Steven Wilson credits the music of Pink Floyd for sparking his interest in experimental and psychedelic music, which is precisely what he’s best known for as the founder of Porcupine Tree, a progressive rock band that regularly experimented with new sounds. He was also strongly influenced by a Donna Summer album his parents listened to when he was just a boy.
When he was a child he took guitar lessons but he never really enjoyed the typical teaching style. It wasn’t until a few years after he had quit them that he fell in love with the guitar. As you might expect it was an atypical approach though. He loved making weird sounds by using different objects across the strings and attempting to do things with the guitar he hadn’t heard before. His unique style is amazing and comes largely from the early music he listened to and his own experiments.