Porcupine Tree

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Porcupine Tree
Porcupine Tree performing live in 2007. From left to right: John Wesley, Richard Barbieri, Steven Wilson, Gavin Harrison, and Colin Edwin.
Background information
Origin	Hemel Hempstead, Hertfordshire, England
Genre(s)	Psychedelic rock, progressive rock, progressive metal
Years active	1987–present
Label(s)	Delerium, Snapper, Lava, Transmission, Roadrunner, Atlantic, WHD, Peaceville
Associated acts	Japan, No-Man, I.E.M., Bass Communion, Blackfield, Continuum, Opeth
Website	www.porcupinetree.com
Members
Steven Wilson Richard Barbieri Colin Edwin Gavin Harrison John Wesley (concerts only)
Former members
Chris Maitland

Porcupine Tree are a Grammy-nominated progressive rock band formed in Hemel Hempstead, Hertfordshire, England by Steven Wilson. The band's music is a combination of rock, psychedelia, and metal. Wilson once commented: "I like so many different types of things, and they all go into the melting pot, if you like, that produces the music of Porcupine Tree."^[1]

During the nineties the band focused on psychedelic music although they incorporated a wide variety of styles from electronic music, mostly from trance and krautrock due to Steven Wilson and Richard Barbieri's liking for 1970s bands such as Tangerine Dream, Neu! and Can.^[2] In an interview of 1993 for Voyage 35, the first Porcupine Tree fanzine, Wilson said: "Progressive Rock has always been about absorbing new technology in my opinion anyway and that’s the mistake that people have been making over the last ten to fifteen years is they’ve not been taking the new technology on board, which is what we’ve been trying to do, to be truly progressive in the true sense of the word."^[3] Since the release of In Absentia (2002), the band have begun to explore the metal grounds.

For live shows, Porcupine Tree uses a screen that displays a different projection for each song. This visual element was introduced during the In Absentia tour, when the band started to work with Danish photographer and filmmaker Lasse Hoile, and became a trademark for Porcupine Tree's live performances.

Despite being signed to Roadrunner and Atlantic, the band has its own record label, Transmission which has been used to launch some independent releases and special limited editions of their albums. Porcupine Tree has its official online store on Burning Shed (also home for OSI, Chroma Key and Roger Eno among others).

In a poll celebrating the 10-year anniversary of the Dutch Progressive Rock Page, Porcupine Tree was the most voted band for "Best Albums of the Decade" and "Best Tracks of the Decade" (1997 - 2006).^[4]

Contents 1 History 1.1 Beginnings: 1987-1991 1.2 Planting the tree: 1992-1995 1.3 Growth (Phase One): 1996-1998 1.4 Growth (Phase Two): 1999-2001 1.5 Growth (Phase Three): 2002-2006 1.6 Maturation: 2007-Present 2 Musical style 2.1 Influences 2.2 Characteristics 2.3 Aversion for categorisations 3 Band members 3.1 Current members 3.2 Former members 3.3 Session members 4 Discography 4.1 Demo tapes 4.2 Studio releases 5 References 6 See also 7 External links

[edit] History

[edit] Beginnings: 1987-1991

Porcupine Tree originated in 1987 as something of a collaborative hoax between Steven Wilson and Malcolm Stocks. Inspired somewhat by the big bands, such as Pink Floyd, that dominated the music scene during their youth, the two decided to form a fictional legendary rock band named The Porcupine Tree. Wilson obliged the creation with several hours of music to provide "evidence" of its existence. The two also fabricated details such as band members, album titles and backstory. The backstory purportedly included events such as meeting at a '70s rock festival, and several trips in and out of prison.

