Prog-rock wunderkind Steven Wilson recently talked 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.
During a new interview with Andrew McKaysmith of the Scars And Guitars podcast, Wilson was 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:
“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].”
