Steven Wilson Feature Interview    By Sarah Worsley

‘One Man Under Prog’...

It is difficult to imagine the modern progressive rock scene without thinking of Steven Wilson. As well as being in the most prolific band of the genre, Porcupine Tree, he has also been involved with some of progressive’s most modern shining stars namely Opeth and Anathema. However it is his solo work which is the most inventive and unique of his career. SoundShock discovers the inspiration behind his latest release ‘Grace For Drowning’...

“The main difference between this record and the last one, ‘Insurgents’, is the era of music that it draws on”, Steven explains. “The first album for me was very much inspired by the stuff i was hearing when i was growing up in the 80’s. So particularly bands like Cocteau Twins, Joy Division and The Cure; which I loved when I was a kid. Whereas this album is more drawing on the music i discovered from the past as a teenager, the bands I had to go back to discover which is the 70s [style of] music. This is the more vintage progressive music, particularly bands like King Crimson and Van Der Graaf Generator. Although everything gets filtered through my musical personality anyway - those two very different starting points led to exploring quite different musical territories.”

Steven, as an artist, has drawn his influences from across the musical spectrum. In his latest offering, the sublime ‘Grace for Drowning’, the main body is obviously built on freeform jazz and fusion which is prevalent throughout this double disc spectacle. This is a genre that is very close to his heart. “I’ve always loved the initial explosion of the fusion between rock and jazz music” Steven explains passionately. “What is key to why that era is so wonderful and creative is that for the first time you had rock musicians starting to incorporate their interest in jazz and classical music into their music. At the same time you had jazz musicians for the first time incorporating electric instruments into their sound. So you had this wonderful fertile period where everyone from Miles Davis to John McLaughlin on the jazz side, and King Crimson and Jethro Tull, almost meeting in the middle with their sounds. I really love that era, but I’ve never really explored it in my own music, and i think once punk came along it had very much disappeared from popular music and never came back into rock. So in a way i wanted to reclaim that, so it was kind of a conscious thing for me.”

‘Grace For Drowning’ clearly offered new territory for Steven to explore, mainly due to the obvious homage to the jazz era. This inclusion was a conscious one, as Steven explains. “I never intend anything, the path goes where it goes” he muses. “I usually write a lot more music than i need for a single CD, I’m a great believer that should write a lot then cherry pick the best music. I think that for once i felt like there was enough music that i thought was good enough to actually justify a double album. This time everything was different, and each song had its own vibe and sound. So I was really happy with all of them, and i found it very hard to drop songs. In a way i wanted it to be a grand, epic statement and how better to make an epic statement than with a double CD?”

Wilson’s music is a fertile experience rich listening experience; a head-trip into the unknown consciousness but as Steven explains his music is just as visual. And that long time friend and director Lasse Hoile has played an important role in this. “I’ve always thought that my music is quite visual, certainly when I’m writing I’m always having these ideas for what would be visually appropriate for this particular song” he explains. “I’m very lucky to work with Lasse who directed the film and also these videos. When I’m writing songs the first person i play them too is not my manager, my record company or my friends; it’s Lasse, because i want to get some ideas about how he would imagine it visually in a video.”

As well as making his music a visual experience, Steven is passionate about promoting music as an art form, rather than a product. This topic is explained vividly in ‘Insurgentes’ where Steven is seen smashing iPod’s in various, and often humorous ways. Steven explains why the presentation of his music is so important to him. “I’m not the sort of person who can just make an album and then stick it out in a CD with a four page booklet and a crystal case. I’m always thinking beyond that in terms of packaging and how to present things in a very artistic and lavish way” he answers thoughtfully. “Maybe this has something to do with my growing up at the end of the great era for vinyl, i still remember beautiful records in gatefold sleeves with lyric sheets and that was really something special. I think we’ve lost that with the era of compact disks, and certain we’ve lost it completely with downloading. But i think the whole visual aesthetic for me from a very young age, and always relating the sound to what it would look like visually too. I definitely think that now there’s an acceptance of record companies for presenting music as an art form.”

This is a passion which Steven shares with many of the artists he works with, particularly Robert Fripp and Steve Hackett (who both contributed on ‘Grace for Drowning’). Steven explains why they share such a bond. “They’re wonderful because they’re fantastically nice people and all about the music. The one thing that all the people I’ve worked with have in common is that they’ve not been interested in anything other than creating music” he explains keenly. “It seems like an obvious thing to say, but there are a lot of people in this business who are motivated by the idea of success or career. All the people I’ve worked with couldn’t give a damn about that, in fact it doesn’t even occur to them. Their careers have probably paid the price for it, I include myself in that, for not thinking in commercial, mainstream terms and I’ve had a really hard time with record companies for that. I think the longevity of my career is that it’s been unspectacular but steady, and I’m never going to make a record for the wrong reasons. That’s true of Robert and Steve too, they’re committed to music and experimentation, and they still are. They also come from an era of music that, to me, is the most magical of all.”