As Steven Wilson stated, "It was something that I started doing as soon as I had the money to buy my own studio equipment. When you've got a studio in your house you tend to do things you wouldn't do when you're paying to go into a professional studio, where you're watching the clock all the time. The one thing I wanted to do, because I had a great love of late 60's/early 70's psychedelic and progressive music, was to make my own slant on that."^[1]

Although Porcupine Tree was largely started as a joke and Wilson was preoccupied with his other project, No-Man, by 1989 he began to consider some of the music as potentially marketable. Wilson created an 80-minute-long cassette titled Tarquin's Seaweed Farm under the band name Porcupine Tree.^[5] Still showing the spirit of his joke, Wilson included an 8-page inlay containing information about fictitious band members such as Sir Tarquin Underspoon and Timothy Tadpole-Jones.^[6]

Wilson sent out copies of Tarquin's Seaweed Farm to several people that he felt would be interested in the recordings. The underground UK magazine Freakbeat was going through the process of starting their own record company when they received the cassette. Although the tape received mild reviews, Porcupine Tree was asked to contribute to a compilation of up-and-coming underground psychedelic bands. This process was slow, taking eighteen months before completion. During this period, Porcupine Tree continued to work on new material, releasing a second album titled The Nostalgia Factory. This album helped grow the Porcupine Tree's underground fanbase, though the band still carried on the charade of being a '70s rock legend.

The newly-formed record label, Delerium, agreed to reissue the cassettes Tarquin's Seaweed Farm and The Nostalgia Factory. A compilation album was also released, as planned, entitled A Psychedelic Psauna and featured the Porcupine Tree track, "Linton Samuel Dawson". Porcupine Tree was invited shortly afterwards to sign to Delerium as one of the record label's first artists. The band were originally invited to publish a double album of their two cassettes, but Wilson decided to instead put what he discerned as the best of both tapes onto a single album, which was released in mid 1991 as On the Sunday of Life.... The rest of the music from the two initial tapes was released on a limited edition album entitled Yellow Hedgerow Dreamscape.

[edit] Planting the tree: 1992-1995

In early 1992, On the Sunday of Life... was issued as a fairly minuscule edition of only 1000 copies, complete with a deluxe gatefold sleeve. The album initially sold out shortly after it shipped, but pressure from public and press alike ensured that the album was reproduced, along with a CD version. The album featured future concert classic and frequent encore song "Radioactive Toy". By 2000, On the Sunday of Life... had racked up sales of over 20,000 copies.^[5]

In the midst of Porcupine Tree's rising success, Wilson's other band, No-Man (a long-term endeavor with Tim Bowness), had been getting excellent UK press (singles of the week in Melody Maker and Sounds), which led to the band being signed to One Little Indian Records, Hit & Run publishing in the UK and Epic 440/Sony in the US. No-Man's success gave Wilson the opportunity to leave his regular job and devote his time solely to music.

Looking forward from the original Porcupine Tree music, Wilson took steps to move his project towards newer, more contemporary kinds of music. This new goal scored the band with their thirty minute long single, "Voyage 34". Released in 1992, the song mixed together the ambient trance music of earlier groups like The Orb and Future Sound of London. The single featured what is described as "liquid rock" guitar solos coupled with a narrative from a sixties LSD propaganda LP. The track was too long to make it a radio hit, but it got good response from the underground music scene of the nineties, reaching the UK independent Top 20 singles list.

"Voyage 34" was actually a track recorded for another prospective Porcupine Tree double album Up the Downstair. However, when the album eventually emerged in mid-1993 the decision not to include the single had slimmed down the album to a single record. Up the Downstair was greeted with rapture, Melody Maker describing it as "a psychedelic masterpiece... one of the albums of the year."^[7] The album continued the fusion of dance and rock and also featured guest appearances from two future full-time Porcupine Tree members, Richard Barbieri (ex-80s art rock band Japan) and Colin Edwin.

