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MARCH 24, 2004
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Source: Artisan News Services
http://www.artisannewsservice.com/FileBase/SubscriberWeekly/04_03_24/STEVE_HOWE_YES_FEATURE.htm
Steve Howe: The Busiest Guitarist That Side of the Pond?
By Darren Davis
Let it be said now: summing up the career of Steve Howe is by no means an
easy task. Outside of his influential work with progressive rock champions
Yes, and his two-album stint with Asia, Howe has released over 20 solo
albums to his name, and has worked with more high-profile acts than most
artists in the music world than many of his contemporaries. Artisan News
Service caught up with Howe earlier this year, and interviewed him
regarding all things Howe, including his latest work with his new group
Steve Howe’s Remedy, as well as Yes happenings, among other things.
Artisan News Service: Does Steve Howe’s Remedy contrast with the way things
work in Yes?
Steve Howe: It does contrast with the way things work in Yes because
there’s so much mechanics and machinery to get us all together in one
place. Now, that shouldn’t seem like that because we all live in different
places, so of course actually all of us have to travel. Sometimes we all
work out a solution where we all have to travel so that nobody is lucky
enough to be sitting in their house while we’re working. But groups are
more complicated anyway. Any solo artist will tell you that it’s a piece of
cake running your own affairs but when you’re running in collaboration with
other people and certainly when they’re living in other countries and be
guided by management, and that’s what helps us try to keep the ball rolling.
ANS: And, you know, obviously doing the solo thing, this isn’t the first
foray into this. How does Elements compare in your mind to some of your
other work?
SH: I don’t know if it’s quite different in as far as really taking… well,
on my first few albums, I didn’t play keyboards or anything like that… play
bass, so I kind of feel that I’ve got uncluttered now and I’m not so
involved in every instrument. Ya know, I’m involved in the fact of getting
it recorded. But I guess what I’m saying is that I’m looking at Elements a
little bit like the grand scheme of things which I kind of try to give a
new look to my solo work, although it did draw from my first two albums as
well. I think Elements is about looking at my career though a different
perspective- looking at it as a creative thing that started in the 60s and
what music I was listening to then, and what music could be a translation
of that into today’s music. That was the thing I was looking for after Bee
Sting and Smoke Silver. I was looking for tracks that in some way told the
story about how I listened and got influenced by not just the Chet Atkins,
and the classical, and all that side of life, but very much more the rock
and the blues and the jazz. So I wanted to let that out- the cat out of the
bag, so to speak.
ANS: Listening to the Elements album, I mean, it’s probably one of the
more eclectic albums that I’ve heard in quite a long time. Was that a
conscious thing, or was it just the way these songs were written?
SH: Well, I guess I can’t help being whatever it is I am; you think I’m
eclectic- that’s great. I guess that my music has got quite personalized
and stylized around the kind of way I’m writing at the moment. But because
of the influences I was drawing from, and singing a song like “Where I
Belong” and playing guitar instrumentals like “Sand Devil,” you know it’s
all quite different. I think I look at my electric guitar work as my main
inspiration to the guitar, and the side effect of that was the Chet Atkins
and the mellow side and, you know, lots of other things. But the essentials
are rock, jazz, and blues.
ANS: I also wanted to find out as far as working with your family members
on the Elements album. What was that experience like, and I wanted to get a
feel for them, and how you look at them as musicians?
