Progressive/Art rock's topics - tribe.net

not good news

2008-06-10T14:53:25Z

http://www.reuters.com/article/entertainmentNews/idUSN0439923020080604?feedType=RSS&feedName=entertainmentNews

posted in Progressive/Art rock - 6 replies

Torrent via UNIX shell?

2008-06-10T04:46:32Z

a) Primary targets Van der Graaf Generator, Gentle Giant and (early) Genesis.

b) Anybody? I would like to download torrents via UNIX, mostly Free BSD, SGI & Debian, via shell, when on travel. X Windows connection seems awkward. My default is Azureus eeepc.

c) Any good resoources for Art Zoyd, Art Bears, Univers Zero and Magma?

d) I would use ftp (warez) or USENET but find the services evaporating and newsgroups gone. I use newzbot.

posted in Progressive/Art rock - 1 reply

Bruford

2008-06-04T06:22:13Z

I just pulled out some of my old music, and found something I forgot I even had. Anybody else remember Bruford's Beelzebub, Sahara in the Snow? If you haven't heard it, give it a listen.

posted in Progressive/Art rock - 16 replies

Hello, I am am new. Love the old "Peter Gabrial Genesis "

2008-06-03T17:22:05Z

I really got into the Live box set for The Lamb. They the master of their game in those days before Gabrial burned out. They just needed to take a break for a while to bad for us. It made mindless Pop fans happy,

posted in Progressive/Art rock - 0 replies

For those who love Yes

2008-05-30T06:53:40Z

http://www.theonion.com/content/node/30060

posted in Progressive/Art rock - 5 replies

Gentle Giant Heaven

2008-05-14T10:26:42Z

Hi:

Just thought I'd post a couple of wonderful clips of some of their live performances I found on youtube.com:

On Reflection (from Freehand):
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xcnvfoyA9rA

The Runaway (from In a Glass House):
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6Dpk0dB1a24&mode=related&search=

There's tons more of these clips available on youtube. I'm a huge fan of this band and as I've never seen them perform live, it's pure joy to now have access to this stuff.

Enjoy!

posted in Progressive/Art rock - 23 replies

interview with Sitar Player Stephan Mikes

2008-04-22T17:21:07Z

Although many Westerners have been fascinated by the sitar, Stephan Mikes one of the few who have undergone the years of rigorous one-on-one training in classical Indian music necessary to do justice to this ancient instrument. As a primary student of sitar master Roop Verma, Stephan is part of a teaching lineage that goes back over 600 years and includes Pandit Ravi Shankar and Ustad Ali Akbar Khan. He combines his knowledge of Eastern music with the influence of Latin, Middle Eastern, Afro-Cuban, and Carribean rhythms to create compositions which are unique and compelling. In addition to the sitar, Mikes proficient on guitar, zither, mandolin, lap steel guitar and various types of synthesizers.

My Interview with Sitar Player Stephan Mikes:
http://www.cincygroove.com/?q=node/254

Scott

posted in Progressive/Art rock - 0 replies

New GEL-SOL Album: IZ

2008-04-15T18:10:54Z

I am pleased to announce the release of my 5th album (3rd under the Gel-Sol moniker), IZ.

"The follow-up album to 'Unifactor', 'IZ' explores new musical territory for Andrew Reichel in the orchestral/ symphonic vein. The listener may detect elements of artists like Stars of the Lid, Global Communication, or The KLF, but the entire experience of 'IZ' is completely original. Guitar loops, mellotron sounds, and lap steel all help enhance the organic nature of the music."

You can purchase IZ online through iTunes, eMusic and Beatport. Visit Upstairs Recordings for all the links:

http://www.upstairsrecordings.com/releases.htm

IZ will be released on compact disc next week courtesy of Psychonavigation Records in Dublin.

Yer Pal,
Gel-Sol
www.gel-sol.com

posted in Progressive/Art rock - 0 replies

an interesting bit of Congressional testimony from Todd Rundgren

2008-03-17T17:25:47Z

http://freakazoid0714.multiply.com/journal/item/34/I_SAW_THE_LIGHT_ABOUT_RECORD_COMPANIES---BY_TODD_RUNDGREN

posted in Progressive/Art rock - 1 reply

ProgDay Announces Comfort Inn Durham As Official Hotel:

2008-03-17T05:29:44Z

ProgDay is happy to announce that the Comfort Inn University in Durham North Carolina will once again be our official hotel for the festival this year. A an audience rate of $80.00 will be available for the weekend of the event. To make reservations call the hotel directly at 919-490-4949 and ask for the ProgDay rate. Rooms sold out fairly early last year, so make your reservations soon.
For more information on ProgDay visit our website at http://www.progday.com
ProgDay Announces Program Ad Rates And Vendor Rates.
Program Ads - Rates for this year's ProgDay program will be as follows:
1/4 page = $40
1/2 page = $60
Full page = $120
Full page inside front or back cover = $135
Full page outside back cover - $150
The ads must be sent electronically to Lew Fisher at progprinter2@mchsi.com in either .jpg, .gif, or hi-res .pdf.

All ad copy must be no smaller than 300dpi or it cannot be accepted.

The program will be Black and white.
All ads and payment must be submitted by Aug 1 2008. Payment can be via paypal or by check made out to ProgDay and sent to:
ProgDay
C/O Gerhard Wessell
5205 Red Wing Ct
Fuquay Varina NC 27526
To pay via paypal please go to the sponsorship section of the ProgDay web site: http://www.progday.com
Vendor Table rates will be the same as last year
CD and Merchandise Vendors = $175 per 8 foot table. Price includes 1 Weekend Pass.
Bands and Musicians - $120 per 4 foot table. Price includes 1 Weekend Pass.
Vendor tables may be reserved by sending an e-mail to Stevesly@aol.com
Payment can be via paypal or check.
Checks should be made out to ProgDay and sent to:
ProgDay
C/O Gerhard Wessell
5205 Red Wing Ct
Fuquay Varina NC 27526
To pay via paypal go to the ProgDay website: http://www.progday.com and click on the sponsorship tab.

