In 2009, King Crimson began reissuing the band’s impressive catalogue, complete with remixes by Steven Wilson, who often worked in conjuction with Robert Fripp on the project. The following year Wilson told Prog what he’d learned from undertaking the challenge.
When the notion of reissuing the King Crimson catalogue was raised, Robert Fripp turned to someone equally single-minded and confident in the way they go about things: Steven Wilson. Working in conjunction with Fripp – who oversaw the project, and in some cases was directly involved in the stereo remixing – it’s the kind of overawing challenge that could break a lesser man.
“Well, yes and no,” Wilson says. “I knew I was arrogant enough to believe that I knew how those records should be approached, because they’re part of my DNA. And I also had experience from my own work, as my fans often know the music so much better than I do.
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“I think it was the same with the Crimson stuff – the fans knew those records back to front, while Robert hadn’t listened to them for 40 years. He doesn’t want to. It’s a painful experience. Looking back to music from your past is not often an easy thing for a musician. It’s reliving politics, arguments, trouble with the record company, the touring; it’s a whole massive thing.”
What have you learned from working on those records with Robert?
I learned that a lot of Crimson records were similar to jazz and avant-garde jazz in the British jazz movement in the early 70s. Most records cut today are duh-duh-duh, with everyone dead on time. On those records Crimson are speeding up and slowing down all the way through, and that’s why they’re exciting. I didn’t appreciate that until I’d worked one.
What did Robert say about that – was it an intentional thing or did it happen by accident?
I think that’s just the way people made records. You’d have bands doing a show, and straight afterwards they’d load the gear into the van, go into the studio and work all night; then they’d play some hostel the next night. In that night, they’ve cut four tracks. People don’t work like that any more.
But you realise that what made those records thrilling is that fact that the band were flying by the seat of their pants a lot of the time. The music was on the verge of falling apart in some respects – I really began to understand that with Crimson’s work.
Fans often perceive a band to be a bunch of mates who all hang out together, which is so very often not the case.
I do know that every single Crimson record that’s ever come out was a battle. A battle between Robert and the rest of the band in some cases, a battle between Robert and the record company or the management or finances or touring schedules, time limitations, budgetary limitations. Everything was against them, like the press telling them they were washed-up – all this stuff. It just makes those records even more extraordinary.
Knowing something like that, you can almost understand why he pulled the plug on the band after Red.
Absolutely – and it just makes my admiration for the records even greater. But to watch Robert having to sit through listening back to some of that music, you understand the pain he’s going through just to hear it again. I was just like, ‘This is fucking amazing!’ I turned round and Robert was obviously reliving the pain of it and trying somehow to find his way through that to appreciate it as music.
If I think about it, that’s exactly the experience I would have if I were sitting there and some kid 20 years younger than me was re-enacting The Sky Moves Sideways.
He’d be saying things like, ‘Shall we remove that keyboard? Shall we change that?’ I’d be like, ‘No you can’t, Robert!’ And he would always defer to my judgement, saying, ‘You’re the fan – you know what the fans want better than I do.’
Robert can’t understand why the myths have grown up around him, and why there’s such an incredible passion about the music
So what is Robert Fripp like?
“He’s a very modest chap. He can’t understand why the myths have grown up around him, and why there’s such an incredible passion – obsession – about the music. But of course he’s not looking at it the way everyone else looks at it, and he can’t.
You’d have to be a real egomaniac to want to listen to your own music. I know a few people who do, you know; they only listen to their own records and think they’re all genius. I don’t get that – when I finish a record I don’t want to hear it ever again as long as I live.”
