On Facebook, X and Instagram… You asked… and he answered.
In this Q&A, Steve Howe answers questions from YESfans ahead of The Classic Tales of YES Tour 2024 – tickets available now!
#askYES: Steve Howe
Geoff Astle:
With so many different line-ups over the years what is the glue that holds the band together? What is that common thread that makes YES, YES?
Steve:
Simply to play and refresh YES music together! Perhaps there’s a special force that emitts from the music that enables us to make sacrifices in order to continue the legacy.
ილა სიხარულიძე:
Dear Steve, I would like to ask you what is your favourite progressive rock band apart from YES?
Steve:
Not especially prog ‘rock’ but: Dixie Dregs – Union Station – Weather Report – Mahavishnu Orchestra.
Joey Wise:
What guitars is Steve using on the tour?
Steve:
Oh, …… Gibson Artist, ES175 x 2, Fender Dual Professional steel, Martin MC38 SH, Portuguese 12 string, Fender Stratocaster…. Variax 600…
Bruno Vargas:
Steve Howe – do you have a practice routine on guitar? Please talk about your creative process on the instrument too.
Cheers from Brasil!
Steve:
I jam, I don’t strictly practice scales, only occasionally. I warm up playing solo guitar pieces and checking details in songs that need clarification, for at least a week before a tour.
Creative process? Life is pretty inspirational so I play, keep recordings, assemble and recorded structures, add melodies and complete a version of the music.
Bill Galetka:
What was the Heaven and Earth album originally going to be called? Roger Dean mentioned he had misheard or used the wrong title when doing the album art.
Steve:
I really can’t remember as Roger said that only once, he thought it was “……” which was similar to H&E. Sorry but that’s all I have.
Sean McCarthy:
Please tell about your cherry sunburst Gibson ES Artist. It’s a favorite of mine. Does it have the original pickups in it? What do you find most useful about its active electronics? And has it replaced your walnut ES345 live?
Steve:
Alright, it’s a very nice guitar, especially since Tim Stark and more recently Simon Thorn serviced it, they both worked through every aspect of the guitar, optimising it’s performance. Yes, it has its original pickups. The active aspect is nice too, adding or rolling off bass and treble, igniting the limiter, which is a powerful tool to raise the intensity of the sound, there’s added treble too but not often does one need that. It has stood in for the ES345 on occasions, I’m still experimenting with that idea. It jumped bands after years of it being used for Asia, then it had a holiday before Tim Stark renovated it. and I’ve been playing with YES now….
Stephen:
What model of Leslie cabinet was used for Steve’s sound on And You And I, and other YES classics? Also, any tips for mic’ing techniques?
Steve:
Model number ?? No idea, that was some time ago……… (!) It was just a standard Leslie cab’.
Modelling has replaced the micing up skills previously required but I know when we record Geoff on his Hammond Organ, Curtis puts a stereo pair of mics either side of the top outlets and a decent bass mic down the bottom – Bob’s your brain surgeon!
Donald Thompson:
What modern artists (if any) inspire you, and why?
Steve:
Late in the 80’s I discovered Alison Krauss and Union Station. Her singing and violin playing was complemented by Jerry, Ron, Dan and Barry to perfection. Sweet, exciting, colourful and swinging.
Guitarists like Julian Lage, Flavio Sala and Simon McBride inspire me greatly!
Lennon Ashton:
Hello Steve! I learned how to play “Turn of the Century” a little over a decade ago when I was a young teenager. I loved the challenge of learning it because of the improvisatory nature and how the guitar part tells the story. The ending to the song is one of my favourite excerpts of guitar music ever written.
Do you recall how you wrote that part and what guitar you used to play it on the album?
Steve:
I don’t remember much about writing the ending, I like it very much too! I’m fairly sure it’s played on my Martin 12 string. I particularly like dreaming up beginnings and endings and what happens between, of course!
Lennon:
Also, on the album version, after you strum the final chord, there are around 15 seconds of what sounds like a marimba in the background. I’ve always been curious about what that is.
Steve:
There’s a Fender Rhodes sound lurking about……but a marimba is possible…
Lennon:
One other question I have is why do you switch between your sunburst Variax 500 and your blue Variax 700 on different tours? I have both versions, so I was wondering if swapping them was because of sonic differences, or for variety. Thank you for being such an inspiration to me! Your multitude of compositional and technical expertise has truly allowed me to become a better musician over the years.
My current guitar rig is very much inspired by Steve Howe!
Steve:
Finally then, the blue Variax was a 700 Artist model. I prefer the 600, it looks nicer, it plays nicer and luckily, the balance between the strings on all the settings is equal.
Simon Malia:
How do you know when a song you’re working on is finished?
Steve:
If you mean in the recording, that’s a building process with events and gaps and opportunities to take advantage of, before it’s actually finished and mixed. When writing some music, one tries to have the parts put together nicely, if it’s a solo guitar piece then lots of practicing the playing of it must follow to raise it to performance level. You can easily revise more or less anything today.
– STEVE HOWE
The CLASSIC TALES OF YES Tour 2024
Hot on the heels of their hugely successful ‘Classic Tales Of Yes’ American Tour, YES, are poised to hit the road in Europe and the UK once more between April and June 2024.
‘The Classic Tales Of Yes Tour’ will see YES mining their rich catalogue to deliver a career spanning set of classics, rarely played vintage cuts and new songs from 1970’s ‘Time and a Word’ right up to ‘Mirror To The Sky’, their 23rd album released last year, together with a special section celebrating the 50th anniversary of their momentous ‘Tales From Topographic Oceans’ opus.
Every show will feature a Roger Dean gallery in the venue’s foyer area. Dean’s masterful artwork of striking other-worldly landscapes has graced classic album covers and posters. Roger is planning to be at each show on the tour, to meet with fans.
2024 Tour Dates:
Date
Venue
Tickets
Tuesday 30 April, 2024
Sagres Campo Pequeno
Lisbon, Portugal
Show rescheduled from 2023, all tickets remain valid.
Lisbon, Portugal
Show rescheduled from 2023, all tickets remain valid.
Zurich, Switzerland
Show rescheduled from 2023, all tickets remain valid.
Arnheim, Netherlands
Show rescheduled from 2023, all tickets remain valid.
Mönchengladbach, Germany
Show rescheduled from 2023, all tickets remain valid.
Paris, France
Show rescheduled from 2023, all tickets remain valid.
Manchester
Show rescheduled from 2023, all tickets remain valid.
Glasgow
Show rescheduled from 2023, all tickets remain valid.
Liverpool
Show rescheduled from 2023, all tickets remain valid.
Southend
Show rescheduled from 2023, all tickets remain valid.
Birmingham
Show rescheduled from 2023, all tickets remain valid.
Gateshead
Show rescheduled from 2023, all tickets remain valid.
VIP Tour Package
- Limited Edition Roger Dean Print
- Exclusive YES Coaster Set
- Commemorative Tour Laminate
- Limited Availability
VIP Tour Package can be purchased as an upgrade from On Location Live.
Please note the VIP Tour Package does not include a concert ticket. If you do not purchase a concert ticket in addition to this upgrade, you will not be admitted to the event.
