By Amanda Wicks
Appearing on Marc Maron’s WTF Podcast, Roger Waters didn’t hold back when asked how solo life was treating him. He loves it mainly because of how poorly he claims his former Pink Floyd bandmates David Gilmour and Rick Wright made him feel toward the end of their time together.
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Waters admitted that he felt inept even on Pink Floyd’s biggest records, and it took getting away for him to learn more about his unique talent and capacity to create. “I think it was really important that I got away when I did,” he said. He went on to elucidate how his bandmates’ criticism hampered his own sense of possibility. “Well, I was in a very toxic environment, where I was around some people…well, David and Rick mainly, who were always trying to drag me down. They were always trying to knock me off whatever that perch was.”
When asked how they would try to knock him down, Waters answered, “By claiming that I was tone deaf and that I didn’t understand music.” He imitated some of the feedback he would hear, “‘Oh, he’s just a boring kind of teacher figure who tells us what to do, but he can’t tune his own guitar.'”
Waters added, “They were very snotty and snippy because they felt very insignificant, I think.” But he clarified that it wasn’t all bad. “I’m not putting them down,” he said. “Those years that we were together, whatever it was like socially, there is no question that we did some really good work together.”
