----------------------------------------------------- SEPTEMBER 17, 1999 ----------------------------------------------------- Source: La Nacion (San José, Costa Rica) http://www.nacion.com/viva/1999/septiembre/17/portada.html British band Yes says yes to success. Steve Howe, guitarist of this mythical group, spoke to "Viva" about their concert in Costa Rica, the new album and their formula to survive in the music business. By Vanessa Bravo Translated by Patricio Mátteri Thousands of Costa Rican youngsters enjoyed songs such as Roundabout and Owner Of A Lonely Heart, by the world-famous British band Yes, between 1968 and 1983. Never would the idea cross their minds that they would have the opportunity of seeing them play live… until now. Indeed: Yes will be playing in Costa Rica next Saturday as part of their The Ladder Tour, as the band promotes their latest album of the same name. Their followers (well over their teen years), will have the delight of seeing and listening to the leading Progressive Rock band of the past 30 years. Steve Howe, Yes' guitarist, spoke about this presentation, the new album, the band's forthcoming plans and how they were able to maintain their success and musical creativity for more than three decades. How was the band able to survive successfully this past 31 years? SH: I don't know, I'm not sure. I can only say that the group has a very strong style. If you listen to it, you can tell that there's a very intense musical compromise coming from its musicians. Besides, we don't try to stop changes. Instead, we try to evolve around them: we've changed our styles, our songs, even our personnel, always keeping a very defined musical goal. Why did you record such long pieces of music, sometimes longer than 13 minutes, when the average song was about four or five minutes long? SH: It was risky, it was a gamble, but we wanted it to be done because music cannot be inhibited, not by time nor radio station needs. That's why we wrote very long pieces, sometimes even more than 13 minutes long, but as long as 22 and 23 minutes. Maybe the next one will be an hour long [he laughs as he says this] because we're not worried about time. We like to break the rules. We've recorded very successful and very long pieces, and people respond to them and push us to go even further and to keep doing it. Why has it been so difficult for Yes to maintain their band members? Some of them left in crucial moments for the band… SH: We don't see that as a problem. They're very logical changes. Every time someone leaves or joins the band is for very valid reasons. Sometimes musical reasons, sometimes personal and sometimes, professional. We are not destined to stay always the same. If things were like that, we would've already split up. We've sometimes had partners who didn't believe in our music or that didn't communicate with the rest, or that didn't share the same musical goals. Those kinds of things tend to happen. At the dawn of the 80s, Yes almost fell apart. Was Owner Of A Lonely Heart a "shaping" song for that time and for the band? SH: Yes. I wasn't in the band at that moment, because I was playing in a band called Asia, that split up. But I always knew that Yes wanted to have a song that would become a huge success. They worked very hard and Owner Of A Lonely Heart was the result. That wasn't a very orchestral or progressive song, but it was the "new thing" and won them a lot of fans. There were people amongst the fans and press that criticized them by saying that this was much more a commercial piece, but the truth of the matter was that this kind of song had to exist, they had to produce this kind of album, because if they didn't do so, they would be out of business. But they haven't been able to exceed the success of that song… SH: It was a huge success, but it's true that we haven't been able to exceed such a hit since then. It's been almost 17 years. During this past few years we haven't been able to record a very financially successful song, but we're very happy musically speaking. Do you dedicate yourself to Yes full time or do you (and the rest of the band) have any other musical projects? SH: I have a lot of activities. Since the mid-seventies I've been recording solo albums. I have more than 10 solo records. They are instrumental works or with other artists. Soon I'll be releasing an interactive CD ROM and an album with a collection of pieces for guitar. Working in and outside the group let's me see both sides of the same quarter. Jon Anderson also has some solo albums, as does Chris [Squire] and Billy [Sherwood] and the rest of the guys, that have already done it before or are about to doing it. How would you describe The Ladder, the album that will be released September 28th? SH: It was developed with clearness, efficiency and collaboration. We wrote all the songs together and had the support of Bruce Farbain as producer [Farbain has worked with bands such as Aerosmith, bon Jovi and The Cranberries]. This is a very mixed album, not to be labeled under any specific style or type of music. It has two long pieces, over five or six minutes long, and some short ones. It covers the ample variety of music that Yes likes to compose. Even in Lightning Strikes there's a very Caribbean sound. We threw in every musical style that we liked and wanted. How would you describe the show that you're about to present in Costa Rica? SH: It will be a typical Yesshow, with all its elements. We'll select songs that cover every stage of our career. We'll also play four or five songs from the new album. It will be a very mixed show, but very balanced as well. What are your short term plans? SH: We come from Brazil and Venezuela. After Costa Rica we'll be headed for Mexico. Then we'll have a few weeks off and then we'll tour the U.S. for about two months until the end of the year. Next year we'll be in the UK during January and February and the we'll go down under to Australia. - - - - - - Live Concert Day: Saturday, September 18th Time: 9 PM Where: Discotheque Planet Mall, Mall San Pedro. Tickets: ¢10,000, ¢15,000 and ¢20,000. Sales: "Discoteca Auco Disco" (credit card only), "Pollo Campero" restaurants, "Planet Mall", "Bar PK2" and in "Studio Store" Organizers: ESP Productions. Tel. Number: 221-3155 and 223-3181. Close Window YesInThePress.com For site comments, problems, corrections, or additions, contact YesinthePress@aol.com