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| Welcome to the Exclusive Interview with Pete Sinfield! |
| While songwriters such as Lennon, McCartney, and Dylan will always get more recognition for their songwriting, perhaps no songwriter in the history of music has been as mysterious and haunting as Peter Sinfield. The written word of Sinfield is guaranteed to be one of rich, lavish landscape and texture. He writes art, quite simply. If any example is needed, check out the King Crimson discography from 1969-1972, in which all lyrics were handled by Mr. Sinfield himself, the perfect counterpart to the shredding guitar work of the Crimson grandmaster Robert Fripp. When I approached Pete about this interview, he had quipped how interesting it should be for a wordsmith to be presented questions from a drummer. It was somewhat challenging, even maybe a bit intimidating for me to pick Pete's brain a bit, knowing that even Pete's casual conversation was so full of imagery and intellect, but I have to say that this has been a very fulfilling and fun interview to do, and Pete is by no means an intimidating fellow at all, rather a very kind and unassuming man. I hope you will all enjoy this interview! |
| Q: Pete, thank you so much for joining me here on my site. This is a thrill for me, and honestly, a big challenge as well. You are the first pure lyricist I have ever interviewed, and a most legendary one at that! I wanted to start off here by kind of going back to the roots of this amazing gift you have of the written word. How early in your life can you recall being able to express yourself through your writings? A: I guess I was about 10 years old. (see school reports on PTP Gallery?) Q: Was it around this same time that you developed your talents for art and music? A: No. It was much later around 1966 to 'compete' with art school friends. Q: Did you have a natural feel for songwriting early on or did it develop from your poetry, or vice versa? A: Over time I discovered a natural ability to assimilate ingredients and, perhaps more importantly, a gift as a 'catalyst', to take someone's ideas and then throw them back, in a challenging and stimulating way. Also I have style and taste. Ha! Q: What were some of your early songwriting/musical influences? A: I heard Donovan sing "Yellow is the colour of my true love's hair..." And I thought well I can do that. For a much longer list see the upcoming interview on KCNews. Q: I know that you don't particularly care to reminisce on the King Crimson era (or maybe more accurately, the Fripp era), but I still don't know if most fans truly understand the magnitude of your contributions to the band. A: Oh I don't mind that much. Neither do I see it as the 'Fripp era'. I see it as a moving feast. KC1 -which would have been something else without my presence. Then the 'Fripp/Sinfield band' evolving to a point where I wanted it to be softer and R. F., harder. However all the way I was able to explore my changing vision. A very rare opportunity. Q: You not only wrote the magical, cerebrally stimulating lyrics on their early albums, but you gave them their name, a sense of direction, and even provided the artistic direction of the album covers. A: Exactly so. . . (I even contributed to some of the music that many folk think is All-Fripp.) Q: Might I ask if you have listened to any of the recent Crimson material and what your opinions are of it? A: I have listened to some of it and it is extraordinary. However - I would rather listen to Paco de Lucia for amazing guitar playing // Bach, the MJQ & Miles Davis for delight. Q: Shortly after leaving Crimson in 1971, you took on the task of producing Roxy Music's first album, your first effort, and a very impressive one as a producer. Roxy Music of course went on to pretty big things, and the two distinct personalities of Bryan Ferry and Brian Eno were developed. What were your early impressions of Brian Eno, with whom you would work with again later down the road? A: Hmm. Good question. Initially I thought Brian was a nuisance but later I've recognised he is a man doing most of my act &, laud, love 'im, frequently doing it much better. Q: Upon your departure from Crimson in 1971, you worked for a period of time on your first and only solo album to date along with a slew of your ex-bandmates including Greg Lake, Ian McDonald, and Boz Burell, the title of which would eventually be entitled Still. It has never been a widely discussed album, and unfortunately I have never heard it personally, but I have seen glowing reviews even up to this current day about it. After spending so much time behind the scenes, crafting the music, what was it like to step in the foreground as the vocalist/guitarist and put your own words to music? A: It was a necessary arrogant move to show the world 'I' was 'me'. It was very hard work. Not the least because I chose to use 'comfortable friends' as opposed to the sharper, best players I knew for the majority of the album. (This was, and is always, a mistake.) Q: Do you feel that, given a little more direction under a more attentive label, that your album might have made a bigger impact? A: Not as such. I thought about attempting to become the UK's answer to Leonard Cohen but since I hated and failed to overcome the stage fright to enjoy public performing it was probably just as well. There was also the current presented challenge to influence ELP in the same way that I had influenced KC. Well, I tried. . . Q: You took a very long hiatus from the music industry in the mid 70's and you basically did not resurface with new writing contributions until the early 90's. Why did you decide to take a break at that point, and what kept you away so long? A: Between 1968 & 1978 I (co)/wrote or (co)/produced 13 albums. Yeah. Helluva 10 years! Living in my country mansion courtesy of money borrowed from ELP in the expectation of mutual millions (unware of the actual low percentage I would receive of, as it turned out, due orchestral catastrophe & naive contracting, not very much.) I was then instructed to go abroad to be a tax exile. So I did. Frankly, not having taken much of a vacation in the previous ten years I surely was in need of one. During my time on Ibiza (where I had big barrels of fun) the world changed; as it does. PUNK DESTROYED MY CAREER! Well it didn't do it much good ;-) I went suddenly, via a divorce, from country mansion to 3 roomed apartment in West London. It is probably good to go back to reality I rationalised. And, given a barely shaken faith that I still had something to offer to the world of popular music, I set about rebuilding my career. Spoilt by the previously unthought about privilege that everything I wrote went directly to disc, I had to learn how to write HIT SONGS or get a proper job - I wrote with many; and word on note, I learnt. I was lucky to meet the likes of Andy Hill and enhance his superior melodies with the ahem, slightly simplified and less obscure version of the 'messages' which I have always written. And they sold!!! Q: There was one collaboration during that period that I wanted to ask you about, when you co-wrote a song called Run With The Fox with Chris Squire and Alan White in 1981. Was that the extent of the work you did with them or was there ever any discussion by Chris and Alan about doing some more long term work? A: Yes that was it. Chris is a long time friend. I also wrote "Get What you Want" with John Wetton. Q: What prompted you to come back to contribute some newly penned lyrics to Robert Sheckley in 1993? A: You are confused. From being in Ibiza I contributed the 'narration' to a story that was cut to disc. Q: You have in the past, put together some comprehensive packages of poems and lyrics you had written back in the 70's. Any chance that you may do that again in the near future? A: One hopes... Problem being only one old grey head to do the work of many a younger green'n. Q: I just had to ask if you have had a hand at all in the recent grouping of the 21st Century Schizoid Band with the Giles' and Ian McDonald? A: Some years ago I suggested Jakko was probably unique in that he could. And I'm very happy he HAS! Q: Peter, thank you so much for taking your valuable time to join me here. It has been a real treat. I did want to wrap up here by asking what other projects you have lined up in the near future? A: You are most welcome and thank you for asking. Hopefuly some stuff for the Schizoid Boys, then there is the cook book, a few poems, and some paintings... If only I were not so lazy. ;-) |
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