Day 5 of the latest Yes line-up change, and the twists and turns have continued. Anderson has said he wasn't asked back and denies any regular communication with Squire: not good news for those hoping for a reunion.
But I want to break away from the David/Davison transition for a moment, because the latest issue of Classic Rock Presents... Prog is out, with the results of their readers' poll. And Yes have done very well: 3rd in Best Band (behind Opeth and Dream Theater, but above the likes of Rush); and 2nd in Best Album (behind Steven Wilson's Grace for Drowning, but above Opeth's Heritage, or albums from Dream Theater and Van der Graaf Generator). However, showing how Yes divides opinion, they also win the Non-Event category.
Perhaps the most notable result in the poll, and the one that will enrage many, is that Benoît David came higher than Jon Anderson in the Best Male Vocalist category. David was 8th, Anderson, 9th and ex-Rick Wakeman vocalist Damian Wilson, 10th. Opeth's Mikael Åkerfeldt won, followed by Pain of Salvation's Daniel Gildenlöw, Steven Wilson and Peter Gabriel.
Anne-Marie Helder, who recently sang on Geoff Downes' Electronica, won Best Female Vocalist. Steve Howe was 3rd in Best Guitarist, after John Petrucci and Steve Hackett. No close Yes connections in the Best Drummer category, won by Gavin Harrison over Mike Portnoy. Squire was 2nd in Best Bassist after Geddy Lee, with Tony Levin coming 8th. Rick Wakeman was 2nd in Best Keyboard Player after Jordan Rudess; Downes came 8th.
The "Union Live" DVD was 9th in Best DVD; Rush's "The Time Machine" won. The King Crimson remasters were 4th in the Best Reissue category. Pink Floyd's Wish You were Here won.
Steven Wilson unsurprisingly won Prog Icon 2011, followed by Gabriel, Portnoy, Neal Morse and then Hackett. Jon Anderson was 10th.
Friday, 10 February 2012
Wednesday, 8 February 2012
Permanent change
Day 3 of the new line-up. Noise11, who are supporting Yes's Australian tour, carried an interview with Squire this morning. In it, Squire confirms that the change from David to Davison is permanent (or as permanent as anything in the world of Yes).
Davison was only confirmed shortly before the news was announced. That announcement came first via the Japanese promoter, but was on YesWorld's Facebook account in hours, and now this further clarification from Squire. This is all much, much faster than past line-up changes: think back to when Sherwood or Khoroshev left. Yes have entered the information age. And yet some fans are still complaining that we haven't been told enough, and we haven't been told quick enough!
Some further observations on the fan reaction online... Many have asked why the band didn't just cancel dates in April. I don't think most people appreciate the very considerable costs in cancelling a tour at this time. Journalist Jon Kirkman summed it up well on Yesfans.com:
"Take it from me having worked in the industry for more than 35 years you just cannot blow out a whole period of touring without massive problems. The tickets for this tour will have been on sale since the dates were announced and more importantly the deposits will have been paid to the band. Many bands need these deposits to set the tour up etc so short of death and even the Who toured following the death of John Entwistle then the tour will go ahead. Touring at this level just can't be postponed like a pub gig. There is a lot at stake"
What does all this tell us about Yes? The main conclusion that I draw from events is that Howe, Squire and White aren't going to stop. They are the core of the band and they will keep going, come what may. We've seen other bands, like Journey and Starship, which have gone through multiple vocalists. Yes may now find stability with Davison, but if something happens to Davison, they will find someone else.
So, farewell Benoît David. He was in the band for longer than Oliver Wakeman, Igor Khoroshev, Patrick Moraz, Peter Banks or, so far, Geoff Downes (adding his two periods together). (Tell me if I've got my maths wrong on any of those!) However, Moraz and O. Wakeman are the only ones who have appeared on as few or fewer studio albums (and even Moraz had his 1975/6 solo album appearances). I look forward to the new Mystery album, currently being mixed and expected this year, and hopefully many more after that.
Davison was only confirmed shortly before the news was announced. That announcement came first via the Japanese promoter, but was on YesWorld's Facebook account in hours, and now this further clarification from Squire. This is all much, much faster than past line-up changes: think back to when Sherwood or Khoroshev left. Yes have entered the information age. And yet some fans are still complaining that we haven't been told enough, and we haven't been told quick enough!
Some further observations on the fan reaction online... Many have asked why the band didn't just cancel dates in April. I don't think most people appreciate the very considerable costs in cancelling a tour at this time. Journalist Jon Kirkman summed it up well on Yesfans.com:
"Take it from me having worked in the industry for more than 35 years you just cannot blow out a whole period of touring without massive problems. The tickets for this tour will have been on sale since the dates were announced and more importantly the deposits will have been paid to the band. Many bands need these deposits to set the tour up etc so short of death and even the Who toured following the death of John Entwistle then the tour will go ahead. Touring at this level just can't be postponed like a pub gig. There is a lot at stake"
What does all this tell us about Yes? The main conclusion that I draw from events is that Howe, Squire and White aren't going to stop. They are the core of the band and they will keep going, come what may. We've seen other bands, like Journey and Starship, which have gone through multiple vocalists. Yes may now find stability with Davison, but if something happens to Davison, they will find someone else.