As well as his own projects, Steven has also been the driving force behind some of the most celebrating works in progressive rock/metal. Most notably Opeth’s ‘Blackwater Park’, and more recently Anathema’s ‘We’re Hear Because We’re Hear’ and the Opeth’s ‘Heritage’. But don’t worry, as Steven explains, he’s not quite ready to hang up his guitar just yet. “I wouldn’t say I wanted to do more [producing], I mean it’s great to work with such talented people. I wouldn’t work for anyone for the sake of it, I work on projects that inspire me and I also learnt so much from them” he clarifies. “For example, i can’t overstate enough how much i learnt from re-mixing King Crimson or Jethro Tull and similarly Opeth. I would never want it to become a dominant thing, ultimately i was put on this earth to make and create music. When I’m working on other peoples music, that’s only one aspect of what i do.”

King Crimson and Jethro Tull were an important part of the 70’s progressive movement, and it seems that today their popularity is soaring; matching and even exceeding what they experienced when they were active. Jethro Tull’s appearance at High Voltage is testament in understanding how important this era of music was and the knock on effect it’s had, not only to the older fans but to the new generation who are just experimenting with it. He also admits that, despite his well publicised views of modern technology, the internet has played an important role in this. “There’s never been a better time, and what you have to understand about these guys (Ian Anderson and Robert Fripp) is that they’ve been told constantly for the last 20 years that what they’re doing is crap” he says bitterly. “That did actually make an impression and a lot of these guys are being surprised by the amount of respect they have, because through the 80s and 90s they had no respect at all. Now everything has changed because now progressive music is back again and bigger than it was since the 70s. It’s very gratifying that it’s not just old people listening to these records now, it’s young people and i think young people are accepting that this was one of the most special, fertile and creative times in rock music history.  The records made then were so ambitious, so creative, so innovative and so cutting edge. That’s the great thing about the internet, because it’s taken away the influence of the British music press who perpetuated the myth that prog rock was an embarrassment. This was until the internet came along, where kids could go and listen to these bands without having to hear about what they should and shouldn’t listen to. The most important thing is that the music is being re-discovered.”

Steven has worked on a number of celebrated projects within the metal and rock world, but even he will admit that he isn’t proud of all of them. “I’ve made some terrible records in my opinion,” Steven laughs. “But the thing is, that there’s always someone who will tell you it’s their favourite album. I’m not going to ever again say that anything I’ve done sucks, because i think it’s offensive to someone who loves that record. There are some records I’m not particularly proud of, but like a lot musicians I think I’m most excited by what I’m doing now. It’s probably cliché to say, but it’s true to say that this album, ‘Grace for Drowning’, is my favourite of all the things I’ve done. It’s got the most different styles I’ve managed to pull together in one record. I’m also very proud of ‘In Absentia’ and ‘Fear of a Blank Planet’, and also my work on ‘Blackwater Park’. Most records are painful to listen to; it’s like seeing yourself as a teenager in bad clothes.”

Now that he has two solo albums under his belt (three if you include the fact that ‘Grace for Drowning’ is a double album), fans can expect pretty spectacular things for Steven’s first up-coming solo tour. “It’s going to be quite a show, i didn’t want to go out and just do a gig” he exclaims intriguingly. “There’s going to be a lot of multimedia and video is going play a big part in the show. There’s no support act, i want to start the experience from the moment people walk into the room. So we’re planning things from the walk in, to make a very immersive experience for people. I’m being as ambitious as a dare; this is my first solo tour so it’s quite a risk. I want to go away and say that was something special and unforgettable, and that it wasn’t just a gig or side project. This for me is as important as anything i do, including my day job in Porcupine Tree.”

The announcement that got prog and metal fans alike drooling was that Steven and Opeth’s Mikael Akerfeldt would be collaborating on a project titled ‘Storm Corrosion’. Steven reveals it will be nothing like what we expect. “Well it’s almost finished, I’ve actually broken off mixing it now to talk to you. I think by the end of this month it’ll be finished and it’s going to come up in April on Roadrunner. It’s a beautiful record, and i don’t think it’s what people will expect from us” he explains with an air of mystery. “The record made is not rock, let’s just say that. It’s got a lot of orchestral elements on it; it’s a very organic, beautiful record. I’m curious what people are going to make of it, the metal fans are going to hate i know that [Laughs]. Some people were expecting a metal supergroup, but it couldn’t be further away from that. It’s a very beautiful, mellow record, and we’re both very proud of it.”

After all the hard work Steven has put in with his solo project this year, would it be cheeky to ask if there’s a new Porcupine Tree album on the way? “Yes there is, that’s for once the solo tour is out of the way. Next year is going to be the year of the next [Porcupine Tree] album. We took this year off, because we felt we needed a break and we needed to come back and do something different. Certainly the last 3 or 4 albums have felt part of a set, and we plan to try and reinvent; going back to the drawing board and seeing what happens.”  

Feature by Sarah Worsley
‘Grace for Drowning’ is available on the 26th September via Kscope.
Steven is performing live at the Shepherds Bush Empire on the 31st October.