It’s actually a wonder that England’s Porcupine Tree has gone so long under the radar screen without being noticed. Their powerful arrangements of rock are crafted with precision and depth that the mainstream has missed out on since the mid-seventies - when albums took listeners on hour-long journeys rather than three-minute quickies.

Formed in 1993 Porcupine Tree toured the UK as one of its most respected, highest selling and pioneering bands the continent had seen in some time. They toured the US in 1999 in support of Stupid Dream, which gained them a rather large underground following, but this year they’re getting their proper introduction after releasing their Lava Records debut In Absentia and touring with 70s mega-band Yes.

1-42 caught up with keyboardist Richard Barbieri after a New York appearance at the College Music Journal conference and talked about PT’s unique style and the album.

1-42 :: So I picked up your album a couple months ago and after listening to it, I couldn’t believe that I hadn’t heard of you before.

Barbieri: Yeah, I’ve been getting that a lot. A lot of people hear it and say, ‘This is what we were looking for in an album – why didn’t we here about you before?’

1-42 :: But this is your first release on an American label before a UK one right? Does that make a difference to you?

Barbieri: Yeah, a little, but now that we’re with an American label the priorities have to be there. Because there is an affiliate company in each territory in Europe, it takes more time to go and see management and who’s interested. So it’s always kind of made sence to come to the States and work on the album here first.

1-42 :: With 4 other albums under your belt, did you already have a game plan for the record before you began writing?

Barbieri: We never go in with a particular style or idea of the commercial side of the music. It’s not that different if you look at the previous three or four albums we made. You can see a definite progression, but probably the biggest thing is some of the tracks are heavier. So maybe some of the longer open spaced ambient pieces have gone to more concise condensed song structures.

We are from a background where albums were always an important part of our lives – the whole concept of an album is like a journey that you go on. You go from the first track to the last and there is a passion that emerges. The whole complete album is very important to us and how it holds together is a good mix of style.

1-42 :: There are a lot of instruments and sections of the album that would be really hard to play live, how was it transforming the album to a live show?

Barbieri: There are some songs that you would expect to be great live, but for some reason it just isn’t. And other tracks that you think would be different, but work really well. But I think that we’ve been lucky, because we’ve ended up with about three quarters that we’ve been able to do live.

1-42 :: The CMJ show was really good, but I couldn’t help noticing that it was so perfect. Would you say that you are a perfectionist on stage?

Barbieri: If the music is working and it’s good on record, it just leads you on and that’s the path you take – sort of recreating that. We know what we need to do and we do it. Maybe what is missing is a bit of improvisation, which we could indulge in a bit more, but our main concern is getting the album across to people who haven’t heard the band before.

Dan Marek

Photos courtesy of PorcupineTree.com