So, farewell Benoît David. He was in the band for longer than Oliver Wakeman, Igor Khoroshev, Patrick Moraz, Peter Banks or, so far, Geoff Downes (adding his two periods together). (Tell me if I've got my maths wrong on any of those!) However, Moraz and O. Wakeman are the only ones who have appeared on as few or fewer studio albums (and even Moraz had his 1975/6 solo album appearances). I look forward to the new Mystery album, currently being mixed and expected this year, and hopefully many more after that.
Monday, 6 February 2012
A different Jon: Yes change lead singer again
Surprise news arrived this morning from the promoter for Yes's Japanese dates in April. The announcement is only available in Japanese, but says that, due to prolonged medical treatment, Jon Davison will be taking the lead vocal role in Yes for the band's April tour leg instead of Benoît David. An extension of that tour beyond Japan is also announced, with the band to play Jakarta, Indonesia, and then a final show in Hawaii at the end of the month. This will be the band's first visit to Indonesia and, indeed, I believe only the second time they've played an Asian show outside Japan (Singapore in 2003 being the other time).
I'm sure more details will emerge over time, but my tentative understanding at this time is that the band had been planning to tour with David, but a problem emerged very recently (late January, at a guess) and Davison was brought in quickly to allow the April tour dates to go ahead. This seems to have been a change forced upon Yes rather than one they wanted to take.
I have no further details on David's medical problems, but wish him a prompt recovery. The obvious question is what happens after April. I don't know. It seems quite possible that, right now, the band don't know either. The Japanese promoter's announcement isn't clear... at least not after it's been through Google Translate... although one might read into it an implication that Davison is merely filling in for this tour leg, implying David will be back later in the year. The band have been looking at summer dates in Europe and North America, although nothing has been announced yet. What happens with those plans is also unknown.
For those of you who don't know him, Jon Davison was born in California and was a childhood friend and bandmate of Taylor Hawkins, now drummer in the Foo Fighters. Davison moved to Seattle and played bass in psychedelic band Sky Cries Mary. He later joined Yes tribute band Roundabout on vocals. He more recently joined Glass Hammer around 2010, appearing on their two most recent albums, If and Cor Cordium.
14:43 edit: The official Yes Facebook account has now confirmed the news with similar text to the earlier Japanese announcement. It describes David as having still not recovered from his illness at the end of the 2011 European leg, which led to three shows being cancelled. The announcement talks of Davison "joining [...] for this leg of the tour", so the implication still seems to be that David should be back in due course.
The surrealism of someone whose name appears to be a cross between Jon Anderson and Benoît David joining the band has not been lost on fans. Jon Anderson has previously guested with Glass Hammer (just before Davison joined), a band many feel are quite Yes-ish, and Davison also performs along side CIRCA:'s Johnny Bruhns in Yes tribute band Roundabout.
22:29 edit: I am amazed at how quickly information emerges these days. It wasn't like this when Wakeman left in 1997, or Sherwood left in 2000. Anyway, I expect there's plenty more to emerge, but what do we currently know... It seems David walked in January, leaving the band uncertain whether they could make dates booked for April. An approach was made to Jon Anderson, who said no, although we don't know what terms he was offered, of course. Very recently, Davison was booked.
David's situation is unclear, but the evidence now appears to be pointing to his being gone permanently. It occurs to me that Yes may be in no rush to confirm whether Davison is staying for the long haul. After all, they may want to see how they get on with Davison before rushing to confirm any permanent status.
I'm sure more details will emerge over time, but my tentative understanding at this time is that the band had been planning to tour with David, but a problem emerged very recently (late January, at a guess) and Davison was brought in quickly to allow the April tour dates to go ahead. This seems to have been a change forced upon Yes rather than one they wanted to take.
I have no further details on David's medical problems, but wish him a prompt recovery. The obvious question is what happens after April. I don't know. It seems quite possible that, right now, the band don't know either. The Japanese promoter's announcement isn't clear... at least not after it's been through Google Translate... although one might read into it an implication that Davison is merely filling in for this tour leg, implying David will be back later in the year. The band have been looking at summer dates in Europe and North America, although nothing has been announced yet. What happens with those plans is also unknown.
For those of you who don't know him, Jon Davison was born in California and was a childhood friend and bandmate of Taylor Hawkins, now drummer in the Foo Fighters. Davison moved to Seattle and played bass in psychedelic band Sky Cries Mary. He later joined Yes tribute band Roundabout on vocals. He more recently joined Glass Hammer around 2010, appearing on their two most recent albums, If and Cor Cordium.
14:43 edit: The official Yes Facebook account has now confirmed the news with similar text to the earlier Japanese announcement. It describes David as having still not recovered from his illness at the end of the 2011 European leg, which led to three shows being cancelled. The announcement talks of Davison "joining [...] for this leg of the tour", so the implication still seems to be that David should be back in due course.
