Tim Bowness
1987 was a big year for Steven Wilson. Still in his teens, he devised Porcupine Tree as a progpsych conceit, complete with a fabulously fictional back story. He also happened to meet singer songwriter Tim Bowness, with whom he began playing as No Man Is An Island (Except For The Isle Of Man). While Porcupine Tree would gradually evolve into a whole other creative entity, the Bowness project was a more immediate priority.
The chemistry was instant. “At our very first recording session, we did three completely different kinds of song,” Wilson recalls. “We recorded Faith’s Last Doubt, which is this very sort of pretentious prog rock epic. Then there was this piece of industrial funk, Screaming Head Eternal, and a gothic piano ballad called Beaten By Love. And all in the space of about three hours – bang, bang, bang. There was something magical straight away.”
