Portishead, probably due to its big popularity, is a band which causes, very frequently, questions. Tripofagia will try here to answer some of them.

1.   The name. Geoff Barrow, before the band, has worked with artists such as Neneh Cherry and Massive Attack, getting known as "the guy from Portishead", city where he grew up – see Portishead at the map. When the band was formed, the members didn't think the name was something very important, so they decided to use 'Portishead'. This comes from an interview with Portishead by an Australian TV channel (Channel V), during their Australian tour, in April 27th 1998:

“Channel V: Where does the name Portishead come from?

Geoff: It's a town where I originally come from but it's weird because it hasn't really got anything to do with the band now, you know, it's just a place we come from cos we got known as the guys from Portishead so earlier on in our career it sort of stuck; but Adrian's not from Portishead I thinks he's only been there once.

Adrian: I've only been there once.”

2.  Western Eyes. The sample at the end of Western Eyes is by Sean Atkins, a friend of Geoff and member of another Bristolian band, The Whores of Babylon. It was not a previous recording, it has been made specially for Western Eyes.

3.  Pearl. This is not an album of Portishead, just a bunch of Mandalay's songs (check this band at the artists section of this site). This pirate CD, supposedly a Russian release, has floated around. At first there were speculations that Pearl would be a bootleg with new material from the band. But after all that was basically the Mandalay's album named Empathy, and the speculations got dissolved. Check the covers of Pearl.  After all the rumours, Portishead published a statement on their official website about it:

To avoid disappointment please be aware that there is in circulation a Russian originated album entitled 'Pearl' by Portishead. This is NOT a Portishead record and is not in anyway endorsed by us or our authorised representatives.

4.  Alien. After the confusion created by Pearl, it seems someone decided to have a bit more of "fun", making another rumour spread around, this time with an album named "Alien"; those rumours have even been published by many websites around internet. But again Alien does not exist, and isn't even a project of Portishead. As Pearl, it's just fake. There are also "copies" of that album floating virtually, one more time with tracks of other artists (I've found yet different "copies", some with songs by Mandalay again, some by Mono, some by Lamb — check their profiles on the artists section of this site). Statement from their official website:

We have noticed that there is some confusion on an album release called "Alien". Please be aware that this is NOT a Portishead release. The band are in the studio working on new material now but no release dates are scheduled as yet. Keep an eye on the site as any release plans will of course be announced here first!

5.  Has the band split? Not officially. They have been writing new songs, as announced, but it doesn't mean a new album will come up necessarily. It's probable, but not sure. It has been announced that their new album will be finished around late 2005, so a new release is more probably due to 2006. About this topic (Portishead breaking up - or not), this comes from the section "biography" of Beth's site (www.bethgibbons.com):

in case anyone thinks that a Beth/Paul project means that Portishead have split, Beth can confirm that she is currently working on vocals and melodies on tracks that Portishead's Geoff Barrow has recently sent her.