The surrealism of someone whose name appears to be a cross between Jon Anderson and Benoît David joining the band has not been lost on fans. Jon Anderson has previously guested with Glass Hammer (just before Davison joined), a band many feel are quite Yes-ish, and Davison also performs along side CIRCA:'s Johnny Bruhns in Yes tribute band Roundabout.
22:29 edit: I am amazed at how quickly information emerges these days. It wasn't like this when Wakeman left in 1997, or Sherwood left in 2000. Anyway, I expect there's plenty more to emerge, but what do we currently know... It seems David walked in January, leaving the band uncertain whether they could make dates booked for April. An approach was made to Jon Anderson, who said no, although we don't know what terms he was offered, of course. Very recently, Davison was booked.
David's situation is unclear, but the evidence now appears to be pointing to his being gone permanently. It occurs to me that Yes may be in no rush to confirm whether Davison is staying for the long haul. After all, they may want to see how they get on with Davison before rushing to confirm any permanent status.
Thursday, 26 January 2012
An interview with Mars Hollow
Mars Hollow's eponymous debut album made many people's top ten prog rock releases of 2010, but my own radioactive Yes fan senses started tingling when they announced that Billy Sherwood would be producing their second album, The World in Front of Me. Released 2011, the album has again brought the band critical acclaim and they have since continued the relationship with Sherwood, opening for CIRCA: live in September and October 2011.
The band have recently been highlighted by Classic Rock Presents… Prog as an upcoming band. This year, they plan to release their first DVD, "Live at RoSFest 2011" (preview available here), are playing further dates and are working towards a third album.
The band consists of John Baker (guitar, lead vocals), Kerry Chicoine (bass, lead vocals), Jerry Beller (drums, vocals) and Steve Mauk (keyboards, vocals). Kerry, a regular at ProgressiveEars.com, kindly organised the following interview with the band in October 2011.
You've each had bands before Mars Hollow, often far from the progressive rock sound of Mars Hollow. [You can read the band members’ biographies on their website here.] So what was the impetus for Mars Hollow, for this sound, at this point in your careers?
Jerry Beller: I have been in Prog rock bands or projects before but for certain parts of my career I decided to do Hard Rock or Metal or Fusion... I have always loved Prog and I got the right three other guys together when I formed this band and the time was right... and since I just got off of a project that I was doing with Ryo Okumoto I thought that it would be great to get a Progressive project together and see what happens.
Kerry Chicoine: For me, personally, ever since I heard Mike Keneally's music – in the year 2000AD – my mind has been reaching for something beyond the standard power-pop stuff I love so much. I still love a good pop song but as I've gotten older and been exposed to more detail-oriented music, naturally I've been drawn towards more unconventional song structures. Having spent some time playing prog-rock alongside Jerry Beller in Ryo Okumoto's band, I knew I'd found a rhythmic soul-mate so when Ryo's project folded, it was only natural Jerry and I get something going. In a nutshell, Mars Hollow is the result.
John Baker: After a long succession of my own bands I was looking for some situation where I could just write and play without the sole leadership responsibility. At first I sought out bands that needed some "colorful" guitar playing and backing vocals. I saw a prog ad and thought "why not try that again" revisit my youth and so forth. When I thought about it, I realized prog, especially symphonic prog had all the aspects of what I was looking for.
John Baker: After a long succession of my own bands I was looking for some situation where I could just write and play without the sole leadership responsibility. At first I sought out bands that needed some "colorful" guitar playing and backing vocals. I saw a prog ad and thought "why not try that again" revisit my youth and so forth. When I thought about it, I realized prog, especially symphonic prog had all the aspects of what I was looking for.
Steve Mauk: I have always loved progressive rock and my first band was playing crazy complex prog back in the 70's. As that genre fell out of popularity I got sidetracked and wrote and played pop and rock for years and years. But I often felt unchallenged, and started wondering what it would be like to play that kind of music again. When I saw a classified ad looking for a progressive rock keyboard player I got really exciting thinking about the possibilities. That situation did not pan out, but right after I saw Jerry's ad and that led to the foundation of Mars Hollow.
Kerry and Jerry, you two had a spell together in Endless Enigma, an ELP tribute band. There is occasionally some scepticism about former tribute band members among fans, with controversial examples like Benoît David joining Yes, and Arnel Pineda in Journey. You've also got Johnny Bruhns and Scott Connor in CIRCA: both coming from tribute bands. How does the experience in Endless Enigma impact on your playing today?
Kerry: While I've never really been interested in playing in a tribute band, when the Endless Enigma opportunity arose I was compelled to take it because ELP are my all-time favorite band, ever. I looked at it as a challenge – I was singing as well as playing bass, lead guitar and synth pedals. Plus, I loved the music and I wanted to really learn that stuff – it's a blast to play. I guess the experience impacted my playing by having to learn all of that complicated material – it made me a better musician having learned some of their classic pieces, and helped me gain some insight as to Greg Lake's amazing bass playing as well as Keith Emerson's fantastic sense of composition. I really love ELP and I'm sorry Endless Enigma didn't work out; here's a video of us performing "KarnEvil 9 First Impression Part Two".
