187: Bill Bruford (Yes, King Crimson, Earthworks, UK, Genesis, Bruford)

The Trap Set with Joe Wong

Joe Wong

Joewong, Drums, Comedy, Performing Arts, Arts, Drummers

4.8 • 709 Ratings

🗓️ 10 October 2018

⏱️ 69 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

Bill Bruford’s instantly identifiable sound and brilliant sense of composition made him the defining drummer of the progressive rock movement; but at age 60, after four decades in the music business, Bill unceremoniously walked away.

Bill tells Joe about: being a young jazz elitist; "leveraging himself sideways" from an upper-middle class family to the seedy life of a musician; doing a lot with “a modest amount of talent”; the creative dynamics of Yes and King Crimson; how he achieved his signature snare sound; retirement; and earning a doctorate from The University of Surrey. During the course of the conversation, Joe and Bill also christen a new band, Wongford. This is a can’t-miss episode with one of the all-time greats.

Transcript

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0:00.0	Hey folks, Joe here. If you enjoy listening to the trap set, it would mean a great deal to me if you would rate us on Apple Podcasts.
0:07.4	It takes about 10 seconds, cost you nothing, and helps new people discover the show. Thanks. And now on to our episode with the legendary Bill Bruford.
0:18.2	Somehow, this kind of artistic sclerosis kind of set in whereby I just didn't feel I had it.
0:29.6	Oh! This is Joe Wong.
0:44.3	Welcome to the Trapset, where each week we explore the lives of drummers.
0:49.1	I want to play something for you. I'm I'm I'm
1:11.6	I'm
1:12.6	I'm
1:13.6	I'm I'm I'm
1:28.3	I'm
1:29.3	I'm
1:30.3	I'm You're hearing close to the edge by Yes, featuring my guest Bill Bruford on drums.
2:08.3	Born in 1949 in Seven Oaks, Kent, Bruford co-founded Yes in 1968.
2:15.4	Bill's style is remarkably intuitive, yet intensely intellectual, his idiosyncratic
2:20.3	sense of composition and crisp sound instantly identifiable. Yes, discovered a convergence
2:27.3	of artistic adventurousness and widespread popularity, but after recording the band's first five albums,
2:33.3	Bill left in 1972 to join another
2:36.6	genre-defining group, King Crimson.
2:39.5	His work with this band often existed on the bleeding edge of musical technology.
2:44.9	Aside from multiple tenures with Yes and Crimson, Bill has also worked with artists such
2:49.3	as Genesis, UK, and Gong, and led his own
2:52.8	groups, Bruford and Earthworks. Bill retired from music in 2009, and he subsequently earned
	...

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