[markreed]

They've known each other over 40 years. There's always going to be an ebb and flow. I noticed at RAH that there were a couple of times Karl and Rick were talking, laughing, and playing with each other in a silly way. I've seen bands that hate each other, and if you know what you're looking for, it's obvious : and I didn't get that vibe last month.

They've long worked together, and separately. There were weeks when Rick might go on holiday and it was Karl and Darren P in the studio working on things Rick has taken up to a certain point. And vice versa, where Karl is travelling and Rick is working alone on material in the Pigshed.

The well known 'low point' was 2011-2014 where the setlists were static and boring, and they weren't writing songs anymore. I think "Frankenstein" and "Isle Of Wonder" were attempts to keep writing, but it wasn't really successful. "Barking" was largely reheated older tracks, moulded into shape with collaborators anyway, much of it had been played live up to 5 years before. The band will frequently come back to older songs that didn't make it, and see if they can finish them. There's stuff on "Barbara, Barbara" that's a decade old and was revisited and updated for that album.

Financially, they don't need the money and haven't for a long time. They are financially prudent and secure, unless they do something really daft. Even if they want to stop, they've had 30 great years (and 10 not great ones before), which is far far longer than most bands have ever had.