Jerry: The ELP tribute was just a side project for me. I have always played in original bands and thought that it would be a fitting Tribute to my Prog Heroes but it was not something that I did on a regular basis and that project was on and off anyway. Also my influences were from those early prog drummers like Carl Palmer but he is not the only one... Barrymore Barlow, Neil Peart, Alan White, Mike Portnoy, Curt Cress, Bill Bruford and so on... so it did not effect the way I play in this band just doing what I normally do.
Your debut album was produced by Ronan Chris Murphy. Can you tell me what it was like working with him?
Kerry: I met Ronan at a party at least 10 years ago and we kept in touch. When Mars Hollow recorded some early demos, I sent them to Ronan and he was agreeable to helping us with our first album. We knew he'd worked with guys like Mike Keneally, Terry Bozzio, Tony Levin, Robert Fripp, Willie Otero – monster chops kinda guys – so we thought he'd be a cool producer. We feel very lucky to have had him on our team.
The guy was great to work with – easy going, great ideas for editing songs, an awesome engineer/technician, you name it. He really blew us away with his mixes; the guy has fantastic ears and his mixes are integral to how the songs ended up coming across. If anyone out there reading this is looking for a great producer, definitely contact Ronan.
Jerry: Very relaxed and he did a great job on that first CD it had a great 70's vibe to it. Very cool and a great guy. Also had some great production ideas. Very mellow guy to work with. Nothing but praise to Ronan.
John: He made a few pre-production suggestions based on hearing us at rehearsal and proceeded to capture the vibe of our live thing quite well. I recorded almost all the guitars myself and I know he wishes I hadn't. When he mixed, I know I put him through a whole lot more work than he is used to – so, sorry Ronan. I learned something from Ronan at every step of the process.
John: He made a few pre-production suggestions based on hearing us at rehearsal and proceeded to capture the vibe of our live thing quite well. I recorded almost all the guitars myself and I know he wishes I hadn't. When he mixed, I know I put him through a whole lot more work than he is used to – so, sorry Ronan. I learned something from Ronan at every step of the process.
Steve: I really enjoyed working with Ronan. He has a fantastic ear and a great enthusiasm for songwriting and recording. He gave us excellent preproduction notes before recording in terms of some of the song structures and arrangements that I think made the record that much better. He also set a very supportive, relaxing vibe in his studio which helped bring out our best performance.
And you decided to work with Billy Sherwood on your latest album. What brought you to Sherwood?
Kerry: I liked the glossy, high-tech sound of the first two CIRCA: albums and thought it would be cool to work with someone of Billy’s stature, so I wrote him via MySpace and he responded immediately. We met the guy, hit it off on a personal level, and then we went off to write the second album and didn’t see him for a year LOL.
Jerry: Well Kerry had some internet conversations with Billy in the past so that was part of the connection, then we posted a video of one of our shows about two years ago and Billy saw it and sends us an e-mail stating that he was interested in working with us and we took him up on his offer. Very cool person to work with. Great production came from the sessions and the CD came off very powerful which is what I wanted on this CD.
John: We were simply exploring the variety out there. We thought "we already made the first record, let's have something different". Kerry lobbied for Billy and we agreed. The amazing thing is that Billy also agreed. I realize now that Billy loves to work with as many bands as time will allow. It doesn't matter to him about the musician's status level.
John: We were simply exploring the variety out there. We thought "we already made the first record, let's have something different". Kerry lobbied for Billy and we agreed. The amazing thing is that Billy also agreed. I realize now that Billy loves to work with as many bands as time will allow. It doesn't matter to him about the musician's status level.
How would World in Front of Me have sounded differently without Sherwood? What did he bring to the album?
John: The biggest thing he brought was that the drums sounded bigger and the record as a whole sounded wetter and less analog. Listeners will decide for themselves whether or not they like those differences.
Kerry: Billy is known for creating a certain sound and that's exactly what we wanted for the second album. If anyone else had produced it, it would've sounded nothing like what Billy achieved. Billy definitely has his own thing goin' on and that confidence is one of the things that drew us to him. He knows what he wants and he knows how to get it. That said, Billy definitely took our input very seriously and he truly worked with us so that in the end, we all created the album as one.
Unlike Ronan – who made actual songwriting suggestions here and there – Billy pretty much left the songwriting to us; his main role was in capturing the band performing (the album was largely recorded live), making suggestions for guitar and keyboard patches, making melodic suggestions occasionally, and dialing in a cool bass sound. For the bass, all I said to Billy was, "Plug me into whatever you plug yourself into and work your magic!" He's already got his DW drum kit mic'd up so we knew we'd start laying down tracks FAST.
Sure enough, we finished the basic tracking in five evenings. Billy works so fast and with so much energy; we'd think "That was a bad take" but Billy would say, "No way, check it out, it's awesome!" and sure enough he was right 99.9% of the time.
After the basics were done at Billy's we went off and did some overdubs then turned it all over to Billy for mixing. He did a fantastic job building the mixes from the ground up and we were all smiling when we heard his final versions.
Mars Hollow have only played a fairly small number of concerts. What's the reality of securing live dates for a band like yourselves?
