Floyd have had for Pink Floyd. And we have, um, a very good relationship, a very good working relationship. I don’t say — I saw Nick last night, funnily enough. But, um, we don’t see that much of each other. It’s like, it’s a very long period of time we’ve been working together, and we are very different people and have different groups of friends and family things, so we don’t see that much of each other but one shouldn’t read too much into that. I know that when people say these things, it’s often taken that we hate each other’s guts, but that’s nowhere near the truth. And they, you know — Our working relationship has been very good, mostly, if at times frustrating.
LP: I think that answers that question. Okay, let’s take another call. This one’s from Winchester in the U.K. David Parker.
Parker: Hello there! Hi, Mr. Gilmour!
DG: Hi.
Parker: I — it’s a quite simple question, really. What music do you listen to, which includes your music and songwriting? And I ask this because Pink Floyd for the last thirty years have always managed to have quite a unique sound, and your guitar playing is certainly very distinctive nowadays. Is there anybody that you particularly think, ‘Wow, yeah, that’s a good sound’ or something?
DG: Ah, uh, the things that I — It’s funny because the things that I listen to are not the sort of things that you would imagine would influence our sound an awful lot.
Parker: Hm!
DG: I still, I sort of wait for and buy new Bob Dylan records and lots of, you know, the BOF’s. You know, Neil Young and Joni Mitchell and all these people that have been around for centuries. I’ve enjoyed some of the new stuff that’s been coming out, um…
Parker: I was just thinking about those bands like Ocean Colour Scene that’ve also got a very, a very heavy sixties influence and have picked up on sort of things like perhaps you were playing in the sixties and the Small Faces and so forth. I mean, have you listened to them? Do you think —
DG: I’ve only heard them on the radio. I havn’t got any Ocean Colour Scene records. I’ve got an Elastica record quite recently that I enjoy, ehm, I like the Lemonheads quite a bit, ehm…
Parker: You like to keep your hand in a bit with these modern things, eh?
DG: I like to have a listen to it, but getting immersed in a whole album by these — by most of the things that I’ve heard recently is pretty tough going, and I find myself unequal to the task. And I do occasionally lift a track off something and put it together in a little compilation tape of things for me to listen to. But, um, I — To be honest, I don’t listen to groups, really. Hardly ever. I know I’m in one, but I don’t like them very much.
Parker: What about classical music? Does that, sort of, do much for you at all?
DG: Yes! Um, I listen to classical music at home probably more than pop music. But um…
Parker: So when you have to do your own writing, you sort of shut yourself away and sort of think, “It’s just gonna be Pink Floyd.” You don’t sort of listen to things and go, “Oh, well, I could go with something from that and…”
DG: I think it’s all just done by osmosis. You know, subconsciously you just pick up things into your sort of musical vocabulary and use them. I don’t, consciously anyways, sort of listen to things with the idea of getting something from them that I can use.
Parker: Then what you’re saying, you haven’t actually been sat down doing much lately, anyway, you’ve been…
DG: Well spotted!
LP: [laughs loudly] You can say that! David, thank you.
Parker: I mean musically, I mean songwriting-wise, things like that, you’ve obviously had other things to fill your life with.
DG: I have been doing some writing. I have got sort of, you know, some tapes of bits and pieces that I’ve been working on, but, uh…
Parker: Really?
DG: Ehm…
LP: Wait with baited breath, David.
Parker: Yes, I was gonna say, I shall wait and wait until —
LP: All right, thanks very much for your call.
DG: Don’t bait your breath. That’s bad for your health.
LP: Something I need to pick up on that David mentioned was, he said, “Do you just shut yourself away?” Do you shut yourself away to write, or do you do it whilst you’re doing other things?
DG: Ehm, well, I keep a little notebook, an audio notebook — you know, like a cassette player — handy at most times, and little ideas can pop into one’s head at any time, and if I’m being reasonably efficient I’ve got it close enough to hand, then I pop that little tiny moment of a few seconds down onto a tape and then I can forget about it for… years sometimes.
