A Chat with Harry Waters (02.09.25)
Interview with Karen Beishuizen (guest contributor).
Harry Waters is a British piano and Hammond organ player in the progressive rock and jazz genres. He is the son of Roger Waters, who co-founded Pink Floyd. We talk to him about his childhood, his dad, projects he is working on, and more.
Did you always want to be a singer and musician growing up?
Waters: I started playing the piano around age 8. I always enjoyed it, but my passion for playing didn’t really kick in until I was 12 or so, when a new teacher introduced me to Scott Joplin and ragtime. At that point, I completely fell in love with playing.
It never really occurred to me that it would be something I would do for a living until I was about 19 or so, and it just seemed that, as it was pretty much my favourite thing to do, why not do it professionally!
Your dad is Roger Waters, who co-founded Pink Floyd. Was he a big influence on you to go into music, too?
Waters: Both my parents set me up to start playing piano. His music is undoubtedly a huge influence on me, although the music I tend to play is more on the jazz-rock side. It was my mother’s record collection that really got me into listening. The Beach Boys, Little Feat, Little Richard, CSNY, Led Zeppelin, Allman Brothers, etc. I listened constantly to all this music from about age 7, and it all informed the musician I am today.
You are heard in the song ‘Goodbye Blue Sky’ as a 2-year-old. Listening to it now, what do you think or feel?
Waters: I always get a kick out of it when I hear it. I’m very privileged to have been part of such a monumental piece of music history.
Progressive rock or jazz, and why?
Waters: I love both equally. I grew up listening to King Crimson and Yes, hugely influential bands for me. I got into jazz later, in my early twenties, listening to Oscar Peterson, Bill Evans and Keith Jarrett. I absolutely love being able to improvise; jazz gives you perhaps more freedom to do this than prog rock. However, I love the song structures/melodies of prog rock.
You performed with Eddie Vedder. What’s it like working with him?
Waters: Eddie is the best, he’s a lovely human being, a great singer, just a lot of fun playing together.
Are there any artists out there you would love to collaborate with and why?
Waters: Cornelius. They’re a Japanese pop/fusion/rock band for those that don’t know. They’re absolutely incredible. I’ve seen them so many times live, and they absolutely blow me away. I’d love to play with Dead and Company; one of my first gigs was in a Grateful Dead cover band. I’m a total deadhead. I got to play with Bob (Weir) at Les’ (Claypool) 60th birthday, which was a real special moment for me.
I let you make an album with 7 of your most favorite songs (not your own). What would you pick and why?
Waters: Headhunters – ‘Watermelon Man’. It doesn’t get much better than this, one of the best bits of music of all time.
Yes – ‘Heart of the Sunrise’. It’s so exciting every time I listen to it. The combination of Chris Squire and Bill Bruford just blows me away on this every time I hear it.
King Crimson – ‘21st Century Schizoid Man’. Another incredible prog song, probably the original and best example of this type of music.
Fairground Attraction – ‘Whispers’. Eddi Reader is one of my favourite singers of all time. Her singing on this song from their first album is just exquisite. Makes me feel so moved every time I hear it.
The Allman Brothers – ‘Blue Sky’. The Allman Brothers are one of the greatest bands of all time for me. I’ve been listening to them since I was about 7. Twin harmony lead guitar just kills me. Duane Allman and Dicky Betts together have something totally magical that can’t be replicated. Particularly their back-to-back solos on this song.
The Beach Boys – ‘Heroes and Villains’. Kind of impossible to pick a song here, I considered ‘God Only Knows’, but there you go. Written by Brian Wilson and Van Dyke Parks, an unbelievable writer and arranger from that time. The harmonies absolutely kill me.
Marty Robbins – ‘El Paso’. No other song paints a better picture for me than this one. Utterly evocative and tragic. I’ve listened to this so many thousands of times, and I never tire of it.
Meshuggah – ‘I’.(Couldn’t resist squeezing in an eighth song. Hands down the best extreme metal band in my opinion. So unbelievably heavy and exciting every time I listen to it.)
What are you currently up to?
Waters: I have a project with a bunch of mates, we’re playing Jeff Beck’s two best records, ‘Wired’ and ‘Blow by Blow’. It’s been a dream of mine to play these songs since I was young, and finally making it happen! We just did our first gig at the House of Blues in San Diego to a packed audience.
I do a lot of sessions, playing keys on people’s records. I’ve just written some music for Ryan Reynolds’ new show, Underdogs, playing on Disney. It’s a nature documentary about weird, crazy animal antics. I also have a very exciting project that I can’t discuss publicly yet, but I can’t wait to bring it to the world when the time is right.
Thanks to Harry Waters for speaking with us. Find out more about Harry Waters on his official website, Facebook, Instagram, YouTube and Spotify.
