Interstellar Overdrive

"Interstellar Overdrive"
B-side label of the French Arnold Layne EP, featuring an edit of "Interstellar Overdrive"
Instrumental composition by Pink Floyd from the album The Piper at the Gates of Dawn
Published	Magdalene Music/Essex Music
Released	5 August 1967 (1967-08-05)
Recorded	March–April 1967
Genre	Psychedelic rock space rock proto-prog
Length	9:41
Label	EMI Columbia (UK) Tower (US)
Writer(s)	Syd Barrett Roger Waters Rick Wright Nick Mason
Producer(s)	Norman Smith
Relics track listing 11 tracks Side one "Arnold Layne" "Interstellar Overdrive" "See Emily Play" "Remember a Day" "Paintbox" "Julia Dream" Side two "Careful with That Axe, Eugene" "Cirrus Minor" "The Nile Song" "Biding My Time" "Bike"

"Interstellar Overdrive" is an instrumental composition written and performed by Pink Floyd. The song was written in 1966, and is listed on their debut album, The Piper at the Gates of Dawn, released in 1967, clocking in at almost ten minutes in length.

The song originated when guitarist Syd Barrett heard the band's manager Peter Jenner humming a song, which Barrett tried to interpret by playing it on his guitar. Musically sharing the same theme with "Astronomy Domine", the piece was recorded in several takes between March and April 1967. An earlier, longer recording of the song can be heard on the soundtrack to the film Tonite Lets All Make Love in London, which was recorded at Sound Technique Studios in early 1967, and was released in the same year. Other versions of the track appear on various bootleg recordings. The piece has been covered by acts such as T. Rex, Pearl Jam, Hawkwind, the Melvins, and Simon House.

"Interstellar Overdrive" was one of the very first psychedelic instrumental improvisations recorded by a rock band. It was seen as Pink Floyd's first foray into space rock (along with "Astronomy Domine"), although band members would later disparage this term. "Interstellar Overdrive" originated when early Pink Floyd manager Peter Jenner was trying to hum a song he could not remember the name of (most commonly identified as Love's cover of "My Little Red Book"). Guitarist and vocalist Syd Barrett followed Jenner's humming with his guitar and used it as the basis for the principal melody of "Interstellar Overdrive". Bassist Roger Waters once told Barrett that the song's riff reminded him of the theme tune from Steptoe and Son (by Ron Grainer). Around the time the song was written, Barrett was also inspired by AMM and their guitarist Keith Rowe, who had a pattern of moving pieces of metal along his guitar's fretboard. The free-form section (and also, "") was inspired by Frank Zappa's free-form freak-outs and The Byrds' "Eight Miles High".