Blackwater Session diary

One of the production features of Porcupine tree that we love most is the so- called "telephone" voice. This we used on "Drapery falls" and on several backing vocal things on this album. Now, working with Steve, you can go like "Telephone voice here" and everybody knows exactly what you mean. It's as much a Opeth thing now as it is a Porcupine tree thing I guess.

Opeth are pigs! Yes, you read right, pigs I tell ya! We were so filthy in the studio that we were mistaken for being bums. There was no shower in the studio, so if we wanted one we had to go to a work-out place close by. Myself (Lord stink) + the Martins kept dirrrty for the first 10 days. The first to wimp out was Peter who took regular showers...

We have videos of the entire studio process, and there are footage of us when we look just awful. My own girlfriend was disgusted with me after seeing those pictures. As for the recording I think everything went rather OK. We're lazy muthas so we don't work until we feel like we wanna work. Soilwork was in the studio at the same time, and those guys are serious. We seem like a bunch of amateurs in comparison. They were working all the time. When they came into the kitchen for a break, we're still there, on the same break we took 3 hours ago.

Anyways, this helps us in a way, cause when we do work, everybody is psyched and interested. We don't want this to become a "job", or something you do because you have to. We wanna have a good time, and thus we only work when it feels right.

Looking back on this recording session I have nothing but fond memories of it. I'm pretty sure it was hell, but as I said, in comparison with our last recording, hell has got a new face.

As we recorded this album we obviously had no idea it was going to become our most succesful album ever, out selling "Still life" by 400%!