In 1987, Steven Wilson began Porcupine Tree, a musical outlet for his early songwriting that became an English progressive rock band. Unique from its conception, Porcupine Tree was created to satisfy growing interest about the "legendary Porcupine Tree," the fictional influence claimed in the booklet Wilson distributed with early tapes of his work.
Originating as the punch line of a joke, Porcupine Tree grew into a successful solo project, and then into a full fledged four-piece group. As a result of growing attention, Wilson recruited keyboardist Richard Barbieri, bassist Colin Edwin , and drummer Chris Maitland to play live gigs. This configuration remained unchanged until 2002, when Chris Maitland was replaced by Gavin Harrison .
Known as a hard worker, Wilson has worked as both a musician and an engineer on numerous projects. His own, Porcupine Tree, No-Man , Bass Communion, I.E.M., and outside contributions to Marillion, Fish, Cipher, Opeth, Anja Garbarek , and others demonstrate a wide range of talents. Since Porcupine Tree has always shared space in the larger world of Wilson's musical ambitions, its stylistic changes through history often reflect how Wilson positioned it relative to the others. While Bass Communion played host to Wilson's interests in drone, I.E.M an exercise in sound experimentation, and No-Man as another forefront project centered on art-rock/electro-pop music, Porcupine Tree became Wilson's most focused rock endeavor. Recently, he formed a duo project, Blackfield, with Israeli singer Aviv Geffen.
Discography
Major Albums
- "On The Sunday Of Life..." 1991
- "Up The Downstair" 1993
- "The Sky Moves Sideways" 1995
- "Signify" 1996
- "Coma Divine - Recorded Live In Rome" [live] 1997
- "Stupid Dream " 1999
- "Lightbulb Sun " 2000
- "In Absentia" 2002
- "Deadwing" 2005 [Released in Europe; US release April 26th]
EPs and other Works
- "Voyage 34" 1992
- "Voyage 34 : Remixes" 1993
- "Yellow Hedgerow Dreamscape" 1994
- "Staircase Infinities" 1994
- "Moonloop" / "Stars Die" 1994
- "Recordings" 2001
- "Metanoia" 1998
- "Stars Die : The Delerium Years 1991-1997" [box set] 2002
Singles
- "Waiting" 1996
- "Piano Lessons" 1999
- "Stranger By The Minute" 1999
- "Pure Narcotic" 1999
- "Four Chords That Made A Million" 2000
- "Shesmovedon" 2000
- "Lazarus" 2005 (German release)
See also: list of progressive rock musicians
Origin of the name 'Porcupine Tree'
By declining to provide an answer, Steven Wilson has started controversy over questions about the origin of the band's name. A number of theories exist, including the following:
- There is an American Indian legend about a porcupine who tricks the other animals by planting a tree which grows under him so he can shoot his spines down to kill them.
- Douglas Hofstadter's book, Metamagical Themas is about computers, fractals and recusion, known as 'tree structures' in computer-speak. It includes a picture of an infinite tree of porcupines to illustrate fractals on page 409. Steve Wilson is known to be a former computer programmer and may well have been influenced by this.
- The name might simply refer to marijuana, a plant known for its distinguished "spiky" leaves and mind altering effects when smoked or ingested.
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