SPILL FEATURE: CONNECTING ALL OUR LIVES – A CONVERSATION WITH GEOFF DOWNES OF YES

CONNECTING ALL OUR LIVES

A CONVERSATION WITH GEOFF DOWNES OF YES

Unlike a lot of bands from their era, Yes continue to create new albums and to grow. Their current line-up consists of Steve Howe (guitar, producer, vocals), Geoff Downes (keyboards, vocals), Jon Davison (vocals, acoustic guitar, keyboards), Billy Sherwood (bass, vocals) and recent full time member Jay Schellen (drums, percussion, vocals), who has replaced Alan White, who sadly passed away in 2022. This new lineup has been together since 2021’s The Quest. Downes, himself, has had an incredible career with Yes, but also with The Buggles, Asia, GTR and his own solo music.

“We started off pretty much after The Quest,” Downes confirms. “We had a short tour in between and then straight into this album. I suppose in some ways it is a continuation of The Quest. Sadly, we don’t have Alan with us anymore, which is a great shame, not just as a great musician but a great friend as well. The band goes on, and Yes is very much about the future and positivity. With this album we felt we wanted to stretch out a little more. The length of the songs is a testament to that. We actually pushed it out a bit further.” Downes has a point, the title track of Mirror To The Sky, is well over 13 minutes. “It’s a big number. It’s not on your pop radios, let’s put it that way,” laughed Downes.

Steve Howe, since The Quest, has taken the role of producer for the band. “Well Steve has been the long standing member [he joined the band in 1970], he’s got a really good handle on how the band should sound. So, it really seemed that when we were thinking about a producer for The Quest, I think Steve put his hand up and said ‘I think I do this’. I think it worked out really well. I think Steve did a great job working with a very talented engineer, Curtis Schwartz, and they have a very good handle on it. It was a team effort, but the producer had to have the last say and of course, Steve had the last say on everything. He is very accommodating and very understanding if the idea is that everyone else is contributing.”

MIRROR TO THE SKY ALBUM REVIEW

However, with so many musicians contributing and Yes consisting of five very talented artists, it may be difficult to know when the song and album is actually finished. “You get a feeling for it when you say, we have fleshed out that idea as far as we can. Someone is going to say, ‘look, I think we got it here, let’s go with what we got’. It’s always been pretty much the same. When you are mixing, it is all a matter of taste really. But when you have a contract with a recording company and they have a schedule and they want to stick with it, you really have to be conducive to that as well. You have to make sure you do the album on time and that fits in with all the marketing plans. It is a little bit scientific in that respect. I think it is a good thing there is a time limit. We’d probably still be mixing the Drama album, if there wasn’t.”

Mirror To The Sky, Yes’ most recent album, seems to be ushering in a whole new era for the band. “I think Yes has always been different chapters with different musicians,” agreed Downes. “Even if you go back to the very first album, with Tony Kaye, who was on the first three albums, and then Rick Wakeman came in for the next three, and then Patrick [Moraz] came in for one album, then I came then Rick came back, so there is always that different people have different influences and chapters in the big Yes book. I think it is refreshing that we got this lineup. But when you say this is a new lineup, really this is probably one of the longest standing Yes lineups which has been on and off with Jay since 2016. So, we are seven years together. We have a good understanding of each other and there’s a lot of respect between us. When Chris died [bassist Chris Squire who passed away in 2015], that was a huge shift for the band. We took on Billy and tried to rebuild ourselves, especially with Chris being such an influential figure in the band. I think for this lineup, we have certainly worked hard to not just work it on the road and do that, but come up with new stuff all the time. That is important for our own headspace really to keep moving, rather than just play Close To The Edge”

Bringing Jay Schellen in as a full-time member was not as difficult as imagined. Especially given the time he spent with Alan White. “Jay has worked with Alan, Billy, and myself before he really got back involved and he was the understudy for Alan for quite a few years prior to this album. It’s not a massive upheaval to bring in Jay. He wants to keep Alan’s legacy alive as well. I think Yes fans appreciate and like the fact that we are still having a go and making new music and moving the band forward.”

Downes is very clear that making new music is essential for this band. However, Yes still has their trademark sound, so while the band moves forward, they still have a sense of who they are and the sound they are making. “Yes is a very identifiable brand. It doesn’t really matter who is in the band, you always have that underlying sense of musicianship and the overall sound of the people playing. Often it is very complex. That is the secret of why Yes has endured for so long, there is always that musicality, and not just put it on and a guy plays easy-listening music. We all try to challenge each other to come up with interesting music and art. Production is very important too.”

However, given the history of the band and their classic albums, do they ever feel they are in competition with their music? “You can’t ever try to emulate those albums, because they were done under different circumstances and different musicians. And at 25 or 26-years-old, you have a completely different outlook on life. At that time, there was the whole movement to progressive music, which was very dominant. We never try to say this next album is Close To The Edge or Tales Of Topographic Two. We are not in the business of doing that. I admire the greatness of the early music of Yes, and I am happy to be involved in that and play all those great songs. I think we are confident that as long as we are healthy and fresh to go on we will keep it running for as long as we can.”

Downes has been with Yes since 1980 and more permanently since 2011. Of course, Downes had come from the band The Buggles, which seemed an unlikely pairing of bands at the time.

“When Trevor [Horn] and I joined Yes, before the Drama album, they were looking to turn Yes into another thing, because Rick and Jon had left and they relished the fact that we were high tech and we had these gimmicks we were using. A lot of the lyrics were very urban, not the stuff Yes was known for, which was great stuff. I think going into the 80s, they were very keen to move Yes into another direction. I am very proud of that album. Yes fans who grappled with that album the first time around have come into the fray and say it is fantastic. We won people over eventually.”

Which brings us to today, and Mirror To The Sky. Downes has some very real and sincere hopes for the album. “I hope they appreciate the journey. A lot of albums, certainly ones I have been involved with, have been a journey. We are very conscious of vinyl making a significant comeback, those old gatefold sleeves and wonderful artwork, and we must mention Roger Dean and his fantastic art which he has done for Yes and Asia as well. It becomes an enjoyable package, people can open it up, sit down and listen to it on headphones, or listen to it at home, and turn it up loud. That is what we do, make stuff that we hope people enjoy.”

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