With the recent release of their ninth full-length album Deadwing, English post-rock band Porcupine Tree continues to emerge as one of the most intriguing and creative forces in modern music. Blistering.com's Roman M. Temin sat down with band founder and braintrust Steven Wilson to discuss the quartet's breakthrough into the mainstream, the nuances of its creative process, the impact of the internet on the music industry, and other pressing issues.
Blistering.com: I missed you guys last night in Somerville [Massachusetts]. Shit happened and I couldn't go. Steven Wilson: You're from Boston, right?
Blistering.com: Yes. Wilson: Ah, I wasn't sure. Don't worry, we'll be back.
Blistering.com: I actually did see you with Opeth a couple of years ago. That was a great show, even though I had to sit down through it. That was a little strange for me. Wilson: It was strange for me, too. The seating... we're not used to that, it was very odd.
Blistering.com: So, this new tour just began, right? Wilson: No, we started at the end of March... but if you mean in America, then yes, we just came to America. We've been touring Europe for the last month and a half. And we got to America last week.
Blistering.com: Deadwing just came out... Wilson: In America, yes.
Blistering.com: How long has it been out in Europe? Wilson: It came out the beginning of April in Europe.
Blistering.com: So now that it's been released, what do you see as the next step for Porcupine Tree? Wilson: Really, it's all about touring now, and I think one thing that's really helped us over the years is the fact that we've kind of made a name for ourselves as a live band, a touring band. We have a pretty special show, with visuals and multimedia, and the band can play, and it's overall a good evening out. And I think that's something that's unusual these days, for a band to be very much focused on making albums and touring in an era where we kind of get used to people making singles and videos, and marketing themselves through that route. We've kind of done it the hard way and we continue to make quality albums and we continue to tour. The plan isn't really going to change for this record, and we're just going to keep hammering away and chipping away, and reaching new people like that.
Blistering.com: On the topic of radio singles and videos - you've kind of dabbled in that lately, haven't you? Wilson: Well, we've always tried. I mean, there's always been a couple of songs on every record that we think can be played on the radio, and this album is no exception. The record company obviously thought the song "Shallow" would be right for America, and it's doing very well. To be honest, I don't know if it's doing well because it's right for the format, or whether it's just one of those things where the band has reached a point where people know us, they're kind of prepared to give the band some airplay, and it's kind of reached a tipping point in that respect. I think we've had songs on previous records that were just as good and just as [radio-friendly], but for whatever reason the timing seems to be a bit more in our favor this time around.
Blistering.com: The one song on the new record that's really conducive to radio play is "Open Car", I think... Wilson: Yeah, I think that's most likely to be the follow-up to "Shallow" as a rock radio single.
Blistering.com: Moving away from the new album for a moment, could you give those that are unfamiliar with the history of Porcupine Tree, could you please give a synopsis? Wilson: Well, basically the band started out as my solo project in the beginning of the 90s, and it was really a vehicle for me to explore my interest in 60s and 70s music, particularly the golden era of album rock, progressive rock, psychedelic rock, art rock, kraut rock, singer-songwriters, all the great kind of album-oriented artists of that era. Everyone from King Crimson and Pink Floyd, to Crosby Stills Nash and Young and Led Zeppelin, and just kind of trying to make quality album-oriented rock music again, which at the time was extremely unfashionable. You have to realize that I started Porcupine Tree basically around the same time as the Seattle Scene was hitting its stride, so it was an extremely unfashionable and uncommercial thing to be doing at the time to be writing long pieces, displaying obvious musical tendencies, with guitar solos and things like that.
It was totally out of fashion at the time, but even from that moment on it began to build up an underground following of people who really wanted to hear that kind of music and thought it should never have been abandoned, and that's what we've really continued to do over these last eight studio albums - continued to make what we consider to be album-quality rock music with good songwriting, musical depth and production depth. But I think from the perspective of the people who read [Blistering.com], the last couple of albums are probably the most relevant, in the sense that they've brought in a strong metal aspect to the sound. And the other thing that's been important to the band has been to continue to evolve and develop the sound over the years, so we very rarely stand still for more than one or two albums at a time.
Blistering.com: So do you see at the present, the kind of album-oriented rock that you ascribe to PT, do you see that as sort of becoming more in vogue again? We have bands like Radiohead, obviously, who have been big in America for quite a few years now... also stuff like Tool, A Perfect Circle... Wilson: Mars Volta...
Blistering.com: Right. Wilson: I think there's definitely a sense that in some respects the scene has caught up with us, or perhaps the cycle has come around again, and being musical and artistic, and being ambitious with your music is no longer unfashionable. You can get away with it, or you can do it and still be considered hip or worth writing about from a media perspective. I never really felt like there was a problem with the fans in that respect. There certainly was a problem with the media, though, and I think that's changed in the last couple of years. Ambition in music is no longer a dirty word.
Blistering.com: And you've been working with Opeth for their last three albums now. Do you plan to continue collaborating with them? Wilson: Certainly, we'll collaborate again. Unfortunately I can't do their new record because I'm too busy with Porcupine Tree. They'll be doing things without me this time. But Mikael [Akerfeldt] and myself, we have a lot of common in the sense that we play similar roles in our respective bands, and we both have similar musical insterests - his is very much rooted in the 70s progressive rock movement as well. Of course, they're much more of a kind of obvious heavy metal band, whereas we're a bit more difficult to categorize, but there is a strong link between the bands. I think philosophically and ideologically we have so much in common, and we're good friends above everything else and we both love music - that's what drives us.
Blistering.com: How do you see that partnership as having impacted the way you write and the way he writes? Wilson: My sense is that Opeth have certainly influenced the last couple of records in that they did get heavier, and contain more heavy riffs and metallic aspects. And I think similarly with their Damnation record, the last one they did, you can hear the influence Porcupine Tree had on them, and the less metal aspect of their music. Of course, some of their fans hate it, but some of our fans hate the metallic aspect of our music. But nevertheless it's important for both of us that we still artistically move forward and bring new elements into our music, and that's what keeps it fresh, and that's what keeps it exciting for us. So in that sense meeting new musicians and collaborating with other musicians outside of our respective projects is very important.
Mikael and I have been talking about doing something together - just the two of us - for years, but we just haven't had the time yet. I think that would be an interesting step, to just write something together.
With the recent release of their ninth full-length album Deadwing, English post-rock band Porcupine Tree continues to emerge as one of the most intriguing and creative forces in modern music. Blistering.com's Roman M. Temin sat down with band founder and braintrust Steven Wilson to discuss the quartet's breakthrough into the mainstream, the nuances of its creative process, the impact of the internet on the music industry, and other pressing issues.
