Nick Mason on the car that brought Pink Floyd together

Roger Waters and Nick Mason in 1968 (Image credit: George Stroud/Daily Express/Hulton Archive - Getty)

This weekend’s episode of Brian Johnson’s Life On The Road featured the AC/DC vocalist in conversation with Pink Floyd drummer Nick Mason.

The series, which was first aired in the UK in 2017, has been running in the US through AXS TV, with last night’s broadcast showing Johnson chatting to Mason about his life in music and his extensive car collection.

In the show, Mason also reflected on how the vehicle he owned in 1964 sparked his first meeting with Roger Waters – an encounter that would go on to have a profound impact on music.

Mason said: “Regent Street Polytechnic – that’s where I met Roger Waters and Rick Wright. We were all training to be architects. It was architecture’s loss when the music took off… or not!

“We sort of met because Roger knew that I had a car – I’m not sure he knew what the car was because actually it was an Austin 7 Chummy with a top speed of 20mph and had no brakes!

“But when he asked if I might lend it to him, I said, ‘No,’ but he also tried to get a cigarette off Rick and famously Rick went, ‘No,’ which sort of set the pattern really for the next 50 years.”

But Mason added: “It was an important moment because if it hadn’t been for that, we might not be sitting here now.”

Future episodes will see the AC/DC man interview other artists including Joe Walsh, Paul Rodgers and Mick Fleetwood.

On November 29, a 16-disc collection featuring Pink Floyd’s work from 1987 onwards will be released. Pink Floyd: The Later Years will be spread across 5CD, 6 Blu-ray and 5DVD and is now available to pre-order. Find details below.

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Scott has spent 37 years in newspapers, magazines and online as an editor, production editor, sub-editor, designer, writer and reviewer. Scott joined our news desk in 2014 before moving into e-commerce in 2020. Scott maintains Louder’s buyer’s guides, highlights deals, and reviews headphones, speakers, earplugs and more. Over the last 12 years, Scott has written more than 11,500 articles across Louder, Classic Rock, Metal Hammer and Prog. He's previously written for publications including IGN, Sunday Mirror, Daily Record and The Herald, covering everything from news and features, to tech reviews, video games, travel and whisky. Scott's favourite bands are Fields Of The Nephilim, The Cure, New Model Army, All About Eve, The Mission, Cocteau Twins, Drab Majesty, Marillion and Rush.