Bas Andriessen...I am just writing to thank you for producing this fantastic interview. I have listening to King Crimson and Robert Fripps various output for many years and found this interview to be a goldmine! Many Thanks.
Amongst other things, a fascinating insight into the inner workings of The Mighty Crim. Its distinct sound seemed dependant on Fripp holding the boundaries.
"Music, outside the world of entertainment...it's where music is real, it's where the musician and music are not separate...it's where music speaks directly. If you work as a professional musician there's ongoing censorship and filters, for example by the record company...introduces a filter called a producer to make sure that the artist doesn't do wild things like follow the impulses of the muse...heaven forbid!" Nice one, Fripp.
28:18 "what you could not do". What Fripp says here is very enlightening. In 1981, they could not play the 69-74 repertory, whether they wanted it or not. That really amazes me: how the critics were able to suppress certain types of music in favour of others. You could actually see the effect it had on the prog bands, who had to move to do substandard pop stuff in order to survive. KC willing absorbed the post-punk new wave stuff, but they really had no option. They couldn't just go on stage and play Islands then. Interestingly enough, post-2010 they seem to focus on the 69-74 repertory and they are highly regarded for that. What a turnaround! The 80s was a very hard time for certain types of music. I grew up then and I hated it.
This is interesting. Robert will give you an entire ethnography of himself and the world he lives in instead of answering direct questions on music or the musical process.
RF says the League of Gentlemen was a dance band and at least, he sounds serious about it. But i think he has his tongue in chick. That music wasn't for dancing. I can't imagine how his audience could dance to Minor Man or to Heptaparaparshinoch or to any other of the band's tunes. Maybe like Frank Zappa he was asking his fans to dance to something undanceable - if you excuse the neologism. Anyway I had been on two of these shows and although they were - annoyingly so for me - standing not sitting places, no one attempted to dance to the music. I don't even remember RF encouraging the audience to dance. But I remember a guy calling to him loudly to STAND UP which of course he refused with a movement of the head and a smile.
Bas Andriessen...I am just writing to thank you for producing this fantastic interview. I have listening to King Crimson and Robert Fripps various output for many years and found this interview to be a goldmine! Many Thanks.
Thank you for posting man. Hearing Robert talk is very inspiring
Amongst other things, a fascinating insight into the inner workings of The Mighty Crim. Its distinct sound seemed dependant on Fripp holding the boundaries.
"Music, outside the world of entertainment...it's where music is real, it's where the musician and music are not separate...it's where music speaks directly. If you work as a professional musician there's ongoing censorship and filters, for example by the record company...introduces a filter called a producer to make sure that the artist doesn't do wild things like follow the impulses of the muse...heaven forbid!" Nice one, Fripp.
NICE JOB! Robert Fripp has made great contributions to music.
28:18 "what you could not do". What Fripp says here is very enlightening. In 1981, they could not play the 69-74 repertory, whether they wanted it or not. That really amazes me: how the critics were able to suppress certain types of music in favour of others. You could actually see the effect it had on the prog bands, who had to move to do substandard pop stuff in order to survive.
KC willing absorbed the post-punk new wave stuff, but they really had no option.
They couldn't just go on stage and play Islands then. Interestingly enough, post-2010 they seem to focus on the 69-74 repertory and they are highly regarded for that.
What a turnaround!
The 80s was a very hard time for certain types of music. I grew up then and I hated it.
This is interesting. Robert will give you an entire ethnography of himself and the world he lives in instead of answering direct questions on music or the musical process.
Great interview!
Was it difficult to get it?
RF says the League of Gentlemen was a dance band and at least, he sounds serious about it. But i think he has his tongue in chick. That music wasn't for dancing. I can't imagine how his audience could dance to Minor Man or to Heptaparaparshinoch or to any other of the band's tunes. Maybe like Frank Zappa he was asking his fans to dance to something undanceable - if you excuse the neologism. Anyway I had been on two of these shows and although they were - annoyingly so for me - standing not sitting places, no one attempted to dance to the music. I don't even remember RF encouraging the audience to dance. But I remember a guy calling to him loudly to STAND UP which of course he refused with a movement of the head and a smile.