January 2000, Robert Fripp held a four hour Q&A session at our studio that also included a listening party playing tracks from the then-unreleased King Crimson album “The ConstruKction of Light”. I admire Robert not only for his musicianship and musical vision, but also for his teachings and philosophies regarding life and work.
Roughly 70 people attended the Nashville event from as far away as Illinois, Indiana, Ohio, Missouri, Georgia and Louisiana. The session lasted almost four hours and included a surprise from Robert: the audience was treated to several finished (and unfinished) mixes from the upcoming King Crimson release. In our humble opinion we feel the new record is a scorcher!
The audience was instructed by Robert to write their name and a question on note cards which were then placed in a basket. Once the Q&A session was under way Robert randomly picked cards from the basket. As each card was chosen that person was asked why they were there, and what value their question had to them. This process turned the event into an interactive experience where attendees where not permitted to be passive spectators. Robert encouraged the attendees to consider their questions wisely, and would not let them off the hook if they could not sufficiently explain their motives. It was this attendee’s opinion that Robert was simply trying to get us all to think more deeply, and to help us discover our own answers and more clearly define our questions. If an attendee was on the right track they were rewarded by a “sweet” tossed to them from Robert.
See the original article here.