Robert Walter was the guest on the latest episode of JamBase partner Osiris Media’s Comes A Time podcast. The renowned keyboardist chatted with hosts Oteil Burbridge and Mike Finoia about currently touring with Roger Waters, his musical history and influences, Greyboy Allstars’ A Town Called Earth reissue and more.
The conversation started with Robert talking about the Waters gig. “It’s pretty cool,” the keyboardist said. “It’s like a kid, rock star dream.” He went on to detail how he got the call.
“I knew a couple guys from the [Roger Waters] band, just from sessions in L.A., and they needed an organ player. I think before me it was Bo [Koster] from My Morning Jacket but they’re on tour so he can’t do it. So they called me up. I kinda joked with my girlfriend when I got the call from Gus, one of the players. I was like ‘it’d be funny if he was calling me about that.’ But it ended up being it.”
Robert also talked about the longer touring schedule and COVID restrictions but also the perks of being on a bigger tour as well as the silver lining of having alone time.
“I kind of enjoy being by myself anyway, to be honest. Especially after all those years of being in a van, real tight quarters and you’re never alone, you’re sharing hotel rooms and stuff. I’m like ‘oh, this is kinda cool.’ And during lockdown, I got used to doing my own thing. So I have a keyboard I set up and I just work on music and stuff like that…[it’s] just like a cheap midi thing but it allows me to work. I like the limitation, in a way, of not having all your gear, like a million things to distract you. Cause you’ll get into this one synthesizer and kinda go down a tube and never work on any actual music. And having one thing, this is what I’m working on, kinda streamlines the process.”
Oteil and Robert also talked about some of the good things that came out of the pandemic like discovering new styles of music and learning new musical techniques. Mike then asked about working with Roger Waters specifically.
“I was a huge fan as a kid,” Walter said. “The Wall was one of the first records I went out and bought with my own money. I still have my copy and it plays pretty good. So I was actually learning the tunes off that. I dropped the needle and I was like, ‘whoa.’ It still has that smell … I love old records.”
Oteil then asked if Robert got Roger to sign the record. “No … not a bad idea,” the keyboardist said. Walter then spoke about his histroy with Pink Floyd as well as working with Waters now:
“When I was a kid and I imagined what it would be like to be in a rock band, [Pink Floyd] was one of the bands I thought about along with Led Zeppelin and The Who…So it’s really cool to be doing that and to be part of a big production. There’s a lot of visual elements to the show, so I’m not quite used to that. And he’s a tough boss. He’s definitely in charge and he knows what he wants. The music feels real vital for being a legacy act. Sometimes you think of these things like, you go out and play the hits. But he’s constantly changing things and introducing new stuff. It’s pretty fun…the organ parts are so fun to play. When you first like the Hammond organ when you’re a kid, that’s the stuff..it’s a glory gig for the organ parts.”
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The conversation also touched on Robert’s musical history and influences, Greyboy Allstars’ A Town Called Earth Reissue and much more. Watch Robert Walter on Comes A Time below:
