with WOW What’s On Wales Online would never have made it through X Factor
DRUMMER NICK MASON TALKS TO SHERNA NOAH ABOUT TOURING WITH HIS NEW BAND, THE MUSIC BUSINESS AND THE CHANCES OF A REUNION OF THE WORLD-FAMOUS ROCKERS
FOR Pink Floyd’s Nick Mason, things are going to be a little different when he ventures back on the road. There will not be any women in hotpants “taking advantage” of the world-famous drummer, for one thing.
Nick, 74, is preparing for his first musical tour in more than 20 years, and we are talking about whether the industry must face up to problems of sexual harassment, in the way that the movie world has.
“Maybe I’m naive, but I don’t think the music industry has the same issues, to the same extent,” Nick says.
“There is maybe less opportunity to exploit people and for music moguls to take advantage.”
The last time Nick went on tour was in 1994, as part of Pink Floyd, who, as well as their hits, were known for staging extraordinary and spectacular live shows.
Now the drummer and racing car enthusiast is preparing to tour his new supergroup and he is “practising staying up very late”.
Nick Mason’s Saucerful Of Secrets also features Spandau Ballet’s Gary Kemp, Pink Floyd touring bassist Guy Pratt, The Blockheads guitarist Lee Harris and composer Dom Beken.
The band will play the songs Pink Floyd created before everything changed in 1973 with The Dark Side Of The Moon, the groundbreaking masterpiece which catapulted the British group to fame. Nick says there is a big advantage in selecting tracks from the band’s lesser known oeuvre.
“The great thing about playing early Pink Floyd material is it’s not really treading on anyone else’s toes,” Nick says.
“We don’t have to be a tribute band. Australian Pink Floyd and Brit Floyd (the tribute bands) are out there all doing Comfortably Numb and Dark Side Of The Moon.
“This is uncharted territory. We don’t have to play the songs exactly. We can reinterpret them and so the playing becomes fresher. There’s room for improvisation.”
Nick Mason’s Saucerful Of Secrets is inspired by Pink Floyd’s early history, when the group were at the forefront of Britain’s psychedelic era and led by Syd Barrett, who died in 2006.
They will play tracks, on six UK dates as well as gigs in Europe, from The Piper At The Gates Of Dawn, which was Pink Floyd’s 1967 debut studio album, and the 1968 release A Saucerful Of Secrets.
“In a way, the songs are much freer. They are skeletons for you to be able to put musical ideas on top of,” Nick says. “There’s a lot more freedom than if you’re playing Comfortably Numb. And in some cases, some of those songs really have never been played. We never played them live as Pink Floyd...”
As well as a co-founder of Pink Floyd, Nick was the only constant member of the band, performing on all of their albums, as well as their live shows.
But he questions whether the experimental group, which gave the world hits such as Time, Us And Them and The Wall, would have succeeded if they were starting out now, although they “might have found a niche for ourselves”.
“We wouldn’t even have made the first rounds of the X Factor, not a chance,” he says of Pink Floyd.
“The X Factor is brilliant for entertainment, but it’s not a great stepping stone to a musical career.”
Since his last tour, the music industry has undergone a dramatic transformation, led by the rise of streaming. Singers and bands are no longer able to rely on album sales to make money.
“Bands are finding it tougher because record companies don’t have the cash that they once had to take a chance,” Nick says.
“I admire young musicians because it’s a much harder landscape to make a career in.
“I am aware of just how many bands were given a chance by the record company, many of them lost without trace. But the record company could afford to take bands on and give it a go. Now they operate in a different way.
“You already have to have established yourself with a following and it’s very hard to get your voice heard in such a noisy environment,” Nick says.
Which brings us on to a question millions would like to hear Nick respond positively to – whether there is even just the tiniest possibility of a Pink Floyd reunion.
The last time the classic line-up of David Gilmour, Rick Wright, Roger Waters and Nick performed together was on July 2, 2005, when the foursome reunited for a set at Live 8 in Hyde Park. They played together for the first time in almost 25 years. Sadly, keyboard player Rick died three years later, aged 65.
I ask whether there is any prospect of Pink Floyd following in Abba’s footsteps. The Dancing Queen quartet may not be touring, but they are recording new songs.
“Do you mean, get two girls and do some dance moves?” Nick asks.
Ruling that out, there is another problem – the tensions between Pink Floyd stars David and Roger show no sign of thawing.
“David and Roger are not very keen to work together again,” Nick says. The pair are said to have been feuding for more than 30 years.
However, the drummer knows that he is more optimistic than most, admitting: “I have said that on my tombstone it will say, ‘I’m not sure the band is really over yet’.”
■ Nick Mason’s Saucerful Of Secrets start their UK tour on Sunday, September 23. Go to thesaucerfulofsecrets.com for more details.