Richard Barbieri is a musician whose influence has spread far and wide across the industry. Best known these days as the keyboard player for progressive rock group Porcupine Tree, Barbieri’s musical career first took off in the late 1970s as part of British new wave group Japan, where his distinctively atmospheric and complex synth arrangement formed an integral part of the band’s sound. His electronic experimentation played a huge role in facilitating the group’s various stylistic changes.

After Japan split in 1982, he continued to work with his former bandmates for several projects including The Dolphin Brothers (with drummer Steve Jansen) and JBK (Jansen, Barbieri and bassist Mick Karn), even joining the band’s reunion project, Rain Tree Crow in 1989.

His first work with Porcupine Tree, however, came in 1993, when he was a guest performer on Up the Downstair, becoming a permanent member soon after, seeing through the band’s change from progressive psychedelia to more metal-influenced music on In Absentia. At the same time as he was achieving some commercial success with the band, Barbieri released three solo albums. Two years after the release of his second, Stranger Inside, Porcupine Tree drifted away, but Barbieri persisted in his music-making, last releasing material in 2017.