STEVEN WILSON
Steven Wilson made the most of 2020. He started a podcast (The Album Years) with his old friend Tim Bowness. He began writing a book (currently due in late 2021). He started working on his next record. And another. All in conjunction with “really getting to know” his two stepdaughters, having tied the knot in 2019. “Getting to that point, at the age of fifty-one, and finally being in a stable family with children… it is wonderful,” he says, smiling, over Zoom.
It’s been a huge transition for the shape-shifting frontman (Porcupine Tree, Blackfield, No-man, Bass Communion etc)-turned-solo artist, who once commented that he would “sacrifice having family for music”. During our chat his dog, Bowie, curls up at his side and we get a glimpse of his record collection (well, some of it) towering on shelves behind him. At one point he steps out to receive a huge delivery of… erm, squirrel feed. He looks happy. Most recently he’s released his sixth solo album, The Future Bites. A marriage of whip-smart electronics and classy pop songs, it explores ideas about self-obsession, self-identity and consumerism in the modern age.
IN MUSIC THERE IS NO SUCH THING AS GENRE.
I’ve always been very committed to this idea of listening across genres, everything from ABBA to Karlheinz Stockhausen. Tim [Bowness]
