With tickets going on sale today for Roger Waters The Wall in selected cinemas worldwide, Roger has been talking to some parts of the press. In the interviews, he has confirmed continued work on his solo material, and suggests another tour isn't too far away - certainly before he feels he is too old for the rigours of touring.

The UK's Sun newspaper devotes a double page spread, and also a full page portrait, to Roger, under the headline "My teacher said I might as well shoot myself because I was useless"! In the interview, he talks first about a new song he's written about 'humanity', revealing the first verse and noting that "it gets a bit surreal" as the second verse is in French, including a "Je Suis Charlie" reference to the terrorist massacre in Paris.

He talks of how The Wall is presented within the context of the new film, intercut with Roger's road trip through France and Italy, as a way of explaining how his family background informed some aspects of The Wall.

Cologne's Rundschau newspaper has also published an interview with Roger today (viewable online here). In it, Roger talks about the movie, its background, and presentation. "We had collected a lot of documentary material, but it should always be a concept film and a road movie for the big screen. When we finished our tour and filmed the concerts, I thought: Something's missing. I wanted to visit the grave of my grandfather in northern France, where he fell in the First World War. In addition, my father died in World War II and now I was for the first time at the memorial. I am a child of the Second World War, for me it is very important."

Talk turns to the freedoms felt after leaving Pink Floyd, and the joy he has found in recent years on the road with his band. "I like my band, they have and express all their views. Nevertheless, everyone knows whose band it is. Although I work very closely with my colleagues and I adore them, yes we are all in a blissful boat, I am still the captain!" Being a solo artist clearly pleases him. "I describe what I do, often analogous to the existence of a painter. You have a screen in front of you, an idea in your head and shuffle the colours together. Then someone comes along and says: 'I think you should choose a different colour'. Your reaction is: 'Fuck you! What does that have to do with you?' It is the work of an individual, even if you have people who imagine individual areas. I do not compare myself with Michelangelo, but when he painted the ceiling of the Sistine Chapel, he had many helpers and yet it was his vision."

Looking to the future, he confirms that "I'm working on a new album and I think a tour is still in me before I hang up my boots. At some point I will no longer be up for performing on arena stages. I'm 72 this year, but I have a few years left in me. I will never stop reading and writing. And I love to cook and fish. So I have a ton of things that I like, but it's quite a physical thing to perform a rock'n'roll show every two days."

For the final word on his new material, back to the Sun's interview: "I'm working out how to make it into an arena show and wondering if that will inform what might or might not go on an album..."