"For me progressive has always been synonymous with ambition."

On April 16, 2007 the English progressive rock band Porcupine Tree released its new studio album, premonitory entitled "Fear of a Blank Planet". We called founder and main songwriter Steven Wilson (vocals, guitar, bass, keyboards) for a progressive conversation about progressive rock and contemporary life as described in this "very ambitious, artistic and sophisticated rock record"...

Vassil Varbanov: Good evening, Mr. Wilson! Where are you at the moment?

Steven Wilson: I'm in a town in the middle of England called Wolverhampton for a show tonight.

V. V.: The idea to have you on the phone now is this brand-new record of yours, "Fear of a Blank Planet". Tell us everything about it, please.

S. W.: Well, there's a lot to tell, so I'll try to give you the short version. It's kind of an album describing my observation of what it's like to be a teenager in the 21st century, living through this kind of age of information technology - this kind of obsession with living through gadgets, like i-Pod, the Internet, Playstation, TV and digital TV and all this... It's also about stuff like American Idol, Big Brother, MTV - that whole kind of lifestyle of the 21st century, which kind of worries me a little bit and I fear that the younger generation is becoming less motivated, less soulful about the way they deceive life.

V. V.: Actually, we - all the present-day people around the planet - have the chance to experience what it's like to live in the very beginning of a new century. At the end of the day, when you go under the bottom line, what do you think - is it a bad age to be a teenager, or it's not different from being a teenager in a different time?

S. W.: It's very hard to say at the moment. I think the consequences of this will become clear maybe in ten years time, when this generation of kids born in the information technology age will be adults. Whether they will find a direction in life... I'm sure they will. This is one of the great things in young people - in a sense, they always rebel - so many of these kids born in the computer age will reject that and find a more soulful way of life. It's just a bit difficult to see right now where that's going to come from, and the album is not trying to offer any solution - it's more like a mirror to society. I'm not a big fan of that kind of musicians who try to preach and tell their fans how they should think and live their lives, that's why I prefer the idea of our album being more like a reflection of society, so that people can see in what kind of world we're living.

V. V.: How did you try to see through the eyes of this teenage generation? Do you have kids or nephews, or how?

S. W.: No, I don’t have kids or a family. It's really from just observing. To be honest, a lot of this album is not just specifically about kids, as I think we all suffer from this modern day thing. I mean, I'm the same as anyone else in a sense that these days I find it very hard to stay far from my laptop. I used to sit down and read a book in a day, and now I find it really hard to read more than a few pages without being distracted by my laptop, cell phone or TV. The difference is that the younger generation doesn't know any better - they don't know any difference, as they've been born into that kind of world. I remember what it was like before, so I can appreciate that once there was a time before we had laptops, cell phones or i-Pods, and I think that's the problem for kids today - they don't understand there is a life outside the front door that has to be discovered.

V. V.: In terms of music, how has this all new world been presented in your new album? I mean, did you use different technologies?

S. W.: All Porcupine Tree records tend to be quite complex in production. There's a lot of musical information going on, as we're not just a guitar-based band. Our albums are pieced together in a long period of time, and they're designed to be musical journeys. We want to make the listeners feel like they've travelled somewhere and learned something. So yes, we do use a lot of technologies when we make our records, but we're also big fans of 60's and 70's music, that's why we use a lot of very organic approaches to instrumentation, too, like classic sounds to try to create something that has got a very contemporary edge to it.

V. V.: And did you incorporate any kind of technology on the surface of the music, like the sound of opening your Windows XP or of a cell phone - something similar to what Pink Floyd did some 30 years ago, for example?

S. W.: Yes. The album starts with the sound of somebody typing on computer keys and the sound of a cell phone ringing, so I think that answers your question, and the answer is yes. There's a lot of sound design going on through the record as well.

V. V.: Can we say that "Fear of a Blank Planet" is a progressive rock album?

S. W.: It's really difficult for me to answer that question. Different people understand different things about the progressive, and I've seen that term broaden during the last few years. For a long time it was a very narrow definition and it was meant for music made in the early 70's, a bit old-fashioned. What we're seeing in the last few years with bands like Porcupine Tree, Radiohead, The Flaming Lips, Opeth, The Mars Volta and Tool is that the whole definition of what's progressive is really kind of opened again, and I think that's a very positive thing. For me progressive has always been synonymous with ambition, with being ambitious with music, and I guess we're trying to reach for something more sophisticated and complex. In that sense, certainly our records are progressive, yes. I understand, however, that some people consider progressive to be a very old-fashioned and nostalgic way to dismiss music like something rather pretentious, that's why it's very difficult for me to answer your question. I would call our new album a very ambitious, artistic and sophisticated rock record.

