STEVEN WILSON IS A HI-RES MAN OF THE PEOPLE

The master of surround music ups the ante with his latest album, The Future Bites, and continues to explore the limits of immersive audio after mixing it in Dolby Atmos.

Mike Mettler zooms in on artist and surround sound music maestro Steven Wilson to discuss his new album The Future Bites, the upcoming surround-mix releases he’s completed for other artists, and his dream Dolby Atmos mix to-do list.

I LIKE TO UPSET PEOPLE, because it means I’m doing the right thing.”

And that, my friends, is Steven Wilson for you in a nutshell. The once and future king of surround sound has taken yet another giant creative leap forward with his new solo album, The Future Bites (Arts & Crafts/ Caroline), which, after a pandemically induced half-year deferral, was finally released at the end of January 2021. And if its genre-bending aural contents just so happen to ruffle some of those hardline “don’t ever change” expectation feathers that permeate his fanbase flock, that’s totally fine by him.

“My perspective on music is always changing anyway,” Wilson points out. “What I want to do with music is always in a state of flux and evolution, and that’s what keeps me excited. I don’t ever want to make the same record twice. In fact, I hope I never make the same record twice.”

Based on Wilson’s impeccable track record, that statement appears to be a safe bet. People tend to forget one of his earliest ventures, the much-lauded Porcupine Tree, essentially began as a one-man experimental psychedelic trip before evolving into a powerhouse post-prog collective. Outside of the Tree, Wilson spread his artistic tendrils amongst a number of genre-challenging projects— Bass Communion, Blackfield, I.E.M., No-man, and Storm Corrosion, to name but a few—and over the course of a solo career now firmly entrenched in its second decade, he stands tall an artist not intent on hanging his hat on any of his past accomplishments.

To that end, The Future Bites moves Wilson’s recorded C.V. into further semi-uncharted territory only hinted at on his last solo album, August 2017’s course-shifting To the Bone. On TFB (ah, now you’re getting one of the many underlying meanings of that title!), songs like the ’80s-centric lamentations of “12 Things I Forgot,” the alt-pop consumer indictment-cuminducement of “Personal Shopper,” and the falsetto-drenched neo-prog soul drizzle of “Man of the People” all reflect the scope of the man’s many musical interests. And not to worry, surround fans— the multiple layers of TFB’S sonic palette can be thoroughly enjoyed on Blu-ray via Wilson’s envelope-pushing 24-bit/96khz DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1, LPCM 5.1, and (yes!) Dolby Atmos mixes alike.

Wilson is quite at ease when it comes to assessing where his career trajectory has taken him as an artist. “You know what? People who only listen within a very limited set of musical parameters are not the people I’m trying to appeal to, really,” he admits. “If you want generic music, there’s plenty of it out there. What I want to do with my life and my career is to not be affiliated with a particular genre, but to create my own musical universe.” I think it’s fair to say the broad-stroke contents of TFB fit that particular cosmically inclined bill to a T, F, and B all at once.

Wilson, 53, and I recently got on Zoom across the Pond to discuss the full creative arc of The Future Bites, the status of certain upcoming surround-mix releases he’s done for other artists, and what some of his personal dream Atmos mixes would be. Buy the box set and the kind of stuff you’ve bought before a million times. . .

Mike Mettler: First of all, if I heard the line correctly, I have to thank you for singing, “There was a time when I had sound and vision.” Is that what you sang in “12 Things I Forgot,” or not? Steven Wilson: Umm, it’s actually, “There was a time I had some ambition.”

Mettler: Oh, ok. Clearly, I got it wrong. Can you blame me? (laughs)

Wilson: But I like the idea. You misheard it in reference to your own magazine. That’s alright, yeah. (grins)

Mettler: And what does that say about me? Don’t answer that. (chuckles)

Wilson: But it is interesting, isn’t it? Because, in a way, The Future Bites album is partly this idea that we all see the world through our own kind of little self-absorbed prison. I’m not suggesting you do that, Mike, but, yeah— interesting.

Mettler: Maybe I do! (chuckles) Of course, you know how much I love hearing any of your music in high resolution, especially when it comes to your surround mixes on Blu-ray. The Future Bites is tailor-made for that kind of detailed listening.

Wilson: This record sounds so good sonically, and I’m particularly proud of the way the Dolby Atmos mix came out.

Mettler: It really is fantastic. Tell me how you got into Atmos, how your Atmos experience went, and what you like about it—all of it.

Wilson: I first heard Atmos over a year ago when I went to hear [The Beatles’ benchmark September 1969 album] Abbey Road at Abbey Road [Studios in London] in Atmos—and really loved it. [The Abbey Road Atmos mix was overseen by Giles Martin and Sam Okell.]

