As Steven Wilson continues to focus exclusively on his solo career, questions about the future of Porcupine Tree remain. Drummer Gavin Harrison has his own tandem projects too, but still insists the band isn’t over.
“The first thing to say,” Harrison tells says in the Music Off video below, “is that we haven’t split up. Don’t worry: Porcupine Tree will return.”
Though much more has been made of Wilson’s new album and tour, Harrison says that each of Porcupine Tree’s members have been busy. Harrison, for instance, is touring in 2013 with 05Ric, as well as November/December. More than the desire to do their own separate things, though, this time away was meant to recharge after a lengthy and exhaustive tour, says Harrison, also a late-period member of King Crimson.
“When we went on the last tour,” he says, “we went on tour for 14 months. That’s a long time to be together. We felt, at the end of a 14 month tour, that we had to take a break. It would be unhealthy for Porcupine Tree if, at the end of the last tour, we went straight into the studio. It would be a good situation personally; it wouldn’t be a good situation musically.”
From Harrison’s point of view, all of this outside activity — rather than signalling the end — will actually serve to reanimate the band’s collective imaginations when Porcupine Tree finally does reconvene.
“I think the music you write is a reflection of your experiences in life, and we needed time to out and experience a bit more life to make the next Porcupine Tree album really good,” he says. “We want it to be something really new — and really high quality — so it takes time. Probably, it’s going to be a very different-sounding record, which is what we want.”
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- Disaster Pony,“Dead Neon & The Noon Sun” from ‘Disaster Pony’ (2024): Video premiere - February 27, 2024
- Christopher Hoffman, “Farewell Forever” from ‘Vision Is The Identity’ (2024): Streaming premiere - February 19, 2024