Stay tuned for band announcements coming soon.

posted in Progressive/Art rock - 1 reply

Excerpts from "The Six Wives of Henry VIII" (Live)

2008-02-16T14:58:20Z

I just listened to Rick Wakeman's Excerpts from "The Six Wives of Henry VIII" (Live) on Yessongs, for the first time in probably 10-15 years. I have goosebumps on the goosebumps on my goosebumps. I had the album on vinyl, and that was the only song I ever listened to. (I'm not really a fan of live music, for the most part. I prefer the high production value of studio recordings.)

I love iTunes Store. :)

And speaking of iTunes Store and Yes, iTunes Store currently has the entire Relayer album, remastered, available for purchase for only $2.97. If you don't have it in your collection, now would be a really good time.

posted in Progressive/Art rock - 16 replies

Anybody remember?

2008-02-16T05:46:46Z

Hatfield and the North

and Gong?

Are they still doing stuff?

posted in Progressive/Art rock - 8 replies

NearFEST 2007

2008-02-09T10:01:27Z

Is anyone else in this tribe going? If so, we should grab a beer or lunch or something.

Interested?

posted in Progressive/Art rock - 3 replies

The Master at Work

2008-02-04T03:15:49Z

Carl Palmer has always been one of my favorite drummers. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Gn9fkAGwJcM

posted in Progressive/Art rock - 0 replies

about my new Spiritual Rumi Cd (Rumi's love )

2008-01-28T01:51:00Z

I hope you're doing wonderfully.

I am writing to let you know that after about a year I have finished my
second CD and am very excited to share it with all of you. This Cd
contains the recite love poems of the mystic poet Rumi, With original
music from Hamoon Tehrani. I hope you enjoy it .a
This Cd now is available at CDbaby.com, amazon.com, iTunes and my
website
www.trueloverumi.com.
If you have any questions, my email is …sinajon1@yahoo.com.

Peace and love

Sina

posted in Progressive/Art rock - 0 replies

Dog's Life by Gentle Giant

2008-01-24T05:15:05Z

Goddammit, I cry *every damn time* I hear that song. I should just delete it from my damn iPod.

posted in Progressive/Art rock - 11 replies

How about Roxy?

2008-01-16T01:41:11Z

Sure they were pop in Brittain, but I sure felt like part of some underground movement Being a Roxy fan in the US in the 80s~!
Yes, not as abstract as Hillage or Gong, or as fearless as Todd Rungren's secret stash, but hey: songs about sex-robots and inflatable dolls in 1971, and Brian Eno in drag...
If Roxy Music wasn't prog, at least they gave it a good go!

posted in Progressive/Art rock - 6 replies

Hawkwind

2008-01-14T00:53:10Z

Just got the Hawkwind 3 disc retrospective ' Epochelipse'. It was released in 2003. Half of it's pretty much straight blues rock dressed up in space noise, however I'm finding the other half quite inspiring. Anyone else ever into the band? Anyone seen any recent performnaces, I belive they've played a bit in UK/Europe recently.

posted in Progressive/Art rock - 33 replies

another proud prog papa

2008-01-13T10:30:16Z

guess what song my two year old daughter insists we play for her? sometimes as much as ten times a day? or continuously, over and over and over, while driving?

this song:

http://youtube.com/watch?v=bvPyT-YGUIg

not only does she like to hear it, she knows almost all the words, sings along, and likes to twirl while it's playing.

now it's time to try and get her into The Lamb................

posted in Progressive/Art rock - 2 replies

Upon The Rainbow (Befrost) by Happy The Man

2008-01-12T20:44:01Z

From the self-titled album Happy The Man. I'm desperate to download this song, but iTunes doesn't have it, and neither does MP3Sparks (AllofMP3's replacement site). I'm happy to pay my $.99 and everything, but I just can't find it anywhere. Any suggestions?

posted in Progressive/Art rock - 8 replies

Kraftwerk

2007-12-21T20:47:42Z

Someone said this today in another tribe in a post about James Brown's death:

"When you look at popular music today, you can trace it's origins to 4 pioneering artists:
Kraftwerk, The Beatles (post "Revolver"), Chuck Barry, and James Brown. Everyone else just imitated. These guys INVENTED entire genres."

Do you agree or disagree with this? Kraftwerk was certainly experimental. Did they have an influence on prog rock? According to Wiki ( http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kraftwerk ): "The sound was revolutionary for its time, and has had a lasting impact across nearly all genres of modern popular music." For what do we have to thank Kraftwerk?

posted in Progressive/Art rock - 36 replies

proud prog-lovin' papa

2007-12-17T08:12:37Z

my not quite 2 year old daughter demands that we play "I've Seen All Good People/Your Move" from The Yes Album over and over and over again so she can dance to it. She also knows all the words and likes to sing along. when the organ builds up to the transition between the two parts, she says "ready? ready? ready?" and then when the faster boogie of the second section starts she really jams down.

i'm raisin' my child right, that's all i know!

i wonder if i could get her to rock out the same way to "sartori in tangier".....

posted in Progressive/Art rock - 0 replies

Trace (and Focus)

2007-11-26T04:38:44Z

For anyone who's interested, I've posted two songs by Trace on my Ning tribepolitics profile:

http://tribepolitics.ning.com/profile/Enrika

They're the first two songs. I've put them up there because so few people know who they are, and I wanted to give anyone interested a taste. They're 1970s Dutch prog rock, like Focus. I've heard them called "a poor man's Focus," but I think that's unfair. Their self-titled album is great in its own right. The first song cuts off a bit abruptly because it actually continues through three tracks, but it's not a bad cut-off point.

(I've also posted two Focus songs, but they're not my two favorites or anything like that. I know someone who plays flute in a rock/blues band who's never heard of Focus, and I want to share with him two good examples of Focus's use of melodic flute in rock, which they are.)

If anyone listens to the Trace tracks, let me know what you think. I'll be most curious about the reaction.

posted in Progressive/Art rock - 3 replies

Rogues Gallery - any more good PODCASTS?

