ROCKTOBER: Day 20 - PORCUPINE TREE

In yesterday's post, I mentioned that Talk Talk was my second favorite band of all time.  Some of you may have wondered who my favorite band of all time is, and so I thought I would make them my pick of the day.

Porcupine Tree was a "band" started by a young British musician named Steven Wilson, back in the late 80's, when he was just a teen.  It essentially started as a young man experimenting in his basement, and became a project that was, for the most part, composed and performed by himself.  Around the same time, Steven teamed up with Tim Bowness, and created a band called NO-MAN.  In the early years, No-Man was Steven's main project, and Porcupine Tree was really just a side project to help make financial ends meet.  

Fast forward ten years, and Steven had created an actual group of musicians, including Richard Barbieri, former keyboardist of the 80's New Romantic band, JAPAN.  Over the years, Steven has continued to record with No-Man, but Porcupine Tree has become it's own monster.  With an intensely rabid following, they are far more popular than No-Man ever was.  Porcupine Tree has succeeded in having a stream of Gold albums, with little to no commercial radio airplay.  

In addition to No-Man, Steven also records with Israeli singer/songwriter/political activist, Aviv Geffen, under the moniker, BLACKFIELD.  He has also released albums of experiment ambient music under the moniker, BASS COMMUNION, as well as experimental Art-Pop under the name I.E.M.  He just completed a second "solo" album, and has just announced a forthcoming project with the singer of Swedish Speed Metal band, OPETH.  If you haven't figured it out, not only is Steven Wilson one of the busiest people in music, but he is also one of the most creative.  If you were to listen to these projects side by side, you would never know that they were coming from the same individual.

As for Porcupine Tree, I discovered them shortly before 9/11 (as in the week before), after having listened to No-Man for 6 years prior.  To this day, they have not performed in Salt Lake City, however, I did finally get to see them on the "Deadwing" tour, back in 2005.  Two years later, my friend and I flew to Portland to see them on the "Fear of a Blank Planet" tour, which is where this particular shirt was acquired.  People often comment on how eerie this shirt is, but it hails from the cover art of this album which is centered around the desensitization of today's youth.  Between the internet, video games, television, mind altering mood stabilizers, many of today's kids are more "numb" than generations past, and it's addressed in this album.

I've also included a picture of the back of my head... just to see how my "pokies" are coming along... and see just how much hair I have lost over the years.  Good times, my friends.... good times.

"Fear of a Blank Planet"

"Lazarus" from Deadwing