SH: It’s a hard story to tell or encapsulate- I’ll try, and that is, when
they were young and wanted to mash around on drums and keyboards, you know,
I was there to sort of like play with them, and I thought that was great
fun. And as they got more serious, then I’d say “well, look. If you wanna
play this, well… try… I’ll play this and you see how you do that kind of
thing…” So I helped them a little bit to, you know, cross certain little
bridges. But most of it was done by their own enthusiasm. So now they’ve
had time to play in their own groups and do intense work with Gabriel; he’s
a great successful European singer. He’s been with Ian … and Blockhead, and
even though Ian has passed away, he was with the band all that time and
he’s also got his own quartet- he’s got his own quartet, which is a jazz
thing. But he’s doing sessions and gigs and things, so they’ve built up a
career and the sales virtue and he’s done the Yes remix album and he’s got
his own group called Birds of Trio, and he’s versatile- he’s very strong
band people. So, being involved in the album was quite easy. It’s automatic
for us to work together ‘cause in fact Dylan’s played on all my… all the
drumming requirements on my last 10 years of solo albums, so he’s been on
Quantum Guitar and everything from the grand scheme of things forward. So
that’s been great, but to align that more into being, ‘cause it’s really
exciting to be doing Westwinds and Pacific Haze and say that’s the kind of
music that Dylan likes. So, in a way, it was an exchange of enjoyment you
know, because I wanted to do the tracks. But when I really had my fill into
them, and then Virgil had his ingredients to bring- the singing and his
keyboard playing and his (inability?) to play drums, unfortunately, because
Dylan’s own is his Dad. So really, expanding the group to Derek Taylor and
Gilad Axman and later to a 7-piece brass, you know, it’s just the things we
could do in the studio, but we know that basic core of the group can go on
stage and play. And it could explore not only Elements but my whole solo
repertoire, and that’s something obviously I’m forward to. So the reason
Remedy is there- that name, Steve Howe’s Remedy, is to start that
direction- to start seeing a different side of my solo career where it
isn’t just me as a solo guitarist that you think of when you play Skyline-
that would be what you think of, obviously Steve (would have wind of it?).
But now, I’m more entrenched in the idea of even how to play music. First
of all, it could be like Elements, but then it could be like anything
that’s (under…?).
ANS: What’s the trick to balancing the solo career and also balancing your
commitments to Yes?
SH: Like, I guess it’s all about determination, because if I wasn’t so
determined I suppose I wouldn’t be so prevalent in releasing an album every
year or two. But I guess what I’m interested in is quality, and when I
release an album it’s got that quality, but certainly mixing it I can see
times when I’m not able to give much to my solo career so when I can, I
give a lot, and I jump in when John had his unfortunate accident last
Christmas, which meant that we had to change our Australian and Japan tours
from March to September. That enabled me to see that I could do Elements in
that period- I most probably couldn’t have done it if that hadn’t happened.
So I’m still working with the circumstances that Yes offered me, and Yes is
a priority. But I’m able to fit in some pretty… I’m not totally a
workaholic, I’ve just had a month where I haven’t done a great deal of hard
hard work. But I’ve just two or three months, so I keep myself a bit of a
break.
ANS: I definitely, definitely think so. And getting back to what you’re
presently working on and, it never ceases to amaze me, the quality- not
only of the music, but of the whole package with everything that you’re
ever associated with. Where does that ethic come from, to give fans… you
know, the music is great but, more than the music?
SH: I guess… when Roger [Dean] worked with Yes, and we had Michael Tape
doing the lights and Colair Brothers doing the sound, we actually realized
that success went hand in hand with the opportunity to work with other
brilliant people.
ANS: How does touring back in the day compare with touring now, and is
there a different mindset?
SH: Yeah- yeah I think without a different mindset, you know we’re all
burned out. Most probably there are musicians, maybe there’s one… whose
never changed his mindset, but I think most of us have in one way or
another. And I think that’s partly because in the 70s there was a lot of
new kind of work- big tours were kind of new to us; some of em’ burned the
hell out of us when we toured so much. And then somebody said to me, a
chiropractor said ‘well, you just can’t keep doing this. You have to find a
better way of doing this’ because you keep coming back with back problems.
It was mainly because I was leaping about the stage and doing erratic,
crazy bending over and twisting the guitar headstock on the stage- just
this weird stuff I was doing was causing me. So, you know I not only
changed my mindset to go on where I wasn’t so full of excitement, more full
of reserved enthusiasm for the show, and I use meditation and other sort of
simple, pure sort of things that make you relax as opposed to heightened
up, you know. And so you know, that stimulus is a kind of narrowing. So you
go on stage for the past 10 years or something- I guess I’ve gone on stage
without the nervous stomach, without the kind of euphoria that ‘I don’t
know what’s gonna happen- anything could happen.’ I’ve gotten more
confident that I can see the show in front of me, I’ve done a sound check,
the guitars are in tune; I can just get on with it. So the flow into that
is marvelous, but it takes preparation, and that’s about control, and
that’s about not understanding your own limitations.
