Overview Butterfly Mind marks 40 years since I started performing in bands. The album was written and recorded between October 2020 and September 2021 and mixed and mastered by Steven Wilson in October and November of 2021. The title is intended to reflect the eclectic nature of the music as well as the fantastic contributions from the many, diverse guest … Read More

“I decided to resurrect an idea we had in the 1990s of the no-man production team (we’d always liked the concept of albums being produced by no-man and carrying something of the band’s DNA into other artist’s releases). Very belatedly, Flowers At The Scene became the idea’s first manifestation.”

Anywhere But Widnes – Plenty (An Origin Story) Plenty existed from July 1986 to November 1988 and had a partial resurrection in June 1990. The band fluctuated between being a quartet and a trio, but the longest lasting line-up comprised me, Brian Hulse and David K Jones. My frequent six-string magician of choice Michael Bearpark was a part of the … Read More

Psychoderelict: If it looks like a Rock Opera, smells like a Rock Opera, then…… I was tempted, in true 1970s style, to offer an enigmatic explanation that offered more questions than answers, but as Lost In The Ghost Light has nothing to do with cosmic coincidences or creatures of myth and legend (well, perhaps something of the latter), I felt … Read More

Stupid Beginnings Stupid Things That Mean The World was finished in late April 2015. In terms of release dates, it seemed to emerge quickly after Abandoned Dancehall Dreams, but the truth felt somewhat different. All the recording for Abandoned Dancehall Dreams had been completed by December 2013. As a result, there was a lot of time to prepare the final … Read More

These are Tim’s sleeve notes from the August 2014 double cd reissue of Schoolyard Ghosts. Playground Fears: Schoolyard Ghosts came together between Spring 2006 and Spring 2008 and unlike other no-man albums, its starting points almost exclusively drew on material I brought in. What resulted felt unified and like an evolution of no-man, but the process of making it was probably the … Read More

Abandoned Dancehall Dreams was finished in mid-April 2014. My only previous solo album (2004’s My Hotel Year) was created as a means of tying together several incomplete (and very different) projects I had on the go at the time. A solo album in name only, it never wholly felt mine. By contrast, ADD started life as a focused collection of … Read More

Tim Bowness’s album notes also appear on the reissue of California, Norfolk. Michael Bearpark’s notes are exclusive to this site. Peter Chilvers’ reflections on making California, Norfolk are available exclusively in the booklet of the 2013 Deluxe Edition reissue. ———  Tim Bowness, August 2013: A ‘local album for local people’, California, Norfolk started life in the Autumn of 2001. Coinciding … Read More

Returning Jesus (2001) Prologue: On and (mostly) off, no-man’s 2001 release Returning Jesus came together over a period of thirteen years. Galvanised by writing the Carolina Skeletons EP in 1998 and recording Speak in 1999, the last three years of the process were spent fine-tuning the track order and artistic direction, finding the right musicians for certain tracks, and approving … Read More

Prologue: Late November 2012 and the Sheffield to Norwich hotline was very hot indeed: “Jarrod, I really like mix 324 of EIS, but maybe the synth could be a little lower at 2.16 and the guitar slightly louder at the 6.33 tempo shift. Also, how about some Mellotron flute overdubs from the five minute point onwards. A Welsh male voice … Read More