Editing Steven Wilson (section)

===Early bands===
[[File:Steven Wilson Strawberry Fayre Cambridge 1997.jpg|thumb|upright=0.8|Wilson in 1997]]
Wilson said his taste in music diverged from his peers in the 1980s:<blockquote>I grew up in the 80s, and it was a pretty bad decade for music. There were some interesting things developing, but everyone I knew wanted to be in [[Level 42]], [[Simple Minds]] or [[U2]]. I wasn't interested in any of that, so I found solace in the 60s and 70s music that my parents were listening to. And I began to discover this wonderful era, what you'd call the great album era, from 1967 to 1977, from ''[[Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band|Sgt Pepper]]'' through to [[punk rock|punk]].<ref>{{cite web | url= https://www.loudersound.com/features/the-50-greatest-guitarists-of-all-time | title= The 50 Best Guitarists of All Time | work=Louder | date=29 September 2018 | access-date=25 September 2019}}</ref> </blockquote>

One of Wilson's earliest musical projects was the psychedelic duo Altamont (featuring a 15-year-old Wilson working with synth/electronics player Simon Vockings). Their one and only cassette album, ''Prayer for the Soul'', featured lyrics by English psychedelic scenester Alan Duffy, whose work Wilson would later use on the first two Porcupine Tree albums. Around the same time that Wilson was part of Altamont, he was also in a progressive rock band called Karma, which played live around Hertfordshire and recorded two cassette albums, ''The Joke's on You'' (1983) and ''The Last Man To Laugh'' (1985). These contained early versions of "Small Fish", "Nine Cats" and "The Joke's on You", which were subsequently resurrected as Porcupine Tree songs.{{citation needed|date=February 2021}}

Wilson went on to join the New Wave/AOR band Pride of Passion as keyboard player, replacing former [[Marillion]] keyboard player Brian Jelliman (another former Marillion member, Diz Minnitt, also played in the band). Pride of Passion would later change their name to Blazing Apostles and alter their lineup and approach, finally coming to an end in 1987.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.themarqueeclub.net/interview-diz-minnitt-of-marillion|title=Interview - Diz Minnitt of Marillion|website=[[Marquee Club|TheMarqueeClub.net]]|date=August 2006 |access-date=2010-09-15| first=Koldo|last=Barroso |url-status=dead| archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20061224175221/http://www.themarqueeclub.net/interview-diz-minnitt-of-marillion| archive-date=2006-12-24}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.graham-collins.com/drummer/index.php/bio/about|title=About HISTORY|access-date=2010-09-15|first=Graham|last=Collins|date=2014|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100909181857/http://www.graham-collins.com/drummer/index.php/bio/about|archive-date=9 September 2010}}</ref>