In November 1993, Voyage 34 was reissued alongside an additional 12 inch remix by Astralasia. With non-existent radio play it still managed to enter the NME indie chart for six weeks and became an underground chill-out classic.^[5]

The profile of Porcupine Tree had now grown to the extent that the question of live performances could no longer be ignored. Thus, in December 1993, Porcupine Tree became a live unit featuring Steven on lead vocals/guitar, Colin Edwin on bass guitar, Chris Maitland on drums and Richard Barbieri on keyboards.^[8]

All three new members of the group had worked with Steven on various projects over the preceding years (Richard Barbieri and Chris Maitland had been part of No-Man's touring band) and all were excellent musicians sympathetic to the sound and direction of Porcupine Tree. The new line up had immediate chemistry as illustrated by the Spiral Circus album (issued on vinyl in 1997) which contained recordings from their first ever 3 performances, including a BBC Radio One session for Mark Radcliffe, an early champion of the group. The next album would not emerge until early 1995, but was preceded by the classic single Stars Die/Moonloop, the last 2 tracks to be recorded during the album sessions and the first to feature the new band.

Released in 1995, the band's third studio album, The Sky Moves Sideways became a success among prog fans, and Porcupine Tree were hailed as the Pink Floyd of the nineties. Wilson would later lament this, stating "I can't help that. It's true that during the period of The Sky Moves Sideways, I had done a little too much of it in the sense of satisfying, in a way, the fans of Pink Floyd who were listening to us because that group doesn't make albums any more. Moreover, I regret it."^[1] Regret it or not, the CD did attract a lot of new fans.

The Sky Moves Sideways was an expansive soundscape of melody and ambient rock experimentation, but would prove to be a transitional work with half recorded before the formation of the band and half recorded after. Most of the album was taken up with the 35 minute title track, which at one point Steven intended to be long enough to occupy the whole album (an alternate version of the track, containing some of the excised music, was included on the 2004 remastered version of the album). It also entered the NME, Melody Maker and Music Week charts.^[5] Together with the Moonloop EP, this album became the first Porcupine Tree music to be issued in America in the autumn of 1995, and attracted favourable press on both sides of the Atlantic. The band supported the album with numerous gigs throughout the year at major venues in the UK, The Netherlands, Italy, and Greece.

[edit] Growth (Phase One): 1996-1998

Partly unsatisfied with the half band/half solo nature of The Sky Moves Sideways, Porcupine Tree promptly got down to the task of recording the first proper band record and worked sporadically over the next year on developing a tighter and more ambitious rock sound.

Wilson: "Obviously the practical concern of being able to play the music live was the instigating factor. But I think subconsciously I also felt that I'd taken the solo years as far as I'd wanted to because I never really enjoyed working with drum machines. On The Sky Moves Sideways I had a couple of tracks where I did actually bring Chris and Colin in for the first time: 'Stars Die' and 'Moonloop'. And they were a turning point for me because I realized that those two tracks for me were the best from the whole sessions. And I realized from that point on I never wanted to go back to having to use drum machines. But also, I think I've always kind of been in love with the idea of, y'know, 'the rock band'. Because bands have a kind of glamour, and appeal, and a romance about them the solo projects just don't have."^[2]

Porcupine Tree started working on their next album, Signify, as a band. The musicians received writing credits for some tracks, most notably for "Intermediate Jesus", which evolved from a jam session (parts of which would be released on the limited edition double 10 inch LP, Metanoia, in the end of 1998).^[9]

Wilson: "Signify was slightly odd in the way it was recorded in the sense that although it is a band album, because we were never able to actually all be in the same room at the same time, because of physical limitations, with the exception of one track, "Intermediate Jesus", which was done outside, I tended to demo the tracks to a fairly high level and they would just replace the parts that I'd played on synthesizers with the real thing. So there wasn't a great deal of input from the other guys."^[10]

After the release of the first real Porcupine Tree single "Waiting", which entered all UK indie charts and the UK National chart attracting airplay all over Europe, Signify finally hit the shops in September 1996. The album was a mixture of instrumental tracks and more song-oriented tunes, blending together numerous rock and avant-garde styles, while absorbing many diverse influences but relying on none and still providing a mixture of dreamy melodies and raw power or dark moods.

