Nick Mason: press conference

Almost two months after the Italian release of the official Pink Floyd biography, Nick Mason, author of the book and the only member of the band to have been present from the very beginning right up to today, comes to Italy to present his work and meet fans on home turf. Mason's stay in Italy will last three days, taking in Castiglione delle Stiviere (an industrial town between Lake Garda and Mantova) and Milan, where he will be a guest of Rizzoli for a double show-case at the Feltrinelli bookshop on 27 and 28 April.

Fortunately, thanks to Onda Rock, I manage to get press accreditation, allowing me to attend the press-only conference in which Nick Mason will spend about thirty minutes answering questions from those present about the book and the story of Pink Floyd. I arrive around two hours early and wait, extremely tense, for the fateful moment when I'll get to meet a figure I never thought I'd have the chance to encounter in my whole life. I try in vain to ease the tension with a couple of glasses of wine, but by the time 8pm finally arrives and I have to step into the “press room” (a dining room of the restaurant hosting the event, pressed into service for the occasion) I'm wound tighter than a violin string. I chat a little with some people I already knew from before, and when Nick Mason finally walks in through the door at the back of the room, I almost burst into tears from sheer emotion: that mustachioed man who used to drop his stick during “One Of These Days” at Pompeii is standing right in front of me (obviously without the moustache now, and with hair that's no longer thick and jet-black).

The press conference gets underway straight away with the help of a translator, since Mason — apologising immediately and explaining that he once took a few lessons but with no success — doesn't speak a word of Italian. Questions come thick and fast from all sides, ranging widely over the making of the book and the long, turbulent history of Pink Floyd.

It starts with why the band's biography bears this title, “Inside Out” — an obvious question, but an interesting one, and Mason promptly answers by explaining that the title, an idea from longtime graphic designer Storm Thorgerson, is meant to express the personal, internal perspective Mason wanted to give the book — a version that finally comes from within, rather than from outside criticism of the band. The questions move on to the long gestation of the book, which took roughly a decade; Nick replies that it's difficult to reconcile different perspectives on the band's story (here one's mind immediately jumps to the well-known rift that still divides Roger Waters from David Gilmour), and that it's equally difficult to gather memories, images and documents covering a career that lasted many years and saw three different figures take turns as the group's leader. On this point, someone asks the drummer a slightly “spicy” question, wanting to know whether the stereotypical image the general music public has of Pink Floyd — that of a band more devoted to the music than to rock's typical excesses — matches reality; Mason answers good-humouredly, saying that he has kids at home just like the other members of the band, and that, obviously, he had to find a balance in describing the four members' lives off stage.

Others look at “Inside Out” as the closing of the circle, the fitting conclusion to a story that, musically, seems to have wrapped up back in 1994 with the triumphant tour for “The Division Bell”; Mason replies that the book is certainly the closing of a personal circle — the circle represented by his role as the band's biographer — but that it isn't necessarily a closure that applies to the other two members of Pink Floyd, leaving a glimmer of hope for those expecting an imminent announcement of the trio's return to the stage.

The more hopeful among them press Mason further, asking his opinion on the possibility of Roger Waters returning to the line-up; the drummer replies that, with the years, tough old Waters does seem to be gradually softening, but that he doesn't know whether this might actually happen in future — which only fuels a hope that feels more like an unrealisable dream. As for the person who asks when the drummer first realised he was in Pink Floyd and became aware of the success materialising around him, Mason replies, with a touch of self-criticism, that he only feels like he's in Pink Floyd when he's actually working with them, in the studio or live; once that's over, he goes back to just being Nick Mason.

Naturally, there were also a few questions about the unforgettable Syd Barrett: to whoever asked — perhaps without giving the question much thought — whether Barrett had contributed to the writing of the book in any way, Mason could only answer no, explaining that Syd lives what appears to be a quiet life in the family home in Cambridge and doesn't want anyone reminding him of the days when he was the enfant prodige of the English psychedelic scene. Inevitably, attention also falls on that photo published in the book, showing an overweight, completely bald Syd during his ghostly appearance at the recording sessions for “Wish You Were Here” in 1975; Mason explains that he himself had some hesitation about including this document, for which a replacement had already been prepared, but that, having received no objection from the other band members, he eventually decided to include it in “Inside Out”. Further questions on the subject give Mason the chance to express the eternal debt that he and the other three Pink Floyd members will always owe to their lost “Golden Boy”.

Attention then shifts to the band's future plans, and Mason can only confirm that David Gilmour is currently finishing up his solo project and that, for now, there's nothing planned under the Pink Floyd name. Mason doesn't rule out possible future projects, however, though he explains that he doesn't think it would be a good idea to release an album simply under the name “Gilmour, Mason & Wright”, setting aside the historic name that has represented them on the world rock scene since 1967.

It all wraps up with a cryptic question asking whether, after more than thirty years, he has finally found the dark side of the moon; Mason answers good-humouredly that they're still looking for it. With my eyes almost welling up with emotion and joy in my heart, I just have time to shake his hand and thank him for the music and all the feelings that, together with Roger, Syd, Rick and David, he has managed to give me, before heading out to watch the mini press conference for the other fans who had come to Castiglione, and finally getting my book signed. A truly unique experience.

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