"Originally Guy was offered the space and then decided that he wanted to do a duo thing, which we've done at different times and under different guises. He wanted to do it with me, and then to involve people like Hugh because of the organ in the Chapel, Stuart [Gordon] and Manny [Elias - drums] because they were working with me. So we had this cast of characters that we kind of rehearsed. Basically Guy and I rehearsed it ourselves and slotted other people in. But from an early stage it became evident that all four of us were going to be at this show and it would have been a cowardly move for us not to have done something. So we said 'yes, we'll do something' so it was a question of 'what shall we do then?' Again this is an exemplar of the Van der Graaf ethos that what we should do was in the end Lemmings. Partly because it would be one of the more difficult ones to do, and partly because it was not the obvious one to do. So again we had very little rehearsal for it. Guy and I rehearsed and we had just one or two run-throughs a couple of days before with the rest of us. And the main point was that we managed to do it without having Van der Graaf on any of the posters or it being announced that this was going to be an event. We were all agreed that that was not what we wanted to happen. In the end the way that it came about was that there had been this cast of characters going on and coming off the stage all evening, solo things and odd combinations, and it was I think the penultimate piece in the show. So all of us had been onstage and the way that we worked it was passing over and almost segueing songs. So the point at which it was just the four of us on stage happened almost by subterfuge. And because it was Lemmings, and because it starts with completely free playing, it wasn't quite clear. So it was nicely done and obviously there was an element of nostalgia, but not an element of backwards steps."

Progression: "Would you consider doing it again, maybe with a full show, or was the Union Chapel a one off?"

Hammill: "I would say it was a one off. One can't say 'never', and we do see each other, possibly by virtue of having broken up we don't hate each other. In fact we spent Hugh's fiftieth birthday on a canal boat together. So that's as close as a tour reunion as I think we're going to come [laughter]. We all got on, and we all got off, not without various alarms and excursions I have to say! But I think it's pretty unlikely really, but one can't say 'never'."

Peter Hammill interviewed by Tony Emmerson in Bath, 1999.