This interview was conducted for the 300th issue of Classic Rock magazine, launched in 1998. The anniversary edition is available for purchase online, and also includes interviews with Gene Simmons, Def Leppard, Alice Cooper, Jedi Lee, Justin Hawkins, Rick Nielsen and Slash And many more.
Despite releasing five albums in a 12-year career, Porcupine Tree was only on the periphery of the music scene when traditional rock music Presented by it, in the fourth issue.
In what turned out to be a rare outburst, during a debate about the limits of progressive rock, Stephen Wilson, who is usually a media expert, was resorting to the comparison with Yes, declaring their latest production “absolute silly poo.”
However, his position has always been that new ground must be broken with every creative project. And that refusal to just give people “more of what they want” has led to an impressive solo career with six albums to date. After their unexpected reunion, later this year Porcupine Tree released a new album titled closure / continuation The first in more than a decade.
What are your memories of shooting Classic Rock in the fall of 1998?
Well, in a little while I remember coming to the awards show, when Porcupine Tree won Album of the Year for Fear of an empty planet [in 2007]Which was very, very luxurious. There were a lot of famous musicians, it was amazing.
Where were you in your life in 1998?
The Porcupine Tree was still on a small label called Delerium Records. Britpop would have been big. When you think about it, it’s a bit like traditional rock music Presiding over every era is rock music that is gradually disappearing from the mainstream – that’s not necessarily a bad thing.
no traditional rock music It also revitalizes the scene for rock fans of a certain age whose needs are no longer being met?
That’s what I’m saying in some ways. When something disappears from the mainstream, like a magazine traditional rock music It becomes absolutely necessary – it is the Bible. see it with prog The magazine too. These nicknames become magnetic. So your timing was perfect. You have given the scene a lifeline.
traditional rock music It was one of the first popular magazines to cover the Porcupine Tree, and you’ve also been our reviewer. Do you feel a bond with what we do?
I do that, because I’ve always been out of the mainstream myself. It’s where I’m still. Without magazines like yours, it would have been very difficult for me to get to the point where I am now.
As your solo career continues to advance astonishingly, what is the thought process behind reassembling the Porcupine Tree?
But as for the shutdown, it probably wouldn’t have happened. These songs have been written over the past ten or eleven years, and we always intended to finish them. My solo career and Gavin [Harrison, drummer] Working with King Crimson sidelined that plan, but the lockdown gave us a chance to get around that and do it.
Can you give us a flavor of closure / continuationIt is the band’s first album in twelve years which is due in June?
It’s very hard for me to step back and be objective, but it seems like a perfect log for a porcupine tree – albeit it could only be made in 2021. I know it’s vague, but it’s the best I can do.
The past decades have brought you a parallel career in remixing classic albums across multiple genres with 5.1 sound. Can you pick a favorite or two?
There are so many, but the things I am most proud of are the ones that made such a difference. Some recordings did not acoustically match the included art. I really felt like I managed to shine a shine on Jethro Tull’s aqualongThat was plagued by technical problems. I am also proud of my work with XTC and Gentle Giant, because both ranges are underrated.
What are your thoughts on the advent of the Deluxe Edition / Reissue – selling things people already own?
It’s a bit complicated. The entire culture of the Deluxe Edition is perhaps the last set of records. People are now buying recordings for maybe the third or fourth time, and only now it’s a box of 20 CDs with demos, B-sides, and alternative releases. I can’t think of anything more boring. Better to hear new music. We’ve become archaeologists, but for those people who want those products I’m on, if you’re not an oxymoron, I feel it’s my duty to do the best job I can.
We’ll have to wait until fall to see you on stage again, this time with the Porcupine Tree. Did you miss it?
I’ll let you know when that happens. I think I did. I enjoyed the break for a while, but I feel like I’m about to come back.
your book Limited Edition One: How to Succeed in the Music Industry Without Being Part of the Mainstream, begins with you standing on stage at Royal Albert Hall in 2010, knowing it would be the last Porcupine Tree show – but without telling management, your record label, or your bandmates. Your explanation is poignant, but basically it was that the band was starting to “tread on the water,” as you put it.
One of the recurring themes in the book is the unwillingness to repeat myself and to meet the expectations of the fan base. The problem with having a professional brand is that it is very easy to get caught up in the pattern of giving people more of what they want. I say in the book I never planned on it [Porcupine Tree] That I’d be gone for a long time, or even forever, but I knew that for a while I needed to move on and do something different.
In another eight years, God willing cRock Lasik The number will reach four hundred. Do you expect to continue making music after that?
I do. I can’t do anything else. To all my disappointment with the way the industry is going – in a very superficial way, music has become less valuable in people’s lives and no longer has the same cultural impact – at the same time there are still some people who remain completely passionate about the subject, thanks to magazines like traditional rock music It has spawned an entirely evangelical subculture. Great new music will be created, we will still need magazines like traditional rock music To find out.
Porcupine tree closure / continuation was issued on June 24.