ANS: And sort of along those same lines, I mean, I always wanted to ask you
‘what do you think is the biggest misconception that people have of you?’
SH: Hmmm hmmm… that’s an interesting question. Well, I guess more people
see from an… I don’t think you can hide in this world. You know, I think
what you are is what you are and what people see is partly colored by what
they want to see. So sure, a guitarist up on a stage with a shiny guitar
playing his backside off… it might seem like kind of, you know, like
something that it isn’t. Um, I’m not really prepared to break that myth. I
like the mystery of for the relationship. Having said that, I hope what
they see is an honest person. I’m really interested in that as a virtue- I
try to be honest about things. But I think that honesty covers realism as
well. So I think if people see me, maybe they think I’m a snob or, you
know, they think I talk partial, you know. There might be things along the
way that I guess I picked up that I can rattle on a bit too much or become
enthusiastic. I recommend my words (-incomprehensible-) because I’m not…
although I love doing interviews and I like talking to people enthused by
my music, I don’t necessarily argue that a musician is the best person to
talk about music, because we play it.
ANS: And, certainly along those same lines, I think that being a Yes fan
and being a fan of Asia and being a fan of your work, I think that-
personally I don’t think that you get the respect you deserve and I don’t
think that Yes gets the respect that it deserves. Why do you think that is?
SH: Well, this is a bit of an ongoing chestnut about… I guess years ago we
used to use Pink Floyd as an example. You know, ‘Have we done the Wall
yet?’ you know, ‘have we got our Wall?’ You know, it’s just the Wall. Kind
of looking for something that’s so big that we could break through and gain
more recognition and gain more security because of that and relax a little
and not have to work maybe quite as hard as we sometimes do- all those
things are appealing. But um, and they might answer- but also there’s
something, if you could use the word ‘diversive’ about Yes. Yes looked like
the kind of band that wasn’t going to go for regular kinds of commercial
success. You know, we were kind of amused… I don’t know how imaginary this
is, but certainly we didn’t try in the 70s to be commercial. No, obviously
that’s slightly different in the 80s, when I wasn’t there. But in the 70s,
because we didn’t, I reckon we didn’t play ball enough with the whole world
of industry. You know, Yes were a kind of specialized group, you know. And
although we got big and sold out sixteen nights consecutively at, or hold
the record at Madison Square Gardens for the most sellouts over the years.
But be that as it may, we love our audience. And in a way, I don’t’ mind
that they’re slightly eclectic themselves- that’s it not a wide, mass world
of the whole world adoring Yes. I mean I would like that. My bank manager
would like that. But, you know, all I can say is that it’s not an essential
goal.
The real goal is to make great music for people who will listen to it. And
if the world can’t catch up with it, or so we’ve missed the boat from
Roundabout or Owner of a Lonely Heart you know, we had to look in at
various hit’s successes. And, but for some reason, it’s kind of weird that,
and I’m not disrespectful to people who’ve have so much adoration like Eric
Clapton has on the guitar or Jimi Hendrix. I don’t envy that. I don’t need
that as a live ingredient. But there are times when obviously people like
yourself and you’ve said it, people have said to me, you know, it’s a kind
of shame that people on a wider scale can’t appreciate Yes. Certainly John
Anderson would agree with you, and John’s always been championing some sort
of way to expand the audience but I … would want to do that if there’s any
compromise to our real fans. So there’s a dilemma. There’s an artistic and
commercial pitting where you can’t go too far this way, or … but we’ve
gotta do the right thing. And I guess the right thing is looking after the
people who already like us.
ANS: Definitely think that- and I also want to touch upon another phase of
your career. I want to touch upon Asia. I want to know, how do you look
back on that, and what are your thoughts on it now?
