Yes-Mitglieder beantworten Fragen:

[JJG]

Letzter Beitrag der vorhergehenden Seite:

Steve Howe (17.05.2013):

Jack Trylesinski
Steve, what did you feel yesterday in Lima with Your fans singing all of your songs? Did you expect such reception? How do you feel was the crowd yesterday?

We were pleased with reaction that the fans had, and certainly singing along with us is a nice thing that they do, and we made a very nice start in South America at the show, so thanks very much.


JD Mack
At the very end of the fade out of A Venture from The Yes Album one can hear the start of a blistering electric guitar solo just before the song ends. How much longer was A Venture originally, and is there any chance of the full version being released one day?

Good question! I don’t remember how much longer it went on. The guitar break did start to happen but I can’t remember if it was really good high-quality. One day we might be able to look at the end of that, but I guess you must have turned it up quite loud to be able to hear that start of the guitar break. But it’s a nice balance, and we faded it at a good place.


Lee Edward McIlmoyle
It’s almost ridiculous to ask this, but is there a musical instrument you’d still like to master?

Yeah, there is. It’s funny, but I’d really like to play the flute, but it may not happen; it may be too distracting to try and play a new instrument; it’s a totally different world, you know: breath control, the way you use the buttons on the flute, but concert flute is a lovely sound. I’m a big fan of Jean-Pierre Rampal, he’s French and I think he may have died a while ago, but he recorded all of Bach’s flute sonatas, which is one of my favorite pieces of music. So I’ve always loved the flute; it’s a very close instrument to the voice, but technically and breath control-wise … I’ve tried twice, but I haven’t yet succeeded.


Liz Lewis Joseph
Do you still practice each day in spite of the fact that you are an uber-poly-virtuoso??? (I made up that awkward term, obviously!!!)

I never usually practice every day in the general context of the word, but I like to improvise. Certainly after a tour, I do like three or four days off when I don’t play. But then I realize that I need to keep in trim and keep up to speed, and my hands seem to like if I just keep playing and actually don’t stop for weeks, because it’s not very good for me to stop playing. So I like to get back to the guitar with a short break if I’ve got some time off, then I play the guitar several times a week, and I might be working on music for several days within that week by playing or constructing or writing, so I’m usually around the guitar quite consistently. But I’ve never done the long, arduous scales; they’d be good for me, but it’s better for me to improvise.


Michael Morshuk
Your unique plectrum you use – can you talk about and show it? Anything out there like it?

Back from the 60s to about the late 80s, I was using very unique plectrums, but then I started to run out of them, and couldn’t find anybody who could make them; they were made of plexi-plastic stuff. Ronson Lighters used another form of plastic in advertising in chemists or drugstores for Ronson Lighter Fuel, and that plastic is like pinky-red and I used to have plectrums made out of that. But in the last twenty years I’ve simplified things, and I’ve been using a plectrum either light, or if I can get hold of them, the Fender medium-hard plectrum—medium in the sense that it’s medium thick. There are different sizes of them; I don’t use the small one. And now recently, a company has been making some for me, which are more or less the same. They’re kind of heart-shaped, more regular kind of plectrums. The thing about plectrums – if you want a bright sound, then don’t use a thick, heavy plectrum. If you want a warm sound, then use something thicker than the regular plastic pick.

Art Neuro
Hi Steve, I noticed your live show ES175 sports a middle pickup. What prompted the modification, and how often do you get to that middle pickup? On which songs can we hear that middle pickup?

That guitar is the Gibson ES-175D Steve Howe. it’s actually the Number One model, the first one they ever made of the production line. I later had it modified with the middle pickup because it simulates a guitar I have called the ES-5 Switchmaster that I used more or less throughout Fragile. So if we do Fragile, I will definitely use that guitar. The time when the texture of that three pickup combination is really noticeable is on the song Long Distance Runaround. It’s also on Roundabout, South Side of the Sky, I think it’s on Five Percent For Nothing, but it’s not on Heart of the Sunrise. But going back to the guitar I modified, I modified it so it could copy the ES-5 Switchmaster sound, mainly for Long Distance Runaround. But that is a stand-by guitar now, because I now use a 1963 ES-175D that has a slimmer neck. It’s slightly lighter, and obviously it’s an early 60s guitar, so it has a nice characteristic sound.


Yvan Poukhovski-Sheremetyev
Hi, Steve! Apart from being the most innovative all-around guitar player I have heard, you have, in my opinion, incomparable solo-writing abilities. The guitar solo is as much a staple of rock music as anything else, but yours seem to raise a middle finger to all the rules and conventions. My favourite one of yours is the outro to Ritual. I am wondering how that part was written. Who came up with the dark, dreamy chords? How did you approach the composition of the solo?

