Weaned on prog from an early age, blues rock singer-guitarist Chantel McGregor takes inspiration from the works of Porcupine Tree and Steven Wilson.
“My parents got me hooked on progressive music early on – they were always listening to Pink Floyd, Barclay James Harvest and King Crimson around the house.
The textures, inventiveness and quality of the instrumentation fascinated me. Prog was deeper than other music and I loved the idea of mixing synths and Mellotrons with heavy rock guitars.
I would have been around 15 years old when I first heard Porcupine Tree. My first album of theirs was Lightbulb Sun. Tracks like Shesmovedon really resonated with me; and after hearing the Deadwing album, I learned how to play all of those songs.
I love the attention to detail in Steven’s music, and the emotion that goes into it. One of the things that I most like about him is his creative freedom. Some of his fans would love him to keep on making The Raven That Refused To Sing over and over again – but most are aware he won’t repeat himself.
When a song like Permanating comes along, people go, ‘What is this? It’s pop music!’ It ruffles a few feathers, but most of the fans get it. That, to me, is the art of progressive music: keeping things moving forward and evolving.
Steven’s music has been an inspiration for my work. His immersive productions are incredible. I can hear his influence on my new album, The Healing, especially in the song Truth Will Out; it nods to that 80s synth vibe and brings in some serious heaviness.
I’ve seen five or six of his live shows, but I was gutted to miss the most recent ones because I was on tour. I really wanted to see The Overview being performed live.
I met him after one of his gigs at the Royal Albert Hall and he was really lovely – a genuinely nice bloke. Steve Rothery was there, too, and I remember thinking, ‘This is brilliant!’
My dream would be to someday support him, of course – it would be amazing. I love the fact that he has been having comedians open for him and I really wanted to see Al Murray. Having comedians open up is a risky but inspired choice, and that’s just typical of Steven.”