SH: Well, when I look back, I just see that first album and I remember us
going in every evening to help them put final details to the mixing that
Mike Stone was doing for the record, and at that time not all of us were
happy. We were… this record really came out how we wanted it- that record
is what we wanted, what we all wanted. Everything about it was complete. It
was detailed, incredibly detailed in mixing terms for a 1982 record. So, we
were so happy with the record but the fact that it was a hit was just like
‘wow, this is the icing- the real icing on the cake;’ I mean, everybody
else liked it. So, but the sadness there is that we weren’t guided by
management particularly, and most probably the label too, you know, the
direction, sorry- We were diverted to a ‘hits reel’ thought process you
know, where every song of the album could be like ‘could this be a hit
single,’ you know. And that wasn’t really the view of the first album.
Fortunately, we had to (use) the moment, and we were very confident of that
and any time we tell was gonna be great. But, the trouble making the second
album was the trouble mixing it, because in the end, the band didn’t
particularly like the way it came out. And basically, that was the sadness
with it is that, I think sensed then that this was going to be a struggle
to keep going. You know, we tried working together on the third album but
then John decided that he as uncomfortable with me. And I just kind of felt
then that if we weren’t going to get any guidance and help though this
thing, we were going to lose, really, the authentic Asia- the original and
the authentic Asia. And in way, we can’t get that back because until Geoff
and I… I mean I’ve worked with Geoff on a few of the albums… Aqua record
and I see it on one or two other tracks with him because I like the guy,
you know, I particularly like Geoff, so that’s a great relationship. But
Geoff and I would have to believe that Carl and John would just be able to
do it, or somehow we’d all be able to do it the same, and like it for the
same reasons and enjoy it for the same reasons if we ever got back
together. But until Geoff and I believe that, it’s gonna be hard to think
that we could. So although it’s about 20 years since the first album, in
the first couple of years there was so much activity and then, kind of,
it’s got very dormant, and I don’t even know really what Geoff and John
Payne are doing with Asia at the moment. But you know, it’s not easy
without the original nametag, you know.
ANS: Now, I mean, this album’s been released through Inside Out and Yes has
got their deals, but it seems like in general, the music industry at least
here in America is in pretty big trouble. Being a music industry veteran,
what do you think is wrong with the music industry, and if you could change
it and fix it, what do you think the answers are?
SH: Well, I listened to the radio program about three months ago where
they were describing a new kind of label that was getting into classical- I
can’t quite remember the name or it might have been Aura or something like
that, but what they basically said was that these people got their sort of
backing. And what they do is they talk to their artists, and they allow
their artists to own the recording, and license it to them- to a lease. But
they still own the recording and in ten years they get the recording back.
So, in a way, that’s like the sensible way things are being done. In fact,
that’s how a lot of labels that are successful at the moment are
appreciating the need for an artist to have control over his own work, not
just to buy it for perpetuity.
So, that’s one of the main changes that seems to help. But also facing up
to what the internet is, and obviously I’m against people downloading CDs
or music from the internet. I don’t do it myself, and I refuse to because
in a way, what kind of example am I? So I don’t do it, and I don’t go into
CD shops and steal CDs. And I’m sure that people that load down music don’t
do it, but it’s really the same. And it’s about time they woke up and said,
you know, this is really just asking for free bread everyday. You know,
this is just asking- for like a free car. You go in a garage and say ‘look,
you got a car. Why can’t I have it?’ Well the reason you can’t have it is
because somebody had to build it, and it’s the same with music- you have to
build the music. I sit in a studio for hours, you know, and I write the
music, I record the music, I finesse the music. You know, that- that
deserves- it’s my work. And if somebody takes the work away from you, it’s
obviously not fair. So my preaching session being over, I would say that
labels need to understand the internet- work with it, work out the deals
like they are doing, heading in a good direction I think, as long as we can
get rid of the stealing. And that is about public conscience, more than
whose got what available. I mean, you know, there’s all sorts of awful
things available, do I go there? No. Why? Because I have choice. So
everybody has choice, use your choice, look after the acts that you like,
because they’re not going to make music if you steal, you know, and they’re
not going to continue to if you steal it. It’s like going to a theater and
expecting free seats- sorry. I’m really sorry about that! But you have to
pay, because it takes a fortune to get these guys just to come into town.
You know, because they’ve got equipment and they’ve got a roadie and
they’ve got all this gear. So it’s about appreciation. So labels are, as a
kind of at the mercy, if you will, of how the public conscience is able to
digest the need for music, and usually we pay.
