Collins wears a black shirt, blue jeans and a hat that he has just bought, and despite his physical handicap is in good spirits. It has just become known that he is back together with his ex-wife Orianne - but now he is starting to talk about the big re-release project of his eight solo albums. After "Face Value" (1981) and "Both Sides" (1993) now "Hello, I Must Be Going!" is released (1982) and "Dance Into The Light" (1996).
eclipsed: Phil, how's your back?
Phil Collins: It will. If I stand long, it hurts.
eclipsed: The surgery in September was pretty serious, wasn't it?
Collins: It was, yeah. I've got screws all over my back. Everything was really bent, nerves got jammed, I had had this numbness in my right side for a long time. The body has had to go through a lot through all the drumming. But I am lucky that one of the leading back surgeons lives in Miami, treats me and has become a great friend of mine. We text each other all the time, and he's even older than me.
eclipsed: You now have all the possibilities where retirement is over: solo album, solo tour, an album with your new neighbor Barry Gibb, maybe even a comeback with Genesis..
Collins: Easy, easy. Wait a minute. (laughs)
eclipsed: All right, but you're definitely back in the game.
Collins: Right. But I don't want to start too much in one fell swoop, I don't want to be too much. I have to come back in first. But the possibilities are there, I agree with you. Three or four years ago, I would have answered, "I'm not doing anything anymore!" Right now, I'm thinking about the projects I could go about. But I'm still not getting into the form: Yes, I do this or that in any case.