For me, it’s the elevated speakers that make a difference. It’s being able to not only move the sound around in the horizontal plane, but also how to move into the vertical plane. It’s so exciting to me, as

somebody who already loves immersive audio and surround sound audio. And now my home studio is an Atmos studio.

It was really being able to use that extra height to create something completely enveloping that got to me. I got very excited about it, and I’ve done a few things in Atmos since. I think The Future Bites is going to be—well, it may not be completely the first new album released on physical media in Atmos, but it must be one of the first.

Mettler: I think you’re right about that. What were your goals for the Atmos mix of The Future Bites?

Wilson: Oh, wow. It’s been a while since we did the Atmos mix, which was over a year ago now. I mean, listen—we had fun with it. For example, I’ve always had a fairly consistent idea about how I mix things in 5.1. I wouldn’t say I’m conservative, but I’m not into this idea of having things whizzing around the room. But when I came to do the Atmos mix, I was like, “You know what? We’ve got the 5.1 mix. Let’s just go a bit silly with the Atmos mix.” (laughs)

Mettler: Good. I like that. (laughs)

Wilson: There is a lot of stuff bouncing. Well, not a lot of stuff, but there is stuff bouncing around the room in the Atmos mixes for sure.

Mettler: “Personal Shopper” is an interesting example. By the time we get to the Elton John spoken-word section, he’s pretty much all around you, going wherever each different phrase he says takes you, in a different space.

Wilson: Pretty much, yeah. The whole thing about that particular section is you’ve got the two elements. You’ve got the main voice speaking of things like the shopping items, and then you’ve got the inner voice where Elton’s saying things like “self-obsession” and “self-indulgence.” It was just his inner psyche, you know? You can imagine we had a lot of fun with that in Atmos, yeah.

But I’m also sending myself up too, because if you look at that list—with things like “Deluxe Edition box sets” and “180gram vinyl reissues”— I mean, anyone who knows anything about me knows this is my world! So, I’m sending myself up too. It’s supposed to make you laugh when you hear Elton John say, “Sunglasses.” It’s supposed to be fun, and I do hope people take it in that way.

Mettler: It’s very fun, I agree. You’ve also got The London Session Orchestra on the album, and that’s really something to hear in Atmos. The way you have the strings on “Eminent Sleaze” really broadens the overall soundstage.

Wilson: There are a lot of very lush moments on the record. There are a lot of vocals and backing vocals on there too, on songs like “Self” and “Personal Shopper.” You can imagine that was a lot of fun to play with in Atmos and surround too.

It all sounds beautiful in surround because there isn’t a lot of stuff going on. Sometimes I find the best surround mixes are the mixes where you’re not fighting to find a space for everything. You’ve just got eight or nine elements, and you’re able to position them very discretely so everyone can hear exactly what is coming out of each part of the mix. “King Ghost” is a good example of a track like that. It just sounds glorious in surround.

Mettler: To me, “Man of the People” is another one of those glorious tracks too, because it’s also very minimalist. It has a “spirits in the ethereal world” kind of feel, where you’re just floating literally all around us in that space.

Wilson: Right. Yeah, I love that track so much. It’s so beautiful. It was a concept in the back of my mind: What would it sound like if Marvin Gaye’s “Sexual Healing” had been recorded by Pink Floyd? (both laugh) And we ended up with “Man of the People,” which I’m so proud of.

Mettler: As you should be! Earlier, you said you did some other mixes in Atmos. Is there anything you’re allowed to talk about yet?

Wilson: Well, the Crimson’s come out. [Wilson is referring to The Complete 1969 Recordings, the 26-disc, limited edition 50th anniversary box set released in August 2020 to commemorate King Crimson’s seminal October 1969 debut, In the Court of the Crimson King.]

Mettler: Right. I’m still waiting to get my hands on a copy of that, but based on what you were just saying about Atmos—to me, a minimalist song like “I Talk to the Wind” must be something really fantastic in Atmos, yes?

Wilson: Exactly, yeah. For that song, I’ve got the woodwinds, a lot of flutes, and other stuff elevated, and it just sounds—and obviously, it’s the obvious word I can use, but it’s the only word I can use—it sounds so spacious. Literally, you can almost touch the different sounds around you.

I’ve also done a bunch of Atmos mixes for Gentle Giant, because we’re mixing three more of their albums for release in the year ahead. [Co-founding GG bassist and noted record producer] Ray Shulman said to me, “Listen, can you do Atmos?” And I said, “Yeah, I’d love to, if you’re into

it.” So, they’re going to put those Atmos mixes on those Gentle Giant reissues. [Though Wilson’s 5.1 mixes for three of Gentle Giant’s key albums—august 1975’s Free Hand, April 1976’s Interview, and August 1977’s The Missing Piece— have been completed and discussed elsewhere both online and in print, their release dates have not been officially scheduled as of presstime.]