Kerry: We just played our 13th gig – lucky 13! Our first gig ever was in November of 2008, so we've managed to play out about every four months since then, which isn't too bad a schedule all things considered. We've been lucky in that we've been asked to play RoSFest, ProgDay and Mexicali Prog (3 times) so these higher-profile type gigs have definitely helped raise awareness.
Honestly, we can pretty much play Los Angeles any time we like – as long as it's not a Friday or Saturday night LOL. It's like a cattle-call out here and most bands have no problems finding gigs at 10:30PM on a weeknight.
However, we made a conscious decision at the outset that we weren't going to play LA-area gigs on weeknights – it's just too difficult to get people to come out. So we pick and choose our local dates and continue seeking out festivals and other out-of-area opportunities, such as playing Corona thanks to Billy Sherwood and CIRCA:.
We've got some things in the pipeline – preliminary plans if you will – for some touring in 2012 so hopefully we'll at least get another chance to play internationally and also do a string of gigs in the Northeast USA; we'd also love to partner with a couple LA-area bands and do a proper West Coast USA tour. We're always on the prowl for gig opportunities outside of LA.
John: You gotta ask for the opportunity. Don't wait for an invitation without some prompting of your own. We don't have a manager so it's "every band for himself". A bit of aggression is necessary from the bands. We play most of our shows well outside of our home state of California, so travel expenses are the biggest consideration. Shipping gear is a really big hassle and expense and you have to be as prepared as possible to use unfamiliar equipment to produce familiar sounds.
John: You gotta ask for the opportunity. Don't wait for an invitation without some prompting of your own. We don't have a manager so it's "every band for himself". A bit of aggression is necessary from the bands. We play most of our shows well outside of our home state of California, so travel expenses are the biggest consideration. Shipping gear is a really big hassle and expense and you have to be as prepared as possible to use unfamiliar equipment to produce familiar sounds.
Jerry: Yes, we would like to play more concerts and it is possible. Just need to get in the right situation. Also this type of music is something I think more people would enjoy and should have more media exposure. I think more people would get into it if they know it was around... There is more for your money from this music: it is not just a 3 minute Pop song and I am not bashing Pop. Look, The Beatles had a prog album and their last record had a prog style side to it with songs running into each other. So I think that prog can get big just like all the other types of music that seam to come back around again and again.
Your debut received great reviews, you were heralded as the 'new Spock's Beard' or the 'new Marillion'. So you have these expectations upon you from the prog community. Yet at the same time, receiving more widespread attention beyond prog fans is difficult. How do you feel about how you've been received?
Kerry: "Blown away" pretty much describes how I feel LOL. We've been lucky in that the prog community has largely embraced us as a presence to be acknowledged – those fans are very, very discriminating so to be generally accepted within the community is a huge accomplishment. We're very lucky and very gratified at the reception, please believe.
Honestly, we never set out to win over the prog community; our music – as proggy as it gets sometimes – is, at its core, melodic rock. It's accessible, it's catchy, it's "poppy" for lack of a better word. We make a point to have at least a couple of accessible songs on our albums not because we're "selling out" for a hit single, but because we all love good songs and it breaks up the flow of the longer, proggier pieces.
Although we're very happy with where we've taken the band thus far, we feel there's still a chance (however slim) we might cross-over into the classic rock world, or the melodic rock world, whatever the kids are calling it these days. That's been the goal all along; we feel our music crosses boundaries a lot of "prog" bands might go at lengths to avoid but the point of this whole enterprise is writing good rock songs, and the goal is to get those songs heard.
John: We could not have asked for a better reception from the prog community. Whether any "purist" prog fan wants to admit it or not I'm convinced that we are well received due to a good amount of melodic accessibility. In my opinion, that's the single biggest reason why the pioneers of the progressive rock genre were popular. We cross over into mainstream rock a bit so it's reasonable to think we have a better chance of being accepted outside of prog, but that remains to be seen.
John: We could not have asked for a better reception from the prog community. Whether any "purist" prog fan wants to admit it or not I'm convinced that we are well received due to a good amount of melodic accessibility. In my opinion, that's the single biggest reason why the pioneers of the progressive rock genre were popular. We cross over into mainstream rock a bit so it's reasonable to think we have a better chance of being accepted outside of prog, but that remains to be seen.
Steve: Incredibly gratified by the response we have received. It has inspired me to really work harder with my sounds and songwriting. When you know there is an audience that appreciates what you are doing, it makes you want to do it better.
Jerry: Greatly received and great reviews all around, oh and by the way we have a lot of fans that are not big Prog fans, but like what they hear due to the Pop that we infuse with the PROG. When we started this project we all decided to infuse Prog with Pop so that we could turn more fans on to this style of music and even though the second CD was a little more intense it still has the POP element in it... just wanted to turn as many people on to PROG as possible. As I said in one of the other questions, PROG is not a criminal on an island somewhere, it is a style of music that is there to enjoy... A lot of fans still go to the big prog shows like Yes, Rush, Genesis, but need to know about the new bands of Prog... that's what needs to happen.
You have your own sound, but your music also harks back to ELP, Yes, Rush and other big name prog bands. How do you balance these influences? For example, I've described the end of "Midnight" [on debut album, Mars Hollow] as sounding like Keith Emerson soloing over Chris Squire. Is that a comment that makes you happy to be compared to the greats, or frustrated that you're being compared to them?
