The official Prog Archives Porcupine Tree Thread!

<I guess you can tell that I like the fellow.>

I do as well. 

Marek first met Steven Wilson in 1999, at the Knitting Factory in NYC during the Stupid Dream tour, and another time in-between, and said that Wilson is a very nice fellow but lives almost completely inside his head - not surprising to me, especially since I am a fellow Scorpio, and have that wall-within-a-wall personality quirk myself.

Ironically, Wilson seemed to be much more at ease on stage answering questions, and less so when he got up close and personal with the fans.  But he was very charming and nice regardless of his own discomfort.

<Well, I've had two chances of meeting the guy, but I didn't, as I already thought it a better idea to just leave him at ease >

You sound like a Los Angeleno!  ;-)

Growing up in L.A., I saw a lot of celebrities growing up, and unfortunately I witnessed a lot of them being accosted by rude and inconsiderate fans.  As a result, I, along with the vast majority of L.A. natives, generally respond to celebrity just as you described - we smile to acknowledge them, then leave them unmolested.

Ironically this is also why I chose against the music business growing up, even though I was a musician from an early age and, through my parents, knew a fair number of people in the business.  It's that Scorpio thing again.  From seeing so many celebrities being accosted, I knew two things early on - 1.) I LOVE my privacy, and am not willing to give it up; and 2.) seeing so many wannabes bashing their heads against the proverbial wall, I knew I didn't want to be in the business that badly, and would be much happier going off to sea to study whales and sharks.

Happily for all of us Steven Wilson chose differently.

Originally posted by Antennas

<It always makes me *cringe* to see inconsiderate fans act like they sort-of own the celebrity. Fortunately, most people over here (Utrecht-Amsterdam, NL) mostly act like the folks in L.A. Also because most of us tend to be rather down-to-earth people, realizing that the musicians aren't 'gods' or anything the like. >


I agree completely.  The celebrities I have met in person have been, almost to a person, very nice, humble and down-to-earth people.  And, as Steven Wilson has said, creative individuals are generally also quite sensitive.  They deserve to be treated with respect like the rest of us.

<Yeah, a sensible choice for those of us who rather cherish their privacy - I completely belong to that category, too. So I take it you're a biologist or something the like? How funny - as I used to be one myself!(changed my job after some 15 years spent in the lab growing cancer cells - in test tubes, I mean, LOL!) >


Actually, although marine science was my first choice, and is still a great love of mine, I went into business for a number of years.  For the past several years I have been an artist, writer and, most recently, a musician.  My remaining elder sister told me that she considers me to be a flower child - an accurate assessment.  I just bloomed a bit later than did our Mr. Wilson.  ;-)


<It must have been a rather difficult choice for him to make, even the more as I read that he actually had a very good job when he did. Giving up your healthy career for something that is as insecure as a career in the music business (and we all know how much Wilson 'likes' the business-part of it ) is a very brave choice indeed, especially when you're a shy, nerdy personality, but of course I am very happy that he did!>

One the one hand it was a brave choice, but on the other I get the impression that he really had no choice, as it is what he felt he had to do.  Happily No-Man's success came earlier than Porcupine Tree's, and allowed him to leave the computer job to concentrate on his music much earlier than might otherwise have been possible.

Funny.  I spent most of 1988 in Luxembourg as the research assistant to a doctoral candidate studying the roles between banks in a banking consortium - I was a stockbroker at the time.  One of my few regrets is that, although I did get as close as Knokke, Belgium, I never actually made it to the Netherlands.  Marek and I will definitely be visiting your country in the not-too-distant future.

Enjoy your week!

Who should be in SW's solo touring band, then? Nominations, anyone?

drums tomas haake of meshuggah (he's very good not just fast double bass drums)
guitars jonny greenwood of radiohead (and occasional keyboards and other instruments/electronics) i love his guitar sound, and robert fripp
bass (and occasionally electronics) tom jenkinson (squarepusher)

o'yes. but it ain't gonna happen.

Edited by idiotPrayer - September 30 2010 at 07:25

ptkc123 wrote: For me: Guitar/Vocals: SW Addt'l Guitar: Tim Smith  (Cardiacs) Drums: Pat Mastelotto Bass: Jaun Alderete  (Mars Volta) Keys/Synth: Klaus Schulze Wow, I really like that list.

wow, great list man. tim is a fantastic guitarist and can't go wrong with klaus schulze and the others

Kashmir75 wrote: Who should be in SW's solo touring band, then? Nominations, anyone? Drums: Mike Portnoy him,

You can't be serious.  

ptkc123 wrote: progkidjoel wrote: Indeed, great list I just bought Cardiacs' Sing To God on iTunes yesterday (shame it's OOP) and I'm really loving it so far. That's good news! I purchased Songs for Ships and Irons the other day... it's wonderful. Did you buy parts 1 and 2?

Yup, didn't see the point in getting 1/2 of a double album
It's annoying that they split them up on iTunes though, I ended up spending twice as much as I was expecting to Still worth it, though.

Kashmir75 wrote: PT and SW get name dropped on the new Albert Hall Opeth DVD! Mikael, after playing The Moor (its an awesome gig, by my other favourite modern band, BTW) says that during the Still Life period, he got an email from Steven Wilson (a name which is met with rapturous applause from the audience). SW said in the mail he was a big Opeth fan. And Mikael, vice versa (big PT fan). So 'we got together, had dinner, wine... kissed (laughter!) and decided to work together!'

just found this gem while wasting my precious time doing useless stuff on the world wide web:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A_y6yNvNkNk (part one of six)

the sound quality is not good but still cool. steven has pretty long hair, shame he cut it