A large amount of major European media interest accompanied the album's release, as Porcupine Tree had now become a highly respected force in the musical underground.

Wilson: "For me, tracks like 'Every Home Is Wired' and 'Dark Matter' totally transcend both genre and comparison. Finally, I think we are making a completely original and 90's form of music, but which still has its root in progressive music."^[11]

Meanwhile the fanbase of the band kept on growing, especially in Italy where airplay on a popular radio show had turned the band into a teenagers' favourite, a remarkable crowd compared to the more prog rock oriented listeners elsewhere.

Porcupine Tree continued to increase in popularity abroad during 1997 and in March played to an audience of over 5,000 in Rome over three nights - all of which were recorded for the 1997 live album Coma Divine. This album was released as a goodbye to Delerium Records, which felt it could no longer offer the kind of resources the band needed in order to continue to build its profile worldwide.

In 1997 Wilson was asked by ex-Marillion singer Fish if he would be interested in collaborating on his new album. Wilson would end up co-writing, playing on and producing Fish's Sunsets on Empire, regarded as the best album the Scotsman had released in years. Interestingly enough, two years later Marillion would ask Wilson to mix part of their new album marillion.com. Working with both camps of one of his favourite teenage bands was a dream come true for Wilson.

Also, in late 1997 the band's first three albums were remastered and reissued. Signify also saw a release in the US on Miles Copeland's Ark 21 label.

[edit] Growth (Phase Two): 1999-2001

Steven, Richard, Colin, and Chris spent all of 1998 recording their fifth studio album, a release that reflected the band's move towards a more song-oriented sound.

Wilson: "Basically, I wanted to make an album full of good songs. I'm much more interested now than I was in songwriting as an art form, as opposed to soundscape development. When I started making Porcupine Tree albums, it was as much about how the albums flowed and fitted together. It still is to an extent, but it's a tighter sound now, in the sense that the song is paramount. What I was listening to at the time when I was writing this album was a lot more vocally oriented. I would say the major influence on that would be my interest in Brian Wilson and The Beach Boys. I was listening a lot to stuff like Pet Sounds and all that kind of harmony singing. Also stuff like Todd Rundgren, Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young, anything with really good ensemble singing. I was particularly into that stuff when I was writing this album. And I kind of got interested in the idea of the pop song as a kind of experimental symphony if you like."^[1]

At the time of recording, the band had no record deal, but later that year they signed to the Snapper/K-Scope label and in March of 1999, the album Stupid Dream was issued. The album was supported by a lengthy tour of the UK, Italy, Greece, the Netherlands, Belgium, Switzerland, Germany, France, Poland, and the USA. The three singles taken from the album Piano Lessons, Stranger by the Minute, and Pure Narcotic all achieved mainstream exposure in the US and in Europe and appeared well placed in the UK independent charts and on radio station playlists. In addition, Snapper released the opener song, "Even Less", as a mysterious one-track cassette in a plain white sleeve with the words "Who Is This?" written in ink, a number 1 in the top right hand corner and no catalogue number. The tape was delivered to record stores and radio stations only.^[12] Although initially the album was such a departure that some older fans were unsure, it brought the band many new fans and went on to become the band's best selling and most acclaimed release up to that time.

The time spent looking for a record deal had not been wasted and only a few months after the release of Stupid Dream the band were ready to begin work on a follow up, recorded during the transition into the new millennium and completed in February, 2000. With string arrangements provided by Dave Gregory of XTC, Lightbulb Sun built on the mix of songwriting, soundscaping, and rock dynamics of Stupid Dream, but developed it into something altogether more intense and organic, a band confidently in control of their sound. The album was released in May 2000, preceded by the single Four Chords That Made a Million. A sold out show at the Scala in London began a short run of UK shows, to be followed later in the year by European festival dates and a major tour supporting Dream Theater.^[13]

The band continued to tour through the end of 2000 and the start of 2001, including their first major tour of Germany. A special double CD edition of the Lightbulb Sun album was issued in Israel and Germany, and in May, Recordings, a limited edition collection of EP tracks and out-takes from the previous two albums, was released as the band's final release under their Snapper/K-Scope contract. In June 2001 the band played a short US tour, culminating in a sold out show at the Bottom Line in New York City. Shortly afterwards Porcupine Tree announced that they had signed a new international record deal with Lava/Atlantic Records.

