----------------------------------------------------- SEPTEMBER 17, 1999 ----------------------------------------------------- Source: Yahoo Chat Transcripts http://chat.yahoo.com/c/events/transcripts/special/091799yes.html Transcript of Yahoo! Chat with Jon Anderson & Chris Squire Yahoomc: OK folks -- Here we go -- Chris Squire is joining us live from Costa Rica -- Hi Chris! Yes is alive and well in Costa Rica and it's pouring rain. roundabout55 asks: What is the driving philosophy behind "Yes" and its music? Chris: Yes' philosophy has always been, on a musical level we always wanted to have a band that was very capable in instrumental abiliities, and also Jon and I were very much big vocal fans. So we wanted to have a band that combined both aspects, instrumental and vocal. Lyrical content wise, usually we write about messages of hope, and that's about it really. ric4001cs_paul asks: Chris, talk about your favorite Yes album...and your least favorite Chris: I don't have one favorite album. I like different tracks from various different albums. I was always a big fan of the Fragile, Close to the Edge era. Also Drama, and 90125. And we're looking forward to getting good reviews from the current album, the Ladder, because we enjoy it very much. And I have never participated in a Yes album that I hate or dislike. lgnut00 asks: How do the audiences of today differ from the seventies? Chris: I don't know, it's interesting. Right now we're in South America which is an interesting place to play. I don't know, I think audiences pretty much the world over are becoming pretty similar these days. Maybe they are a bit less stoned now than in the 70's, but pot smoking is up these days, maybe that's not the case! We enjoy audiences maybe more now, but then we weren't as experienced entertainers. Yahoomc: Jon is joining us now, as well! Jon: It's wonderful to be on line, here I am in Costa Rica! aalessandrini asks: You guys are living legends! I'm so glad my father introduced me to you. Jon: Pretty cool! You're a living legend Chris! Chris: I like the living part, that's good! WestVT15 asks: Igor is a brilliant keybpoard player and can play any style very well. How did you manage to recruit him? Jon: I was given a cassette about three years ago, and I had it for about four months before I actually listened to it. And I got a call from Chris saying Rick Wakeman wasn't going to tour with the band. So I thought I might as well listen to the tape. I heard this one piece, and called him up, and said, Hey what are you doing? It was as simple as that. tv241st asks: The Ladder seems to have some Native American music influences - or am I mistaken? Jon: Just one of the songs relates to a story I was told, it was more about indigenous people of the world getting together in their councils, a song called Nine Voices. But Yes music can jump from eastern music to African music very quickly. We're very aware of world music, so on the Ladder you do get a lot of mixture. Squire0412 asks: How do you go about writing such complex music? Chris: With great difficulty some of the time! Sometimes the hardest thing to do is to write something simple, you know, and to perform something really simple. Sometimes that can be as complex to write as a very complicated musical structure. bambamjk asks: Before a tour, how much time, if any, do you get to rehearse with full sound and lights? Jon: This tour was a little different than the norm. We were rehearsing to do new songs as well as old classics. And we're probably be rehearsing a week before the American tour to get the lighting as we'd like it. South America doesn't always have the lighting we would like best. When we get back to North America we'll have more of the lighting we want for the tour. steeltrazmo asks: Parts of Relayer were very metallic/intense, was there something in the band's personal lives that gave it this edge? Chris: I think what happened on Relayer, is that Jon went with Alan White and maybe the sound engineer, they went to a junkyard for exotic percussion, they came back with a lot of trash, and they started banging on it! Jon: I think we were a little of head of Stomp! Chris: I don't think it was really related to anyone's personal life though. Jon: We were just experimenting really. jmsstyx asks: To Jon: With all your wonderful water colors, I was wondering if you've ever considered publishing them some sort of art book or publication? Or have you already done that? Jon: I'm just going thru the process of working out a deal with a publishing company for my art work and the lyrics I've been writing over the years, it should come out next year sometime. Amott_ asks: With all of the lineup changes, how do you continue sounding so great and performing the older tunes? Chris: When we do change lineup, usually we get someone with a lot of energy and enthusiasm, like most recently Igor, and it gives us renewed enthusiasm to make everything we've done in the past sound modern and as good as it used to be. colingrant1960 asks: Jon: I'm really looking forward to seeing you in Vegas on Hallowe'en. Will you be playing Starship Trooper? Jon: I'm not sure. We're looking at a lot of the classic Yes songs for that special night. Maybe we'll throw it in at the end, you never know! I'll make a mental note now! steeltrazmo asks: On a more simple note, What do you guys do for fun? Both: LOL! Jon: Being on stage and making music is a lot of fun. I love wind surfing when I can, I love walking with my wife, we enjoy