Big Generator

“People who don’t know about me often think I’m a miserable bastard who moans on about dark stuff all the time, a bit of a toff and a bit prog and what have you. But for me, one of the functions of music is to be there and to be something that people can turn to when they need a bit of help. I listen to a lot of classical music and there’s a lot of excruciatingly sad music within that, but it can make you feel incredibly uplifted. In my own small way, that’s what I try to do.”

One barely needs to listen to more than a minute or two of Peter Hammill’s music – whether that be any of his 35 studio albums as a solo artist or any of the records made by the various incarnations of his band, Van der Graaf Generator – to learn the undeniable truth that he is one of the most unique and fascinating figures in modern music. That sonorous, multi-octave voice, that perennial air of impassioned intelligence, the vast spectrum of sounds and styles that he has joyfully employed for the past 40 years: Hammill is both the quintessential progressive rock musician and, with typical