Michael Giles (press photo)
Michael Giles co-founded King Crimson in 1968, helped make two of the most extraordinary records in rock music, and walked away from the spotlight. He has spent the decades since recording privately, collecting junk percussion from kitchens, gardens and garages, and resisting the obvious next move. Shadows / Solo is his first record since 2001, and at 84 he is only just getting started. Jason Barnard spoke to him about what he heard when he played the tapes back.
When you listen back to what drumming became in progressive rock after you stepped away, do you hear your ideas being taken somewhere you would have gone yourself ?
I did consider continuing to develop so-called ‘prog rock’ drumming and soonly decided to stop considering and say “enough is enough” . I would have needed to join another prog band and be on the road, aargh, in order to continue developing prog drums, whatever they are, but I needed to explore and develop new ideas for a much more expansive approach to playing drums and percussion into being equal and integral to my own compositions.
In 1969 I was so involved with self-expression kit drumming in King Crimson that I did not hear any other drummers in bands, probably because their prog music had no interest for me. It’s only some 50 years later that I came to appreciate how brilliant John Bonham was in Led Zeppelin.
Back in the sixties I thought that the way I played drums was what drums were supposed to do – it seemed obvious. So I was surprised when people said they enjoyed my drumming because it was universal – it just felt natural and instinctive to me.
Were you consciously aware of a junk percussion tradition or ensembles or did you arrive at it it entirely on your own terms ?
I am not aware of ever having had any knowledge of a junk percussion tradition or ensembles. I was already collecting found objects when I noticed Morris Pert’s and Ray Cooper’s small bags of ‘toys’ when we worked together as London session musicians in the 70’s. The only other confirmation of my early collection came from Harry Partch’s homemade instruments.
Anyway, I wanted my music to have more texture, colour and unusual sounds which were not readily available anywhere except everywhere in and around the house, garden and garage. Also junk percussion and found objects cost nothing and are free from VAT.
Each piece of junk percussion has a unique sound and core note which makes it totally original and impossible to copy. To me all these sounds are exciting and fun to play – they can often sound intriguingly mysterious or silly depending on the musical context. Not only that but lost and found objects used as instruments in music is a truly creative way of recycling or upcycling – beneficial for both music lovers and environmental cyclists.
What made 2026 the right moment to open up the archive?
After being involved with various projects over the last 26 years I began listening to some of my old tapes about 2 years ago and was very surprised by how good they sounded. This led to listening to all my unreleased music which also sounded well worthy of finishing and sharing with other people.
With the benefit of long hindsight, I could see that all the music should not be ‘left on the shelf’ any longer. So the process began of selecting the tracks for the first 2 CD’s Shadows and Solo which were released on April 3rd 2026.
I am now working towards further releases this year and early next, as well as a much-anticipated special re-issue to celebrate my 60 years of making music – gosh, time flies.