2007-11-24T08:30:25Z

I know that I am probably WAY behind the times but has anyone else discovered any really good Prog pod casts? Not just PODCASTS that play dream theatre but show that have some good old fashioned music. Focus, Zappa, Yes, PFM, National Health, Gong, Ozrics etc etc

I highly suggest checking out the Rogues Gallery at http://www.thedividingline.com/rg

It can be a bit "prog metal" heavy (or should it be Prog Heavy metal)? BUT every now and then you come across a gem of a track. today I just discovered Morglbl and had to go buy the album.

Hope you Enjoy

posted in Progressive/Art rock - 5 replies

'Supersonic Zen' 2008 WORLD Music Gatherings

2007-11-05T07:28:00Z

2008 WORLD MUSIC GATHERING
http://www.worldgathering.net/2008
http://tribes.tribe.net/worldgathering
http://groups.google.com/group/worldgathering
http://groups.myspace.com/2008gathering

Worldwide Celebration of Music, Truth, Harmony - and all the things which make life Good. Gatherings and Music Events Around the World throughout 2008 in association with 2008 WORLD GATHERING.

Welcome to the Project - A Worldwide Celebration of Music and Life in 2008

In celebration of the magical music, great hopes and life-filled ideas which were born during the late 1960's explosion in popular music, we propose musical events and gatherings are held around the world during 2008 to celebrate 40 years on from the late 1960's popular music revolution.

Theme for 2008: ‘2008 World Gathering for Music, Truth and Life'.

JOIN US in 2008 - David, Michael, and Friends

Send us details of YOUR 2008 music event, or holistic gathering which includes music, and we will add your details to our event/gathering listings for 2008. Contact: http://www.worldgathering.net/2008/contact.html

2008 World Music Gatherings: http://www.worldgathering.net/2008/gatherings1.html

Theme music for 2008 WORLD GATHERING - Supersonic Zen: http://www.worldgathering.net/dave.html

Concepts of Supersonic Zen: http://www.worldgathering.net/2008/supersonic.html

Supersoniczen Zoom Music: http://www.worldgathering.net/2008/music.html#zoom

------------------
Join 2008 WORLD MUSIC GATHERING...
2008 World Gathering at TRIBE: http://tribes.tribe.net/worldgathering
2008 World Gathering at GOOGLE: http://groups.google.com/group/worldgathering
2008 World Gathering at MYSPACE: http://groups.myspace.com/2008gathering
------------------

2008 WORLD MUSIC GATHERING - http://www.worldgathering.net/2008

Please send to friends and post at your lists

posted in Progressive/Art rock - 0 replies

Ridding the world of EMOs with Prog Rock

2007-10-21T02:42:42Z

Heh, see the 'Ridding the world of EMO kids" article in my blog

http://people.tribe.net/c75443b1-0c75-4dfa-b0c0-a9f5f9d98e91/blog?topicid=fe61ce2d-e0f8-4009-a551-d280e027e89c

posted in Progressive/Art rock - 41 replies

Genesis Turn it on Again Tour San Jose CA

2007-10-11T05:53:47Z

Moving. That would be the radox trait I would assign to last night's Genesis concert at the HP Pavillion in San Jose, Ca.

Madame Bovary & I had plumped for the $245.00 seats in section 116. It was well worth the expense. We had a oblique shot of the stage. I was looking over Chester's right shoulder the entire night, & had an excellent view of Phil at his kit.

I only saw Genesis once before at the ass end of Oakland coliseum for the We Can't Dance Tour. This was much, much better.

Many of you are pretty jaded about the band after 77. Some even start earlier. I'm not one of you. I appreciate the various stages of this band's music & history and swallow it whole, even with Hold on My Heart. (I cough that one up later).

The details. The sound was perfect. The lighting was perfect & indoor fireworks were unexpected and insanely cool. The stage setup was futuristic and very classy. And the Drums.....oh god the drums.

Daryl's guitar on Firth of Fifth was magnificent. Mike & Tony were solid. Phil owned the night.

Some highlights: Phil's older, more grizzled face looked so much more menacing during the yellow lit closeup in Mama than you could believe. He looked positively demonic.

The drum duet leading into Los Endos was worth the price of admission.

I would've liked the opening Behind the Lines/Duke's Travels piece to have been longer, but was still happy to hear it live.

In the Cage/Cinema Show/Afterglow was fuckin' rad.

I would've preferred dropping Hold on my Fart from the set list and played the full version of Firth of Fifth.

The Drum duet was worth the price of admission. Oh, yeah, I didn't stutter....

Domino kicked ass, as did Home by the Sea.

It was cool to hear Ripples & Follow You Follow Me.

All told, a fantastic show. But I will tell you this: I fuckin' cried during the last song. Yeah, I'm not ashamed to say it. Hearing the Carpet Crawlers live moved me to tears. Madame Bovary & I discovered Lamb at about the same time just over a year ago. "You gotta get in to get out" has been our personal mantra as we have forged ahead together through the stress of this past year. So hearing it pulled an emotional cork in me and out came the rain.

It was also the swan song of one of the greatest bands in human history. I don't personally believe we'll see another tour/album or whatever. So Carpet Crawlers hit me right between the eyes.

So if you're a tough guy who can't stand anything they did after Duke, well, you should'a seen em anyway.

If you love the whole scope of your best band, then you need to see this concert.

Ripples never come back...

posted in Progressive/Art rock - 1 reply

YES is prog, right?

