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Portrait of Steven Wilson

Steven Wilson

(1967) Engineer United Kingdom

112 quotes in 375 categories

A vinyl record disappearing from his collection shows how he wants music to shock, not comfort. He talks about giving each album its own personality, avoiding 'more of the same.' He also notes that living abroad makes him see the gap between government actions and ordinary people.

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Steven Wilson is an engineer from the United Kingdom, best known for President Lincoln's secret.

Quick Facts About Steven Wilson

Born: November 3, 1967
Nationality: United Kingdom
Profession: Engineer
Notable works: President Lincoln's secret

About Steven Wilson

He also plays in Blackfield, Storm Corrosion, and No‑Man, and has released eight solo albums since 2008. Wilson has received six Grammy nominations: two with Porcupine Tree, one with Storm Corrosion, and three as a solo artist. In 2017 the Daily Telegraph called him a resolutely independent artist.

Quotes by Steven Wilson

You will hear ambient in our music. You will hear trip-hop.

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I think 'genius' is an overused word.

Genius

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We live in a world dominated by fear and paranoia.

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I think I've become a better storyteller over the years.

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“It's so erotic when your make up runs”

Erotic

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Israel is a wonderful country, especially Tel Aviv.

Country

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The city can be the loneliest place of all.

City

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“I feel I'm living in parentheses”

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I loved disco music, and I still count Donna Summer as one of my favorites of all time.

Disco

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I've always been the sort of person who likes to look forward and live in the present.

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It was a bit of fun. But of course like anything that starts as a joke, people started to take it all…

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It's possible that Israel will be my second home, but it won't be my only home.

Home

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I think the rock audience still likes to have a physical product. The demand for owning a physical copy is still there.

Audience

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Ever since I was a kid, I've always been interested in the poetry of melancholy, if you like.

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I think most people can relate to the feeling of love spilling over into obsession.

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I wanted people to say that our music sounds like Porcupine Tree, not that it sounds like King Crimson.

King

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I think that's part of the battle of defining yourself as an artist. You're constantly fighting the pressure from outside to be…

Art

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The real artists are ultimately people who don't consider their audience and are almost incapable of considering their audience. They can do…

Art

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Human beings find change very difficult. They find change is something that can be quite an awkward thing to adjust to. It…

Change

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Certainly for some time, people used to think of my solo career as somehow a side project to Porcupine Tree. No. If…

Career

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When you're in a band, you're all in it together. You're always available. You're always available for the albums; you're always available…

Albums

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I think there's something very peculiar about living in the city and not part of the major metropolis; that actually makes it…

City

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We live in the physical world, the age of the Internet, and it's very easy to disappear from view and isolate ourselves…

Age

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When it comes to being in a band or going solo, one is collaborative, and one is not. But generally speaking, when…

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I've played to audiences where people are sitting there with their arms crossed, just kind of watching. Although they might be having…

Audiences

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If I want to do an orchestral record, if I want to do an acoustic record, if I want to do a…

Business

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“There's a lot of beauty to be found in sadness and melancholia. One of the things that you find time and time…

Beauty

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It's something I've recognized in the careers of those people who have been inspiring to me over the years - Neil Young,…

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Every Bass Communion track is based on a single sound source. Increasingly I find that I'm really interested in taking a particular…

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The nature of music fandom and music fans is that, very often, they fall in love with a band or a particular…

Art

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One thing I have found over years is that if you change direction, the initial reaction tends to be very polarized, but…

Appreciation

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I really love the combination of Israel and England. They are completely different. The British are very private and keep things to…

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“The suffering or the bad memories are as important as the good memories, and the good experiences. If you sort of, can…

Bad memories

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My favourite chord? Bb6th with added 9th.

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So many things influence me in one way or another. Some might be surprising, but that's OK.

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I never claimed to be a generic artist, period. I never wanted to be a generic artist.

Art

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“God is freedom, God is truth God is power and God is proof God is fashion, God is fame God gives meaning,…

Freedom

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Being English, we're polite and reserved, we don't express our opinions; we're very private people.

Being

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My fifth record is, in many ways, inspired by the hugely ambitious progressive pop records that I loved in my youth.

Ambitious

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We are living in dystopia, in a world that is dominated by technology and disconnect, alienation, loneliness, and dysfunction.

Dystopia

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Steven Wilson by topic

Music (28) Song (22) Time (15) People (14) Art (13)