How democratic is it within Porcupine Tree?
RB: It’s pretty democratic actually, but if somebody’s got a very strong idea about something, then I think the others are happy to go with that. If somebody feels that strongly and takes the lead, then I’m happy to go with that, because they’ve got real conviction for it, that’s fine. We all feel that way individually about various parts within the recording. There’s a certain amount of stuff that we veto, we don’t like, we say “no,” whatever, and Steven has to live with that. Because we have to live with the fact that he’ll bring in some stuff and be very precious about the demo and how it’s exactly the way he wants it, so obviously our contributions are to enhance rather than to change. MPc: In my own band, we drive the keyboard player crazy because most of us play keyboards and have our own contributions that we bring forward. RB: I think it’s kind of a natural disposition of some musicians to be interested in others’ contributions. I mean, I’m very much like that. When I’m making