LP: And then go back to it.
DG: And then sort of go through these tapes and file them all, listen to them and think, “Is this one any good, or is it…? Does it still contain a little sort of tiny moment of magic in it that I thought it did when I first put it down?” And if it doesn’t then it gets dumped.
LP: Are you jotting down an idea, or are you jotting down notes?
DG: Well, I tend to jot down music.
LP: Right.
DG: I mean, I don’t write it. It’s, it’s a tape machine of sorts. I strum it or plunk it on a piano or stuff like that. Occasionally if it’s words I can speak a word or two into it as well, of course. I can’t read or write music, so none of it gets done that way.
LP: That’s very interesting, [laugsh] to have done so well and you can’t read or write music.
DG: That’s the secret.
LP: [laughs] Caspar is in Denmark. You’re through to David.
Caspar: Hi, David.
DG: Hullo.
Caspar: Hi. Regarding the conversation at the end of “High Hopes”…
DG: Yesss…
Caspar: Many sources state that this is Steven O’Rourke talking to your stepson, Charlie.
DG: Yeah, ‘at’s true.
Caspar: It’s true.
DG: Yeh.
Caspar: Because I once read… no… can’t remember where, but uh, that it was you. And I think it sounds like you a lot.
DG: No, I’m afraid it’s… The rumor that you’d heard is true. It’s–
Caspar: Okay. How was it recorded?
DG: Ehm, it’s just on a telephone answering machine at my house when he’d called up and was was being, um, my son Charlie was being unhelpful, and we laughed so much at the message that we stuck it on at the end.
Caspar: Well, it’s…
DG: Steve always said he wanted to get on one of our records.
Caspar: And he did.
DG: Yeah.
Caspar: Okay.
LP: Caspar, you’re also a huge Simpsons fan. That’s right, isn’t it?
Caspar: That’s right, mostly because of the… my awareness of Simpsons began when I was aware there were reference(s) to Pink Floyd in The Simpsons. I noticed eleven references to Pink Floyd. [LP laughs.]
DG: Really?
Caspar: Have you ever been offered a guest over-voice part in The Simpsons?
DG: I haven’t, actually. No. I’ve never really watched it. Charlie watches it sometimes, so I have seen a few moments of it, but I haven’t managed to get into it.
Caspar: Your posters are often on the walls of, uh, Homer’s youth home.
DG: Good. How nice!
LP: Casper, thank you very much for your call. [To DG.] Um, can I ask you about something other than music? Is it true that you fly?
DG: It is true, yes.
LP: Ah! And how long have you flown for? Are these big aeroplanes, little aeroplanes?
DG: Um, well, sort of small to medium. I’ve been flying since 1986, so I think… I did have qualified on a small citation jet at some point, but my qualification on that I imagine lapsed ‘cos I just did it as a thing to do in my spare time. I tend to fly old airplanes and old sort of things that are nearly about as old as me. Biplanes and stuff like that.
LP: Have you looped the loop?
DG: Mm hmm!… Yes, yes, we do that.
LP: Oh! [laughs] And barrel rolls?
DG: Pardon?
LP: And barrel rolls.
DG: Yes, yes, looped the loop and barrel rolled, yes.
LP: We have, uh, a question for you about that in just a moment. We have a piece of music as well related to that. But first, if you’ve just joined us, you’re listening to the World Service. It’s Pop on the Line, and my guest is David Gilmour of Pink Floyd. If you would like to ask David a question, all you have to do is dial your international access code followed by the code for the United Kingdom — four four — the London code which is one seven one, and then 379 7444. That’s your international access code. followed by 44 171 379 7444. And if you’re calling from within the United Kingdom, then it’s 0171 379 0411. And if you have access to e-mail, you can e-mail us as this address: WS.Pop@bbc.co.uk — that’s WS.Pop@bbc.co.uk. But now, as promised, to do with flying, Learning to Fly.