2007-10-10T05:15:28Z

I'm an all over the map style lover..... a pretty diverse musician too. So I don't always explore into each "genre" of music. I want to know some other great music along these lines. I absolutely love YES..... pretty sure they're considered prog. Not a big fan of Rush however, I like the music comp I've heard from them (mainly radio stuff), just don't like his voice, along w/ a few other details. - I can be pretty picky as to reasons why I like an artist- Anyhow. How about some direction as to bands and albums to check out ?! thanks !

posted in Progressive/Art rock - 50 replies

amusing articles about prog rock fans

2007-10-06T22:32:27Z

http://www.mcsweeneys.net/links/lists/4WayneGladstone.html

found here:
http://offsprung.com/leftunsaid/2007/10/04/awaken-to-the-echoes-of-the-red-barchetta/

posted in Progressive/Art rock - 2 replies

Jethro Tull

2007-10-04T20:27:44Z

Just saw Tull here in Chico CA. Good show! Killer versions of Nothing is Easy, Fat Man, Locomotive Breath, Oh God. They did an odd variation of Aqualung. Also an interesting version of the Nice arrangement of America. The show was sold out but I was able to get a last minute ticket.

posted in Progressive/Art rock - 3 replies

neal and jack and me

2007-09-20T04:15:48Z

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tSzasBpmhkc

i love this song. the vamp on the chorus at the end with those soaring tony levin bass notes underneath - the layered guitars - the plaintive vocals - this is prog at its best.

which leads me to the question - do you have a favorite KC era? are you strictly a giles/sinfield fan, or do you require lake, or wetton? is it KC without bruford? do you prefer david cross or eddie jobson? do you love/hate adrian belew? this is to say nothing of fripp's solo work, that's for another thread.

i think we already did the "favorite KC album" thread. but nobody's going to complain if you rave about it again.

posted in Progressive/Art rock - 15 replies

SIMPLE???? Some new, as of yet unidentified music..

2007-09-18T13:12:35Z

Hi there,

I don't know if this falls into the category of prog/art rock but what the heck..

A friend of mine relayed to me a link to a MySpace music page with one track, no picture and absolutely no indication as to whom the artist is.

Although the song is called "Simple", when you listen to it, you realize it's anything but..

The lyrics are clever, the guitar playing is sublime, added effects are minimalist but impeccable, and the vocals are great.

I can't figure out who this artist is, but I think it's such a great song and thought I'd share it here.

Here's the link: www.myspace.com/simplewhoisit

Enjoy!

posted in Progressive/Art rock - 6 replies

Check out Abigail's Ghost (I'm not affiliated with the band)

2007-07-03T04:35:23Z

Hi Tribesters,

At the last Porcupine Tree show, someone handed me a sampler CD from the band, Abigail's Ghost. I gave it a listen, and was impressed. Bought the whole album on itunes, and am happy to say I have discovered a great new band. Not every "prog" band works for me, as some are a little to "fairy dust," or with some, I have simply heard their catalog TOOOOO many times.

Check them out here...I hope you all like them as much as I do:

http://www.myspace.com/abigailsghost

posted in Progressive/Art rock - 1 reply

Sweet Net Radio listing

2007-06-08T20:43:01Z

Hey all,
Came across this site on stumbleupon.com. Just passing it along. Lots of cool stations.

Check it out:

www.streamdir.com

posted in Progressive/Art rock - 0 replies

Best Muisc On Campus

2007-06-08T20:41:35Z

I’ve been following the Best Music on Campus contest and I’m really excited about the last 15 bands. There are some really good bands that represent all genres. I’d have to say Blue Sky Tomorrows is my favorite.
http://www.bestmusiconcampus.com/

posted in Progressive/Art rock - 0 replies

L.O.R.D.

2007-05-24T17:40:06Z

hearing it now on pandora.com -

"Don't Mince Matter", from 'We Can Fly Vol. 2' (compilation - various artists)

wow. crazy psychedelic rock a la syd barrett era floyd and 13th floor elevators, and then the rhythm flips over in the chorus into.....SKA!

anybody ever heard of these guys before? pretty choice.........

posted in Progressive/Art rock - 0 replies

Favoritr

2007-05-21T23:49:19Z

Prog and related albums? anyone care to share?

posted in Progressive/Art rock - 3 replies

the rattlesnake train

2007-04-28T06:28:13Z

some of you might like the baby grandmothers track near the middle of this podcast...

http://shekky.podomatic.com/

posted in Progressive/Art rock - 0 replies

DADDY,I"M HOME..!

2007-04-16T02:31:19Z

you speak my language-thanks, be back soon for a longer visit-if you like this music , check out RADIO CAROLINE_broadband,etc,etc,they were my adopted parents thro many teenage nights, they poured the music=on troubled waters,first heard -yes, hawkwind,bonzo's,python lee,..and many more, there. susaan.

posted in Progressive/Art rock - 0 replies

Tempest Broog Progressive, Psychedelic, Experimental Rock Show

2007-03-18T08:22:23Z

I just wanted to give a shout out about my radio show, now in it's 11th year!

TEMPEST BROOG
Progressive, Experimental, Psychedelic Rock!
Every Sunday Night/Monday Morning 12am-2am (mountain time-USA)
Hosted by Cozmik Jon (me)
Old and new, from faraway and local too!
91.3 KXCI fm Tucson, AZ
Community Radio (streaming on kxci.org)

KXCI is NOT a commercial station, it is all community-run.

John Paul

posted in Progressive/Art rock - 1 reply

my podcast

2007-03-17T00:57:47Z

some of you might like this... i have about fifteen years of radio experience of one kind or the other and my podcast is FM free form radio style, which means i play more than one genre.

enjoy.

shekky.podomatic.com/

oh yes, you can also find this podcast on i tunes, just do a search for "the rattlesnake train".

about halfway into the show is a song from the "prog is not a four letter word" CD, along with something from a recording called "bosporus bridges", a collection of turkish prog and jazz.

posted in Progressive/Art rock - 0 replies

Saturnia

2007-03-16T23:59:54Z

http://www.saturniamusic.com/

posted in Progressive/Art rock - 0 replies

Focus -- new album

2007-03-16T07:50:09Z

In September, 2006, Focus came out with a new album: Focus 9: New Skin:

http://www.amazon.com/Focus-9-New-Skin/dp/B000IHYWH2/ref=pd_bbs_sr_1/104-2994793-2423139?ie=UTF8&s=music&qid=1173568280&sr=1-1

I just got it. It's very good. It sounds more like a cross between typical Focus and the album called Focus by Jan Akkerman and Thijs Van Leer from 1985:

http://www.amazon.com/Focus-Jan-Akkerman/dp/B0001UEFQ4/ref=sr_1_1/104-2994793-2423139?ie=UTF8&s=music&qid=1173568449&sr=1-1

(whereas Focus 8 sounded more like typical Focus.)

