For years Nick Mason has been annoyed about the solo activities of his former band mates Roger Waters and David Gilmour when they take over the Floyd heritage. Now the drummer himself climbs into the ring to put the joint musical legacy on stage in the right light. His band Saucerful Of Secrets is a means of overcoming frustration and nurturing the psychedelic early work that Waters and Gilmour avoid.
Nick Mason is a cozy, talkative older gentleman. A little lumpy, with laugh lines and sparse hair. He is currently conducting several major musical projects: his new boxing set "Unattended Luggage", the first German tour of his newly formed band Nick Mason's Saucerful Of Secrets (from September 4) and the opening of "The Pink Floyd Exhibition: Their Mortal Remains" at Dortmunder U (September 15, 2018 to February 10, 2019). The 74-year-old Englishman is more busy than he has been for years. And he enjoys it to the full, as the interview in his record company's London office shows.
eclipsed: At the end of August you will release three remastered solo albums entitled "Unattended Luggage", unattended luggage. This is dripping with cynicism..
Nick Mason: (laughs) Yeah, they just got forgotten, they were parked somewhere and nobody took care of them for almost forty years. In this respect, the title was a good fit. Only later did I realize that unattended luggage has a completely different meaning today than it used to have in the past. It's something that can be dangerous. (laughs) Times have changed.
eclipsed: What makes you release these albums almost four decades after their first release?
Mason: They haven't been available for some time, not even as a stream or download. Of course, this annoys me because I have invested a lot of time and lifeblood in her. Okay, "Profiles" and "White Of The Eye" sound a bit outdated today, but only because of the technique used. If you listen to that, the keyboards and synthesizers sound terrible. Not to mention the drum machine.
eclipsed: Why did you even use that?
Mason: Because I thought he was part of every drummer's repertoire, seriously! (laughs) But I still like listening to"Fictitious Sports". Carla Bley's arrangements are still as fresh as 1979, and I forgot how much humour there was in them.
eclipsed: This is a very avant-garde, experimental album.
Mason: No wonder it hasn't sold. (laughs) It's still great to give him a second chance now.