[Learning to Fly plays. Fades out early at “a dream unthreatened by the morning light…”]
LP: From the album “Momentary Lapse of Reason”, Pink Floyd, Learning to Fly. I apologize for fading it early. We have so many calls to get through. David Gilmour my guest on Pop on the Line and a question about that track now from Patrick in the States. Hello, Patrick.
Patrick Keller: Hi!
DG: Hello.
PK: Nice to be talking to you, Mr. Gilmour.
DG: Yeah.
LP: What’s your question, Patrick?
PK: I was just wondering if, if the accident with John Denver has affected your flying habits at all?
DG: Ah, no, it hasn’t, to be honest with you. Um, there are accidents we read about, constantly. Um, but the numbers in terms — in percentages of the actual people that fly is very, very small. I don’t know what the final outcome on the inquiry on that accident was, but it sounded like there were a number of things that he did wrong, and these things happen, I’m afraid. But I hopefully won’t be making any of those sort of mistakes. I mean, that was a kit plane taken out of a box and screwed together, and I think his license was out-of-date and… from what I heard… sue me if I’m speaking out of turn, but, it sounded sort of kind of a foolish mission to have embarked on.
LP: Patrick, you have another question, too?
PK: Yes, uh, just quickly, I was wondering who is it that’s talking during the middle section of that song?
DG: Ehm, I — Nick mason is doing it, I think, with a chap who was our sort-of flying instructor.
PK: Okay. It’s just one of those things I think that’s always, uh…
LP: Of interest to you?
PK: Yeah.
LP: Patrick, thank you very much for your call. Um, now we remain in the United States of America, but where exactly, James? Where are you?
James: Um, Clark Summit, Pennsylvania.
LP: Oh, Pennsylvania six five oh oh oh.
James: No, not (Eastern?) Pennsylvania. [Mumbled, hard to understand.]
LP: All right, I’m sorry. James, you’re through to David. What’s your question.
James: Uh, I was, I was wondering, Dave — first of all, hello.
DG: Hi.
James: Uh… [longish pause] How was it that you came to meet and discover Kate Bush? And did you enjoy the working relationship with her?
DG: Eh, I met her through a friend of mine whose name was Ricky Hopper. I dunno, I think he lives in Canterbury, so I’m told. I haven’t seen him for very many years, but he was friendly with Kate’s brother, and he said, “You must listen to this tape of this girl. She’s brilliant.” So I listened to the tape of the girl and she was brilliant, and um… We spent a bit of time working on what the best way of moving her forward, or getting her what she wanted, which was to make records, and made some demos — proper ones. I mean, we didn’t make them as demos. We made proper master recordings of three tracks which we then played to EMI who said they would like to sign her, and did. And I didn’t actually really work on that stuff myself; I chose the songs out of piles of stuff that she had and then employed other people to do the work. And it’s worked brilliantly.
LP: James, thank you very much for your call.
James: Thanks very much.
LP: Let’s cross to Singapore. William Wissan is there. He’s eleven years old. Welcome, William.
William: [child’s voice] Yeah, hi!
DG: Hi.
William: I’m a Liverpool football fan as well as a Pink Floyd fan and I’ve got two questions.
DG: Yeah.
William: And… When I go to school on the bus, I always listen to The Wall every day, and I’d like to know if you went to a rotten school when you were a kid.
DG: If I went to a…?
William: A rotten school.
DG: Yeah, ‘course I did! Everyone goes to rotten schools when they’re kids, don’t they?
William: [laughs]
DG: I went to a school in Cambridge, which I thought was completely rotten. Yes, hated it. Now they want me to go back there and support this, that, and the other [LP laughs] and I haven’t managed to pluck up the courage to even face it yet.
LP: Do you have school dinners, William?
William: Oh, no.
LP: All right.
William: We have lunch time, yeah. But really, it’s rubbish.
LP: Oh, is it? [laughs]
William: Yeah.
DG: Mm hmm. I remember it well.
