new interview

[luna65]

https://ramzine.co.uk/interviews/jon-davison-of-yes-continuing-with-the-quest/

Discussing Yes, Arc of Life, and John Lodge. A few interesting insights to be had, IMO.

[Enlighten]

He’s a good soldier, you have to give him that. Glad to hear him admit that H and E was Hell. That last bit though, about Yes reaching new musical heights, is both nauseating and fraudulent.

[Mr. Holland]

He’s a good soldier, you have to give him that. Glad to hear him admit that H and E was Hell. That last bit though, about Yes reaching new musical heights, is both nauseating and fraudulent.

You just wait untill that new album blows you out of the water!!

[bondegezou]

https://ramzine.co.uk/interviews/jon...ith-the-quest/

Discussing Yes, Arc of Life, and John Lodge. A few interesting insights to be had, IMO.

Nice. But why is it coming out now? That was done before the 2nd Arc of Life was released!

I note he call Emily his fiancé. So they're engaged now! Congrats Jon!

[John Vehadija]

Also is there a hit at Horizons great interview!

[TerryTT]

Also is there a hit at Horizons great interview!

I thought it was just me that was thinking that

[soundchaser09]

ooooo he said early next year (early 2023 release for the next album) goodie!!!

[Enlighten]

You just wait untill that new album blows you out of the water!!

I doubt if it will blow me out of my bath tub.😉

[downbyariver]

1. I thought it was interesting that it turns out that JD believes a lot of Yes' vocals to be technically out of the range of his natural singing voice. That had been an issue that both Trevor Horn and Benoit David had to face, and which ultimately resulted in issues performing the back catalog consistently over extended periods of time on the road.

Ten years into the Davison era, I think we all just kind of assumed meant that Davison was a rare male who naturally sang in the same range as Jon Anderson (Or maybe just those of us without formal musical training were assuming it.). It turns out, he has to work very hard behind the scenes to keep his vocals in shape to pull off doing what he does live- which I've read about plenty of times before, but assumed was just something some people who hadn't done it their entire lives had to do in order to provide optimal consistent singing performances demanding music for several hours a night the majority of each week for extended periods of touring.

I do think we can say with reasonable confidence that with Davison having done this for 10 years now, that it's very unlikely that he'll have similar issues to what Horn or David had, both of whom had issues surface in their first years with the band. If you can do it for 10 years, you can probably do it for 20 or 30 or beyond. I mean, notwithstanding the vocal injuries anyone could get, even Anderson (e.x. In the second part of the first decade of the century), and notwithstanding any potential age-related changes in vocal range, which, again, are things that could happen to anyone and aren't specific to Davison.


2. Another thing that I kind of picked on is that, it seemed to me, and this may just be an artifact of what I feel certain language might imply moreso than what certain language was actually consciously or subconsciously implying about the attitude of the speaker, but for the first time, I kind of feel like some members of Yes may have suspect that Roy Thomas Baker had issues with drugs, alcoholism, cognitive decline, distraction (Perhaps because of grief or some big family issue), or something of the like. I suppose the minimal way others said it, I just kind of felt like Baker didn't mesh with Yes because he had a laid back production style and that they needed a more active opinionated producer in the absence of Anderson (Though it's also worth noting that Baker and Yes had sessions that failed to produce an album in the 70s with Anderson), Horn, Rabin, etc. either to guide the ship or settle intra-band disputes. Now, Davison did explicitly say they needed Baker to steer the ship, so it's not so much that any additional implication diverges from the earlier reasons given, but it maybe adds some color depending on how one takes it.

This is just my feeling at this point, but I almost gather that there was something wrong with Baker doing the Heaven and Earth sessions, not just a mismatched pairing between a producer's style of production and a band's style of album production. Like, you get the feeling that whatever he was doing when he walked into the sessions with Yes in the 10s was not whatever he was doing with Queen in the 20th century, not just that Yes in the 10s needed a different approach from 20th century Queen.

Jon is very careful to show respect for Baker in general, I think what I am keying on is the "I am not sure what was going on with Roy Thomas Baker". You don't say that about someone who you believe is just acting as they normally would who you just don't mesh with well as a band. You say that about someone who is acting differently than you believe he's acted in the past.


3. Davison notes that Arc of Life gives he, Sherwood, and Schellen a chance to explore their "Yes West" side. I consider that a good sign for future Arc of Life albums. I like the two albums they've done a lot, but I actually mentioned in a discussion of the second album here on the site that I'd like to see them rock harder and do more 80isms given that Yes has moved away from that style, leaving the niche open to Arc of Life, and while in the specifics of how that would play out musically, we may or may not be on the same page, in general Arc of Life seems to perceive themselves similarly to where I'd like to see them land. I'd love to hear a big guitar opening at the beginning of the third album like "Owner of Lonely Heart" or "Heat of the Moment".


