Porcupine Tree Artistfacts

1987-
Steven WilsonVarious instruments
Richard BarbieriKeyboards1993-
Colin EdwinBass1993–2010
Chris MaitlandDrums1993-2002
Gavin HarrisonDrums2002-
Porcupine Tree started out as a solo project for Steven Wilson, but he pretended it was a real band, making up an elaborate backstory that he included in a booklet that came with the first Porcupine Tree release, a cassette called Tarquin's Seaweed Farm, distributed in 1989. Fake band members included Sir Tarquin Underspoon and Timothy Tadpole-Jones. In 1993, Wilson started using other musicians on his albums and touring as a group.
While he was making music as Porcupine Tree, Steven Wilson was also in a duo called No-Man with his friend Tim Bowness. In 1992, they signed with One Little Indian Records, which is when Wilson quit his day job working in information technology. He kept No-Man going even after Porcupine Tree took off.
Porcupine Tree is often classified as progressive rock, as they're musically adventurous and have some very long songs. Steven Wilson is OK being labeled "progressive" because he thinks the group is always evolving. "What's the point of adding to the discography unless you're going to do something different with each record?" he said in a Songfacts interview.
The group is from England but has a surprisingly strong fanbase in Italy and Germany - not so much in America. Many of their songs are instrumentals, which helps break through language barriers.
Wilson is often commissioned to make surround sound remixes of classic albums recorded decades earlier, which isn't always as glamorous as it seems. Sometimes he has to listen to hours of bad takes to find the right master tracks for a song. He's done remixes of Van Morrison's Moondance, Rush's A Farewell to Kings, and various albums by Tears For Fears, King Crimson and Jethro Tull.
They took a long hiatus following their October 14, 2010 show at Royal Albert Hall. During this time, the band members worked on other projects, with Wilson focusing on his solo material. The group got back together in 2021 and released a new album, Closure/Continuation, in 2022.

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