Interesting question, because the end solo in Ritual was a structure that the group together sat around and dreamed up this kind of moving chord sequence that never really got back to anywhere. Eventually it ends; everything has to [laughs] — but this chord sequence goes round and round; it’s really quite hard to remember. What I originally did, was play a quite jazzy sort of improvisation across it, and much to my surprise and slight horror at the time — this was obviously 1973 — I got a bit of a thumbs-down from a couple of the band members, who said to me “hang on…” And I said, “That’s how I saw it…” I think Jon Anderson said to me “Since it’s the end of Topographic Oceans, why don’t you pick the different themes from the album and play them?” And I said “yeah, that makes sense, let me do that.” So that’s what I constructed. The whole solo made up of themes used in the previous sides of Topographic Oceans, and I just kind of wander from one to another; stating them. Basically, that’s how it came out – a rejected jazzy improvisation turned into a more concise, more thematic approach. So now I split my solos when I am choosing to do a guitar solo, whether or not it needs to be thematic, whether or not it needs to draw from the music that already exists, or whether I can just go off on my own.



Paul Hopper
I consider Relayer to be one of the greatest Yes albums, not only for the level of playing and writing, but also for the quality of the recording. It stands up to almost anything done currently with digital technology, IMO. How did the band achieve such an amazing sound?

Well it is surprising that that record sounds good, because we went about it quite an experimental way. Chris lived in a place called Virginia Water, I think it had a basement or garage that he’d started to convert into a studio, and Eddie Offord had mobile equipment. We’d been rehearsing and thinking about making Relayer and we came up with the idea of putting Eddie’s gear in Chris’ house and going down there. So it was really risky; sonically it could have been horrendous, but in fact, Eddie was great and we got the sounds we wanted. It was a little bit of a makeshift but we got in there and we started recording. What we did in those days – the way the mix was done — was that there might be one member missing, but most members would be with Eddie at the desk, he would be at the center. He would be in control, but we’d all push our faders as we liked [laughs] and we’d argue about it and Eddie would say “Chris, if you put the bass up, Steve’s going to put the guitar up, you know…” and he’d kind of steer us through. It was a fascinating process — something we did on YesSongs and all the albums we made, really up until I left the group after Drama. Drama was done pretty much the same way, although due to unforeseen circumstances Trevor Horn and I got a bit ‘left holding the baby’ to mix it. But Relayer was a brilliant album, we did songs that we haven’t played for years; Gates of Delirium, of course, came back as the big challenge — the big Masterwork, really.


Tom Burke
You played a guitar solo on Queen’s song, Innuendo. How did that come to fruition, and was it fun to do a session with them?

Well, of course it was fun to do a session for them. It was joy! How it happened was that I was working with Paul Sutin at his studio in a place called Gland in Switzerland, near Geneva, and just for fun I’d gone to Montreux for lunch, which was a long drive, over an hour and a half drive, but I like Montreux, I like to go back there sometimes. I was just sitting there in a restaurant, and one of the crew walked by spotted me and he invited me back to the studio where we’d recorded Going For the One, so I said “yeah, I’d love to come if the guys are there.” So, after lunch I go in, and they played me the album, and the last track they played me was Innuendo. So when it ended, I said “Fantastic album! Really great! Loved it!” And they said “yeah, but we’d like you to play on that last one”. And I said “you don’t need me; Brian’s done a great job; you’ve got lovely things on there.” And they said “no, we want you to play this bit here…” So I said “what do you want me to do” and they said “just for something… just improvise …”. I think one of the ideas, I think Brian and I agreed that Paco de Lucia at that time was playing some great flamenco guitar, and basically Brian said “I don’t really get going like that on the Spanish guitar, can you do something?” So that’s what I did, I kind of raved around, improvised a bit. I really enjoyed it. I went out to dinner with Queen after that; had some nice conversations with Freddie and everybody was just sweet as pie. And that’s how it was; it was lovely.

[JJG]

Geoff Downes 10.Mai 2013:

Billy T. Bilibio
Hi Geoff, hello from Brazil! What do you know or like about Brazilian music? We love Yes in Brazil!!

I have to own up that I am not familiar with much Brazilian music. What I do know is, that from what I’ve heard in my limited capacity, it appears to be very rhythm-based, and hence can lend itself to some complex syncopation using many different types of percussion instruments, as well as also being innovative in many types of dance rhythms. The music of Jobim is of course well renowned and respected all over the world. But I look forward to exploring much more of your music on my current trip to South America.



Harry Whitley
Hi Geoff, as a child, what made you want to pursue a career in music? Was there a “light bulb moment”?

All members of my family were very musical, so I was exposed to music from an early age. My mother was an accomplished pianist and my father a church organist, so I’d often hear him practicing his parts at home (on piano) in preparation for the Sunday services. It was therefore as if music was part of my DNA. So there was no what you might refer to as a ‘light bulb’ moment – more like the dimmer switchers being gradually turned up as I became more and more aware. But, it was there right from the beginning.