Kerry: I'm very flattered whenever I hear comparisons between Mars Hollow and the classic bands of the '70s – we all grew up on that music and, face it, the stuff was pretty amazing and we're all heavily influenced by that golden era. Comparisons are inevitable because we're plowing the same fertile fields as the old school guys – long-form rock songwriting mixed with a bit of accessible melodic pop to keep things interesting and fun. We have the advantage of building on that which came before, while the classic bands were really breaking new ground and sowing the seeds for guys like us. We owe them all a huge debt of gratitude for setting the stage.
Kerry: I'm very flattered whenever I hear comparisons between Mars Hollow and the classic bands of the '70s – we all grew up on that music and, face it, the stuff was pretty amazing and we're all heavily influenced by that golden era. Comparisons are inevitable because we're plowing the same fertile fields as the old school guys – long-form rock songwriting mixed with a bit of accessible melodic pop to keep things interesting and fun. We have the advantage of building on that which came before, while the classic bands were really breaking new ground and sowing the seeds for guys like us. We owe them all a huge debt of gratitude for setting the stage.
I personally don't consider the balancing of our influences; we never say, "Ok, that's enough of a Yes vibe, let's move into Gentle Giant territory now", you know? We just write what we write, and we're ruthless editors – our primary goal is to keep the songs moving.
Jerry: It does not make me frustrated. Yes, the influences are there but we don't approach a part like – oh, let's put a Keith Emerson solo part with a Geddy Lee bass line in there. I guess that it is our heroes that are in us, so a little of that comes out... but it is not something that we do on purpose. We try to make everything sound like us... I would rather like being compared to a great player, that makes me feel that all of those years of hard work paid off.
John: It's never frustrating to be compared with the greats. Keith Emerson and Chris Squire were also influenced by their musical greats and I'm pretty sure they were not frustrated if they were ever compared to them. The pattern of influence goes back for as long as people have been making music.
Progressive rock lyrics in the 1970s varied between New Age influences on the one hand and a technophile/science fiction on the other. Musicologist Edward Macan talks about prog as having Apollonian lyrics (philosophical, optimistic, utopian) as opposed to the Dionysian lyrics of heavy metal (primordial, of the senses, ecstatic). Prog in the 21st century is a different affair. Mars Hollow's lyrics are often quite dark, with references to failed relationships. Do you see your lyrics as being 'progressive' as well? Is there a common theme to them?
Kerry: John is the primary lyricist for the band; he's written lyrics for all but two songs. The two songs I wrote lyrics for – "Dawn of Creation" and "In Your Hands" – I was definitely going for a proggy vibe. "Dawn" is spacey and laced with astronomical references, and with "Hands" I was going for a Neal Morse Spock's-era "is it religious or not?" kind of vague spirituality thing. In reality "Hands" is more of a slam on the GW Bush administration LOL – it's actually pretty sarcastic.
Steve: I've always felt that good lyrics are ones that move you emotionally, whatever the genre. John has a definite talent for delivering insightful, soul probing concepts and I think that is one of the strengths of this band that has set us apart.
John: Our lyrics are introspective allegory, based on the human conditions of despair and happiness, longing and fulfillment; not on science fiction or legendary books about wizardry or trolls, etc. That's just the way we do it. It goes along with the fact that we don't have album covers that feature science fantasy artwork. Nothing against any of that, but it's just not for us.
John: Our lyrics are introspective allegory, based on the human conditions of despair and happiness, longing and fulfillment; not on science fiction or legendary books about wizardry or trolls, etc. That's just the way we do it. It goes along with the fact that we don't have album covers that feature science fantasy artwork. Nothing against any of that, but it's just not for us.
Thanks to the band for agreeing to the interview. Thanks also to 10T Records for copies of the band’s two albums: I heartily recommend both.
Friday, 13 January 2012
Next Yes album "sooner rather than later"
In a new Billboard interview, Squire talks about making the next Yes studio album "sooner rather than later" and there are unconfirmed rumours on Yesfans.com of a specific timeline leading up to a spring/summer 2013 release. Yet there has been a certain scepticism among Yes fans about how quickly Yes might produce a follow-up to Fly from Here. I suggest this comes from two sources.
First, critics of the David-fronted band basically question this Yes's viability as recording artists. They struggle to believe that this band is capable of making an album and/or that anyone would want to release such a thing. However, such critics confuse what they want with what is likely to happen. However many fans were undoubtedly lost when Anderson was left behind, Fly from Here sold well and Frontiers want more.
I have more sympathy for the second reason for scepticism, those who look at recent history. It took ten years to produce Fly from Here, some way, so it will probably take ten years before we get the next album. However, I would argue that we have to consider why there was a ten year delay.
Much of that delay, in the post-Magnification period, was due to the tensions between Anderson/Wakeman and Howe/Squire/White. Those tensions are now outside the band. Throughout that post-Magnification period, Howe/Squire/White appeared keen to continue the traditional record/tour/record/tour cycle, so it should be no surprise to see them return to that model.