[edit] Growth (Phase Three): 2002-2006

In February 2002 Porcupine Tree's first line-up change occurred when drummer Chris Maitland departed after eight years with the band. The band welcomed drummer and longtime acquaintance Gavin Harrison to the line-up.

In March, as a major retrospective box set of the band's early work, entitled Stars Die: The Delerium Years 1991-1997, was released, the band commenced recording their first major label album, drawing from a pool of 30 new songs written by Steven in the previous two years.

Sessions took place at Avatar Studios in New York^[14] and London, with veteran engineer Paul Northfield and string arranger Dave Gregory also playing major roles in the making of the record. Mixing of the new album was completed in Los Angeles in May with Tim Palmer.

The eagerly awaited new album, In Absentia, was released by Lava Records in September 2002 (European release January, 2003). The album received great praise worldwide and went on to become the band's best selling album, shifting over 100,000 copies in its first year of release and charting in several European countries. The band also released a 5.1 surround sound version of the album, mixed by legendary Grammy Award winning producer Elliot Scheiner, which went on to win the award for best 5.1 mix at the 2004 Surround Sound Music awards in Los Angeles.^[15]

To promote the album the band undertook four tours of Europe and North America, including one with acclaimed Swedish metal band Opeth. On tour the new line up of the band was further augmented by additional touring vocalist/guitarist John Wesley.

During these tours the visual element of the band's performance was taken to new heights with the involvement of filmmaker and photographer Lasse Hoile, who created a dark and surreal visual counterpoint to Porcupine Tree's music. The long promotional campaign for In Absentia ended on November 30, 2003, as the band played a homecoming show to a sold out London Astoria.^[16]

During 2003, Porcupine Tree also set up their own label and online store. The first release on the Transmission label was a studio session recorded for XM Radio, Washington, followed in 2004 by a recording from Polish radio in 2001. The band plan to use the label to issue a series of well recorded and packaged live and exclusive studio recordings.

2003 also saw the start of a lengthy reissue/remaster campaign, with many of the early albums expanded to double CDs. These reissues included a rerecorded/remixed version of the Up the Downstair album, and the reissue of Stupid Dream and Lightbulb Sun on Lava/Atlantic.

In early 2004 the band embarked on the recording sessions for an ambitious new Porcupine Tree album, Deadwing, their second for Lava/Atlantic. The album takes its inspiration from a film script written by Steven with his filmmaker friend Mike Bennion. With the album sessions completed in November 2004, and the band's total worldwide sales now approaching half a million units, demand for new music from the band was at an all time high, and increasing media coverage, word of mouth and fan-power continued to create interest in Porcupine Tree throughout the world.

Deadwing was released in Europe and the US during the spring of 2005 as both a stereo and 5.1 surround sound album, preceded by the release of two singles, Shallow in the US, and Lazarus in Europe. Counting on the presence of Adrian Belew from King Crimson and Opeth's Mikael Åkerfeldt, the album was a commercial success, due in part to Shallow receiving airplay, peaking at #26 in the Billboard's Hot Mainstream Rock Tracks.^[17] Lazarus entered the Germany singles Top 100 at #91.^[18] The tour to promote the album commenced in the UK at the end of March, and continued throughout the year. The song Shallow would later be featured in the soundtrack for the film Four Brothers.^[19]

The album won the Surround Music Awards for "Best Made-For-Surround Title" the same year of its release,^[20] and was voted number 2 album of 2005 in Sound & Vision, which is the most widely distributed US magazine in the field of home electronics and entertainment. The White Stripes's Get Behind Me Satan was the number one album.^[21]

Porcupine Tree released Deadwing in Japan on March 22 of 2006, making it the first album by the band to be released in that country.