nature. We've become a bit of bird watchers. We love birds, ducks, things like that. Chris: I watch TV, and I like movies a lot. I've spent the last 10 years living in Hollywood you become very caught up in it! frypan47 asks: What is Jon's favorite beverage? We like to go to the pub sometimes. Chris: I'm a wine guy myself. I love a very good, both red and white. And I think Jon is the same actually. Jon: Red wine, and lately I've been getting into Canada Ginger Ale actually. Chris: And I like Dr. Pepper! randy1583 asks: Will you release a live video for this tour Chris: I think we already have! Jon: I think we're doing video footage of the Vegas show. We will probably be doing a video of the New Year's Eve concert wherever that will be, I think it's Philadelphia. gern_blensten asks: Jon and Chris seem so opposite -- how do their different personalities work themselves into Yes music? Chris: We had that question the other day, and Jon answered that we were yin and yang. And at certain times in our career we've been on the right and left of things, but sometimes we are both very much in the middle. And that's the joy of music, interaction with different personalities and different talents. Jon: Especially on this new album we all worked so well together. And I think Chris and myself have this abundance of ideas, that we can have both sides of the coin and it will work. We always seem to get to the same place at the same time. I think it's the longevity of knowing each other for thirty years, and we've learned to appreciate each other's talents too. And this comes over on the new album as well. Bilabong asks: Chris: What is your favorite TV show? Chris: Seinfeld. Jon: We love Sports Night. It's the best show. We also like Law & Order. Chris: I'm a Law & Order fan too! majufer asks: Did you know that Lake Arenal in Costa Rica is a great place for windsurfing Jon: Ah, wonderful! Maybe we'll go! mpast asks: In many ways, Yes has mastered the art of reinventing itself. Coupled with exceptional musical talent, this is what keeps me lovin' ya'll! Chris: Good! Jon: That's a good answer: Good! After so many years of making music, we've gone it seems in a full cycle. We're back to playing Yes music as we originally understood it. It has been a wonderful adventure for thirty years. And here we are at the end of this wonderful cycle. deanlaw asks: What songs would the group like to have added to the tour had they more time? Chris: So many! We enjoy playing so many different songs, and different songs from the different decades of Yes. Now we're getting Steve to enjoy the 80's a little more. We are trying a bit of that on this tour, some different songs every night. Probably when we play in the US we'll probably concentrate on the new album, because people have heard us play the old ones a lot, and we'd like to play a fresh show when we come to American. ricardomt asks: To Chris: Are you more of a Kramer or a Jerry?? Chris: LOL! Sometimes I'm more of a George! data_sell asks: Read Close to the Edge-The Story of Yes -- excellent reading...how accurate do you feel book was? Jon: Pretty good actually, very good. We've known Chris since the beginning of when the band first started. Obviously everybody in the band could write a book about Yes, but it was a good book and I really enjoyed it. bambamjk asks: Jon, do you paint while on the road? Jon: Yeah, whenever I get time, I played a little watercolor a couple of days ago when I was in Brazil. frypan47 asks: Thanks for touring all these years. Do you see an ending point (a sad question)? Chris: Not really. At the moment, all we can do is think about promoting our new album, and everyone is very happy with that prospect. You'll be hearing from us for definitely a few years. Jon: We're very excited about going to Australia where we haven't been for 27 years! There are so many fans -- and their children -- all over the world. I think the music will dictate how we keep going, that's the exciting thing about music. Amott_ asks: Who are you guys listening to these days? Any favorite "new" bands? Jon: I've been listening this last year to Cuban music, Buena Vista Social Club. And I love that fusion band, the guy who plays, Bela Fleck. the banjo player. Every now and again we put on the radio and hear some great songs. I like Will Smith, some of his recordings are cool. Sibelius, I still listen to all the time. lightride7 asks: Where is your favorite city or venue to play at guys? Chris: I don't know. We have a lot of great fans everywhere we go. America has always been like I guess our most enthusiastic audience, just because it is more the American nature to be more exciteable than European audiences. But when you go down to Brazil, they go nuts! And sometimes it's good to play in some countries where they don't so crazy and spend more time listening. It's nice to go different places and experience the different reactions. eddiej_yessucker asks: Jon, your voice is in excellent form on The Ladder. You sound as good today as 30 years ago. What's your secret? Is there anything special you do to keep your voice in such great shape year after year while other singers' voices get shot? Jon: I think more or less I'm just happy with my life. I'm in love, my kids are great, I feel very good about everything. And that reflects in when you sing, with your heart and soul and spirit. Illinois_Scott asks: I heard that Chris is named the "fish" because he used to sleep in hotel bath tubs on tour, is this true? Chris: Not