Critics of the current line-up sometimes characterise them as ruthlessly and recklessly rushing into a Yes without Anderson, but actually I think a chunk of the delay in producing Fly from Here was because of Howe/Squire/White's tentativeness in moving ahead without Anderson. They spent years before taking the plunge and deliberately didn't rush into making an album. It seems likely that that tentativeness has probably now gone.
So, I would say we should look not at the period since Magnification but just slightly earlier, the period before Magnification. From Howe's return in the mid-nineties through to Magnification, the band was in that record/tour/record/tour cycle with the longest gap between records of 24 months from The Ladder to Magnification. Indeed, they did this while jumping between record labels. With greater stability through the relationship with Frontiers, it seems to me quite unsurprising that we should see a new album around mid-2013.
First, critics of the David-fronted band basically question this Yes's viability as recording artists. They struggle to believe that this band is capable of making an album and/or that anyone would want to release such a thing. However, such critics confuse what they want with what is likely to happen. However many fans were undoubtedly lost when Anderson was left behind, Fly from Here sold well and Frontiers want more.
I have more sympathy for the second reason for scepticism, those who look at recent history. It took ten years to produce Fly from Here, some way, so it will probably take ten years before we get the next album. However, I would argue that we have to consider why there was a ten year delay.
Much of that delay, in the post-Magnification period, was due to the tensions between Anderson/Wakeman and Howe/Squire/White. Those tensions are now outside the band. Throughout that post-Magnification period, Howe/Squire/White appeared keen to continue the traditional record/tour/record/tour cycle, so it should be no surprise to see them return to that model.
Critics of the current line-up sometimes characterise them as ruthlessly and recklessly rushing into a Yes without Anderson, but actually I think a chunk of the delay in producing Fly from Here was because of Howe/Squire/White's tentativeness in moving ahead without Anderson. They spent years before taking the plunge and deliberately didn't rush into making an album. It seems likely that that tentativeness has probably now gone.
So, I would say we should look not at the period since Magnification but just slightly earlier, the period before Magnification. From Howe's return in the mid-nineties through to Magnification, the band was in that record/tour/record/tour cycle with the longest gap between records of 24 months from The Ladder to Magnification. Indeed, they did this while jumping between record labels. With greater stability through the relationship with Frontiers, it seems to me quite unsurprising that we should see a new album around mid-2013.
Thursday, 29 December 2011
Prog's critics' choices
Yes fandom remains riven by the issue of Benoît David replacing Jon Anderson. The same debate sits like a black hole, dragging other discussions off course. So I find it interesting to step back sometimes and see how the prog music community more generally views the band's and the musicians' output.
The last issue of 2011 of Classic Rock Presents... Prog includes their annual Critics' Choice selection of the 20 best albums of the last 12 months, as voted on by the magazines' contributors. The winner is Opeth's Heritage but Yes's Fly from Here comes in 5th, with Steve Hackett's Beyond the Shrouded Horizon (with Chris Squire guesting and a couple of tracks co-credited to Steve Howe) coming 7th. Blackfield's Welcome to My DNA, with one track produced by Trevor Horn, is 11th. Steven Wilson's Grace for Drowning, with Tony Levin appearing, was the #2 album.
Rick Wakeman writes for the magazine, which has championed the planned Anderson/Wakeman/Rabin collaboration. However, nothing by Anderson or Wakeman makes their overall top 20. But the 21 contributors' individual top 20s are also listed, and we see appearances there by Anderson/Wakeman's The Living Tree and Jon Anderson's Survival & Other Stories, as well as the Jakszyk/Fripp/Collins album A Scarcity of Miracles (with Levin), Levin Torn White, John Wetton's Raised in Captivity (with Billy Sherwood, Tony Kaye and Geoff Downes) and Mars Hollow's The World in Front of Me (produced by Sherwood).
The King Crimson reissue series, obviously including multiple albums with Bill Bruford, was in the top 10 reissues list, while "Union Live" was in the top 10 DVDs.
The issue also includes glowing reviews of Steve Howe's Time and Yes's recent London show, and a more ambivalent review of In the Present - Live from Lyon.
The last issue of 2011 of Classic Rock Presents... Prog includes their annual Critics' Choice selection of the 20 best albums of the last 12 months, as voted on by the magazines' contributors. The winner is Opeth's Heritage but Yes's Fly from Here comes in 5th, with Steve Hackett's Beyond the Shrouded Horizon (with Chris Squire guesting and a couple of tracks co-credited to Steve Howe) coming 7th. Blackfield's Welcome to My DNA, with one track produced by Trevor Horn, is 11th. Steven Wilson's Grace for Drowning, with Tony Levin appearing, was the #2 album.
Rick Wakeman writes for the magazine, which has championed the planned Anderson/Wakeman/Rabin collaboration. However, nothing by Anderson or Wakeman makes their overall top 20. But the 21 contributors' individual top 20s are also listed, and we see appearances there by Anderson/Wakeman's The Living Tree and Jon Anderson's Survival & Other Stories, as well as the Jakszyk/Fripp/Collins album A Scarcity of Miracles (with Levin), Levin Torn White, John Wetton's Raised in Captivity (with Billy Sherwood, Tony Kaye and Geoff Downes) and Mars Hollow's The World in Front of Me (produced by Sherwood).
