Although it has been years since Pink Floyd released a studio album of new material with or without Roger Waters, the individual members of the group have been in the news lately. In the summer of 2005, the group reunited and performed at the Live 8 concert. In the past year, David Gilmour released On An Island (Columbia), his first solo album in years, and toured, and Roger Waters did his first solo tour in years. There is also a new two-DVD set entitled Pulse (Columbia Home Video), which is a concert film of the group's Roger Waters-less 1994 Earls Court shows in London. There have been other recent projects from various members of the band, including Ca Ira, Waters' opera. One of the best non-music projects was the recent publication of Pink Floyd member Nick Mason's book, Inside Out (Chronicle). The lavish, oversized book is a visual feast for the eyes and must be considered the definitive inside story of the group. Mason's vivid recollections and his objective viewpoint and sense of humor make this one of the best rock group histories ever written.

      Nick Mason, Roger Waters and Rick Wright met at Regent St. Polytechnic in the center of the west end of London, which would become known as the University of Westminster. The three, along with a shifting cast of other musicians, would form Sigma 6 and then become the Tea Set before naming themselves the Pink Floyd Sound in 1963, taking the name from the first names of obscure American bluesmen Pink Andersen and Floyd Council. Waters met Syd Barrett, a student at Cambridge University, in the fall of 1964. Barrett joined the group, and eventually the Pink Floyd (as they were officially billed) was comprised of Waters, Mason, Wright and Barrett.

      The group began drawing an ecstatic following at such seminal London R&B and blues clubs as the Marquee. It then recorded its first two groundbreaking singles, "Arnold Layne" and "See Emily Play." This led to the group's being signed by EMI and beginning to record its first album, The Piper at the Gates of Dawn, at EMI (Abbey Road) Studios under the direction of Norman Smith, George Martin's engineer for sessions for the Beatles.

      For a brief time, as 1967 tripped into 1968, David Gilmour, an extraordinary guitarist and vocalist who played in such bands as Joker's Wild and Flowers, joined the group, making it a five-piece, as Barrett's erratic behavior was making it clear that his days in the group were numbered. With Barrett gone, the group recorded such albums as Saucerful of Secrets, Ummagumma, Atom Heart Mother and Meddle, along with several soundtrack albums, before releasing Dark Side of the Moon in 1973. Wish You Were Here, Animals, The Wall and The Final Cut would follow. After Waters acrimoniously left the group and unsuccessfully sued the other three in order to stop them from recording or touring under the Pink Floyd name, the remaining three members did several tours and recorded two albums: A Momentary Lapse of Reason and Division Bell.

      Despite the somewhat uneasy relationship that sometimes existed amongst the various members of the group, "There is cooperation amongst the four," Mason happily admitted. In regard to various projects, such as documentaries about the group, Mason said, "We'll do it if we're all doing it." As for the two members who have seemed the most at odds over the years, Waters and Gilmour, things are much better, with the two working it out so that their recent tours didn't conflict with one another. Mason contrasted the differences between his two Floyd mates. "There are just differences in priorities and about the way they both work. Roger discovered at an early age the ability to work and the realization that if you do something, even if it is not right, it's better than doing nothing, whereas Dave is much more ‘Well, there will be a moment when it's right and sooner or later we'll get it and do it.' They just come from different directions. But on a really good day it produces ‘Comfortably Numb' and on a bad day they just hate each other."

      Any discussion about Pink Floyd would not be complete without talking about the group's rock masterpiece, Dark Side of the Moon. Mason related one important aspect of the album's success: "It's partly due to timing." He went on to say, "The one thing that I've realized recently is just how relevant the lyrics are to an older group. Roger wrote a song like ‘Time' when he was 25, which is actually far more pertinent to a 50-year-old."

      Mason also remembered the recording of the group's final album, Division Bell, which took place in a studio on David Gilmour's houseboat. The album was done "more as a band in one studio together." As to why the group never continued on after Division Bell, Mason said, "Dave had enough after that. It was partly the touring that took it out of him. He sort of burnt himself out a bit."

      Although it's been nearly 18 months since the Live 8 Pink Floyd reunion, Mason still has fond memories. "It was just terrific on a number of different levels ... wonderfully comfortable. You know the people you're playing with. You're doing it for exactly the right reason." As for making it actually happen, which required three days of rehearsals, Mason said, "It was quite difficult. Initially David had no interest in doing it at all." Ultimately, though, the four didn't just click musically, but also personally. "We share the same jokes and the same memories and the same everything else," Mason remarked. With our conversation about the reunion begging the question of whether the group would ever get back together, Mason resignedly answered, "If I knew, I'd tell you."