Sayu Awa
Hello! In recent Q&A, Mr. Alan White said “The Buggles kept popping their heads in the studio where we were working.” Is it true? I would like to know more stories. What did you think when you met Yes for the first time?

Sort of…we were managed by the same company, and often bumped into each other in the management offices. It was suggested we should offer Yes one of our songs to record, and they seemed very receptive to this. As Jon and Rick weren’t involved at that time, we went in to rehearsal studio together with the other guys and started to craft together some of the songs which eventually appeared on Drama. We got along really well together, and so it was a gradual and natural collaboration.



Scott O’Reilly
Hi Geoff, I was very interested to learn that The Buggles’ “Video Killed the Radio Star” was at least partially inspired by the sci-fi story “The Sound Sweep” by JG Ballard, which depicts a mute boy who vacuums up stray bits of music in a world virtually devoid of song. What a fascinating concept to work with in “The Age of Plastic” album. It seems to me that “Machine Messiah” from the “Drama” album has a similar ambivalent and cautionary attitude towards technology. Interestingly, the two ex-members of Yes that you replaced in 1980, Jon Anderson and Rick Wakeman, also did works which focused on some of the drawbacks to technology. For instance, Jon did a song called “Cage of Freedom” for the soundtrack to Giorgio Moroder’s restoration of the film “Metropolis” and Rick Wakeman did a concept album based on Aldous Huxley’s novel “1984.” Interesting that you all seem to be writing music about the potential pitfall of technology at the same time! I wonder if you could say a little bit about how “Machine Messiah” came about and what you were trying to get at. I certainly think the song holds up alongside some of Yes’s best works.

Well, you are correct that many of Trevor’s lyrics were inspired by some of the sci-fi writers, particularly J.G. Ballard. The whole idea of the Buggles was the use of technology in an art form. Hence, we tried to use synthesizers, studio gadgets, etc. to create these fake effects to parallel conventional music. The Polythene Symphonia at the end of Video Killed The Radio Star is one example. Our contributions to the Drama album were an extension of this in many ways. Machine Messiah started out quite pop, but then was developed and I suppose ‘Yes-ified’ when we got together in the studio with Chris, Steve & Alan.



James Starchuk
What inspired the opening to “Into the Lens” from Drama? That whole album is incredible…. Saw you performing at Maple Leaf Gardens in 1980 in the round. Great memories!

Trevor and I had the basic song written under the title ‘I Am A Camera’ which we presented to the band as a possible track to work on when we teamed up. I’m pretty sure they had been working on some other stuff also, and we effectively combined their rhythmic intro piece which they’d been putting together with our song. So you hear the frantic syncopated part at the front (their bit), which then sinks into the first verse (our bit). PS The Maple Leaf Gardens show was the 1st one we played live together – pretty scary. A baptism of fire!



Robert Rukrigl
I saw the Drama Tour and you performed Fly From Here and Go Through This. Since the Drama album was rather short in length, how did those two songs not get recorded and added to Drama?

We actually started a version of Fly From Here as part of the Drama sessions. It’s not that we didn’t think it was worthy of the album, more to do with time constraints getting the whole thing together, particularly when Eddie Offord left the project mid-stream. Of course, that was why we felt we had unfinished business with that specific piece and resurrected it 30 years on. Regarding Go Through This, it came a little later around the time of the tour, maybe during rehearsals and so we were packing the set out as much as we could with original material.



Audun Engebretsen
Hi Geoff, I have always wondered how the Drama-line up came to a close, what happened back then, and why you decided to break up? Drama is a great Yes album in my book, so why end something good?

I guess there was a certain resistance by many of the die-hard Yes fans to these ‘pop guys’ joining their revered and mighty progressive rock band. But reality was, both Trevor and myself were big Yes fans. Our direction in pop was more out of making a living, experimenting in the studio and having fun, rather than making some great musical statement. Our real hearts lay in more serious music. However, when we hit the stage with Yes it was tougher for Trevor (than it was for me) replacing Jon Anderson, as obviously there had only ever been the one vocalist beforehand. I think by the time we toured the UK, everyone felt that whilst we had made a great album, it was all not coming across so well live. Hence, we made a collective decision to disperse after that tour.



Maarten van Valen
Geoff..any specific reason why your keyboard setup onstage currently makes you not face the audience directly?

When you’re playing a big multi-keyboard rig, it’s really a toss up of whether the audience sees the front of you (head only) or the back. I feel it is more relevant to observe the keyboards and notes I’m playing, rather than being stuck behind a pile of synthesizers seeing my head bobbing around. I suppose it’s a bit like a church organist up there in the gantry – you only ever really see his back. That said, the onstage cameras and projection visuals help to give something of a 360-degree angle of what’s happening on the stage, so people can actually see my face.