4. I don't know what "early [2023]" means per say, but it doesn't seem to contradict Henry's feeling that the album will be released in time for Yes' May touring.

My first inclination was to ask people here what they felt the timing would need to be on an album announcement in order to release an album in April or May, and if perhaps we might be running up against it relatively soon (As I type this, February is literally tomorrow).

However, in a world where Taylor Swift and others just seem to be able to release things with no advance notice, I guess the answer could be that an announcement would not need to be made until the second they released the album, assuming either a supply chain of physical media production and distribution that could keep things quiet, or an initial release to paid download and streaming services with physical releases to follow later.

It may help Yes, if they were to attempt such a thing, that they haven't made a secret of the fact that a new album is planned, so someone catching that some CD factory is producing CDs would not necessarily provide any more information than they've already given us (Except maybe a final look at the cover art and a track listing, if someone could snap a picture).

On the other hand, while the traditional media and social media provides Taylor Swift and people like her all the attention they need to move units with a surprise album drop, the traditional process by which bands release albums, with information trickling out and then press releases and street dates and so on and so forth, may be more necessary or useful for more of a niche act, especially one who's audience may not be entirely plugged into the Internet (I'm sure not *all* of Yes' ex-hippy fans are plugged into online Yes fandom. Some of the older ones may only have reluctantly opted the technology for specific purposes. Note that I'm not saying all- I know someone, now in her late 90s, who was one of the first people I knew on the Internet, back when she was in her late 60s. And, of course, a lot of this forum [and, I'm told, social media like Facebook, which I'm not on, but hear about from time to time] consists of people who are old enough to have seen Yes in the 1960s, 70s, and/or 80s, and obviously make a lot of use out of the Internet.).

[Gilly Goodness]

All good points DBAR.

Taylor Swift just seems to be in the news every day wether it's new music, new boyfriend , no boyfriend, beef, fashion, 24/7.

U2 have used Bono's memoir durin' Larry's recovery to tie in 40 reimagined songs to the book. Think that's turnin' out to be the Emperor's clothes situation. The reimaginin's are not that good/imaginative.

Big Big Train are soft landin' the new singer with 4 reimagined songs on new album Ingenious Devices. Out July. Already preorders available. Physical product first then streamin' a month later.

Same with Downes Braide Association. Delays to allow vinyl production first. Due April. These acts need physical media sales, over streamin'. They are niche. Like Marillion, have supporters who chip in.

YES are somewhere in between. Legendary band who are more niche nowadays. Roger Dean has the green light to drop paintin' videos. TQ charted pretty well so I see no change with the rollout. Singles dropped. Physical sales commenced. Vinyl. CDs. Streamin' later.

It is a buzzy time. Everyday Roger's FB is freshened up. Seems to be leanin' into sellin' digital prints of old stuff. Expect interviews with main players soon. Steve. Geoff. Steve seems happy to use the same orchestra, maybe the same engineer, same cover artist (wink),
hopefully his standards remain high.

Then we'll have the Relayer tour. Fingers crossed 😉


NB As a Gen Xer fan. Think most people in first world Western countries+Japan+Brazil+others are, regardless of age on the internet. From 3 year olds to 93 year olds. My late MotherinLaw was always on FB. The internet. It's everywhere. The thing I like about Steve is his mantra. He doesn't want success or hype to be undeserved. He ain't gonna push for a dumb, repetitive hit single/dance mix. Hopefully he'll want to expand Horizon(s) hehehheeee

[luna65]

3. Davison notes that Arc of Life gives he, Sherwood, and Schellen a chance to explore their "Yes West" side. I consider that a good sign for future Arc of Life albums. I like the two albums they've done a lot, but I actually mentioned in a discussion of the second album here on the site that I'd like to see them rock harder and do more 80isms given that Yes has moved away from that style, leaving the niche open to Arc of Life, and while in the specifics of how that would play out musically, we may or may not be on the same page, in general Arc of Life seems to perceive themselves similarly to where I'd like to see them land. I'd love to hear a big guitar opening at the beginning of album YESmusic like "Owner of Lonely Heart" or "Heat of the Moment".

I appreciate that at least Juano believes the YesWest aesthetic is still worth pursuing (but I imagine Billy does too). 👍

Potentially anyone could do a surprise drop these days, but it's only in pop(ular) music that it's worth the publicity boost/virality factor, IMO.

[Frumious B]

Why do Davison’s interview responses always read like someone trying to write a high school essay?

[luna65]

Because that's just the way JD expresses himself in writing? I mean, why does dbar write thesis-length posts?* Because that's the way his brain works.

* - I say this as one neurodivergent to another(?).

[Mr. Holland]

Why do Davison’s interview responses always read like someone trying to write a high school essay?

I'm sure he does it to get a rise out of you.....

[Frumious B]

I guess that’s a problem with these text interviews. Instead of reading like a normal, spontaneous conversation it reads like something canned.