The band's website also announced that new material will be played during the first half of their tours of Europe and the United States. Their new material came to be much heavier and layered than anything they have done before, indicating that Porcupine Tree would be heading towards an even more metal oriented sound.

On August 8, 2006, it was announced that Porcupine Tree had signed with Roadrunner Records UK. Said Wilson, "Roadrunner has established itself as one of the world's premier independent labels for rock music, and we couldn't be more enthusiastic about working with them to expand our audience and elevate Porcupine Tree to the next level."^[22]

The first Porcupine Tree concert DVD, Arriving Somewhere, was released on October 10, 2006. It was accompanied by a brief tour in which 50 minutes of new (at the time unrecorded) material for the forthcoming studio album were performed at the first half of the shows. Supporting acts included Swedish band Paatos in Europe (except France and Belgium where they were supported by Oceansize), and ProjeKCt 6 (Robert Fripp and Adrian Belew) in the USA.^[16] On January, 2007, it was revealed the title for the forthcoming album would be Fear of a Blank Planet.^[23]

[edit] Maturation: 2007-Present

With the release of Fear of a Blank Planet on April 16, 2007, Porcupine Tree have become more prominent on the international scene, charting in almost all European countries^[24] and peaking at #59 on the United States Billboard 200.^[25] The tour has taken the band through various music festivals including the twin-festivals, Hurricane and Southside, in Germany,^[26][27] and the Donington Download Festival on June 8, 2007.^[28] The lyrics of the album deal with many common behaviour tendencies and other issues concerning society in the beginning of the 21st century such as bipolar disorder, attention deficit disorder, drugs, technologic alienation^[29] and depravation of youth.^[30]

Wilson: "My fear is that the current generation of kids who're being born into this information revolution, growing up with the Internet, cell phones, iPods, this download culture, 'American Idol,' reality TV, prescription drugs, PlayStations — all of these things kind of distract people from what's important about life, which is to develop a sense of curiosity about what's out there."^[31]

This whole concept was inspired in many ways by Bret Easton Ellis novel Lunar Park.^[32] Wilson explained the title is a nod to Public Enemy's album Fear of a Black Planet, both albums sharing the particularity of being a mirror reflecting what's happening in the world at the time. While race relations were the main issue among young people when the Public Enemy's album was released, "in the 21st century what's replaced race relations as the number 1 concern for young people is a kind of terminal boredom, a generation X thing, it's the blank generation" is Wilson's opinion.^[33] The album features collaborations of Rush's Alex Lifeson and King Crimson's Robert Fripp.

A new EP called Nil Recurring was released on September 17, 2007, featuring four unreleased tracks from the Fear of a Blank Planet sessions, and also includes contributions from Robert Fripp. The second leg of the current tour started on October 3, 2007, now promoting new music from the EP. Nil Recurring entered the UK Top 30 Independent Label Albums at #8.^[34] The EP was later reissued in February 18, 2008 through Peaceville Records.^[35]

On November 5, 2007, Fear of a Blank Planet won the "Album of the Year" award for the 2007 Classic Rock magazine awards.^[36] In December, 2007, it was nominated for a "Best Surround Sound Album" Grammy though Love by The Beatles finally won the award.^[37] In January, 2008, was voted "Best Album of 2007" by readers of the Dutch Progressive Rock Page.^[38]

An in-store appearance at Park Avenue CDs in Orlando (Florida), from October 4, 2007, was released on February 18, 2008 on CD under the name of We Lost The Skyline.^[39] The title is a reference to the lyrics on "The Sky Moves Sideways (Phase One)". The album was released on vinyl in March 21, 2008.^[40]

According to Porcupine Tree's manager, Andy Leff, the band plans to release a live album in September, 2008.^[41] Wilson occasionally commented that the album will be issued through Roadrunner Records.^[42] The band also announced through its website they will start a short European tour in October in order to shoot their second live DVD.

