Fred Frith
“Fred Frith’s name used to crop up in conversations in my late teens, living in plymouth. the first record I had with him on was John Zorn’s naked City, torture
Garden – he’s on bass. then I heard he’d been in this band Henry Cow, and everything I read about them made me think: ‘this is going to be the band for me.’ which it was.
“I didn’t realise, until prog asked me, how much of an influence he is on me now, as opposed to 20 years ago. He has his own harmonic language and approach. He could be called an incredible guitarist, but he’s also a composer, a collaborator, an improviser, a performer.
“He’s such a complete musician, and everything he does is interesting and brilliant. You could buy robert wyatt’s rock bottom, where he plays viola, or the sleepytime
Gorilla museum project, Cosa brava, or hear him sing with Frith Kaiser thompson. no matter what direction he goes in, he brings a sense of perfection. He jumps with ease between projects. when you play with different musicians, you learn about yourself. Frith never got stuck in a rut. I look at his creative life and go: ‘that’s how you do it.’”