Tom Strasbaugh
What are the iPads used for in your rig? I use iMini, and I really enjoy the sounds you created for it, especially the leads.

Actually, right now on stage I use them mainly for musical cues and some scored notation. It’s also handy to have them up for set lists etc. But I do use them offstage for some other real musical apps such as Garage Band, Anamoog, Jammit and many others. It’s so mind-blowing how technology has provided us with these intuitive items to assist us in our creative skills, and that they continue to help us expand out our ideas musically. Personally, I embrace all the latest devices whole-heartedly. Steve Jobs was a God!



William Craine
Geoff what do you think about the keyboard technology today compared to in the 80s?

Having always been something of a self-confessed tech-head, I have closely followed development of keyboard technology in particular. I always made sure I was one of the first guys to get the latest gadget, be it a Fairlight, Synclavier, Emu, Prophet or whatever. (Lucky I could afford it at the time!) But there’s no doubt being at the front end of all this helped me create my own style of playing, and developing original sounds at the cutting edge before they became readily available. The Workstations that started to appear in the late 80’s early 90’s were I felt a retrograde step in that sense, as it took away much of the experimentation associated with the earlier analogue synths. I felt in many ways this halted the progress, and gave a ‘fast-food’ option to keyboard players. That said though, in more recent times it’s been really exciting to see the breakthrough of computer software simulating many of the older synths and also creating some fantastic new and innovative textures and sounds.



Janean Michelle Freeman
Geoff, you are certainly a musician’s musician. You’ve maintained an incredible career, both inside and outside the studio. Many of us draw inspiration from your talent and achievements. These days, what do you find most rewarding about your work? (By the way, I enjoyed hearing and meeting you in Louisville. I look forward to seeing you again in Indianapolis!)

Hi, thank you for your kind comments. I guess in my case, it’s kind of a luxury to be able to split one’s time up between the studio and live. And I have to say that I thoroughly enjoy both aspects for different reasons. The studio side really allows you to stretch out on your musical ideas and creativity, whereas, I see playing live as recreating what was done in the studio and a much more instant experience. It is really great to interact with the fans, and bring your music out in front of the people who genuinely appreciate it. So…see you again in Indianapolis!



Panos Ghekas
Hi Geoff ! two questions : 1. Did you miss the old Hammond C3 in Yes songs ? 2. Which is your favourite keyboard (synth, sampler, whatever) on which you always return to enjoy playing/performing? Keep it up with the BAND !!!

Well yes of course, in an ideal world I would take the kind of rig I used to transport around in the early 80s. To be honest though, this is no longer practical and would be a monumental pain in the butt to set up every night. I do have a Hammond SK1 in my rig right now, which is pretty good at getting the sound simulations of the old organs. Of course, nothing can ever replace a C3; in the same way nothing can ever fully replicate an acoustic piano. I don’t have a particular favourite keyboard/synth, but what I can tell you is the more knobs the better!



Mftinorkmfgnboiehn Yrhduhsrbksdrh Gudhnfoiuenrhdbdtn
What do you use for the Mellotron sounds?

How the Hell do you pronounce your avatar? Looks more like the name of a Welsh railway station to me! OK – Mellotron. I generally use M-Tron, which is the G Media keyboard software plug-in. I find this produces many of the characteristics of the old instrument. Some times I combine this with sample strings or voices to smooth it all out, as it can get a bit gritty. Of course, the early Yes albums are covered with Mellotron parts, so it is important I try to get these sounds as close as possible to the originals, particularly as we are focusing on the 3 retro album show at the moment.



Rohan Edward Baboolal
Do you think that you will always stay with the “big rig” keyboard setups or can you see a time in the future where you will downsize?
Also, what are your recollections of working with the Fairlight CMI?

I’m always reasonably acceptable to change, and in fact with Asia in the 90’s I used a one or two master keyboard rig with the brains (modules) in a big tower-type rack off-stage. It is eminently possible now to create a very powerful rig with the use of a couple of MacBook Pros and keyboard software. However, there is safety in numbers, and from experience when things go down live (as they often do), it’s useful to have a couple of backups if only to cover the more fundamental parts such as piano or organ. The CMI was a groundbreaking device I used on many of my recordings in the 80’s. Whilst it didn’t fare so well live from a reliability standpoint, it was an amazing instrument – the 1st digital mellotron!



Joshua Creasey
Hey, Geoff, been a fan for many years, saw you and John Payne on the 2003 Asia Across America tour and this past October on the XXX tour, but have yet to see you play live with Yes. Are there any particular Yes albums or songs that you feel aren’t given enough credit by the fans or the band and also, as far as the next Yes album is concerned are there any plans to do another 20+ minute epic suite like what was done with Fly From Here and are you going to be contributing to the writing of the next album? One more thing, more vocoder… along with more cowbell!