The King Crimson reissue series, obviously including multiple albums with Bill Bruford, was in the top 10 reissues list, while "Union Live" was in the top 10 DVDs.
The issue also includes glowing reviews of Steve Howe's Time and Yes's recent London show, and a more ambivalent review of In the Present - Live from Lyon.
Steve Howe's Time
It's been a joyfully busy time for Yes-related releases. Highlights include the aggressive Levin Torn White, Chris Squire appearing on Steve Hackett's Beyond the Shrouded Horizon, and Jon's epic of a digital single, "Open". The latest release is Time, Steve Howe's new solo album, now out in Europe, although a domestic release in the States only comes in 2012.
Time doesn't have multiple Yesmen on board, there are no epics, no big-name prog collaborators, even the cover is rather bland. Yet this may be some of the most beautiful music Steve Howe has ever recorded.
While Hackett's Beyond the Shrouded Horizon is a vibrant mish-mash of different styles (and includes some tracks co-crediting Howe as composer, presumably Hackett recycling GTR ideas), Howe has a tradition of very focused projects. In some ways, Time follows on from Natural Timbre, but while Natural Timbre was about acoustic playing, Time sees Howe working with a small orchestral ensemble. Rock and orchestra isn't a new thing. Yes did it on Magnification, Jon Anderson uses a string ensemble on "Open", and Howe fans will remember "Beginnings" on the album of the same name.
But this isn't a rock + orchestra album. Howe is much more integrated into a classical sound. Yet nor is this a classical guitar album. Howe kicks off the album with an interpretation of Heitor Villa-Lobos' "Bachianas Brasileiras No. 5 (Aria)" (a mid-20th century piece combining a Bach-esque approach to Brazilian music) that he plays on steel guitar. Within the album's focus, there is variation. Sometimes the guitar is to the fore, but then there's a piece like "Orange" with Howe's banjo as the base and the orchestral instruments rotating the lead, while Joyce's "Purification" has some jazzier playing by Howe.
While Howe does play classical or acoustic guitar on about half the album, what shines through is a certain Steve-Howe-ness to all the playing. Credit must absolutely also go to Paul K. Joyce for the arrangements and how he complements Howe's guitar work. Joyce also plays keyboards, occasionally inserting an almost Wendy-Carlos-esque sound choice.
Joyce is best known for writing "Can We Fix It?", the theme song to Bob the Builder (which reached #1 in the UK and Australia in 2000). However, he has also done more orchestral music. There's a moment in "The Explorer" where the brass plays with the guitar -- spine-chilling. It's this attention to detail and a melodic and harmonic richness that makes Time stand out. There's an autumnal feel to much of the music, but different emotions are expressed, like with the jaunty "Orange".
Possibly the best Yes-related release of the year. Details, liner notes and samples all available at http://stevehowe-time.com/ .
Time doesn't have multiple Yesmen on board, there are no epics, no big-name prog collaborators, even the cover is rather bland. Yet this may be some of the most beautiful music Steve Howe has ever recorded.
While Hackett's Beyond the Shrouded Horizon is a vibrant mish-mash of different styles (and includes some tracks co-crediting Howe as composer, presumably Hackett recycling GTR ideas), Howe has a tradition of very focused projects. In some ways, Time follows on from Natural Timbre, but while Natural Timbre was about acoustic playing, Time sees Howe working with a small orchestral ensemble. Rock and orchestra isn't a new thing. Yes did it on Magnification, Jon Anderson uses a string ensemble on "Open", and Howe fans will remember "Beginnings" on the album of the same name.
But this isn't a rock + orchestra album. Howe is much more integrated into a classical sound. Yet nor is this a classical guitar album. Howe kicks off the album with an interpretation of Heitor Villa-Lobos' "Bachianas Brasileiras No. 5 (Aria)" (a mid-20th century piece combining a Bach-esque approach to Brazilian music) that he plays on steel guitar. Within the album's focus, there is variation. Sometimes the guitar is to the fore, but then there's a piece like "Orange" with Howe's banjo as the base and the orchestral instruments rotating the lead, while Joyce's "Purification" has some jazzier playing by Howe.
While Howe does play classical or acoustic guitar on about half the album, what shines through is a certain Steve-Howe-ness to all the playing. Credit must absolutely also go to Paul K. Joyce for the arrangements and how he complements Howe's guitar work. Joyce also plays keyboards, occasionally inserting an almost Wendy-Carlos-esque sound choice.
Joyce is best known for writing "Can We Fix It?", the theme song to Bob the Builder (which reached #1 in the UK and Australia in 2000). However, he has also done more orchestral music. There's a moment in "The Explorer" where the brass plays with the guitar -- spine-chilling. It's this attention to detail and a melodic and harmonic richness that makes Time stand out. There's an autumnal feel to much of the music, but different emotions are expressed, like with the jaunty "Orange".
Possibly the best Yes-related release of the year. Details, liner notes and samples all available at http://stevehowe-time.com/ .
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