“Old-school players have beautiful technique – but they’re not so innovative with the actual sound”: Steven Wilson explains why guitarists should regularly change their tone
Steven Wilson has spoken regularly about his dislike of guitar players who don’t experiment with their tone. Back in 2023, he said he was “constantly disappointed” by it.
Now, the Porcupine Tree guitarist has doubled down on his view, this time taking aim at older players who don’t innovate with their sound.
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Earlier this month, Steven Wilson released his latest solo album The Overview, and recruited Porcupine Tree touring guitarist Randy McStine to help him record guitars. Wilson says McStine was to be the “solo voice” on guitar as he “understands the importance of sound” when writing guitar solos. In a new interview with Guitar Player, Wilson explains why McStine was the man for the job.
“A lot of old-school guitar players, they can play amazing – beautiful technique, beautiful feel. They can play beautiful solos. But sometimes they’re not so innovative with the actual sound,” he says. “The possibilities for sound now have become greater. And I think Randy understands that.”
He goes on: “The obvious thing to say here is the sound very much affects the way you play, and I think sometimes guitar players forget that – or maybe they don’t, but the people who listen to guitar players forget that sometimes when you get sound it changes what you actually play.
“Randy’s a great example of someone who understands that, so we spent a lot of time actually looking for the right sound before we even approached how he was going to play and the kind of scale he was going to play.”
Despite playing the majority of guitars on the album, Wilson “left these sort of expanses” where he didn’t really know what he wanted. “I knew I wanted something that wouldn’t be obvious,” he elaborates. “I play one very brief solo in the middle of side one, but the rest – there are three big solos – are Randy. I do like the guitar, but it’s always been part of my tool box, if you like. My love affair is with making records, and guitars are a part of that.”
Wilson and McStine previously collaborated when Porcupine Tree toured their Closure/Continuation album in 2022, with McStine replacing long-time collaborator John Wesley, who was the band’s touring guitarist between 2002 and 2010. “He’s somebody that’s very familiar with experimenting with pedals, processing, digital and analogue.”
Wilson’s latest solo album, The Overview, is 43-minutes long, divided into two long-form pieces – Objects Outlive Us and The Overview – with ten segments between them. The Overview concentrates on the phenomenon of the Overview Effect, something space travellers experience when seeing Earth from their unique perspective. Alongside McBride, Wilson also collaborated on the album with XTC’s Andy Partridge, who wrote lyrics, and his own wife Rotem, who provided spoken-word sections.
The Overview will also be accompanied by a full-length film directed by Miles Skarin, who has previously worked with Porcupine Tree, Haken, and Steven Wilson’s solo material. The film will accompany Wilson’s first solo tour in seven years, which kicks off in Stockholm on 1 May, heading through Europe and North America, concluding in October.
For tickets, head to Steven Wilson’s official website.
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Source: www.guitar-bass.net
