Roger Waters Says Former Pink Floyd Bandmates Were ‘Toxic’
Roger Waters has shared a straightforward opinion of his ex-Pink Floyd bandmates, referring to them as "snotty and snippy because they felt very insignificant."
He suggested in a recently posted interview on Marc Maron's WTF podcast that his 1985 split from the group was critical to the development of his own solo career. "It was really important that I got away when I did," Waters said.
His bandmates would tell Waters that he was “tone-deaf” and “didn’t understand music,” he added. “I was in a very toxic environment where I was around some people – well, David [Gilmour] and Rick [Wright] mainly were always trying to drag me down. They were always trying to knock me off.”
Ongoing arguments among the members of Pink Floyd appear to have eliminated any possibility of another reunion. “It has run its course, we are done," Gilmour told Guitar Player earlier this year. "I’m all for Roger doing whatever he wants to do and enjoying himself."
Most recently, Waters and Gilmour have disagreed over the material to be included in a long-awaited reissue of 1977's Animals. "Well, a very lovely Animals remix has been done, but someone has tried to force some liner notes on it that I haven’t approved and, um, someone is digging his heels and not allowing it to be released," Gilmour told Rolling Stone in June.
In the meantime, a newly remixed version of A Momentary Lapse of Reason, the first Pink Floyd album recorded without Waters, is due on Oct. 29.
Despite their current quarrels, Waters says he recognizes that the music Pink Floyd created together remains an impressive accomplishment. “Those years that we were together, whatever it was like socially, there is no question but that we did some really good work together,” he told Maron. “We didn’t share the vision but we shared the work.”
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