“I am just a part of the whole,” sings Peter Gabriel in his velvety voice in the chorus of “I/O”, the title song of the new album, which was released more than 20 years after its predecessor. The connection between living beings is one of the central themes of a work in which the 73-year-old British singer-songwriter reflects on the passage of time, on love, on tolerance and on life as a whole.
Are we more connected or more focused on ourselves today?
“The internet and social media allow us to stay connected, but they also require our attention to make money.” But the feeling that some people experience when taking drugs or meditating shortly before their death leaves making us suspect that there is something much bigger than what we see in everyday life. We are small atoms in a single system, we should remember that.”
It would also make sense to keep this in mind when it comes to the climate crisis. Will we overcome it?
“There’s no point in being pessimistic because then you might as well give up.” Seeing people who want to change things for the better has a positive influence and I want to surround myself with people like that.”
Given the ongoing conflicts, do you see people fighting for change?
“They exist in many areas. However, when we look at Israel and Palestine, it is imperative that an agreement is reached or the massacre will continue. I have long supported Palestine because it suffers enormous oppression, but what happened to the Israelis was brutal and shocking. It will only end when people sit down at the table and talk.
The passage of time is very present on the album. What have you learned as you’ve gotten older?
“That you run less fast and learn to say no to others more.” Maybe you even learn to be more yourself. Then when we look at the progress of biomedicine, longevity is one of the most interesting areas. Maybe we are entering a different world and if we survive the climate crisis we must try to build a generous and fair society for all.”
Are you also thinking about artificial intelligence?
“As it becomes more intelligent than humans there will be extraordinary opportunities to change the world, I hope for the better, but it will be up to us to understand how we use it: it can make us free or slaves.”
“And Still” is dedicated to his mother, who passed away 6 years ago. Was it difficult to write?
“Yes, it took a while because I had so many mixed emotions. She loved me very much, just as I loved her, so I needed some distance to be able to write something true.
What memories do you have of your childhood?
“Christmas, the beach, relaxing summer afternoons, driving the tractor with my dad and working on our farm… So many wonderful memories.”
Paolo Fresu played on one of the songs. How did you meet him?
“Someone sent me a beautiful jazz version of one of my songs, “What Lies Ahead.” When I heard him, I thought he would be a great musician to work with. I didn’t know we had a common bond with Sardinia.”
Are you still going there?
“I love going there, it’s my second home and it makes me happy, especially when there aren’t too many tourists.”
Do you remember when you were a guest in Sanremo in 1983?
“I think I’m famous for the scene in which I threw myself into the audience with a rope, but then I took great risk of injuring myself by falling onto the stage: I know I have two thirds of Italy laughing brought.”
Last year he was a spectator at the last Genesis concert.
“I went there because Genesis was born when we were students and we worked hard to get things going, so I wanted to be there in the end, for the friends from many years ago.” It was one Mixture of sadness, warmth and friendship, even if it was no longer my band but another being. We have a long history together and it was nice to be a part of it.”
How were the beginnings?
“I was the one who disrupted the group: they didn’t really know that we had to pay the bills and find appointments. There were two or three moments when it didn’t look like we were going to progress, so the first success was great. We also have a lot of good memories of Italy: we were there in the summer when there was no work in England. We played in discos, on football pitches, in the theater, wherever they paid us.”