3 minute read
Syd Barrett
from Kutucnu_0221
by aquiaqui33
Whatwouldyousoonerbe – a painter or musician? Well, I think ofmebeingapaintereventually.
Advertisement
Doyouseethelasttwoyears as a process of getting yourself
togetheragain?No.Perhaps it has something to do with what I felt couldbebetterasregardsmusic, as far as my job goes generally, as IdidfindIneededajob.Iwanted to do a job. I never admitted it becauseI’mapersonwhodoesn’t admit it.
Therewerestoriesyouwere going to go back to college or get
ajobinafactory.Well,ofcourse, living in Cambridge I have to find somethingtodo.IsupposeI could’ve done a job. I haven’t been doing anywork.I’mnotusedtodoing quick jobs and then stopping, but I’m sureit’dbepossible.
November 1970: “I think of me being a painter eventually”
TellmeaboutthePinkFloyd – how did they start? Roger WatersisolderthanIam.He was at the architecture school in London.IwasstudyingatCambridge – I think it was before I had setupatCamberwell[artcollege]. I was moving backwards and forwardstoLondon.Iwasliving in Highgate with him, we shared aplacethere,andgotavan, and spent a lot of our grant on pubs andthatsortofthing.Wewere playing Stones numbers. I supposewewereinterested in playing guitars – I picked up playingguitarquitequickly. I didn’t play much in Cambridge becauseIwasfromtheartschool, you know. But I was soon playingontheprofessional scene and began to write from there.
Yourwriting’salwaysbeen concerned purely withsongsratherthanlong instrumental pieces
liketherestoftheFloyd, hasn’t it? Their choice ofmaterialwasalwaysvery much to do with what theywerethinkingasarchitecture students. Rather unexcitingpeopleIwould’ve thought, primarily. Imean,anybodywalkinginto an art school like that would’vebeentricked–maybe they were working theirentryintoanartschool.
Butthechoiceofmaterialwas restricted, I suppose, bythefactthatRogerandIwrote different things. We wroteourownsongs,played our own music. They were older,byabouttwoyears,Ithink. I was 18 or 19. I don’t knowthattherewasmuchconflict, except that perhaps thewaywestartedtoplaywasn’t as impressive as it wastous,even,wasn’tasfull of impact as it might’ve been.Imean,itwasdonevery well, rather than considerablyexciting.Onethinks of it all as a dream.
Didyoulikewhattheywere doing – the fact thatthemusicwasgradually moving away
fromsongslike“SeeEmily Play”? Singles are alwayssimple…Alltheequipment was battered andworn–allthestuffwestarted out with was our ownproperty.Theelectronic noises were probably necessary.Theywereveryexciting. That’s all, really. Thewholethingatthetime was playing on stage.
Barrett with Pink Floyd at the UFO club, London, 1967
Wasitonlyyouwhowanted to make singles?
Itwasprobablymealone,Ithink. Obviously, being apopgrouponewantedtohave singles. I think “Emily”wasfourthinthehits.
Whydidyouleavethem? It wasn’t really a war, justamatterofbeingalittle offhand about things. Wedidn’tfeeltherewasone thing which was gonna makethedecisionattheminute. I mean, we did split up,andtherewasalotoftrouble. I don’t think Pink Floydhadanytrouble,butI had an awful scene, probablyself-inflicted,having a Mini and going all overEnglandandthings… Did the glamour go to your head at all? I dunno. Perhaps you could see it as something went to one’s head, but I don’t know that it was relevant.
There were stories that you’d left because you’d
been freaked out by acid trips. Well, I dunno, it doesn’t seem to have much to do with the job. I only know the thing of playing, of being a musician, was very exciting. Obviously, one was better off with a silver guitar with silver mirrors and things all over it than people who ended up on the floor or anywhere else in London. The general concept, I didn’t feel so conscious of it as perhaps I should. I mean, one’s position as a member of London’s young people’s – I dunno what you’d call it; ‘underground’ wasn’t it? – wasn’t necessarily realised and felt, I don’t think, especially from the point of views of groups.
I remember at UFO – one week one group, then another week another group, going in and out… I didn’t think it was as active as it could’ve been. I was really surprised that UFO finished. I only read last week that it’s not finished… What we were doing was a microcosm of the whole sort of philosophy and it tended to be a little bit cheap. The fact that the show had to be put together; the fact that we weren’t living i luxurious places with luxurious things around . I think I would always advocate that sort of hing – the luxurious life. It’s probably because don’t do much work.
Were you not at all involved in acid, then,
uring its heyday among rock bands? No, it as all, I suppose, related to living in London. I was lucky enough… I’ve always thought of going