A cool thing about this album is that in addition to Thijs Van Leer, it also has the original drummer (Van Der Linden). There's only one song I don't like, which is completely different from anything else they've ever done, and has some new guy singing (in English -- gasp!) I just click "forward" for that one. :)

So if you're a Focus fan, you'll definitely want to add this to your collection. :)

posted in Progressive/Art rock - 3 replies

Hidria Spacefolk

2007-03-16T01:40:57Z

Psychedelic Spacerock from another dimension.
AKA: "Astrobeat". Ozrics on better drugs.

http://www.hidriaspacefolk.st/index.php?id=5

posted in Progressive/Art rock - 0 replies

new Yes spin-off band: Circa

2007-03-12T16:29:19Z

Conversation with
CIRCA:
nfte #300

The scene in Alan White's hotel room after the 2007 NAMM show in Anaheim, CA, was surreal, even for this veteran of Yesdom. Here were three Yes members from different eras, gathered together to talk about a new release they were all clearly excited about: a new band project titled CIRCA: (note the colon--opening the door for album titles like CIRCA: 2007). Longtime Yes drummer Alan was joined by original Yes member Tony Kaye and latter-Yes-day member Billy Sherwood, who produced and propelled the new project. The last time these three were on a stage together was for the TALK tour.

Missing was guitarist Jimmy Haun, who was unable to attend on this day. However, an interview was conducted the next day with Jimmy, Tony, and Billy, at the latter's home (Alan was busy working at NAMM and was absent for that interview). This follow-up interview will appear soon in NFTE #301.

Yes fans hungry for the kind of progressive rock that is unique to that band won't be disappointed by the creativity, melodiousness, and instrumental prowess inherent in these tracks. Note that after these conversations occurred CIRCA: has obtained management, and a release date for the CD is imminent, along with news about an upcoming tour.

MOT

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

MIKE TIANO: Why did you name your project CIRCA:?

BILLY SHERWOOD: Because the music is kind of reminiscent of this era and that era, and even a future era, and it just kind of lends itself to the idea of circa being involved with a different kind of era, because that's how the word is used. It just sort of made sense. Obviously there's Yes influence, because here we are, and Alan's still in it. We've been in it; it's going to have that flavor, so there's moments that feel kind of older, and there's moments that feel very futuristic and kind of a new slant on the whole thing, so yeah.

ALAN WHITE: You're going to be surprised.

BS: You are.

MOT: Here's what I call it the "chicken or the egg" question: did you get together as musicians and the concept developed from there, or were there tunes that you had written that kind of drove that need to form this type of band?

BS: Obviously I've known these guys and we've been friends for decades now, and after leaving the band, I wanted to kind of continue working with Alan in any way that I could, and I've been friends with Tony, and we wanted to work together, so having done THE WALL and invited both of these guys on it, and then did DARK SIDE OF THE MOON and invited them on it, it was kind of like we were discussing the idea of maybe we should do some original music and toy around with the idea of coming up with something, and that's kind of what got the ball rolling, and there was some material that was kind of sitting around, and one thing led to another, and Tony and I got together and started forming some music, and then played it for Alan and said "What do you think of this? Do you want to put your two-cents into this and get involved?" He flew down, and we started messing around and cutting tracks, and it started developing into a kind of a sound--a project, a band.

AW: It's good though, because Billy is the magician, OK? He pulled the whole thing together; he's like a magician--kind of pulls all the music in the right place at the right time, and he's done an amazing job.

BS: And it's got distinctive Tony Kaye icon flavor, distinctive AW flavor, and Jimmy's brought his stamp to it and brought his flavor on it, and it makes for a different kind of project, but obviously it brings some Yes-isms to it by just virtue of who we are and what we've done making music up to this point.

MOT: Let me have you elaborate on how this developed. You were with Tony then brought Alan in, and it kind of evolved from there--or were there other people that you called and said, hey, do you want to be part of this project, and they said 'nah' or 'maybe'…

BS: Well I had an idea after the DARK SIDE OF THE MOON project having worked with all these different guys--Bruford and Wakeman and Peter Banks, and I thought wouldn't it be kind of interesting to put together a sort of a family of Yes members and make a record like that, and I toyed around with that concept for a little while, but as the music that Tony and I were working on started forming, and then Alan put his imprint on it, it really started taking shape. That idea kind of went to the wayside, and we started thinking of this in a different way, and so it was kind of a brief moment in time where that concept was in my head; "Maybe I can get all the Yes guys together and make a record…" [laughs], but it's a tall order as I've found to make that happen…

AW: That's a tall order, yeah.

TONY KAYE: Herding cats!

BS: But in a way, that's what pushed this thing to become what it is, and it really has a definitive sound now, because there aren't 8 million elements coming in. There's just these clear, definitive areas of the band that are bringing their share into the thing.

AW: That's a great way of explaining it.

BS: And it is really, truly a band in the sense that everyone's playing their part, as opposed to where I do a lot of records where I fill in the blanks of keys, drums, bass, guitar, whatever it may be. This is truly everybody brings their thing to it, and it's really performance-based, you know.

MOT: Tony, in terms of keys when you think of Yes you think of piano, organ, synthesizer--did you bring all of those flavors to the project, or did you stick basically to organ, which you're kind of known for?

TK: Yes--I mean somewhat. You'll hear it on the album, but basically I wanted to play Hammond, and certainly when I got together with Billy doing THE WALL and DARK SIDE, you know that's what I did, and that's probably my sort of imprint on certainly early Yes, before it went off into the other things, so that's what I wanted to do, and it's vintage Hammond. That's the main thing on the album.

MOT: Did you contribute any other writing? One thing that I think a lot of Yes fans don't realize is that you contributed quite a bit of writing, especially 90125 era. BIG GENERATOR is a really, really good album in my opinion, and I think a lot of the stuff that I really like, you had a hand in writing.