LP: All right, you were gonna ask a question about sports, yes?
William: Yeah, mmm. What is your favorite sport?
DG: [thoughtfully] Gosh, my favorite sport… Well, I used to go to football a little bit, and we used to go and watch the Arsenal. We’ve actually put the Liverpool Kop singing “You’ll Never Walk Alone” on a track that we did on the “Meddle” album many, many years ago. Um… what other sports do I… I like watching sports, you know, all sorts of stuff. I’ve played rugby at school a bit. I didn’t play football at school; I played football after school. And…
William: Did you have a favorite player?
DG: No, not really. Charlie George, I suppose, pretty good.
William: He was good, yeah.
DG: You remember him, do you?
William: Yeah, I do… I, I, I’ve been a football fan for eleven years and I love it.
DG: Good.
LP: Do you play, William?
William: Yeah, I love it. I play like every day.
LP: Do you? AND you listen to The Wall every day! You fit a lot into your day, don’t you?
William: Yeah.
DG: Liverpool did well yesterday, didn’t they?
William: Oh yeah, very well. Very well.
LP: William, thank you very much for your call.
William: Bye!
LP: I hope school improves for you. I hope it gets a bit more fun. [laughs]
DG: [chuckles] Don’t count on it.
To be continued……………… Below are snippets of the subjects yet to be transcribed.
From Holland: Heard that Dave and Polly are going to divorce.
Answer: Certainly not correct “We’ve only been married for four years, give us a chance”
Q. Polly’s influence on music.
A. Well when we were doing The Division Bell we were obviously living together. Making a record is a lot of work as well the studio, when getting home late at night, still lot’s of work to do, reviewing what was done. Polly’s opinions were very usefull and she’s co-wrote a lot of lyrics. Lyrics are not Dave’s main trade.
Q. Re Live aid (1985)
A. Terrifying, on stage with Brian Ferry. Shoved you on, you had 17 minutes to do your bit. My guitar didn’t work and I was just looking at amplifiers. By the time I fiddled around and got it working it was all over really. The day itself was momentous.
Q. Re best guitar solo’s. Mentions CN & 2 tracks off The Wall. How do you explain how your music stays in peoples minds?
A.Don’t know. We have done our very best over all these years. You tell me why.
Q. Re new album.
Well, we haven’t made such a plan, I can categorically tell you there is no plan for a record, no plan for a tour. And we’re not doing the Millenium Show, we’re not doing a Cornish eclipse show. I greatly doubt there we be a new album out by the millennium.
I haven’t felt compelled to go back in the studio and do anything serious,. I do however, take note of musical ideas with a small recorder. I have a sort of little home studio thing which I saunter about occasionally.
Q Re solo album.
A I expect so, but I don’t really know when,to be honest with you, I haven’t actually got any plans.
Q. Do you know how Syd is?
He lives in Cambridge, and he is not too bad, his mental health is better than it has been for years. he is diabetic, and I think he’s rather resistant to taking the right drugs that he’s supposed to take for it. And that has now apparently, so I am told, affected his eyesight quite a bit.
Q. Any chance of him recording again, either by himself or with Pink Floyd?
A. I think it’s pretty unlikely myself.
Q. Why do your lyrics centre around mental abberation?
A. Dark Side of The Moon is Roger’s writing, influenced by exploring the mind. (lots more, didn’t get it all).
How is it playing in foreign countries where people speak a different language and may not understand the lyrics.
Answer: Strange, People in Italy seem to be very capable of singing along with ‘Wish You Were Here’ perfectly, yet it’s hard to get someone in the street who speaks english.
Q. Any songs in foreign language?
A….. Speak French reasonably well & a bit of German.
Dave never recorded anything in a foreign language and it’s not likely to happen.
Q. Early music.
A. Some early stuff embarassing because it’s bad. I consider ourselves amateurs in a cottage industry.
What will you do when you go home now?
“Getting his youngest boy to bed, make him some supper, and watch some TV”.