He was tired and exhausted, had already talked too much the last few days and had to step down a bit today. What the manager of Roger Waters passes on to the representative of the New York record company in the best sergeant manner shows little respect for half a dozen journalists who travelled from all over the world to the Big Apple to speak to the former Pink Floyd mastermind. All dates on a rainy Thursday noon at the end of April will be severely shortened. A nonchalant approach, which is not even communicated to most of those affected, in order to avoid resentment.
The artist himself does not seem to be completely uninvolved in this. Waters, a grey panther with a white three-day beard arrives with a slight delay, shakes hands with his counterpart, but first asks how long the appointment will last. "25 minutes," they say. A satisfied nod follows and an explanation: "I just went to the gym and am completely finished. But I can still think and talk." The 73-year-old has no idea that others have to struggle with jet lag and that they each have a day's arrival and departure behind them or ahead of them. But at least he tries hard to have a constructive conversation.
eclipsed: Yesterday you took part in "Times Talk" at Florence Gould Hall and answered questions from fans. And you worked surprisingly well. Quite different from the past..
Roger Waters: (laughs) Because I enjoyed it. The questions were great and the participants were very interested.
eclipsed: So you're an easier interlocutor today? Or just age-moderate?
Waters: I am at peace with myself more than ever. For it is so: We all carry around with us an invisible judge who sits on our shoulder and constantly says: Do not do this, do not do this. He has tormented me throughout my career, especially after the separation from Pink Floyd, which was a huge break for me, an incredibly important decision. I was in the band for 25 years, or whatever, and had a lot of ballast in my luggage. More than I could carry alone. It had a bit of a wedding you leave with empty cans on the bumper that make a big noise. (laughs)
eclipsed: That bad?
Waters: Oh, you can't imagine that..
eclipsed: Especially since you were held solely responsible for the breakup of the band?
Waters: Yes, that was very intense and very hostile. Probably they will never forgive me - and that with all the work I've done, the great songs I've written. Just as far as the other guys in the band are concerned. But we're slowly dying out, so who cares? It just took me a lot of time to get rid of that and see where the problems are, what bothers people about me. All that crap like: He didn't let us write our own plays. Fuck you! (laughs) Nobody stopped you from writing, you morons. This is ridiculous. And you know it. But anyway, I don't want to deepen it because, as you will notice, it is a source of eternal joy. Seriously, I've had enough of this, it made me sick. I've been in therapy for 20 years to put that behind me, and I'm doing my best to keep it that way.