OK – that’s a pretty involved question! Regarding older Yes songs, it’s amazing when you go through the entire catalogue, how many great songs there are and why it would be impossible to play all of these live. Would take you over a week! But yes, whilst we are currently focusing on the 70’s Yes, there was some great music came out in all chapters of the band’s existence to my mind. Personal favourite is “Changes” from 90125. There are some plans afoot for another album although the logistics of this have yet to be determined. It would be great to have a full collaborative effort particularly with Jon Davison, and I’m confident it would turn out very well. Of course, there is always the possibility (certainty) of longer epic pieces – it is Yes after all! Finally….Vocoder = Yes, Cowbell = In great moderation!

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[JJG]

John Wright
Have you heard from or worked with Trevor Horn lately?
I’ve worked with Trevor fairly extensively over the past few years, not just on Fly From Here, but also on some Buggles-related and The Producers shows and recordings. It’s always an inspiration to work with one of the world’s greatest record producers, and Trevor and myself have always seemed to have a great understanding and empathy together in the studio.

Michael Wright
Love you in Yes and Asia. Any chance of a Buggles reunion and some new music?
Thanks. Well you never know! Trevor’s a really busy guy most of the time with his wide variety of projects and productions, but I don’t think we’d ever discount the possibility. It’s always a challenge working on new stuff, and I’d love to collaborate with Trevor again. As you know, I’m pretty busy myself right now working on new material with both Yes and Asia, as well as several other projects. So yeah, it’s not impossibility, just a matter of making the planets align so that one day we can hopefully make it happen.

Robert Koehl
Since you previously worked with Al Pitrelli (musical director and lead guitarist of Trans Siberian Orchestra‘s West Coast touring band) on two Asia albums, any chance you’ll be one of the special guest stars during a future TSO Christmas tour?
Al’s a very tasteful all-round guitarist. Even though he can do all the ‘shredding’ bit with ease, he also manages to come up with melodic, hooky solos in that genre. Whilst I’ve not worked with him for some years, I don’t think it would be problem collaborating with him again. It would be fun to do, but hey, there are only 52 weeks in the year!

Ricky Lewis
For some reason I had a feeling you would eventually be back with Yes sooner or later. I saw the past few tours you were amazing. Since you were in Asia (are in Asia) with Steve for such a long time, did you ever speak to him about rejoining yes prior to this happening?
Thanks – it’s good to be back! Actually there were several occasions over the years where my return to the fold was mooted both by Steve and Chris, more off-the-record than anything else. I think that maybe the time wasn’t right on these occasions and Yes tended to concentrate on their fixed line-up at the time. Of course I was always honoured to be a consideration, should Rick have left at any point, but things didn’t really come to fruition until the Fly From Here sessions.

Fred Beaulieu
With Yes touring so much at the moment as well as talk of a possible new album, when do you hope to get back with Asia again…especially since you’ve got an awesome new guitarist in the fold?
Well I did some live work with Asia recently, and I will be back touring in Europe with them again in August/September this year after the Yes US Tour. Sam Coulson’s a great player and a fine addition to the Asia fold. It’s a bit of a juggling exercise for me right now, but fortunately both bands understand the situation. There is work afoot on a new Yes album as well as a new Asia album, so I envisage the rest of the year and early next year to be taken up in the studio. It’s great to be creating new music again.

Jeremy Robberechts
Hi Geoff! As keyboard player myself I’ve been a fan of yours since discovering Asia in the late 90s (got all the studio albums since then) and I was thrilled when you rejoined Yes in 2011. How do you see your future with both bands? As they both seem to be quite demanding… And then if you ever decide to focus more on Asia, when should I start learning Yes’ set on keys? Cheers!
Whilst it is demanding being a member of both bands, fortunately there doesn’t seem to be any great conflict time-wise at the moment, so – don’t give up your day job just yet! I hope it never becomes a problem, as I thoroughly enjoying being a part of both bands, which are in many ways very different entities, I feel that I can make a valuable contribution to both in the live context and also in the studio.

Ricardo Nacarini
Geoff, when did you begin using Roland keyboards as your primary hardware sources for sounds? Do you miss using the “old analog stuff in stage”? Also, I noticed you are very fond of choir sounds both in Asia and Yes, so this might be a tricky one: Which software (or board) would consider the best for those patches? I am a big fan of your work! Thanks for all the great songs!
Hi man! I first got involved with Roland about 7 years ago and have helped design some patches for their synths in recent years. Namely, V-synth, V-synth GT, Juno G, Gaia & JP80. They are a great company and make some fantastic instruments. I uses quite a bit of keys software to re-create the old analogue sounds with my 2 onstage Macbooks, although nothing can quite replace the feel of those original keyboards. For choirs, I generally use Logic EXS or Sampletank 2, as their plugins are very effective in this department.