exactly! I spend a lot of time in the shower though. In the early days when Bill Bruford was the drummer, he could never get into the bathroom to do what he had to do. So he nicknamed me the Fish. Amott_ asks: What are your feelings towards tribute albums and other bands doing your music? Jon: Wonderful. Chris: There was quite a good one a few years ago. In fact, Billy Sherwood who is now our guitar player did some of the songs on it. It's a nice compliment I guess. Jon: Like anything, when we first started, we were playing other people's music in the beginning. People learn by playing other people's music. It's a very healthy thing. dianecooke asks: Jon: what's a favorite maxim you live by? Jon: I think more or less try to be healthy in body, spirit and mind. On every level. And all the good things will come to you. And dream a lot. jjb864 asks: Would you consider doing any cover tunes like in the old days? Giving a song the YES treatment. Chris: You know, it's very funny, on the last album I tried to get the band to cover a version of Bobby Vee's The Night Has A Thousand Eyes. And everybody looked at me very strangely! Jon: Don't start! ricardomt asks: There's a great yes-cover band here in Brazil called Yessongs... Both: Oh! Whereabouts, in Sao Paolo? dave_need_it asks: This is a technical question, how was the guitar sound for the owner of a lonely heart solo achieved? Chris: Just simply by a harmonizer with a fifth above the root. SO you had the two notes sounding at once. Trevor figured out how to use it throughout the solo. jetss1971 asks: Do you ever get tired of playing Roundabout ? Jon: Not really. Chris: No. Jon: We played it the other night in Peru, and everybody sang it all the way thru, very loud. In fact, they were louder than we are! Chris: The question is, and please write in, are YOU tired of us playing Roundabout. Jeffy_101 asks: This is just too Cool for words! Chris: OK! dtrebel asks: how do you feel about new formats mp3/ midi/ digital audio? Jon: It's a very good thing. It enables musicians to be able to put their music on line, and people can listen to it and make their own decision, rather than a record company telling people what they should hear. Which is what happens most of the time. And I look forward to hearing ten year old wizards putting their music on line and being able to hear it. Yahoomc: Early tally on Roundabout -- 8-to-1 to keep it! Chris: Thank you! octapoos asks: Does Chris still market that green guitar from the 70's Chris: I play it, but unfortunately, the guy who made it, Jim Meridian, he was in business for awhile making them, the Band Extreme was playing them, but I don't think the company is in business anymore. But if enough people manifested interest, maybe he would revive production of the bass. dianecooke asks: Will there be a Yestival this year? Jon: we're hoping to try to create the Yes festival next year. Chris: Like the Ozfest kind of idea. Kind of a Prog Rock kind of evening. But I can't tell you who will be on it because we haven't asked anyone yet. OJ_Dude asks: Guys it is an honor to be here with you tonight, A few years back I read an interview somewhere that you were planning to do a boxed set consisting of live tracks and reworked classics with a symphonic orchestra, what ever happened to that? Chris: Oo, who's idea was that? Jon: I think it came up once in a while, the idea of performing with an orchestra, it might happen one day, you never know. roundabout55 asks: Anymore solo projects in the works? Chris: Jon is always doing something in that area. Jon: I just have been writing some music with Igor that might come out sometime next year. I'm thinking of writing something an album along the lines of Olias from 1976, just me performing everything, it'll probably happen the next couple of years. Chris: For me, I have an album coming out that Billy Shoales and myself have written between 1989 and 1995 that we're gathering dust, under the title of The Conspiracy. Hopefully it will be available before the end of the year. musicmaker420 asks: I know Trevor is currently doing movie soundtracks, but do you still see him often? Chris: Actually I saw him before we went on tour, with his wife and my wife, and we had a pleasant evening. He's very busy these days, enjoying himself I think but working 16 hour days a lot of the time. I'm sure he misses playing live, and I suppose one day we'll get together and play a Union thing again, it's not out of the question. Venus_De_Milo_Muse asks: Will you ever do a "Yes" opera? Jon: We do one every night! Every show! Chris: A Yes soap opera! chris_heselton asks: What is the state of vegetarianism in the band? What do you guys like to eat? Chris: Steve Howe is a true vegetarian. The rest of us are part time. jjb864 asks: Zappa and The Dead played different shows each night. Have you considered doing that? Jon: We were thinking about that idea, again it depends on location, if you play one place for a five day period, we'll change the songs. But not like Zappa and the Dead did. We like our shows and we get happy and used to performing it mpast asks: Jon and Chris: Do you anticipate anything out of the ordinary at the Turn of the Millenium? Jon: Not really. Chris: We wish everyone an early happy new year. And hope it's a great one for everyone! Jon: Thanks to everyone who came on line for joining us! Petecellar asks: Thank You Guys!! Close Window YesInThePress.com For site comments, problems, corrections, or additions, contact YesinthePress@aol.com