Mettler: Now that you’ve got the “Atmos itch,” as I’m calling it, would you go back and revisit your catalog— as in, revisit the Porcupine Tree catalog, or do your own solo work in Atmos?

Wilson: I . . . (slight pause) I don’t think so. I don’t think so. I mean, firstly, it’s a lot of work. Obviously, the fact that The Beatles have done it makes a big difference, which is great in terms of opening up the market. But I definitely will do everything going forward in Atmos now, yeah.

Mettler: Ok. Well, how about your Atmos wishlist, then? I liked Porcupine Tree’s In Absentia box set that came out in February 2020, where you had some surround revisitation on Blu-ray there. [ In Absentia was initially released in stereo on CD and vinyl in September 2002, with an ensuing DVDAudio release in 5.1 in March 2004.] I think that opened up the palette even more for us possibly getting a Dolby Atmos upgrade from you there.

Wilson: I think if there was a big reissue project, maybe I would go back and do an Atmos mix. But I’m not going to make it a point of doing everything [from my catalog] in Atmos now.

Mettler: I hear you. But it seems to me [March 2005’s] Deadwing is just sitting there as something they might come to you and say, “Would you do a big Atmos thing for this album?” I mean, getting “Lazarus” and “Halo” in Atmos—how can you not want to do that?

Wilson: Yeah, that one might be one to do, although it was originally done by Elliot Scheiner in 5.1 [for Deadwing’s concurrent DTS Dvd-audio release].

Mettler: True—so now we’ve got a viable option here, because we can say you didn’t technically do that Deadwing surround mix yourself.

Wilson: I’m not even sure if I’ve got the files—the original 5.1 mix files. But [April 2007’s] Fear of a Blank Planet I could do. Well, we’ll see— if there are any big reissue projects, then I might certainly consider doing them in Atmos.

If any of those labels that have 5.1 mixes I’ve done over the years come back to me and said they want to do, for example, [Yes’ seminal September 1972 album] Close to the Edge in Atmos— great! Bring it on. I’d love to do it.

Mettler: Sold! Atmos is an optimal idea to update your Close to the Edge surround mix [which Wilson did in 5.1 on Blu-ray in 2016], in my mind. I was talking to [King Crimson guitarist/ vocalist] Jakko Jakszyk recently, and I think the 5.1 mix he did for Secrets & Lies [his solo record that came out in October 2020] would be Atmos-ready because it’s very atmospheric.

Wilson: Yeah, Jakko’s great, and Jakko is very passionate about immersive surround audio too. I’d love to try and get him into Atmos, actually.

Mettler: I’ll second that. Jakko did some of Ian Anderson’s solo material in 5.1 [like April 2014’s Homo Erracticus] and was possibly going to do some Jethro Tull remixes after you had done the bulk of their 5.1 catalog yourself. He’d already remixed some of their live material. But he said you may be doing some more Tull now because, well, you have the time to do it. Is that true? Are you doing more Tull in 5.1?

Wilson: Well, I’ve done [August 1980’s] A for them, yeah. In my defense, I didn’t know at the time Jakko was in the running to do it. Basically, I had more time because of the lockdown scenario, and I told them, “Look, I’m available now if you still want me to do it”—and they asked me to do it. They didn’t tell me about Jakko.

I had told them I was done with the Tull catalog because I thought I was going to be too busy with The Future Bites. As the lockdown transpired, I had a year to do a lot more stuff I didn’t think I was going to have the time for doing— and A was one of them.

Mettler: A is a weird album in the Jethro Tull catalog. It’s like a bridge between two universes, and it seems to me to be a transitional record. Were you very familiar with A, or not much at all, growing up?

Wilson: Not much at all—which is another reason why I originally said I shouldn’t be doing it, because I always feel like I want to know the record pretty well before I do it. But I got into it, and I think you’re right.

It’s a transitional record. The incorporation of electronic elements into A isn’t wholly successful, I don’t think, but you can see more of a new way of doing Tull things. I still feel there are some great songs on it, and Ian [Anderson] is such a great writer.

I think what’s nice about A is I’ve made a big difference to it sonically, if I can say so myself. When I do a new mix, the stereo is obviously the first part of the process, and with certain records, I’ve made a difference for the better—and I think A is one of them. The original mix was quite subdued in a way, so even in stereo, I think it really pops better now.

For more with Wilson—including his explanation of how Sir Elton John insisted on being the vocal personification of “Personal Shopper” and the ongoing encroachment of technology into our daily lives— go to soundandvision.com/category/sv-interview.