James Starchuk
I have always found your keyboard playing to be so likable. The first couple albums that come to mind are ‘Yes’ Drama and the 1st Asia album, I have listened to these many times since they were released and every time it makes me feel optimistic, focused and energized. There is always a positive vibe radiating from your keyboard parts you have written and played. One of my favourite keyboard solos is the one you did on “Asia – Here comes that feeling” and another is in the climax of “YES – Tempus Fugit” when you are playing in tandem with Steve Howe. Also I want to add that the work you did on “YES – Fly From Here….i.e.:’Sad night at the Airfield’” really cool unanticipated synth line descending to the B min – F# min part. I have never been a techy guy with the keyboards, I was always more interested in the musical lines, mood and chord progressions, I admire that you have been able to express yourself so well with technology. What are your most favourite keyboards you have used throughout your career?
Wow – thanks for the compliments and observations. As I’ve said before, you’ve got have the basic idea of melody and harmony to start with I believe. If that works, then things can only get better, the more you interprete and play with the arrangement! I am probably much more an ‘orchestral’ type player than a virtuoso. It seems to be my thing, so I get a lot of kicks messing with the technology to create new sounds and textures.

Andrew Moag
For you, does the sound of a keyboard inspire the music, or do you write songs/parts with a specific sound in mind? LOVE Drama, BTW. Your keys on that lp struck the perfect balance between traditional (piano and Hammond) and “futuristic” (White Car is the best example with the Fairlight usage).
I think it’s important to start with a basic idea that can be created on say a piano or other keyboard in its simplest format. The actual musical content, whilst it can be driven by or influenced at a later stage by gadgetry, I believe has to be able to stand alone in its infancy. For me, it’s a case of developing this idea by arrangement, and then adding colours to it. In the case of White Car, we had the basic idea of harmony, melody and lyrics and then adapted it to Fairlight and Vocoder, which gave it some originality. But for sure, the fundamental musical idea has to be there first.

Bruce Becker
What is the most expensive keyboard you ever bought?
By far, it was the Synclavier 2 which I used extensively on the Asia ‘Astra’ and GTR albums. It was an amazing machine, way ahead of its time, but…it came with a hefty price tag of £75,000. The upgrades were silly money too, and eventually I had to jump off the ship. I did manage to loan it out to Duran Duran for a year or so, so that kind of paid for some of it. But definitely wouldn’t do anything like that again. Sadly it was worth F all after some years by the time it had been superseded by other keyboards! A house, boat or apartment might have been a better investment, I would suggest!!

Simon Mulligan
Where do you stand on buttering toast, do you like the butter melted into the toast , or do you allow the toast to cool then apply the butter? Finally are you a Marmite man?
I’m not at all keen on dripping butter toast bit – definitely favour the cool toast vibe. But Marmite? I think I am probably one of the few people that neither loves it, nor hates it. It’s kind of OK, but it’s fair to say I’m not fussed on it either way!

[JJG]

Neil Forker ‏@noforker
Is there a chance that Yes may record “Go Through This” for the next album?
I think the short answer is that you’ll have to wait and see. We’re not sure if we’re going to record any past songs that have been worked on and released in any form at all. That’s what Fly From here was about; revisiting some of that retro material. We’ll just have to see where it goes when we get into the studio.

Meg Kamiya
Dear Steve, I read the book written by your daughter-in-law and was surprised that you had (or still have?) the Sex Pistols’ album on your LP shelf in the late 70s. do you still listen to any recent bands’ music and if so who’s your favourite? Xxx
There was an interesting rise in the mid 2000s— you know: 2005;2006—of bands with a lot of energy, and it was very straight ahead rock and roll, and it was very influenced by punk, and that was The Libertines. I like The Libertines because they were a true kind of rock band, and they both had their songs and they both had their attitude, and then Pete Doherty went on and formed Babyshambles, which I also liked what they did, especially the first album—I thought that was terrific—he had this incessant style of rock. And then the other guy from The Libertines, Carl Barât, formed a band called Dirty Pretty Things, and I got their album Waterloo to Anywhere, and that was pretty damn good, too. I saw Pete Doherty play one of his songs on acoustic guitar and I think that’s when I realized that he was pretty talented. One can only keep ones fingers crossed that he can get back on the straight and narrow … every now and again the producer will kind of pull him ‘round and get him back into shape and back into the studio … but of course his destiny lays within himself; he is a very talented writer as are the other band members in The Libertines, so I wish them luck.

