{"id":4058,"date":"2011-11-01T10:37:25","date_gmt":"2011-11-01T17:37:25","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/mmusicmag.com\/m\/?p=4058"},"modified":"2011-11-01T10:37:25","modified_gmt":"2011-11-01T17:37:25","slug":"yes","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/mmusicmag.com\/m\/2011\/11\/yes\/","title":{"rendered":"YES"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"<\/a>YES<\/h2>\n

For Chris Squire, life in a progressive-rock giant means perpetual change<\/strong><\/h2>\n

A total of 16 musicians have\u00a0counted themselves members of the rock powerhouse Yes since the group\u2019s formation in England more than 40 years ago. At the center of this whirlwind of constant inconstancy has been bass player Chris Squire, who has carried the group\u2019s flame through changes in lineup and style, as well as periods of dormancy and uncertainty. \u201cIt\u2019s a bit of a revolving door,\u201d acknowledges Squire with a chuckle. That said, the group has seemingly avoided the bitterness of most rock-band membership shifts\u2014a total of six players have at some point left the group and later returned. \u201cEveryone who\u2019s ever been in the band has brought something to it,\u201d he says. \u201cThere\u2019s no\u00a0one who\u2019s passed through Yes who I\u00a0wouldn\u2019t work with again.\u201d<\/p>\n

But Fly From Here<\/em>, the group\u2019s first studio effort since 2001\u2019s Magnification<\/em>, comes with a bitter pill for many band loyalists to swallow: Founding lead singer Jon Anderson is absent from a new Yes album for the only time since 1980\u2019s Drama<\/em>. Present are longtime members Squire, guitarist Steve Howe, drummer Alan White and new singer Beno\u00eet David (who replaced Anderson in 2008), as well as the return of two Drama<\/em> veterans: Fly From Here<\/em> producer Trevor Horn, who sang on that album, and keyboardist Geoff Downes. \u201cIf it ends up sounding like Yes, then it ends up sounding like Yes,\u201d figures Squire\u2014and the new album does, right down to the latest of the group\u2019s trademark epic suites, the\u00a0six-part \u201cFly From Here.\u201d London native Squire spoke with us from Phoenix, Ariz., his home since 2008.<\/p>\n

What happened with Jon Anderson? <\/strong><\/p>\n

After the Magnification<\/em> album, we were touring for a couple of years and a bit. Following that Jon became ill with respiratory problems, so we took some downtime while he was figuring that out. Then the next thing we knew it was 2008, and Jon was up for doing this tour that we had planned. We were just about to go into rehearsals when he got really sick again, so we had to cancel that tour. At that time we made the decision to bring in Beno\u00eet David to sing so the band would be able to carry on working. We went out on the road for a couple of years with Beno\u00eet, and that brought us up to 2010. Then I said \u201cOK, let\u2019s make a new album.\u201d<\/p>\n

How did Beno\u00eet fit in?<\/strong><\/p>\n

We had to go through a period of time of putting him through the paces. It\u2019s not an easy job to be lead singer in Yes, so we had to know he was going to stay the course. We wanted to know he was the right choice to carry on to the point of making new music with him. Fortunately it all worked out.<\/p>\n

What has he brought to the group? <\/strong><\/p>\n

He\u2019s very enthusiastic, and he has a really good voice. He has a lot of energy for stage work, and I\u2019m very happy with his performance on the new album. It was just a question of him getting up to the standard we wanted, and he pulled it off. I\u2019ve encouraged him to try and start writing music as well, and he wrote a little on the new album.<\/p>\n

What was the writing like?<\/strong><\/p>\n

We got together in Phoenix around April 2010 and brought in ideas of songs we had. We hammered out a few things and made demos. Probably about half of what we did ended up on the album. Then I got together with Trevor Horn to ask if he\u2019d be interested in producing the album. We started talking about the track \u201cWe Can Fly,\u201d that we\u2019d written back in 1980 for the Drama<\/em> album but didn\u2019t actually record. That got the ball rolling. We started adding other ideas, embellished the track and made it into a much longer piece of music. We added other bits of music that Trevor and\u00a0Geoff Downes had written.<\/p>\n

