Now Spinning Music Magazine - Artist Interviews and Music Reviews · Phil Aston

Peter Hammill Interview : Voice, Vision & The Story Behind the New 18CD Box

·35 min·2 clips

Peter Hammill says he is “not been really a confessional artist” and writes to show “all the things it could be.”

Phil Aston opens the show by introducing Peter Hammill as a founder and frontman of Van der Graaf Generator and a singular solo artist in his own right. He frames the box set as a good way into Hammill's work. The release gathers thirteen solo albums across eighteen CDs and two Blu-ray discs. Aston treats it as a close look at one period rather than a quick sampler. He asks whether Hammill always expected to make solo records after the first Van der Graaf success. Hammill says he did hope something like that would happen. He explains that the span chosen here covers the albums he effectively made for the music business. Aston keeps circling back to the emotional ground of the records. Hammill's songs are described in terms of love, fear, loss, mortality, and self-reflection. The interview lets that range breathe instead of flattening it. Aston then turns to Hammill's voice, calling it distinctive, dramatic, and full of wide shifts in volume and mood. Hammill starts to answer by talking about wanting a particular vocal approach while playing in a fairly extreme band. That opens the door to the kind of long-view musical context the show handles well. A Tintagel story from 1979 brings out another side of the episode. Hammill recalls a university connection with Nick Wilson. Wilson was involved with Play Away and asked whether Hammill could come up with something suitable for a film at Tintagel. Hammill already had a tune knocking around, originally called The Last Cowboy in Space. That became the basis for the project. He remembers being filmed in medieval costume at Tintagel. He also remembers a BBC crew who knew nothing about him and assumed he was just a jobbing actor brought in for the job. A musical director later came down to his studio and tried to influence the mix. Hammill treats the whole thing as a personal connection rather than a career move. Aston and Hammill then return to the value of the box set as a way of sitting with this era properly. Aston strongly recommends it and points listeners toward the companion Van der Graaf Generator box set as well. The episode ends up as a warm, fan-aware portrait of an artist whose solo work keeps reaching for drama, intimacy, and self-examination.

As heard by us

A clear Hammill portrait built around a box set, a personal story, and a long solo career.

Peter Hammill's solo career sits at the center here, with a box set that runs from 1971 to 1986 and gathers 13 solo albums across 18 CDs and two Blu-ray discs.

Read the full review in PlayNext →

Why you'd press play

Peter Hammill, a box set, and the voice behind Van der Graaf Generator.

Read the full recommendation in PlayNext →

Listen to the show on

Apple Podcasts Spotify

Play clips from this episode More from Now Spinning Music Magazine - Artist Interviews and Music Reviews