An Interview with Steven Wilson from Porcupine Tree

In this interview with Steven Wilson (from the band Porcupine Tree), the idea of the internet easing the interconnection of various people who may find themselves as a minority is touched upon:

“In some ways the internet has liberated bands from having to think about being mainstream, from having to try and be commercial,” he says. “And I like to think that people are getting away from the idea that all they want from their music is a three-minute, hummable pop song.” But those unfamiliar with the music of Porcupine Tree should not take from that the idea that the group creates dense, humorless music bereft of hooks or melody. Every PT album has at least a couple of songs with “Single” potential. On The Incident, two of those songs are “I Drive the Hearse” and “Time Flies,” both tuneful, memorable numbers. ...

Steven Wilson embraces the changes taking place in what used to be called the music industry. “Bands have given up the dream of being the next Led Zeppelin, and are instead focusing on what’s important: the music. And it’s much easier now to find a cult audience through the internet, and to survive by selling music directly to the fans.” Wilson views those changes as fostering music everywhere that has “got more integrity than it did at any other time in the last twenty-five, thirty years.”

Certainly, I discovered Porcupine Tree -- along with many other great bands -- via the internet. As a result of this, I can attest to the potential the Internet has in allowing people to seek-out alternatives to whatever is currently presented as being mainstream.

***

Porcupine Tree - Live Performance of "Way Out of Here" from their Fear of a Blank Planet Album