“Robert Fripp is a really diddly-diddly man, all the riff stuff, and that works to an extent. But you need to put that in a context to make it accessible”: The secret to making King Crimson work by Peter Giles, the bassist who helped make it happen

Peter Giles.

Singer and bassist Peter Giles knows a thing or two about going the distance. At 15 years old he swapped winning cross-country championships for playing bass in local groups alongside his drummer brother, Michael. Leaving school the following year, the Giles brothers notched up hundreds of professional gigs and thousands of miles on the road as members of Trendsetters Limited.

Despite a couple of singles on Parlophone, success eluded them, and they returned to Bournemouth to start anew. When they advertised for a singing organist, Robert Fripp – a local guitarist not known for his prowess at the keyboards or his vocal abilities – came to audition.