THE OLD PEACE BY MARIUSZ DUDA & STEVEN WILSON CELEBRATES TENTH ANNIVERSARY WITH A REMIX AND REMASTER

30th October 2024 0 By Jon Deaux

Alec Wildey

October 30th marks the 10-year anniversary of The Old Peace, a heartfelt collaboration between Mariusz Duda (Lunatic Soul, Riverside) and Steven Wilson (Porcupine Tree) in memory of Alec Wildey, a passionate Steven Wilson and Mariusz Duda fan and young poet who passed away in 2014.

Alec Wildey counted Mariusz Duda and Steven Wilson as his two favorite musicians and became known to the pair when he started street teams for both Riverside and Porcupine Tree. According to Wilson, Wildey worked tirelessly promoting their music, often spending many hours pasting concert fliers all over town, his efforts deeply appreciated by both.

STREAM/DOWNLOAD ‘THE OLD PEACE’

On Christmas Eve 2013, Alec received the devastating news that he had cancer of the lymphatic system, followed shortly afterwards by an additional diagnosis of liver cancer. Following this, he requested that, as his favorite musicians, Duda and Wilson put one of his poems to music and perform it together. That is how this song came about. Alec Wildey wrote the poem, Mariusz Duda created the music, and he and Wilson arranged and produced the song together.

Steven Wilson – “Alec Wildey was a young fan who for several years had been passionate about our music, actively helping out with promotion as a leading member of the Porcupine Tree and Steven Wilson street teams from the tender age of 17 and setting up a street team for Mariusz in 2010. He was a devoted and enthusiastic music listener and movie watcher, as well as a self-published poet, with a very bright future. At the end of July when he understood he had only a short time left, he emailed me to ask if it was possible that his two favourite musicians could set one of his poems to music, a long-held dream of his. I immediately agreed but told him I would make a deal with him – I would make it happen if he could hang on long enough to hear it. We even discussed the possibility of him playing drums on the song himself. Unfortunately, he passed away only a few weeks later on 25th August at the age of just 26, and so the idea to record the song became about honouring Alec’s memory and all too short life, as well as a form of tribute to him and his family. Alec’s poem The Old Peace has been beautifully set to music by Mariusz and sung and performed by both of us.”

Track Credits:

Words by Alec Widley

Music by Mariusz Duda

Vocals, guitars – Mariusz Duda

Vocals, M-4000 mellotron, keyboards, hand percussion – Steven Wilson

The original release raised over $11,800, supporting both the Wilmot Cancer Institute in New York and Macmillan Cancer Centre in the UK. Now, for its 10th anniversary, The Old Peace has been newly remixed and remastered by Steven Wilson and will be available digitally for the first time on major streaming platforms on October 30th, 2024.

Mariusz Duda Online

https://mariuszduda.md