Through the next few weeks or so, Im going to write down a bit about the people that influence me, guide me, and the people that I can look upto in various aspects of life.
Role Model #1 (irrespective of likeness) - Steven Wilson (Porcupine Tree)
If you do not know who Steven Wilson is, he is a multi instrumentalist better known for being the lead guitarist, lead singer and founding member of the Progressive Rock act Porcupine Tree. I still remember the first time I heard Porcupine Tree was back in 2009 I guess. Almost the end of 2009, and the first song I heard was Blackest Eyes. I really liked that song. Then my best friend (Siddhant) gave me the whole discography. At first I didn't find the songs that influencing or simply 'feel' songs, but over a period of time, I really started feeling the songs and started relating it to my life. Porcupine Tree is that deep a band and the main man behind the force of Porcupine Tree is Steven Wilson. The psychedelic ambience and the fact that he combines mellow songs which have the extreme heavy parts and can suddenly go all silent and make you go, HOW THE FUCK DID HE DO THAT? Its like everything is in a flow, its constant. I was too into metal at that time, and it was really hard to make something which was soft and heavy at the same time. It was either soft, or heavy - and soft I did not like. :P
And then the lyrics. OMFG! I have never seen such lyrics in my life. Ive listened to hundreds of bands and seen their lyrics, but Steven Wilson makes it feel as if he's super human. The fact that he's British, makes the lyrics more refined and disciplined so to say. Can I say that? Ironic, Sarcastic, lyrics that have the power to connect with you. They are true, gut wrenching, scary, emotional but in a totally NON-EMO way.
"You think you're smart, I think you're art
We agreed on this. It doesn't work,
Feeling like dirt, feeling like you don't care
We get a room, and in the gloom
She lights a cigarette. Clothes on the bed
Love me she said, I lose myself to her."
This is the second verse from the song 'Open Car' from Porcupine Trees' album Deadwing. I mean, the meaning I derive about these lyrics is the fact that say a person just had sex with this girl, and then he felt bad about it afterwards because maybe that person has someone he truly loves. And it may be the weirdest subject to write a song on, but these lyrics just make you sink in and feel as if you were that person.
"God is freedom, God is truth
God is power, God is proof
God is fashion, God is fame
God gives meaning, God gives pain."
These are lyrics from the song 'Halo' again from the Deadwing record. Self explanatory. You actually question your beliefs about god and what god really is. Its scary after a certain point, and the song also has these ambient alien kind of noises that again kind of scare you if you're listening to the song late at night. :P Amazing Stuff.
And then theres the WHOLE "Fear Of A Blank Planet" album. The lyrics deal with two typical neurobehavioural developmental disorders affecting teenagers in the 21st century: bipolar disorder and attention deficit disorder, and also with other common behaviour tendencies on youth like escapism through prescription drugs, social alienation caused by technology, and a feeling of vacuity product of information overload by the mass media. In an interview with Revolver magazine, Wilson described the main character of the story as "...this kind of terminally bored kid, anywhere between 10 and 15 years old, who spends all his daylight hours in his bedroom with the curtains closed, playing on his PlayStation, listening to his iPod, texting his friends on his cell phone, looking at hardcore pornography on the Internet, downloading music, films, news, violence..."
After listening to a LOT of Porcupine Tree, and well not being successful in making heavy metal songs (trying out different genres like Djent, Metalcore, Progressive Metal), the music of Steven Wilson influenced me to make some mellow stuff and well, combine it with the heavy stuff. I was not expecting it to work out, but surprisingly it did. The way I felt in life, I could finally get it out onto my lyrics, I could finally make my guitar talk. It was a feeling so sublime, that I couldn't stop playing. :P Im working on two songs at the moment with a sort of a mellow touch. My peers seem to appreciate them more than my other Metal songs. :P And personally, I also feel more confident about those songs. First maybe I was thinking of buying a 7 string Ibanez, but now I guess ill settle for a nice PRS Custom SE. :P
Again, don't know Steven Wilson? Listen to Porcupine Tree (ONE OF MY FAVORITE BANDS). Listen to his solo records. Watch his film - "The Insurgentes" You'll get an insight into a real complex but focused person. He has his views on things set, theres nothing that can change them. His music is about all the things that people lament about, and the various problems that exist in todays society. Its amazing. Absolutely amazing.
As a player, his solos are mind boggling - psychedelic, not the usual shred solos. Solos with emotions. His riffs are heavy as fuck, and his chord voicings and vocal lines are just soothing to the heart. Its like you yearn for the knowledge that you can get from his music and playing.
Respect.
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