TK: Well, thank you [laughs].

MOT: I'm asking if you contributed to any other writing as far as this goes...

TK: Yeah.

BS: Yeah, I mean we really sat together in the studio and made this thing from the get-go, and the writing…

TK: It came from nothing.

BS: It wasn't like how you would normally sit down and write material; it was more like there's this idea, and he'd have this idea, and we'd play it for Alan, and he'd come in and play the whole thing an eighth note off, thinking that he was hearing the group in another place [laughs], which would send the song into a whole other area, and that's…so everybody really had kind of their own hand in writing.

AW: I'm still trying to work out how to play that on stage [laughs].

MOT: Because the same thing applies to you, Alan. Yes fans think of "Turn of the Century", they think of Steve's guitar playing, but you wrote the song [laughs]. But same thing, did you contribute to the content?

AW: I know. You get that seed--you put the seed out there, and you get the generation of what's happening, but the same happened here, because a lot of that was done by these guys. To tell you the truth, I came in and I just saw how we could turn things around and twist things around and make it a little bit more…I think sideways, OK?

MOT: You think sideways? Is that what you said?

AW: Yeah, I come in there…

TK: Outside of the box.

AW: Yeah, you don't have to do things normally, and if you don't think…yeah you can change things in a certain way where it sounds different.

MOT: That's a hallmark of Yes actually.

BS: There's one song called "Information Overload", which is kind of the more single kind of thing on the record if you will, if there is such a thing anymore.

AW: It is, except everybody's going to be walking backwards.

BS: When we had planned this thing to live in this certain groove, and then Alan came in and as soon as he played it, without really discussing it, he was automatically hearing it this eighth note off, which was kind of different for us in the control room going, "What's going on out there?" But we were recording, and we were like let it go, and he played the whole track in a different space and time that we had planned, and all of the sudden it was a whole different song.

AW: That's great, but you changed the bass line.

BS: Yeah, it just altered it in a way that where it was like, "Wow, this is whole unique kind of thing."

AW: And now it turns around, it's kind of back to front the whole thing.

BS: For me, it terms of writing a song, it's G [chord] and here's the lyrics; it wasn't done like that, so we really all contributed in a big way to make the overall sound.

AW: But if you even understand what an eighth note is, it's like [sings part of the song], and it goes all the downbeats a little bit away from…

BS: So it's a whole different feel [laughs].

AW: It's a whole different thing.

TK: We've created this sort of Yes music that actually, in the beginning, that's what it started out to be through the '70s, and of course Alan had a lot to do with inspiration of a lot of that music in the '70s, and may not have been credited for it.

AW: I was never credited for it, but I changed a lot of things around [laughs]. Hello? Who was [credited]? [laughs]

TK: But that sort of inspiration, actually because we were friends. We are friends at this point and enjoying what we were doing, without the politics and craziness, you know everything that went on, so it was actually very easy, because everyone wanted…

BS: To make music, you know.

TK: …the other person to have that impact.

AW: That with politics could spiral out…[laughs]. It's gone; we're in Disneyland right now.

BS: Exactly. It was more fun.

TK: It was a lot of fun, yeah.

BS: Because there was no arguing about where we were going. It just sort of evolved.

AW: A lot of people lost the plot, OK, and I was trying to find that spiral and bring it back down.

MOT: Are you basically just doing this because this is the music you want to create, or were you looking at the music and thought, "Well, we wanted to make it palatable to a certain segment of the population, so, go basic on the bass here."

BS: No, there's definitely no basic on the bass anymore [laughs]. No, it's more about being a musician and really just kind of putting all the other bullshit aside and making the kind of music you want to make, and knowing the whole time, "Is this going to be next to Britney Spears?" No, but we're musicians, and this is what we want to do.

AW: That's a true statement; that's very good.

TK: We didn't know how this was going to turn out, but actually it didn't matter. We started it for the love of it really, because we enjoyed actually playing the music of Pink Floyd.

AW: Mike, you're going to get your socks knocked off. It's some great stuff, really good.

BS: It was fun to work with these guys in a different capacity outside of Yes where it was like we could make THE WALL and we're doing something different, and then we made DARK SIDE OF THE MOON, and coming back, alright, we had fun, let's try and make an original thing. You come at it a different way rather than hurry, we need to make a record so we can get out on tour. It's not about that; it was about…we all had the same kind of love for this thing to do, and that's what we did.

MOT: It was ready when it was ready, not that you would tweak it forever like you probably could.

BS: It took a year, it's taken about a year…

MOT: There was no contractual thing, or as you said no time constraint--

BS: No, I own my own studio.

MOT: --like, you've got to be in Toledo on January 17th, stop! [laughs]

BS: I own my own studio, and so I pretty much fund the thing, and it was all a matter of our own time, and when can Alan come down to cut this track.

TK: Yeah, Billy would call me up. "Can you come in today?" Of course I can.

BS: So it made it easy to be able to produce the thing at our own pace, and so it just became a matter of, as you said, how much can you tweak this before it's done? We all looked at each other and went I think we're done.

MOT: So, just the four of you, or are there guest performances on there?

BS: There are two extra guests that did a couple of little bits. One gentleman named Cole…

TK: Cole Coleman, who was a friend of mine, who was playing in a band that I was producing, and he plays…big Steve fan, and plays the Laoud really well.

MOT: I'm sorry, plays the…?

TK: The Laoud guitar. It's a really nice acoustic guitar.

BS: And he played it on "Together We Are" when he played this really nice simple guitar part through it, so he's guesting on there; and then my brother Mike is doing some vocoder parts here and there, but other than that, no. 90% of it is the four of us, and very real. There's no machines clocking; everything is played.

TK: We wanted to sound like a band; it had to sound like a band playing, because we wanted to play it live. That was actually the intention, because we knew that probably we would have tons of fun to play it live, so it was pretty much played in the studio.

AW: It's always lots of fun, because he takes the next step always, and we try to adventure like Yes has always--try to see the next corner, around the corner, over the horizon, whatever.

