In a new interview with Andrew McKaysmith of the Scars And Guitars podcast, prog-rock wunderkind Steven Wilson spoke about some of his remixing work, which he began in 2009 as a sideline to his very successful career as a musician and producer. In the last few years, fans have been treated to his spatial audio remixes of classic albums from high-profile acts such as TEARS FOR FEARS, ABC, CHIC, ULTRAVOX, SUEDE, THE WHO and VAN MORRISON. Asked what the challenges were working on remixes of GUNS N’ ROSES‘ 1991 multi-platinum releases “Use Your Illusion I” and “Use Your Illusion II”, Wilson said (as transcribed by BLABBERMOUTH.NET): “Well, the challenges were the band didn’t like what I was doing. That came through the record company, and I did it all, and then the band basically vetoed it all. So the only thing that ever came out was my remix of ‘November Rain’, with a real orchestra added. And that was a shame, ’cause that’s a lot of music on those records — I think I worked on about 40 songs, including outtakes, B-sides and God knows what else. And then the band basically turned around and decided they didn’t like it. They didn’t like [Dolby] Atmos [a surround sound technology that creates a more immersive, three-dimensional audio experience], they didn’t like the idea of their music being in spatial audio. So that project is kind of just sitting on my hard drive, unreleased and unheard. It’s such a shame. Amazing, amazing records. Amazing records. But yes, a shame in a way that it got sort of bogged down in band politics and God knows what else.”
Asked if he ever has mates of his from school or university or whatever that he is still in touch with that say, ‘Come on, mate. Put on the ‘Use Your Illusion’ albums that you worked on,’ so they can hear it, Steven responded: “Well, to be honest, no, because … we didn’t grow up with GUNS N’ ROSES. GUNS N’ ROSES was kind of the next generation. I grew up in the ’80s, so the bands all my sort of generation were listening to were THE SMITHS, THE CURE. If it was metal, it would’ve been METALLICA. It wouldn’t have been GUNS N’ ROSES. It would’ve been [METALLICA‘s] ‘Master Of Puppets’ from ’85 rather than [GUNS N’ ROSES‘] ‘Appetite For Destruction’ from ’89. So I just missed that generation, yeah. I just missed that generation. But yeah, sometimes people, friends come over and I bring them into the studio and I’ll blast them with some… I say, ‘What music did you grow up with?’ And I’ve usually got something, I’ve usually got something I’ve worked on, which they’ll remember from their childhood I can blow their mind [with].”
Wilson‘s remix of “November Rain” was released as part of GUNS N’ ROSES‘ 2022 “Use Your Illusion” box set. It featured a 50-piece orchestra that was arranged and conducted by TV and film composer Christopher Lennertz.
A couple of months before the box set’s release, Wilson wrote on Facebook: “The new 2022 version is the same performance as the original, and mixed faithfully to the established version, but with newly recorded orchestration replacing the sampled sounds used at the time.”
In a 2023 interview with Songfacts, Wilson talked about how he became an in-demand remixer of classic albums, specializing in immersive surround audio. He said at the time: “I started to get noticed for doing surround sound on my own music. And I wanna say around 2008/2009 I picked up a Grammy nomination for best special audio/surround sound — whatever it was called at the time [‘Best Immersive Audio Album’ for ‘The Future Bites’], so I started to get invitations by a few other artists. Just a few to begin with. But one door leads to another, and over the years it kind of built up, and I’ve made a name for myself doing these remix projects. But that’s how it started, really — with the Grammy nod for one of my own records I mixed in surround sound.”
Asked why he has done the most remixes for two bands, JETHRO TULL and KING CRIMSON, he explained: “I think it’s a case of they just had the biggest catalogs — they’ve got 50 years of catalog in the case of JETHRO TULL. Some of the other artists I’ve done — like TEARS FOR FEARS, CHIC and SUEDE — they just have less records in their discography. But a band like JETHRO TULL, for example, the first few we did were very well-received, and it’s the gift that keeps on giving because Ian [Anderson, JETHRO TULL leader] has made a record with JETHRO TULL pretty much every year since 1968. So, there was just more and more albums that were available to be done.”
Hailed by David Fricke in Rolling Stone for his “fighting spirit and truly progressive ideals in rock composition, group improvisation and emotionally authentic storytelling,” Wilson is, among his many guises, a visionary solo artist, founding member of Grammy Award-nominated British rock band PORCUPINE TREE, and pioneering spatial audio remixer known for his work with such artists as KING CRIMSON, YES, TEARS FOR FEARS, XTC, NEW ORDER and many more.
2022 saw the internationally acclaimed release of PORCUPINE TREE‘s long-awaited eleventh studio album and first release in over 12 years, “Closure/Continuation”, which debuted at No. 2 on the U.K. Albums chart and reached No. 1 in Germany, the Netherlands and Switzerland. An epic world tour followed, making stops in North America, South America, and Europe before culminating with a triumphant sold-out show at London’s famed OVO Arena Wembley. 2022 also saw the publication of Wilson‘s much-applauded first memoir, “Limited Edition Of One” (Little, Brown).
Photo credit: Kevin Westenberg
