In the Fried Archives: Terry Riley

From 2023, an unpublished interview with the legendary American composer about late Coltrane, tuning tamburas with Pandit Pran Nath, and being psychedelic rather than minimalistic.

Happy 90th birthday, Terry Riley!

Back in 2021, I got the chance to interview the legendary Terry Riley. The impact of his music on western music is immeasurable, so I won’t delve into it here. It wasn’t about his own music however, but instead a chance to reminisce over time spent hanging out with Don and Moki Cherry in Sweden and Germany in the early 1970s. While never officially reissued, I highly recommend tracking down the sessions (Hint: They smoked a lot of pot together.) As one can imagine, Terry was an absolute delight to speak with. Just skimming the surface of the man offered up such depth and profundity that I was nearly overcome by his loving wisdom and kindness.

New Terry Riley joint dropped for his 90th!

Two years later, I began working on a book proposal about the intersection of Eastern philosophy and Western music and realized that it was imperative to speak with Riley again while he was still with us. He was open to the idea and we had a Zoom chat that was every bit as lovely as the time before. He wound up in rural Japan during the pandemic and has remained there ever since. No need to rush back. (Quick aside, when interviewing Jim O’Rourke and Eiko Ishibashi, they said they bump into Riley often in town and that Eiko’s daughter studies raga with him.) And while the seedling of that book has not yet come to fruition, it has been planted. I still think about what was said that morning and figured I would share it for his 90th trip around the sun.

'“I definitely haven’t arrived anywhere. I hope I don’t sound like that. In some ways, I’m just as trapped and confused as all my friends and other people I see around me. At this one point, the point of music, I feel like, when I’m there, that’s not happening to me. I’m home. I always tell people to go into music, it’s a great refuge.”