[edit] Musical style

[edit] Influences

As a teenager, Wilson was a fan of New Wave of British Heavy Metal. From this starting point, his interest in music progressed on a cyclic path. When he discovered seventies music and progressive rock, his interest in metal diminished in favour of experimental music. He later (in the 2000s) discovered bands like Gojira, The Dillinger Escape Plan, Mastodon, Neurosis and Meshuggah, which restored his faith in metal music. "For a long time I couldn't find where all these creative musicians were going…", Wilson said, "and I found them, they were working in extreme Metal". Shortly thereafter he went to produce three consecutive albums by Swedish progressive death metal band Opeth and this had a considerable influence in his further songwriting.^[43] This shift in influence explains why the musical range of Porcupine Tree can be split into three phases, namely from long psychedelic and space rock pieces in early works, to shorter pop rock songs in late nineties, and darker more metal-oriented songs in the beginning of the 21st century. There is also some noticeable influence from krautrock and electronic music since Wilson sympathizes with bands such as Can, Neu!, Tangerine Dream,^[44] Squarepusher, Aphex Twin^[14] and artists like Klaus Schulze and Conrad Schnitzler between others.^[44][2] Wilson has also mentioned in many occasions to have a big respect for Trent Reznor as a composer and musician.^[45][46][8]

[edit] Characteristics

People often describe the music of Porcupine Tree as melancholic, and though it is not directly linked to Wilson's way of being (he doesn't consider himself a melancholic or depressive person) this is in fact a way for him to channeling all his negative feelings. "People ask me all the time Your songs are so melancholic and depressing. Is that what you’re like as a person? The answer is no.",^[47] he explains, "The music is where that side of me goes" and "is an exorcism of those elements within",^[48] "I find it easier to write songs about the negative side of the world than it is about the happy side of the world."^[13] Porcupine Tree is notable for being an album-oriented band, not making records featuring separated radio hits, but very conceptual records where many songs are related to each other.^[14] Even so, each Porcupine Tree song has a distinguishable personality. Wilson spread this concept:

"The important thing with Porcupine Tree is that all our songs have a unique sound world that they inhabit. I don't like the idea of any song sounding like any other song. So most of the time it's a case of finding the sound world first whether it be a texture or a drum rhythm that sets you off on a certain musical path, or particular musical atmosphere, or flavor."^[14]

Along its career, the band included mellotron, hammered dulcimer and guimbri among other unusual instruments for a rock band. Acoustic guitars and piano are typical of their sound, making them instantly recognizable, both instruments are present in all Porcupine Tree's recordings. Defying categorizations through time, Porcupine Tree music has maintained very atmospheric (heavily helped by the presence of Barbieri on the keyboards), cinematic (Wilson is a declared fan of American filmmaker David Lynch),^[49][50] textural and very experimental, often fusing many genres in the same track. "Very layered, very produced, very arranged and [with] complex arrangements" is the way Wilson tries to describe the sound of the band.^[51] Apart from their regular edition, the albums Stupid Dream, Lightbulb Sun, In Absentia, Deadwing and Fear of a Blank Planet are available in DTS (5.1 Surround Sound) mix; this mixing technique has become a tradition for the band in the last years.

[edit] Aversion for categorisations

Porcupine Tree are often categorised as a progressive rock band. Many listeners familiar with the group label them as such. However, Steven Wilson has been noted in the past to express a certain dislike for this tendency.