V. V.: I've seen that people who are into Porcupine Tree are much more into the so-called progressive rock scene. It's a very solid community around the world now...

S. W.: That's certainly true, but you know, nowadays we've got a lot of young metal kids coming to our shows as well, and I don't think they really are aware of what progressive is, and they probably don't care. They may be fans of Tool and Opeth, but they may also be fans of Metallica and Guns N' Roses. They just come along because they've heard Porcupine Tree and they like it. That's all you can hope for with music. I can say I'm not a huge fan of the whole idea of defining music as generic, and no band really does. All bands like to think they're unique, and we're not an exception. We like to think of our music as somehow crossing borders in terms of music. We have everything - from 14-year-old metal kids to older progressive rock fans and everybody in between - so it's a very diverse crowd. However, you're certainly right about that type of hardcore element, those who are really obsessive about their type of music - they're certainly a big part of our fan base.

V. V.: Most of the bands you mentioned some minutes ago aren't British. Are there any other British bands you feel like soul brothers?

S. W.: Yes. I love Radiohead. I've always got a very strong affinity to the way they're making music, and also the ideology and philosophy behind it. I'd say Radiohead are the most important rock band of the last 20 years - I mean because of the way they did what they did, and also because of the fact they've created their music within the mainstream of the music industry. You cannot underestimate how hard it is to do that - to be able to make experimental music within the mainstream. No other bands really do that... or not many. Nine Inch Nails maybe...

V. V.: We started our conversation with all you had to say about the modern civilization. The Internet sometimes gives us the fake impression that any kind of information is accessible, although sometimes the sources are bloody fake. For example, most of the musicians we've been talking to can't believe their own eyes when they see what's been written about them in Wikipedia.

S. W.: Yeah, I just found out on Wikipedia that I'm Swedish. I couldn't be any less Swedish if I tried, ha-ha! You're right, the Internet is not only a provider of information, but also a provider of misinformation. That's a problem. In the same way the Internet gives you access to wonderful music and culture, and it gives you access to a lot of shit music and culture as well. You still have to be able to filter out the good from the bad and the information from the disinformation. I hope that's gonna make people more intelligent and careful in what they're reading and seeing through their Internet portal.

V. V.: In your new album you're drawing your vision of the modern civilization, but what is your solution to the problem?

S. W.: I believe that young people have a way of rebelling against whichever situation they're in. Part of the solution of the problem described in "Fear of a Blank Planet" is provided by the ultimate self, because bands like Porcupine Tree do provide an alternative, a more kind of sophisticated viewpoint on life. I believe that the people who get into our music and come to our shows have already decided that this modern life that is easily accessible to them is not for them. So, in a way, Porcupine Tree music provides its own solution to the problems on the record. If you listen to our music, you're obviously already kind of thinking about these things yourself and you've become intellectually aware of the issues that are facing this modern information technology generation.

V. V.: Do you think your music and especially your latest record is good to be listened to while trying to fall asleep?

S. W.: I'm not sure about that. I think there's too much information in there, which demands too much attention. All our records are like that. In the early days our music used to be more predominantly instrumental, more spacy, more improvised, more drift and dream-like. However, these records are quite complex and also do demand a lot of attention to get the message and the full kind of experience. So I would say no no your question.

V. V.: Finally, tell us please about Alex Lifeson (Rush) and Robert Fripp (King Crimson) - did they guest on your latest record simply for musical reasons, or because they completely agree with your thoughts about where we all live today?

S. W.: Both. First of all, they're friends of ours. Robert I've known for many years and I have enormous respect for him as a musician, and similarly he respects Porcupine Tree very much. I guess in a way we're musicians that are bonding together in the belief that there is still something to be said for musicianship, for sophisticated music, for still making albums as opposed to singles, still trying to go out there and tour music as opposed to just making pop videos. These guys come from the original generation of progressive musicians. For me they were a big inspiration, I grew up listening to them. In way, it's much harder to do what they were doing in the 70's now, in the 21st century - the time of the post-MTV and post-CD generation. It's hard to be a musician now, and by musician I mean musician as opposed to entertainer - I think there's a very strong distinction that has to be made there. There are lots of people in the music industry that call themselves musicians, but they're not. They're entertainers, because they are creating music for a pre-existing market and to please an existing demographic segment of music lovers. That for me is not being a musician. If you're a true musician, like Pablo Picasso was a true artist, you only paint pictures and only make music to please yourself.

Copyright: Tangra Mega Rock