Porcupine Tree - N. American Tour Details

As a band PT has been around for a fair while and during that time a lot of different musical territory has been covered. For someone who has never listened to PT before, what album and/or tracks would you recommend a newcomer to listen to, to get them hooked? Especially with respect to the current material you are now playing. (Ewan Kellar)
 
I'm probably not the right person to ask, because I tend to always feel like the most recent work is the best, or at least it's the closest to my heart. Right now I think the new record Fear of a Blank Planet is probably our best work, along with In Absentia. And of course it depends on musical tastes - I wouldn't recommend either of these 2 albums to someone who doesn't like the more metallic approach for example. Perhaps Stupid Dream would be a good starting point in that case, or Sky Moves Sideways or Coma Divine for the more traditional progressive rock fan. Blackest Eyes is still probably the best concise introduction to the band, and maybe Anesthetize the best illustration of the more epic / ambitious side of the band.
 
Will the band be bringing back any 'old favourites', which have been rested in the last few years, for the upcoming tour? (James Hunter)
 
Actually yes, a couple of things, but I don't want to say what and spoil the surprise! Of course around half of the next show will be dedicated to the new record, so that doesn't leave us so much time to explore the back catalogue, but we are going to try to do some things we haven't played before, or at least for a while.

Are we ever going to see this proposed Wilson/Akerfeldt project? (Dom Hemy)
 
Yes, some material is already written, and it's just been a question of finding the time for us to get together to finish the writing and recording. I predict that 2008 could finally be the year we will do it.
 
Will there be any singles released from 'Fear of a Blank Planet' and if so will there be exclusive B sides? (Simon Clarke)
 
I can't really say for sure, but I doubt there will be any full blown commercially available single - there isn't really anything on the album I could imagine working as a 4 minute radio song (although Roadrunner are sending out an edit of the title track to radio). There are 2 other tracks from the sessions, comprising another 15 minutes of music which will see the light of day at some point. One is the "missing" track played on the tour last year, and the other is an instrumental piece with a strong Robert Fripp contribution.
 
Hey guys love the music! How does it feel to be on one of the worlds biggest metal record labels? (Joel Andrews)
 
Well, Roadrunner so far have been fantastic, but remember that their biggest international act Nickelback are far from metal, and neither are some of their other bands like Dresden Dolls, Khoma, New York Dolls.... That was why we were so impressed with them - they know how to work bands from both the metal underground and the rock mainstream.
 
Can't wait for FoaBP and tour! You still get called Prog rock, does this really annoy you? And how do you like PT music to be described? (Adam Small)
 
I never liked the idea of being a "generic" band at all, so am reluctant to embrace any description of categorisation of PT. But actually the term "prog rock" doesn't bother me as much as people think, or as much as it used to. For a long time in the 90's is seemed to have a pretty narrow definition, but over the last few years I've noticed "progressive" become a much broader term which encompasses bands as diverse as Radiohead, The Mars Volta, Flaming Lips, Opeth, Sigur Ros, and Tool, And I'm happy to be in that company!  
 
What was the most challenging part of recording and mixing the album ? (Phoebe Rudd)
 
Keeping it short! I really wanted this album to be concise and to the point, and 50 minutes maximum, but we did have other strong material, so it was tempting to make another one hour plus marathon. But having heard the final record back a few times now, I know it was the right decision. It's pretty intense.

 

The new album, 'Fear of a Blank Planet', is it more in line with the progressive/experimental rock you produced earlier in your carriers or is it more in line with the more recent 'Deadwing' and 'In Absentia' albums? (David Henderson)
 
I'm not sure I can answer the question, because In Absentia and Deadwing to my mind are more genuinely progressive / experimental records than many we made in the early years. In the early days PT music tended to be actually very simple - usually just 2 or 3 ideas stretched out over long periods of time with guitar solos and ambient sections (Voyage 34 and The Sky Moves Sideways being good examples of that approach). Now, a similar duration piece like Anesthetize has many times more content, and develops new ideas and elements at a much faster pace, with a lot more vertical complexity. I'm not saying that's better, and I'm still proud of the early records. Actually now I think about it in many respects the very first album On the Sunday of Life... is probably the most "experimental" record ever released by PT. One thing for sure - I have no interest in going back and revisiting things that have already been covered in the band's past.
 
Hey guys! Can't wait for the album!! My question is, what band or artist was your biggest inspiration to get into music? (James Quinn)
 
For me it was Jeff Lynne and the Electric Light Orchestra ? Out of the Blue was that record that made me say to myself "one day I'm going to hold something like this in my hands and know that I made it!" Also 2 things I heard when I was very young that really inspired me were 2 records my parents owned - Dark Side of the Moon, and Donna Summer's Love to Love You Baby.