Wilson: "Porcupine Tree music is very very simple. There's nothing complex about it at all. The complexity is in the production. The complexity is in the way the albums are constructed. All of the work goes into creating the texture and the sound, and making it sound right. There's nothing complicated about the music at all. And that's really why I have to take issue when people describe us as progressive rock. I don't think we are a progressive rock band. I think we're just a rock band. I think what leads people to give it that kind of progressive tag is the way the songs are produced."^[2]

However, in an interview with Prog Archives.com, he made note that he has since become more relaxed towards the word, believing that it has "become a much broader term than it was 5 years ago..."^[33] as he thinks of "progressive" as the constant evolution of the musical direction of a band through its career. In an interview with Organ fanzine issue no. 44, printed with permission by Voyage 35 fanzine in 1999, Wilson emphasizes there was a deviation from the 70s conception of the term "progressive" to nowadays.

Wilson: "Personally, I always assumed that the bottom line about what is and isn’t ‘progressive’ was that, whatever the sounds, you tried out new song structures, you tried to write stuff that didn’t go verse chorus verse or if it did, you used a weird rhythm, contrasted different feelings, tried to make really different things work, you could include a band like, say, Primus or Victim's Family. Progressive’s such a dangerous term to use now because it doesn’t seem to mean that any more."^[52]

He would later add he finds unpleasant the press comparing Porcupine Tree with neo prog bands or citing them as 'the New Pink Floyd'. "For me that is so insulting", commented Wilson to an interviewer of The Dutch Progressive Rock Page, "because it insinuates that you are living in the shadow of some other band. I particularly never wanted to be the new anybody, I just wanted to be the old Porcupine Tree, or the new Porcupine Tree."^[30]

[edit] Band members

[edit] Current members

• Steven Wilson – vocals, guitars, piano
• Richard Barbieri – keyboards, synthesizers
• Colin Edwin – bass guitars
• Gavin Harrison − drums

[edit] Former members

• Chris Maitland − drums, backing vocals

[edit] Session members

• John Wesley − guitars, backing vocals

[edit] Discography

Main article: Porcupine Tree discography

[edit] Demo tapes

• Tarquin's Seaweed Farm (1989)
• Love, Death & Mussolini (1990)
• The Nostalgia Factory (1990)

[edit] Studio releases

• On the Sunday of Life (July 1991)
• Up the Downstair (May 1993)
• The Sky Moves Sideways (February 1995)
• Signify (September 1996)
• Stupid Dream (March 1999)
• Lightbulb Sun (May 2000)
• In Absentia (September 2002)
• Deadwing (March 2005)
• Fear of a Blank Planet (April 2007)

[edit] References

[edit] See also

• Lasse Hoile

[edit] External links

• Porcupine Tree Official Website
• Porcupine Tree Magazine
• Porcupine Tree at last.fm
• Porcupine Tree at MySpace
• Porcupine Tree at the Open Directory Project
• The Seaweed Farm - Porcupine Tree / Steven Wilson related news

v • d • e Porcupine Tree Richard Barbieri · Colin Edwin · Gavin Harrison · Steven Wilson Chris Maitland · John Wesley Albums On the Sunday of Life · Up the Downstair · The Sky Moves Sideways · Signify · Metanoia · Stupid Dream · Lightbulb Sun · In Absentia · Deadwing · Fear of a Blank Planet Singles and EPs "Voyage 34" · Voyage 34: Remixes · Staircase Infinities · Moonloop E.P. · "Waiting" · "Piano Lessons" · "Stranger by the Minute" · "Pure Narcotic" · "Four Chords That Made a Million" · "Shesmovedon" · "Lazarus" · Nil Recurring Compilations Yellow Hedgerow Dreamscape · Voyage 34: The Complete Trip · Recordings · Stars Die: The Delerium Years 1991-1997 Live albums Spiral Circus · Coma Divine - Recorded Live in Rome · Coma Divine II · XM · Warszawa · XMII · Rockpalast · We Lost the Skyline DVD Arriving Somewhere Other releases Tarquin's Seaweed Farm · Love, Death & Mussolini · The Nostalgia Factory Related articles No-Man · Bass Communion · Blackfield · Headphone Dust · I.E.M. · Burning Shed · Transmission · Lasse Hoile