Interview: "I like my guitars to be like Lewis Hamilton’s Mercedes" – Steve Howe talks new Yes album The Quest
By Rod Brakes last updated 24 September 2021
"Less isn’t always more; sometimes more is more"
Produced by the Steve Howe and recorded on both sides of the Atlantic, Yes’s new album The Quest drops on October 1 and continues a remarkable legacy.
Formed in 1968, Yes have endured as the UK’s quintessential progressive rock group. Having recruited guitarist Steve Howe in 1970, the band recorded their breakthrough top ten long-player, The Yes Album, and as the decade progressed, prog rock came into its own with Yes at the helm. A string of classic albums followed – including 1971’s Fragile, 1972’s Close to the Edge and 1973’s Tales from Topographic Oceans – securing the band’s place in the annals of rock history and establishing Howe as a guitarist to be reckoned with.
We talked to him about the album and the starring role his Gibson ES-175 played once again…
For over 50 years YES has been synonymous with the cutting edge of progressive music. And the current lineup has been working through the pandemic to write a new chapter in its history. Their first album together, The Quest , was released on October 1 and their lead singer, Jon Davison, spoke exclusively with VOS.
By: Luis Rios
Formed in London in 1968, this band exploded during the 1970s, becoming one of the pillars of progressive rock alongside groups like: Rush , Pink Floyd , Camel , Genesis , Focus , King Crimson and Emerson, Lake & Palmer .
The lineup for their 22nd album includes Steve Howe (guitar, vocals), Alan White (drums, backing vocals), Geoff Downes (keyboards), Jon Davison (lead vocals, acoustic guitar), and Billy Sherwood (bass, vocals). They have been together since 2015 when Sherwood replaced founding member Chris Squire at the latter's insistence while he was fighting a battle with leukemia that he sadly ended up losing.
Towards the end of 2019, Howe and Davison began formulating ideas for a new YES album. Soon after, the world was faced with the global pandemic and lockdown restrictions. “My girlfriend Emily and I were on vacation in Barbados and we ended up being stuck there for the next five months (March to July 2020). The good thing is that it is a magical island”, recalls the very lively singer.
Out of that experience the song A Living Island was born . “I ask the listeners of the new album to listen to the song. The lyrics of this song accurately convey everything I was experiencing and feeling during those early days of the pandemic,” she invites.
This album project served as a first opportunity for veteran Howe to experiment with telematics media, while also helping the band focus during strict quarantine.
At what point in your lives does this record find you?
Jon: Personally speaking, this moment close to the exciting release of YES's new album, finds me full of happiness. I was finally able to return, since COVID started, to my hometown of Laguna Beach, California to visit family and friends.
How do you renew your energies to make album number 22?
Jon: For me, the very idea of making a new album with this particular line-up was enough stimulation and inspiration to want to create and expand YES's musical horizons. My maximum devotion to this band constantly renews my energies.
JON DAVISON: THE YOUNGEST OF THE BAND
He was born on January 16, 1971 and just 33 days later, YES released its third album ( The Yes Album ) with the classic lineup that included Jon Anderson in the position that Davison occupies today.
From an early age, her mother instilled in her an appreciation for music and a love for singing. Soon after, young Jon took up guitar and bass. This decision led him during his time in high school to perform in various bands (original and cover) with his childhood best friend Taylor Hawkins , who is currently the drummer for Foo Fighters . In fact, it was Hawkins who gave Jon the nickname "Juano" which remains to this day.
That's why it was inevitable to ask him if he feels the age difference with the rest of the members when it comes to working: “ Honestly, no. Touring in the creative sphere with my bandmates, I simultaneously feel a sense of eternal youth and an ancient soul experience that comes from each of them.”
After these years, what does Jon Anderson mean to the current vocalist? “He was a creative genius who manifested such a unique vision. With the vital help of his equally talented peers at the time, he was able to convey that vision to the masses in such a powerful and completely relatable way.”
THE NEW TIMES
2021 finds us today shows us artists as streamers or minimally, assuming the position that the main channel for the dissemination of their music is social networks, due to new forms of consumption. This is how we find the famous “music for TikTok” and other formats that make music build and consume in another way.
In the case of YES, one of their songs became a meme. On YouTube, memes called “To Be Continued” (“continuará” in Spanish) are common, based on the endings of the episodes of the first season of the anime JoJo's Bizarre Adventure , in which the acoustic riff that starts the song “ Roundabout ” (from their album ' Fragile' ) plays as someone unlucky performs a sequence of actions that ends up leading to failure. But at the exact moment that the person would reach his sad ending, the image freezes and fades, while a sign announces 'to be continued', and the rockiest part of the intro begins.
What do you think about “Roundabout” becoming a meme?
Jon: I think it's exciting to see younger people engaging with YES. In fact, we are witnessing a lot of youthful interest in the new singles we are releasing from The Quest .
One of the characteristics of progressive music is the length of the songs. How does this current trend of short songs affect you when you work?
Jon: We don't set out to write a new song thinking it has to be a certain length. The length of a song is only defined after the creative scope of that song's lyrics and melody has been fully exhausted and expressed.
After 50 years, what do you think is the challenge for a band like Yes?
Jon: In my honest opinion, the only real challenge a band faces is to always stay in defiant mode, creatively speaking. All the minor, yet important, challenges are mere business exercises.
YES and the nostalgia of his visit to Paraguay
More than 10 years have passed since the followers of progressive rock in Paraguay lived an unforgettable experience on December 1, 2010, thanks to the YES show at the Banco Central del Paraguay theater.
On that occasion, the public was able to see Steve Howe (guitar), Chris Squire (bass) and Alan White (drums) face to face. Three of the five members of the classical formation.
And although Jon has joined the band a few years after that concert. He has very close experiences with music and the South American public. “I lived in Brazil for a year and traveled everywhere. I absorbed so much good music there, both current and classical. Some of my favorite bands include: Gal Costa , Caetano Veloso and the incredible Gilberto Gil ”, he confesses.
“I hope to visit the wonderful people of that beautiful country that is Paraguay. Maybe we could have a date there with the new record when it's safe to tour again. Until then, be safe and may the new album inspire hearts”, closes the charismatic artist before ending the conversation.
The strength and inspiration of a band that started a whole movement in the 70s -and also a response because punk also appears in that decade as opposed to progressive rock- continues to be valid despite the fact that musical trends are far from its style, without However, that never stopped YES from continuing to fight back after half a century and for that we admire them.
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