September 24, 1999 Waters to begin recording new album next year In recent radio interviews, Roger Waters has discussed his plans to begin work on a new album of rock music beginning early next year. "I'm booked into a studio in February 2000," Waters told Carter Allen of 100.7 WZLX in Boston during a radio interview. "I've got an idea that I want to persue, I've written a bunch of stuff. I'm quite excited about it. "You know, I have never woken up one morning and said to myself, 'I've gotta write something.' It's always much more passive with me than that; I get a kind of feeling that builds up in me‹some feeling, some emotion builds up, and I know that there's a song trying to get out. And I will then run to the piano or pick up a guitar or something and write down whatever it is that comes out of me. And a few things have started to pop out of me now. And enough things have started to pop out that I think there's probably enough material to make another album. And it's about personal responsibility... The only change that we can make in the world is to change ourselves." Waters will be touring the eastern United States and Canada this summer. The tour will be interrupted for the autumn and winter. Waters plans to enter the studio in February of 2000 to begin work on the new rock album, and then plans to return to the road that Spring to cover the western portions of North America. No dates outside of North America are planned at this time. Waters has said during recent interviews that he may perform new material during the tours. Waters also discussed his forthcoming opera, Ça Ira. "I've been writing an opera for the last umpteen years. It's going really, really well. I've recorded eighty minutes of excerpts, I've recorded all the orchestra, I'm recording the chorus parts in Paris between June the 8th and June the 21st. I think it'll be out in the year 2000." Orchestras at Tanglewood, Chicago and the Hollywood Bowl have shown interest in performing the music, which is written by the collaborative team of Roger Waters and Rick Wentworth. But Waters cautions that a full-blown dramatic performance of the opera is not expected soon. "That would be years down the line because there's so much money involved," Waters said during the 30 April telephone interview. "It takes so much time to put that kinda stuff together, that I think people would wait and see what the reaction was to the music." Waters was inevitably asked when he has last spoken to the current members of Pink Floyd. "The only things that I've heard from them is that they wanted me to perform Dark Side of the Moon with them in London the last time they did a great big world tour," Waters said, "but I didn't want to do that. And I think they kinda want me to pat them on the head and say, 'Everything's okay guys. You did good. And it's all right.' "You know, I feel fine about what's happened. It was kind of hard for a while, just realizing just how powerful the name was. But, you know, a lot of water's gone under the bridge. I'm really enjoying my life, and I'm really happy doing the work I'm doing. I can't imagine a Hell Freezes Over tour, to be honest. As far as I can see, it would still be allowing the numbers to rule. I can't think of any reason for me going back and making a Pink Floyd record and doing a show or a tour or anything other than if I was to say, 'Okay, you got me. I wanna be a big star, I want all of that, I want all of that weight that I disavowed when I left, and I want to re-embrace all of that stuff that I attacked when I wrote The Wall, I want to change all my philosophies, everything that I've said and that I feel about music and my own integrity and my politics and everything about my life, I reneg now, and let's all go out and make a lot of money together.' That's not gonna happen. All of those things in my life are really important to me; the music is really important to me. The kind of magic that we had before we were successful is real important to me. That connection between the performer and the audience and the ideas in the songs‹I want to be part of that. I don't want a part of this 'D'you know how much we've grossed?' crap. I haven't wanted that since 1977 when I said, 'I don't want that, and I never want to do that again.' I still never want to do that again." Dave Ward The Steel Breeze