The actual sound of a note can change, for example if it is sustained. But that is the standard. Is this memo real? And I remember King Crimson. I think I was in Preston in the fall of 1972. It may have been the derby. And it was terrible. I felt like I was lying to my mother. That one lick goes against conscience. I lied to the music and it was appalling. And it still annoys me to this day.
What did you learn from all the pop songs you played on YouTube? When I heard “Toxic,” it sounded like a Crimson riff.
Some of the riffs make me think, “Hmm, we could have dined at the same table.” I love playing classic rock riffs. They are relatively easy if you pay attention when playing them. It was a privilege to play with Crimson, but it was a very special repertoire. As a guitarist, it was like the guitar Olympics, the lines were incredibly difficult and required two to four hours of practice a day. King Crimson is not currently in Go Mode. With some distance, we can turn our attention to learning E-tuning.
You are traveling with your manager and you have a saying deck called Finance. How does having to make a living affect your music?
I have no problem singing for dinner. My feeling is always: Publish your work to the public. Some people change jobs to match what they believe is their publicity. Well, it might work for a while, but I don’t know what the public wants, so if I hear something, I’ll follow suit. If I see something, I trace it, believe it’s good enough for dinner to arrive, and release it to the public. There were times when it was better than others, but wealth and popularity have never been at the top of my to-do list.
I learned to trust the music, I learned to trust the process. And it’s important to let them know that the audience is just as important as the musicians. The relationship is qualitatively different when the audience is present and listening intently. When that happens, the moment becomes a reality. And there is a deep sense of satisfaction. And then you go back, get on the bus, drive overnight to the next venue, and it all starts all over again.