------------------------------------------------------- APRIL 8, 2001 ------------------------------------------------------- Source: Elsewhere Interviews: Best of 1977 (reprinted 2001) http://www.elsew.com/data/best77.htm Jon Anderson and the miracle of Olias By Hervé Picard Transcribed and translated from French by: Ivar de Vries Intro Anderson wasn't really a soloist, but the politics of solo-albums adopted by Yes gave him the opportunity to reach the top of his musical aspirations and alone among Yesmen he dared to realise an album that was truly solo, no doubt because he's the only true composer of the band. "Olias of Sunhillow" remains a kind of pinnacle of the genre, and especially a demonstration that virtuosity is a notion that will change in meaning and in application. A modest singer and rhythm guitarist, Anderson set out to use everything he could play and to do it simply, like his friend Vangelis would say, because he had something truthful to say. At the time of his recent visit to Paris, we asked him to give a progress report on this experiment. Anderson: It was a very interesting experiment and to me very enriching as it forced me to learn, not to be satisfied with what I had been, to try to go beyond myself. When I did it the fact of being entirely in charge of what I made, being in control was more alluring than being under this control myself. Nothing or nobody claimed ownership of ideas, not even myself, they all occurred inside me. It is a fantastic experiment, one which enhances the personality enormously. At the beginning, I had only scant knowledge of keyboards or percussions, but I did not seek to play something so definite that it would have required a great technique, I let myself go and my ideas were bounded by the limits of my possibilities while always pushing these limits a little further back. "Olias of Sunhillow" is by far what gave me the most, speaking on the individual and personal level. Not that it should be a starting point for my future. I think that this experiment will be continued, in a few years undoubtedly. I had the feeling by doing this album to be on the right path. That doesn't mean to say that I don't believe in bands anymore, no. There is music which is done collectively and music which is done individually. When I make music for Yes, it is normal that it is Yes who play it, that's what it's made for. But when music is really personal, the ideal is to be able to carry it all by yourself. I could make "Olias" with musicians and the new record would undoubtedly be better, technically more successful, and I could still remake it and again still with others and it would always be different, but the idea of "Olias" which comes from me and which I like most would remain connected to the first album, this one that I've made, because it is closest to my idea and my feeling. I do not claim to be a master of the keyboards or percussions but I find that what I've pulled off attracts me and sounds right. What counts is not the technical ability, but the accuracy of what one does at the moment when it is done, however modest that might be. There is indeed at this moment a movement of solo-musicians but I believe that it only exists by virtue of the existence of the synthesizer. Without that, nothing would be possible. In this one should not see a worrying increase in the importance of the ego, or a new rise of the idea of a composer. There's only a new way to manage to express the music which people have in their heads, nothing more. Whether it calls upon musicians or a synthesizer to carry it out, doesn't really make a difference when the result fits well with what was required. Epilogue The modesty of Anderson is great, but "Olias" puts things in the right perspective. The result really is out there, but it must be judged in words other than those which one normally uses for a band. Whereas Yes are plodding along somewhat, Anderson found a way new to him which, as if by chance, does not by-pass the band but only the ego; and based on all the evidence the comparison favours the solo-work. The album by Yes, average sounding, smells of a compromise between different egos, whereas the one by Anderson knows no bounds, the liberated ego continues audaciously on its way. Sooner or later, we can believe that Anderson will leave Yes, because he has found himself an individual dimension that any collective vocation would only make weaker. Times are changing and pushing all of us to move with them. "Olias of Sunhillow", that small miracle of music, has fatally started the demise of the band. Close Window YesInThePress.com For site comments, problems, corrections, or additions, contact YesinthePress@aol.com