Do you write on bass? <\/strong><\/p>\n

When I write on bass it\u2019s probably more likely to be riffs. When I\u2019m writing actual songs it\u2019s more often on the keyboard or\u00a0an acoustic guitar.<\/p>\n

What basses are on the record?<\/strong><\/p>\n

My old faithful Rickenbacker, which I\u00a0used a couple of different tones on\u2014a few effects, tremolos and envelope shapers.\u00a0I dug up an old Dutron pedal from the \u201970s, which is kind of an envelope shaper. I also used my Tobias four-string bass, which [luthier Michael Tobias] custom-made for me. It goes as low as a five-string. It\u2019s tuned B-E-A-D, so it\u2019s tuned down a fourth from a normal bass. The neck is really long to get that low B. I also used a Lakland bass on one of the tracks, which is\u00a0kind of like a Fender Jazz, and a Martin\u00a0acoustic bass on a track.<\/p>\n

How about amps?<\/strong><\/p>\n

I used the same setup I\u2019ve used for a long time. I still use a Marshall 100-watt in the studio, and that\u2019s all I use. When I play live, I use the same Marshall 100-watt, but I also have an Ampeg backup\u2014a couple of 8×10 cabinets and an Ampeg SVT amp. I run them both so that in case something goes down there\u2019s always one still working.<\/p>\n

Do you think ahead to how the songs will translate live? <\/strong><\/p>\n

A bit, though I\u2019ve just realized that in the\u00a0big suite there is one part where I\u2019m playing the Rickenbacker, then in the next section it\u2019s the Tobias and there\u2019s no time to change basses. (laughs<\/em>) So I\u2019m going to have to figure out that one. I was talking to my tech the other day about getting some kind of stand to put the\u00a0Tobias bass on.<\/p>\n

Do you still practice?<\/strong><\/p>\n

Not really\u2014only inasmuch as I\u2019ll sit down at home and be fiddling around with an acoustic guitar or a bass with a general notion in my\u00a0head of writing something. This year we\u2019ve been doing shows and making this album, so I\u2019ve been playing quite a lot anyway. We\u2019ve had only a very small\u00a0amount of downtime.<\/p>\n

How has your playing evolved? <\/strong><\/p>\n

My technique has changed slightly. I\u2019ve developed a way of playing with my right hand where I still use a pick, but a millisecond after the pick hits the string my thumb hits the string as well. That way I get an attack and a smooth release on the note. That\u2019s something I\u2019ve developed over years of playing, the positioning of the pick and my thumb. I\u2019ve found myself doing that more and more, and now pretty much I do that all the time. It gradually developed.<\/p>\n

How has the band endured? <\/strong><\/p>\n

We\u2019ve obviously gotten into a lot of people\u2019s blood somehow, enough to have maintained a foothold in their memories. What\u2019s starting to happen now, and has been happening over the last year, is that there\u2019s a much greater percentage of young fans who now are coming to the shows. Obviously I think it\u2019s great that today\u2019s teenagers are showing an interest in coming to see a Yes show. That makes me feel good.<\/p>\n

\u2013Chris Neal<\/p>\n

\n

\u2018We\u2019ve obviously gotten into a lot of people\u2019s blood and maintained a foothold in their memories.\u2019<\/h2>\n<\/blockquote>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

YES For Chris Squire, life in a progressive-rock giant means perpetual change A total of 16 musicians have\u00a0counted themselves members of the rock powerhouse Yes since the group\u2019s formation in England more than 40 years ago. At the center of this whirlwind of constant inconstancy has been bass player Chris Squire, who has carried the […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[7],"tags":[2725,2682,2726,970,2724],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/mmusicmag.com\/m\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4058"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/mmusicmag.com\/m\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/mmusicmag.com\/m\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mmusicmag.com\/m\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mmusicmag.com\/m\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=4058"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/mmusicmag.com\/m\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4058\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":4060,"href":"https:\/\/mmusicmag.com\/m\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4058\/revisions\/4060"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/mmusicmag.com\/m\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=4058"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mmusicmag.com\/m\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=4058"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mmusicmag.com\/m\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=4058"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}