How John Leckie captured the spoken word voices for 'Us and Them' during early Dark Side sessions

John Leckie wasn’t even the main engineer on The Dark Side of the Moon — he was the tape operator. But early on, when Pink Floyd wanted ambient voices threaded through the album, Leckie grabbed a portable Nagra tape recorder and set up in the control room at Abbey Road. He asked everyone who wandered in — roadies, doormen, other musicians — a short list of questions like “What is the meaning of life?” and “Are you afraid of dying?”

The answers were raw and unrehearsed. One of the best came from a doorman: “I’m not frightened of dying… any time will do.” That line ended up in the “Us and Them” outtakes, floating behind the saxophone. Leckie didn’t use fancy microphones or studio trickery — just the Nagra’s built-in mic and the luck of catching people off guard. The band later edited those snippets into the final mix, but it was Leckie’s guerrilla recording method that gave the album its