“So Robert, when are we going to see you perform live again?”
The question, asked enthusiastically and with no small amount of innocence, hung within the grand old walls of the South
bank Centre’s Purcell Rooms for three solid seconds. The response, delivered in that famously laconic East Kent accent,
was to the point.
“Ain’t going to happen, my old son. Pretend that I’m dead – the record will be more of a surprise then.”
And so it was that a small audience (including celebrity fan Alexis Taylor of Hot Chip) were treated to the dry wit, good
nature and resplendent beard of ex Soft Machine man and experimental composer Robert Wyatt.
Primarily there to discuss new album Comicopera (reviewed here) with Plan B’s Frances Morgan and The Observer’s
Sean O’Hagan, Wyatt came across as a funny and immensely likeable character. The three ‘sections’ of Comicopera
(which Wyatt somewhat reluctantly agreed was a concept album) were discussed at length, including a contribution from
his partner Alfie who clarified some of the themes in her own song, ‘A Beautiful War’.
Wyatt went into some detail about the recording process and how he records one on one with each of his musicians. “If I’
m thinking about recording a saxophonist or a cellist, I don’t want a bloke with a guitar standing there waiting to play”, he
explained. He also spoke of his ‘trons’, which are keyboards synthesized to play the range of a particular singer’s voice. He
revealed that old band mate Kevin Ayers had used a ‘Wyatt-tron’ on his last album.
Regaling his listeners with tales of going on tour with Hendrix (described as a shy child-like man, although ‘older than the
publicity machine would have us believe’) in 1968 and the dawn of the psychedelic underground Wyatt was charming and
exuberant.
There was also some candid remarks about his struggle with alcohol – of which the song ‘Just as you are’ beautifully
addresses. He’s clean now but drank during the making of the record and admitted that he has never completed writing a
song while fully sober.
All of which goes someway to showing what an entertaining speaker and artist Wyatt is. Remarkably honest and articulate,
it is a shame that he is not seen more often on a stage or in the media at large, but as a man who values his privacy and
right to get on with it on his own terms he can only be admired. A true rebel and all round forward thinking dude.
Robert Monk
The question, asked enthusiastically and with no small amount of innocence, hung within the grand old walls of the South
bank Centre’s Purcell Rooms for three solid seconds. The response, delivered in that famously laconic East Kent accent,
was to the point.
“Ain’t going to happen, my old son. Pretend that I’m dead – the record will be more of a surprise then.”
And so it was that a small audience (including celebrity fan Alexis Taylor of Hot Chip) were treated to the dry wit, good
nature and resplendent beard of ex Soft Machine man and experimental composer Robert Wyatt.
Primarily there to discuss new album Comicopera (reviewed here) with Plan B’s Frances Morgan and The Observer’s
Sean O’Hagan, Wyatt came across as a funny and immensely likeable character. The three ‘sections’ of Comicopera
(which Wyatt somewhat reluctantly agreed was a concept album) were discussed at length, including a contribution from
his partner Alfie who clarified some of the themes in her own song, ‘A Beautiful War’.
Wyatt went into some detail about the recording process and how he records one on one with each of his musicians. “If I’
m thinking about recording a saxophonist or a cellist, I don’t want a bloke with a guitar standing there waiting to play”, he
explained. He also spoke of his ‘trons’, which are keyboards synthesized to play the range of a particular singer’s voice. He
revealed that old band mate Kevin Ayers had used a ‘Wyatt-tron’ on his last album.
Regaling his listeners with tales of going on tour with Hendrix (described as a shy child-like man, although ‘older than the
publicity machine would have us believe’) in 1968 and the dawn of the psychedelic underground Wyatt was charming and
exuberant.
There was also some candid remarks about his struggle with alcohol – of which the song ‘Just as you are’ beautifully
addresses. He’s clean now but drank during the making of the record and admitted that he has never completed writing a
song while fully sober.
All of which goes someway to showing what an entertaining speaker and artist Wyatt is. Remarkably honest and articulate,
it is a shame that he is not seen more often on a stage or in the media at large, but as a man who values his privacy and
right to get on with it on his own terms he can only be admired. A true rebel and all round forward thinking dude.
Robert Monk
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| An Evening with Robert Wyatt at The Purcell Rooms, October 2007 |
| All images, words, site design Copyright © Soma Soma Scene 2008 unless otherwise stated All Rights Reserved |