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Richard Sinclair on Caravan, Hatfield and the North and Camel: a Canterbury life in music

Richard Sinclair

Psychedelic Baby Magazine has published a wide-ranging interview with Richard Sinclair, founding member of Caravan and veteran of Hatfield and the North and Camel. Conducted by Dereck Higgins across three video conversations in January 2026, the feature traces Sinclair's path from the Wilde Flowers in 1960s Canterbury through Caravan's 'In the Land of Grey and Pink', his years with Hatfield and the North alongside Phil Miller and Pip Pyle, and his tenure in Camel on 'Rain Dances' and 'Breathless'. Sinclair recalls his father's influence as a Canterbury bandleader, the family's musical lineage back to the 1800s, and the informal way the Wilde Flowers coalesced around the Hopper brothers and Robert Wyatt. He speaks candidly about sharing vocals with Pye Hastings, writing 'Golf Girl' and 'Winter Wine', and the friendships that shaped the Canterbury scene — Kevin Ayers, Mike Ratledge, the Hopper brothers, and later Phil Miller, Alan Gowen and Pip Pyle. Now based in southern Italy, Sinclair continues to perform and work with younger musicians while sorting through his extensive archive. The interview, transcribed and edited by Psychedelic Baby Magazine, offers a first-hand perspective on one of progressive rock's most enduring communities.

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