Steven Wilson Interview

... people that say they play progressive music ... DON'T ...

'nuff' said!

He's mellowed out some from his attitudes about music, from some of the earlier interviews where I thought he came off a bit too strong, and not giving credit to the other musicians around him, specially PT, all of whom added something to "his" band, that made it special, much more so than the original, and made it a special band in concert for anyone that had the chance to see them.

His opinions/views on music are realistic, and him now saying to help people ignore comments so they can continue is very important. It is specially difficult, even here on PA with so many comments fitting into the area of social media, instead of criticism ... that kinda have a tendency to bring down the discussions and the topics, specially when the comments are of a personal nature, and have NOTHING to do with the topic or the details of the topic.

As a writer, and an intuitive one that writes from his dreams and visions, I can understand the nature of criticism, though I will admit that there are a handful of folks that I will listen to and accept their ideas and criticism, although (usually) at that point it is difficult to change "what you saw" in your dream, and "change" some of the moments, words or events in that thing. Thus, a lot of criticism can melt away as good as any Dali painting for me.

The source is what matters. Not the fan comments and outcome. If the famous artists, painters, writers and musicians had not ignored what others felt ... they would not have done what they did! And if this is not the clue for most folks ... they should not be where they want to be as an artist. I suppose they can always paint tomatoes for the kitchens and dining rooms of the world!

I don't dislike that interview at all ... however, I really think that it is afraid to discuss how things come together, although Richard gives us a taste of it, and Gavin kind of gives us an idea about what to do with his drumming, which sadly for me, is about COUNTING ... not about the specific feel of the moment, since ... just like your life with family ... one moment is a 4/4 another is a 5/4 another is a12/15 ... and on and on, without it ever having to come back to the same 4/4 as it is the same person. We would all think that person awfully boring if all reactions and words were in exactly the same tempo, which is my biggest rip about most drummers today ... great time keepers but very poor at interpreting the actual music and making it even better than just a song with the same beat ... not to mention the same hit on the snare drum which should be different many times during a lot of the material.

All in all, the suggestion that I get is that at least, for this coming album, there is some good interplay between three members and it might sound better because of it, but coming back to what is easier and simpler, might take it away from the creativity of it all ... but that's kind of the way I look at it. 

I don't think, for some reason, that it will be as good as the previous material, even though it will definitely be different. But, yeah, that might be a personal preference ... and thought ... that I did not specifically hear anything groundbreaking in their words about the new material at all. And that one sample around was total crap.