Caleb Johnson
I think a lot of people would like to know, who are your influences? And what made you want to play music?
Originally it was records by Les Paul and Mary Ford as well as the other 78s in my parents collection—also Tennessee Ernie Ford; he had two spectacular guitarists, Jimmy Bryant and Speedy West. Then about a year later, when I was thirteen, I discovered Chet Atkins—he’s my biggest influence. And of course, I saw Wes Montgomery and lots of great classical, jazz and folk guitarists. Then I discovered Steve Morse as the Dixie Dregs were getting started, and then I ran into Martin Taylor, the great Scottish jazz guitarist. Since then I’ve run into Flavio Sala, the Italian classical guitarist. I’m also influenced by Merle Travis and Albert Lee. I enjoy so many guitarists, but not just guitarists as I’ve got pretty broad musical tastes

Kameron Duncan
If you could spend a day with any musician, living or deceased, who would it be and why?
I guess I don’t think on that level. Even if you wanted to work with someone who’s maybe out of your reach, mentioning that you want to do that is taboo. There are some people that I’ve touched base with that maybe something will happen, but I don’t want to give that away. I guess one of my big influences has always been Big Bill Broonzy, the great blues guitarist and singer, and he encapsulates a lot of what I feel is great about music—the spontaneity, the structure—and so I can’t really think that I can imagine the fantasy of Big Bill coming back and popping ‘round my house and saying hi because I don’t really think along those lines.

Fred Beaulieu
Steve, Nowadays if a beginning guitarist wants to learn a song from another artist, he has the internet, guitar tabs, Youtube, instructional videos, etc. But when you were learning guitar, all you had were records, a keen ear and an insatiable desire to learn and expand your style. When I listen to some of the guitarists who you have said influenced you, I am amazed that you were able to both learn their styles and assimilate their techniques into your own style. Did you spend endless hours playing a record lick over and over to pick up on those techniques, or did it all come easier and more naturally to you? I also wanted to end by thanking you for giving us so many years of your songwriting and playing, both on albums and in live concerts. You’re always a joy to watch and listen to!
I slowed a lot of records down and learned the notes, and then later moved them an octave higher, and that was the great thing about having a 45 and putting it at 33, and we even had a record player with 16 on it, so you could put the 33 to 16 and you could actually learn that way. There was a song called “Chuckles” and I learned this note for note that way. I think it did me a lot of good, but you can’t learn everything that way. I did try to copy records but that’s when I started to write my own music thinking it was more what I should be doing rather than copying other people’s, but I certainly took a lot and did learn as much as I could. And then The Beatles came along and we suddenly had much more interesting chords than you had before. So as music developed and became more complicated you had to spend more time learning it.

John Wedge Wardlaw
Hi Steve. I wanted to say that while I have an extremely wide variety of music in my collection, Going For the One and Drama are easily both in my top 10 favorites. Awaken still being my favorite piece of music of all time. I noticed during the 2009 tour that you were using some Line 6 gear. I was wondering what it was about line 6 that you liked and how you were using it and if you had been working with Line 6 on any products or patches at that time?
For the record, it was 2006 when Line 6 approached me and said “we’ve got something you’d like” and I plugged it in and I really liked it—I think it was the Variax 600 model; the basic model. So I called them later and said I was going to go out on the road and I want to use this kind of guitar, and they sent me a guitar and I loved it, and before I knew it I was using the Vetta II amp, and that amp was programmable. And that was the first time, in 2006, that I went onstage with song titles onboard. I just through Heat of the Moment, Only Time Will Tell, and the others with sounds that I’d selected and arranged at my house with a programmer called Steve Burnett. Basically, I won’t go back. That was my main setup—the Veta II amp and the pedal board that came with it, and the Variax was my guitar on the stand, which it still is, and it comes in for the sitar guitar and the 12 strings, acoustics and anything else that I want to do. But then not long ago I changed equipment; I changed my amp to a Line 6 designed by Reinhold Bogner, and also the HD500 pedal board. The other new piece of equipment is a custom one-of-a-kind 335-style Variax guitar. Line 6 has come to the party big-time, and I’ve promoted their 700 model for a while and we do have some discussions about doing some future things. They’re a great company; like Gibson; like Martin.

Dan Holešínský
Hi Steve, can you show / describe how you play chords in Flamenco style – which sounds like tremollo, quick arpeggio. Many thanks, your solos have been giving me an energy for more than 20 years now
That’s very nice … Thanks, Dan! I think you’re talking about when I fan the strings like in Mood For a Day, and there are even moments in Beginnings where I do a bit of fanning. I will say that the Spanish guitar is the hardest guitar to play and therefore I feel that my technique is reasonably limited as compared to Flavio Sala or John Williams or others who spend their lives playing that style of guitar. It’s a wonderful instrument and it needs love and gentleness, and when I can, I give it that. Tremolos are not my scene so much, though from time to time, I do use them. I guess what I’m using is more of a lute style where the bass is there, and the melody is there. I do love writing for Spanish guitar, and there is some of that style of playing on my TIME album, so if you haven’t picked that up yet, I play with an orchestra and there are several compositions like Rose and The Explorer that you might enjoy.