BS: Yeah. Push it.

AW: He does that all the time, but he does it technically in the studio where he can make things work.

MOT: I think a lot of Yes fans know that the KEYS TO ASCENSION sessions you worked on are some of the best Yes tracks since the '70s, and you didn't dilute it.

BS: I'm a huge Yes fan; that's the whole thing for me, and that's how I came about it. I know how it sounds [laughs].

AW: But that was my comparison, when people ask me the whole time it's like I go, "Ok, what can I relate this to?" It usually comes back to like THE LADDER and that kind of stuff when Billy was involved, because it's kind of like that, but it's like a new version of it. It's moved on, and that's exactly what it is.

MOT: And Jimmy contributed to UNION.

BS: Yeah, Jim played a lot of the guitar parts on UNION on the ABWH side, because there were issues between the producer and Steve. I don't know the history of it, but I know that much. There was something wrong there.

MOT: The reason I bring that up is because there has been so many members in Yes that it seemed like an alternate Yes band was possible, even maybe inevitable, and I guess this is the metamorphosis from that as Jimmy had participated in some Yes project.

BS: And also even before any of the Yes involvement, Jimmy was in the first band I was signed to A&M on. He was the lead guitar player in my first band, and then that thing broke up. I did World Trade, and then that dissolved, and then I did a project called THE KEY on MCA, which was never released but we made the record [laughs], and Jim was in that, so he's been an ally and a friend of mine forever. His Yes tie-in is subtle, but it is there on the UNION thing.

MOT: So from memory, I think this is really the first time a band has evolved out of the current or former Yes members from different eras.

BS: Yeah, kind of. I guess in a way, yeah you can say that.

TK: It was ever-revolving as you know, I mean from the '60s, it was ever-revolving around.

AW: Who's in the band today?

TK: Yeah, who's in the band today? [laughs]

BS: In '95 or whenever it was, the Chris Squire Experiment is what it started as, which ended up being Conspiracy, but that was me, Alan, Chris, Steve Porcaro, and Jimmy Haun, so Jim was involved in that.

AW: He's always been in the background.

BS: Yeah, he's been there, and he's an amazing guitar player.

MOT: But my point being that there have been so many musicians through Yes that people always say, you know they could probably form a whole separate band and not be Yes [laughs].

BS: The trick would be that they'd have to all like each other, and maybe that's the thing here [laughs].

TK: We have done that.

AW: You see, I'm the common denominator; everybody comes to me [everybody laughs].

BS: It's got to start with the kick drop.

AW: It's like, OK, you really want to do that? Ok, I'll talk to him [laughs].

MOT: One thing you've [Billy] mentioned to me on the phone when we first talked about this was this was created to fill a void, because Yes wasn't on the radar, and I think of something like Starcastle [who gained attention when Yes were concentrating on their solo projects in the mid-'70s] when I think of that, but was that really the goal or that's the way it evolved?

BS: It's just the way it's evolved; it wasn't that I called Tony and said, "Now's our time, go, hurry!" [laughs] It just so happened that the Syn was winding down and doing its thing, and Alan was going back to doing his own thing, and we started working on the music, and Alan came over, and as that evolved looking around the landscape, being honest, it's like Yes is on hiatus. That's the bottom line, and that's fine, they one day will probably come back and do their thing, but for the moment it's on hiatus, so perhaps this is a vehicle where we, as musicians, can kind of contribute to that void…

AW: Yeah, but it's new, it's different.

BS: Yeah, it's new, but it's still us, so who's gonna be there? Yes fans.

AW: The inflections are still there.

MOT: Well, you are you, you made up Yes and your musical outlook and musicianship is what made Yes what it is…

BS: They're not gonna be surprised, like "Wow! All the sudden I'm listening to a ska band." They're gonna kind of know what they're getting in to.

AW: We took it through a period right now where by it's a transitional kind of period where we're catering to the people who want to hear that inflection, our music. It's totally different.

TK: Well, it's true, the Yes fans want to hear music, so you do it…

BS: And as a Yes fan I know when it's not there, you sort of wish it was, but for whatever political reasons that it can't be and that's fine, because…

AW: It's called ego.

BS: It's still an entity that will be; it's just that it isn't right now, so the fact that this is available, it wasn't a strategy, but it just so happens that the timing happens to work out oddly like that, you know what I'm saying? It was definitely not a plan in terms of January 14th is our go-time. If we don't hit that target….

AW: There's no pressure anywhere, which allows you the output that you can kind of like just create and just be comfortable, and that's what you're hearing, because it's a driving force. It does reflect on what we are, but it's very, very cool. It's 2007.

MOT: There's a whole other philosophical discussion, which maybe we can just talk about for a minute here. When do you think you're most creative--where you have the time to come up with ideas, or where you're under pressure so you're forced to come up with ideas?

BS: It's much better to have time, because then with time you can have reflection on the music that you're making and you can listen back. I mean, there were many times where Tony and I were going back and forth before putting drums on anything, just looking at a song in terms of chords and saying, "Well, how is this?" and then he'd come back at me with, he'd taken the two track mix and edited it in a way that I would have never thought about, but all of the sudden it's a longer piece, and it has more meaning and more depth, and now I'm seeing it in a different way.

TK: I added a sort of Yes concept in terms of arrangements; I used to grab what we'd just done at the studio, take it to my studio.

AW: No deadlines.

BS: So without that deadline, you can keep batting back and forth until it's like alright, we've spent about three weeks discussing how we're gonna do this--let's do it now.

MOT: Would you agree that's not a hard and fast rule? Because I've heard other musicians talking about how they'd been under a deadline, whatever that deadline is, and they'd come up with some pretty cool ideas because they were forced to.

BS: If you have to, you have to. I've worked under pressure, and you've gotta do what you've gotta do, but at the end of the day for me, I own my own studio, so deadline, there is no such thing, you know what I mean? I wake up in the morning at 8:00, and I go in and I go to work.

AW: He's a workaholic. He gets up, goes to the studio, and that's it.

