“I’m imagining it was a very dry, kind of arid, close sound”: Steven Wilson on the challenges of mixing Pink Floyd At Pompeii – MCMLXXII, how the movie captures a band in transition, and why it is “pure Floyd”

A still from Pink Floyd at Pompeii MCMLXXII featuring David Gilmour on the left, Nick Mason on drums at the centre of the frame, with bassist Roger Waters and keys player Richard Wright to the right.

Steven Wilson has been speaking about his experiences of mixing the restored and rereleased Pink Floyd At Pompeii – MCMLXXII film, now showing in cinemas worldwide, with the Porcupine Tree frontman detailing some of the challenges of mixing the original audio into 5.1 and Dolby Atmos, and explaining why it remains an essential document of a band in transition.

Adrian Maben’s concert film captures Pink Floyd performing among the ruins of the Roman Amphitheatre in Pompeii, Italy, a foreshadowing of the deserted lunar aspect of their seminal 1973 studio album, The Dark Side Of The Moon, which we then see being constructed before our eyes as Maben’s camera joins the band at Abbey Road Studios.