Rowan Cotton
What tuning is your lap steel in? i want to play To Be Over but it doesn’t really work for DADGBE
On To Be Over, I’m playing a 10 string pedal steel with the three pedals and the two knee bars, so you won’t be able to play that on a lap steel. My lap steel tuning is an E chord, so its E, B, A flat, E, B, then E. So that’s the basic tuning for the front steel. Then when I am going to do something like Awaken, I tune the front steel like a pedal steel, which is F#, E flat, A flat, E, B and A flat. If you check out an actual pedal steel, the tuning is what’s called Nashville or E9 tuning. You’ve got to have the pedals though to be able to push the tuning around

Robban Eriksson
Do you have any tips on exercises for guitar that could inprove your playing?
I don’t very often do exercises, but if I’ve not played the guitar for five or six days, which is quite unusual, I might warm up by playing some scales. So start somewhere like E, and do the E Minor scale up and then down, then do E Major up and down, and then do F Minor and Major scales up and down, etc. If you haven’t played in a number of days though, start slowly; you’re not in a hurry, you’re just getting your hands warmed up, but then maybe by the time you get up to C or D, you have your speed up so that you’re doing them relatively fast so that you’re exercising not only your fingers but your knowledge of the fingerboard, but that takes time to be able to do that. Going back to the earlier question from Fred “was it easy to learn the guitar?”… the answer is “hell no”. There are some guitarists that I know haven’t been playing that long but sound as though they have been, but they are exceptions to the rule

Christopher Holzmann Accornero
Hi Steve. Could you tell us about the development and evolution of the song “Be the One” from “Keys to Ascension?” Also, wondering if you could elaborate on the idea of being “an atheist while believing in spirituality,” as you once described yourself in an interview. Peace and Best Wishes from the U.S.A.
When we were mixing Keys To Ascension Volume One, we added two songs to that: Be The One, and That, That Is. Be The One was pretty much a Chris thing. Chris Squire had some of that song going on, and it started to grow as Jon and I started arranging, developing, and rehearsing it and figuring out which key in which to play it; and Chris had an unusual approach to this song where he wasn’t playing any low notes, so when we finished it, I said to him that the guitar parts that I’d added didn’t sound right because there wasn’t any bass since—well there was a bass, but it was this sort of high chordal bass. So quite to my surprise, he was prepared to let me play a bass on it, I can’t explain exactly- he said he didn’t want to play another bass track because he had already played one, so he let me add a bass to areas because, as I say, the guitar sounds as though it didn’t have any legs on it, it was just hitting from the waist up, and didn’t have the bass support. So it’s more of a gentle sound; it’s quite kind of moody; it’s very Minor. That was quite a nice experience.

To your second question, I’ll say that these words are open to interpretation—both atheism and spirituality. I see atheism as an idea that I haven’t adopted a common religion; I haven’t praised this particular person; this particular individual or thing; but why I feel at home in saying that spirituality is something different is that you don’t need to decide who you are praising necessarily if you find that choice confusing, as I did. And what I did was non-stop looking at what I could understand spirituality to be, and I think it begins with an altered state of mind. If you can achieve that—and there’s no reason why anyone in the world cannot achieve an altered-state— maybe some people won’t try, and some people will try and think they haven’t succeeded because they’re looking for something that hits them in the head as opposed to something that just stops things from going on. I see that as a different path, and people in India and lots of countries over there might see the
Maharishi as a kind of symbol of a front man to the entrance to an altered state, but that isn’t necessarily raising the Maharishi—not worshiping him—you’re actually coming in tune with the world, and that’s all anybody can do. Some of us think that we’re doing it by going to church, or the synagogue or the mosque—do whatever you like, but I get my somewhat slight salvation by tuning into the energy of the world and just shut down and remain quiet. If you like, mediation is a kind of prayer, but again, it’s not directed at any individual. That’s a big issue in science, it’s a big issue in religion and I don’t want to hassle anybody—whatever you like is fine with me, and I hope that whatever I like is fine with you.

Sayu Awa H
Ello maestro! I love your songs:-) My question… Do you have a plan to publish a book “Steve Howe guitar collection 2″? I am interested in your guitars and stories…
I’ve been thinking about it since the first collection is now out of print, and the whole thing is kind of shut down, so I’ve had some ideas about something more like a Steve Howe catalog of great guitars that I did keep, because since then I’ve traded, given, and sold instruments; a few a year, so that my collection would get smaller. So it’s a tighter collection; it’s more about things that, over the last thirty or forty years, I still value, as oppos ed to when the book was done, I was having a great time; buying shed-loads of guitars, and that doesn’t interest me now. I’m certainly whittling it down to what does still interest me. I have done some preparation, it’s just a matter of when and if I put it into action. So you’ve encouraged me with your question.