Nick Mason, Pink Floyd drummer: "Even if Mandela were resurrected, we wouldn't be able to reunite. It's better for everyone to go their separate ways."

Roger Waters imperiously plays a gong, a skinny David Gilmour dominates the amphitheater with his guitar, Richard Wright almost hovers at the keyboards amid smiling masks. And he, with a Dennis Hopper-style mustache and a shock of long hair, sets the rhythm. Snapshots from Pink Floyd 's masterpiece, Live At Pompeii , the 1972 film shot among the ruins and now, after restoration, back in theaters accompanied by a live album released yesterday. "I didn't even remember having such long hair. It's nice to see us as young people again." Even now, at 81, Nick Mason remains jovial, witty, the only one among the ever-feuding survivors, Waters and Gilmour , who has never been overwhelmed by the emotion of such a grandiose story.

How did 'Live at Pompeii' come about?

It wasn't our idea, it was director Adrian Maben's. We were catapulted to Italy, and it was a surprise: because we played for ghosts. There was no one in the Pompeii amphitheater. But playing without an audience created an incredible atmosphere, with the dust, the heat, the lights...

They have always loved incredible places, here in Italy they also played in Venice in 1989

That was fun, but complicated with all the controversy over the fact that we had damaged the buildings. I wouldn't do it again; I prefer to remember the magical atmosphere of Pompeii.

From Pompeii they moved on to 'Wish You Were Here', which is the 50th anniversary of that album

One of the hardest we've ever made. But I like it better than Dark Side of the Moon ; it's much more relaxed.

An album for Syd Barret, the singer who had left them seven years ago

We didn't conceive it that way at first; as we worked on it, it became something for him. Especially when he came to visit us at the studio: it transformed him. His visit to the studio was surprising; I didn't recognize him; his head was shaved, he was overweight, he was unsettling.

Almost 20 years after his death, is there anything you reproach yourself for?

It's easy to say it later; at the time, we knew little, and even today, I don't know exactly what the problem was. Many say LSD and drugs drove him crazy, but that's only part of the story. I think he just didn't want to be in a band. He wanted to paint, maybe, or do something else.

With him, in 1967, they recorded their first album 'The Piper at The Gates of Dawn' at Abbey Road, alongside the Beatles who were busy with 'Sgt Pepper'

At that moment, they were gods, and we were children on the first day of school. We learned from them, and they learned nothing from us.

You're the only one who's on all the band's albums, which one do you prefer?

A Saucerful of Secrets from 1968, which I've been touring with recently. A tribute to Syd and the beginning of Roger's writing, a transitional album.

Now that you're talking about Roger Waters, you've always been afraid of him and David Gilmour, the two of you who have been persistently at odds.

Today they hate each other even more than they did yesterday, but when we were together, the contrast was probably their creative force. Although I get along well with both of them, today I see Roger more than David. There's no need to do anything anymore; it's better for each of us to go our separate ways. Mandela would have to be resurrected to unite us again, like in 2005. Even then, it wouldn't be possible, I don't think.

How would you like Pink Floyd to be remembered in a hundred years?

Like a band that made great music, despite the Third World War between Roger and David. In 1967, I thought I'd only be in the band for three years and then get a real job. And yet, here I am again.