Steven Wilson, music to understand the role of man in the cosmos
When in 2021 William Shatner, Captain Kirk of “Star Trek”, really went to space, felt infinite sadness. He thought of crowning the dream a life, contemplating the wonder of the cosmos up there, and instead he experienced the absolute nothingness: absence of warmth and sound, a profound sense of death, none at the helm. He understood that the only beauty was rather over there, in that dot in the void called earth. In summary, he felt the cognitive transformation that all the cosmonauts prove and that the writer Frank White in 1987 called “The Ovrserview Effect”, the effect of the overall view.
This is the title of Steven Wilson’s new album, released on March 14 for Fiction Records, accompanied by a film made by Miles Skarin, and live on June 7 in Milan (Teatro degli Arcimboldi) and on June 8 in Rome (Music Park). Two songs, “Objects Outlive Us” and “The Ovserview”, 42 minutes of expansive rock audio rock, written and produced at home. A kind of counter -offensive to the Tiktok model. In the meantime, Wilson, who has become the most refined sound engineer for remixes, has also restored the audio of the “Live at Pompeii” of Pink Floyd, in the room from 24 to 30 April. “An honor,” he explains “I saw the film as a boy in a neighborhood cinema and I was impressed. The restored images seem to shoot today. I remained faithful to the original sounds of that 1971, giving more clarity and depth ». Listening to his “The Ovserview Effect”, one cannot fail to think about the Floyd OA Bowie (complete with “Is There Life On Mars?”), Yet it is a purely disconist to Wilson, with his way of developing the theme and proceeding between the styles, incorporating electronics, ambient, metal, psychedelia. He hated the label “prog” attached in the 90s to his porcupine Tree, and he has moved away in every way, this time, however, it is precisely that type of dilation that he needed “but without precise musical references” underlines “he influenced me more cinema, especially” 2001 Odyssey in space “.
Did the concept or music be born first?
«I had the title long before a note or a word came out. I didn’t know anything about the “Ovreres Effect” until I spoke with Alex Milas by Space Rocks, the organization that combines art and astronomy. What do science and music have in common? Curiosity and creativity. For me, art, like science, is the exploration of the unknown ».
What perspective did this exploration give you?
«I caught the insignificance of the planet Earth and the human species inside the cosmological scheme. The universe is disinterested in us, has been here for billions of years and will survive us, while we have been here for five minutes and perhaps we will disappear. If you welcome this truth, you understand you live on a beautiful planet ».
In the book “Galactic guide for self -support” the total perspective was torture. Seeing everything, in some ways, is unacceptable. No?
«In fact, the disc reflects this conflict. The reactions to the panoramic effect are both positive and negative, it is a real journey in consciousness, for this reason it had no sense to write ten separate songs. It was supposed to be a film for the ears, a single flow, and then get to the only solution that can help us, namely to understand that life is a gift, or an accident if you want. We have to enjoy the race to the fullest ».
The disc is divided into two parts. Do they correspond to different points of view?
«The second is in space, more scientific. In the first instead I wanted to compare the small stories of men, mini soap work that we live as cataclysms, and cosmological phenomena that we do not worry at all. We look at the navel, the phone screen, and we never get our eyes to see what happens above our heads and resize us »
The texts of the first part are entrusted to Andy Partridge of the XTC. Why he?
«He is a very good observer of the newspaper. He manages to narrate the taxi driver and the meteorite, the row in the bank and the Milky Way “.
Is there no hope of bringing him with you live guest?
«He has a phobia for the stage, and sadly I will not be to make him change his mind. However, what he does still do it in a brilliant way “
Our gaze towards the space has changed. It was once poetic, full of optimism. Is it of conquest today, cheap?
«If you limit yourself to thinking about the conquest of Mars by Elon Musk or a new journey on the Moon yes, but it is like going around a local space, how to knock on the next door. The gaze must be much wider, to trillion galaxies, to the light that it takes years to get to our eyes. There are more stars than grains of sand, this is what gives you the right proportions and makes you understand how small we are “
Am I wrong if I say that “The Ovserview Effect” is the sum of the phases of your career?
“Real. I have been doing music for more than thirty years, but now I have my own vocabulary, a recognizable sound and style. It has not always been like this. When I make up, I am not aware of what I do, I only allow my musical DNA to manifest in a natural way, so all my experiences and my musical influences came out on the disc. It could only happen at this point in my career ».
Finally do what you wanted?
«Yes, because at 11 I already dreamed of making a record, and I mean the object. Never dreamed of being a guitarist, a singer or a pop star. I didn’t want to play to make money or to have girls. I was obsessed only by one thing: to create that magical round called vinyl. I wanted to be the director of a musical journey, and it is what I do today, bringing people where they do not expect, musically, emotionally and, in the latter case, also philosophically ».
Your name is always associated with the 70s music, we forget that you are a boy from the 80s.
“I have many progressive rock fans, and on this album the prog is there but because it is induced by the theme dealt with and has the meaning that I attribute to it, that is, it is not the past, they are not the Genesis, but it is the non -compliant, the unexpected direction, the continuous change, progressive precisely.
I grew up with the post-punk, I bought the records of Kate Bush, Cure, Smiths, Depeche Mode, Talk Talk, Tears for Fears, the same day they came out. Then I discovered the rest. And I also passed it, going to listen to Stockhausen, Miles Davis, Luciano Berio, more experimental stuff. Just as I was passionate about jazz, pop, electronics. It has been mixed, and it is difficult for me to understand the notion of “genre”. Music is this magical strength that manifests itself in thousands of different ways ».
In the disc, use falsetti at the Prince. Was it the first poster in the bedroom?
“I don’t know if the poster of Prince or” The Dark Side of the Moon “came first, that my father was listening to me as a child.”
What pleasure do you find remixing?
«Joy is to learn a lot about the music that inspired me, especially of recording. Deconstructing and reconstructing is a privilege for discovering the technical process and certain approaches that no longer exist “
Have you ever asked to remix Bowie?
“Eh, it would be the work of dreams! But it is highly unlikely. Bowie has said that only engineers and producers who worked at his records can get out of hand ».
How will you transfer the sound of this album to the live?
«It will not be possible to do it identical because it takes a long time to calibrate the room acoustically and I have concerts every day in different cities. But I will use the quadronymous, with the coffers behind the public, and powerful video proofs. I have a fantastic band with me, including guitarist Randy McSstine (already live with the porcupine tree ed). In each group, I always try to be the worst musician on stage ».
Some are skeptical about space audio. Jean Michel Jarre claims that instead it is the most natural, because we perceive 360 °. Do you agree?
«Fully. The purists of the stereo objects that we only have two ears, so what is the use of feeling sounds that come from several parts? I answer that, however, with two ears we perceive where that sound comes from. At a concert the group is in front of you, but you also hear the reverbs of the walls, the ceiling, various echoes. Life is three -dimensional, and the immersive experience will take more and more foot, in films, in video games, even in the calls on zoom ».
Are you on pause with the Porcupine Tree?
«We will do more music together, but I give the priority to my solo career. I love the fact that today I can afford to do both ».
Do you have a strong bond with Italy?
«It was the first country to welcome the porcupine tree. In London, in the mid -90s, we literally played in front of ten people in the pubs. We expected the same numbers in Rome, instead I will never forget the feeling of climbing on stage in front of 1500 people who knew all the texts by heart. If I hadn’t already been in love with Italy, I would be in love with it then. For me it is a special place ».