ANS: I agree. I also think it has to do with sometimes artists not seeing
the big picture. I mean, you mentioned it before- that you missed the whole
album covers and the artistic- I think a lot of people don’t really
scrutinize. I don’t know if they have the control over it, but they, you
know, there’s something lacking in the whole packaging and the whole
imaging thing, and maybe this has to do with labels. I mean, artist
development seems to be a thing of the past.
SH: Since the 80s, the labels have had a lot more to do with what they are
prepared to by and what they’re prepared to help design or front. So,
producers have had more power because we became more relying on producing
music, so in a way it’s a kind of kickback from doing it yourself is
finding out the labels don’t want you doing it yourself sometimes because,
you know, it’s gotta work for them. And, I guess those controls have had
some negative effects because of nurturing artists, and it’s all been said
before. I don’t think I could say anything new about it.
ANS: And, I just wanted to see what’s kind of on the agenda for you.
SH: Well in March, which I hope to be doing my Remedy European and UK
dates. And then in April and May, Yes will be doing dates in America as yet
announced, but there’s gonna be time to be part of the campaign that has to
do with the 35th anniversary release, you know, of the Greatest Hits of Yes
kind of thing. Which contains a bonus CD, I must add, that isn’t available
in Europe and the rest of the world, due to the fact that it’s coming out
in the rest of the world without the bonus tracks, so that comes out. We
tour special dates in America possibly- or not possibly, but definitely
with Roger Dean’s stage. So they’re going to be special event shows. And
then we’re going to come to Europe and do the same thing here in June and
early July. And then, if I can, I’m going to do some touring with Remedy in
the states after a break, and then Yes will start doing some recording as
the year goes on. And um, we’re recording a new album, with Rick and taking
our time, I hope, in making great music.
ANS: One thing I wanted to ask you was um, you know, I think that the Yes
album is definitely in one of my top 5, and I think it’s again, with Yes,
itself it’s definitely an underrated album. I mean, when did you know that
the Yes album would be a great album?
SH: Well, I mean, while we were recording it.
ANS: Yeah. Was there any particular moment in the studio, or, maybe even
during playback, or…?
SH: I think the first time we felt that was when we were writing it in the
country, and we were playing “Yours is No Disgrace” and we decided
lyrically that this was going to be a good composition, because everybody
had put so many things into it. And that gave the spirit of Yes a whole new
look. And “Yours is No Disgrace” was like the opening of the Yes Album, and
it’s definitely the opening of that whole period. So I guess we sensed that
when we started writing it and rehearsing it in the farmhouse in the
country. But certainly when I took it home after finishing it and played it
on a mono record player, it sounded so quirky, I thought two things: I
thought ‘nobody is going to like this at all’ or ‘you know what, it could
be so quirky, people will like it.’
ANS: -kind of deal. And, one thing we have is, we have a special tour
section vignettes, and I wanted to see if there’s any particular moment out
on the road in your history that has been, pardon my French, particularly
f--ked up.
SH: Well, one of the things that is kind of obvious is of course miles, and
the way you do those miles, on a bus or on a plane or as I do in a car, you
know. That is something that, like, isn’t ever ‘suddenly’ amusing or
‘suddenly’ dramatic. But if you look over the overall thing, since I don’t
feel that I’m under a whole lot of stress about other things when I’m on
tour, I would say just getting those miles done- they’re so endless. They
never end. And when you’re in Europe, it’s better because they’re in
kilometers, and they come in go quicker. You know you’ve got two hundred
kilometers. I mean, 100 kilometers is like 60 miles or something. So you
see those hundreds go down real quick. But when you’re watching 60 miles go
down, you know, it’ going down slow. But I do love driving, and I’ll never
stop doing my tours by road. But, I would say that although it’s not a
dramatic, sudden event like as it did with Yes once: the round stage stop
going round and the lights went on and the show stopped. You know, that was
kind of pretty dramatic and worrying because we were in the middle, and we
couldn’t hide anywhere! But, I, we’ve had other problems; you know, roadies
going completely nuts, (……..) down the hall, in the hotel, you know, we’ve
had the crazy moments. But I would say it’s the miles that keep coming.
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