Pink Floyd drummer Nick Mason discussed singer/guitarist Syd Barrett’s struggles with drugs in a new Life on the Road interview, claiming that LSD did play a role in his early retirement from music combined with personal choices. David Gilmour replaced Barrett.
The host said, “Syd Barrett’s experiments with LSD and other drugs were making it harder for him to deal with life on the road and he sadly left Pink Floyd in 1968. The usual newspaper quotes ‘exhaustion’…
Mason responded, “I think the Syd Barrett story is slightly more complicated. Thinking back now, it’s always put down as an acid casualty. And I think LSD played a part in it, but I also think he’d really decided that he didn’t really want to be in a band. He’d really rather go back to art school and paint.
I don’t think we were very helpful because I don’t think we could imagine that anyone wouldn’t want to do exactly what we were doing.”
Ultimate-Guitar.com transcribed Mason’s comments. Mason’s Saucerful of Secrets Band started touring a few years ago, but the COVID crisis sadly put a halt to his touring plans.
Mason tweeted a few days ago, “On this day in 2019, the #SaucerfulOfSecrets North American tour started at the Queen Elizabeth Theatre in Vancouver. This picture was taken just after 6pm that evening, as everyone – band, crew and venue – got ready for the audience. Did you see the band on this tour?” Mason’s band and Roger Waters keep the Pink Floyd memory alive with David Gilmour largely staying inactive.
On this day in 2019, the #SaucerfulOfSecrets North American tour started at the Queen Elizabeth Theatre in Vancouver. This picture was taken just after 6pm that evening, as everyone – band, crew and venue – got ready for the audience. Did you see the band on this tour? pic.twitter.com/0alGMr8iJB
— Nick Mason's Saucerful Of Secrets (official) (@NMSOSOfficial) March 12, 2021
