One of the cornerstone bands of British prog wrap up their latest British tour in June.
Steve Howe, guitarist and Yes’s de facto leader of the moment, previews a nine-date British tour from the enduring progressive rockers. Billed as The Classic Tales Of Yes, it will see the group performing music from last year’s album Mirror To The Sky and, of course, a whole host of Yes’s catalogue standards, including some “rarely played” selections.
Before his death, Alan White, Yes’s drummer for more than fifty years, gave his blessing to his successor Jay Schellen. How do you think Jay is bedding into the line-up?
Those are difficult shoes to fill, but Jay has been in the background with us for a while. On tour, Alan would come out and do the encores, or maybe even the last song, as his capability minimised. Jay was there in the groove and ready to step up. Every musician has goals to reach. Jay has set a few of those for himself and also as part of Yes, but he’s working in [to the role] really well.
Were you satisfied with the general response to the most recent Yes album, Mirror To The Sky, which was released in May 2023?
Yeah. The band is enjoying moving forwards again. There have been some big gaps between albums, and there were reasons for that, but doing Mirror To The Sky so soon after The Quest [2021] gave us a real platform for development. I was very happy with songs like Luminosity and Circles Of Time.
In that same spirit of industry, how is work proceeding on what would be Yes’s twenty-fourth studio album?
There are elements [of material] going forward, but we’re in no hurry. Rushing things doesn’t work for any of the team. We’ll go there when we’re ready.
One of the most fascinating things about Yes is the band’s regular changes of leadership. As producer and driving force, you are very much the man in the driving seat at present. How does that responsibility sit with you?
I had no goal of being the leader of Yes. I always joke that when I joined the band there were already two people arguing about it. But yeah, at the moment the band does listen to me, though I’m head of a democracy. It’s a two-way street, and it works.
All the best organisations have succession plans. Do you have somebody in mind who might take control of Yes when your turn ends? I don’t quite follow your question?
Who has it in their locker to become the next leader? As the band’s second longest-serving member, could Geoffrey Downes step up? That’s far too presumptuous. As I’ve said, it’s not a leadership game. It’s about the person that has ideas and that can project them towards the band, that’s the spirit we’re talking about. Right now it’s me, but I can’t predict wh
