Steven Wilson might not pack out arenas or make the kind of music that is inherently accessible, but he’s somehow found himself in the position where he is comfortably able to tour the world.
His last three solo albums have all charted within the top 100 of five different countries through Europe, as well as the United States and his native United Kingdom. The man who has been described as a king of progressive rock is currently toward the end of a tour cycle in support of his fourth studio album, Hand. Cannot. Erase. He speaks highly of his current backing band, a group of performers that have been with him in this lineup for just over a year now, and have managed to click with Wilson as a live performer in a big way.
“Honestly, you could put the best musicians in the world together and they would just have no chemistry,” Wilson says. “You really have to find a group of musicians that actually gel together, and it takes time. It could take up to 25 shows for a group to really lock in and communicate properly as a unit.”
By the same token, Wilson simultaneously acknowledges the fleeting nature of his backing band, and he understands that as a musician who performs under his own name he is tied to no group. “I’m no longer duty-bound to write for and play with the same musicians,” he says. “That can be liberating, but it can also be problematic. It cuts both ways, you see. I’m not in a position to pay people a retainer so that they’re always around: I’m not Paul McCartney or anything like that. I can’t rely on musicians always being available to me. It comes with the territory, as they say.”
Wilson, for the uninitiated, first rose to prominence as the lead singer, guitarist and primary songwriter of Porcupine Tree, a band that achieved a cult status within England’s metal scene and upheld a solid reputation until its eventual dissolution in 2010. Although Wilson is constantly queried on whether or not he will make like the Blues Brothers and put the band back together, he makes it pretty clear that he’s much more comfortable doing things on his own terms.
“Porcupine Tree started off a solo project, and it was whatever I wanted to do,” he explains. “As it gradually became more of a band, it inevitably became more of a democratic unit. I just felt like that wasn’t for me – truthfully, I’m a control freak and I have to be captain of the ship. That’s difficult for other people within the fold of a band, which led me to conclude that Porcupine Tree was an experiment. By ending that experiment, I was able to go back to what I feel has always been my true calling, which is to be a solo artist.”
When he’s not on the road, Wilson is not a fan of staying idle. As well as beginning to prepare for his next solo album, he also recently put together an EP entitled 4 1/2, a record that is intended to bridge the gap between his works by compiling some discarded songs from previous album sessions and allowing them to have a moment to be appreciated. “I’m sure I’m not the only one that does this, but when I’m working towards a new record I tend to end up with a surplus of new material to work with,” says Wilson.
“It’s not necessarily about picking the best material, it’s about picking what works best together: particularly when you’re doing what I do, making albums with a conceptual side to them. With all four of my solo records there were always songs that I am still proud of that didn’t necessarily fit within the tracklisting and thus did not make the cut. With 4 1/2, I was able to put together a collection of what I called my ‘orphans’ –the songs that didn’t fit into the grand concept of my last few records, but songs I wanted to have their moment in the sun.
“I felt it was a good way to mop up, if you will, between the release of Hand. Cannot. Erase. and what will become my fifth album,” he continues. “I believe in this material just as much as I believe in the material on my major projects – the only difference is that they just weren’t able to fit in elsewhere.”
This September will see Wilson and his band performing in Australia for the first time in three years. It will mark Wilson’s fourth visit to our fair shores overall, and he intends to make up for any and all lost time between tours. “The show is completely different now to the last time that myself and my band were playing in Australia,” he says. “Probably only two or three songs remain in the set from that period. The production is on a much higher level, and I have two different musicians that are travelling with me from the ones that were with me last time around. Anyone who has seen me play in the past will be getting something really new – and if people haven’t seen me play before, I feel like it’s the best time to come and see the show.”
Steven Wilson performs atMetro Theatre on Saturday October 29.Hand. Cannot. Erase. is out now through Kscope.