BS: And then I'm there all night so there's no real deadline, and because we have no contractual ties to anybody right now, there's distinctly no deadline. We can just do it at our own pace, but at the end of the day, it's, as you said earlier, you know when you're done, because you've spent enough time tweaking this thing. It is what it is.

MOT: So Tony touched on this earlier, are there any plans to tour as CIRCA:?

BS: I don't want to go on the record as saying we'll be out next Wednesday [laughs]. We're in the process now; it's early, and we're trying to sort out the management element that will help us align something that makes sense to do in terms of touring, so as we sit here right now, there's no plans on these dates, but the concept among us as friends is, OK, you learn your parts. I'll learn mine; you learn yours. Let's start rehearsing, so when the time comes we are ready to go.

AW: I think we have to walk before you can run, and I think once people hear it, they'll see what it is, and I have a bazillion things in my life going on right now, like five bands [laughs], but at the same time, this is a very worthwhile project. It really is.

MOT: One question I had for you, Alan, is what does this mean for White? You guys have been trying to get out there, get in front of people for a long time.

AW: I keep it on hold all of the time, because I don't like doing anything unless it's really, really going to be meaningful to a lot of people, and a lot of people have bought the album and stuff like that, and I like the music, and I love the guys I'm playing with, but I guess that's why I'm a Gemini. I play with so many people, but at the same time I love to do that, and I love to have the input from all kinds of different sources, but this is a great project, and I really like it.

MOT: So what is the timeframe for the album?

BS: Well, right now we've got some CDs out to management, basically different elements of management, so we're going to get feedback from them to feel out what we're gonna get. Once we anchor that position in, then there's going to be a strategy about booking gigs. I would imagine you could see some House of Blues and Canyon Clubs, some 800-1000 seaters. I would imagine that that's doable.

AW: I think that's a sensible kind of thing to do.

BS: Who knows what that package is at the end of the day.

AW: You know the music business right now is, I don't know if you see it that well, but it's really messed up [laughs], from the inside going out. You have to really…you have to put packages together and stuff like that…

BS: The plan here is to be able to play the entire record; that's the whole thing, which would be, you know that's the goal.

AW: Which is a task.

BS: And then add in some material from here, there, and everywhere to kind of fill in the rest of the show.

MOT: What are you going to fill it in with? Conspiracy tunes?

BS: Well, obviously I would vote for, rather than Conspiracy songs, more Yes-oriented stuff…

TK: That we've all been involved with.

BS: …that he's been involved in, and I've been involved in, and him, and put together some interesting sort of ways to play it, I mean you're not going to come hear "And You and I" in its entirety, because with all due respect…

AW: You have to be selective.

MOT: My input would be--and this is my input, other Yes fans might want to see "And You And I"--I want to see things that were core to you that I haven't seen in a long time.

BS: Rare.

TK: Rare stuff, yeah.

MOT: Like from OPEN YOUR EYES, from THE LADDER. You [Alan and Billy] were both involved with that, or BIG GENERATOR, because you two [Alan and Tony] were involved.

AW: "Gates of Delirium"…"Homeworld". "Homeworld" would be a great song to play.

MOT: Or "I'm Running" or something. Tony, didn't you contribute to "I'm Running"? You co-wrote that, didn't you?

TK: Did I? Yeah.

BS: We might even be able to do something interesting and ask the people. "What do you think we should play?"

AW: You know what? You really have to do some thought back there. If you got "Gates of Delirium"…

BS: Yeah, but you could do interesting arrangements where you don't have to play the whole thing; you play the key elements that people anchor in on, and you do a cool medley of some stuff.

TK: A medley's good.

BS: We'll find a way to do where it's a new, creative spin, because the one thing I definitely don't want have it appear is we're trying to recreate Yes music in its entirety as us, re-doing it, because there's no point to that.

MOT: I'm glad to hear that because like a lot of these big musicians do. I mean as much as I like Roger Waters, I don't want see Waters and a bunch of faceless musicians playing "Money". It's not meaningful to me. What do you [Waters] play on "Money"? You play the bass, I mean it's not like "Wow! It's such a unique bass part. I want to see Roger Waters play that bass part."

BS: And Jon's vocal is unlike other rock and roll singers. It's a tall order. So you don't want to linger, for me anyway, I don't want to repeat that, especially having been a part of it in a different capacity, there's no reason to try to do that. It's more like, let's take the things that we all know and love and let's spin 'em and make them fresh so that when someone does come to see it, they are surprised and go "Wow, that was cool!" as opposed to comparing it to how the last version of "And You and I" was played [laughs].

TK: Yeah, really.

AW: We're always looking forward, and we don't rest on our laurels--that's the word. You never need to do that; if you do that, you just become history. I don't think like that; I think forward, and that's what Billy is doing.

BS: It's forward-thinking music for sure when you hear it, yet it still harkens back to…you get those feelings from the music. I know where you're at, because I was in the same space musically loving the band and everything. You get those feelings from TALES, from FRAGILE, from BIG GENERATOR…

AW: Side 3, side 4 [of TALES]…

BS: But it doesn't sound like, OK, let's make a note to mentally try to get that feeling. It just accidentally happened that way because of who's involved and what they played.

TK: Yes fans are the important ingredient here. They are it, and If we can deliver that thing that they want, that feeling was worthwhile. We actually know what they want; it's trying to deliver it, and not delivering it sometimes, that sometimes is the problem.

MOT: Next year is Yes' 40th anniversary, all three of you are or were Yes members; what's the chance of having another Union-type show? I'm not talking about a tour, but maybe it would be cool to have one or two big shows--make it an event.

BS: Unfortunately I think that the politics of Yes are deeper than the fans could ever imagine, and it just comes with the territory. That's the way the band is; that's what made it have its spark is that those politics have always been intense. I think it's a tough one [everybody laughs].

TK: It's a real tough one, because you actually have to deliver new music. You can't just be playing "And You and I" and "Yours Is No Disgrace" or "Roundabout". You can't keep on doing that.

AW: I came up with it: not rest on your laurels.

MOT: I was talking an event, one or two shows…

BS: One spectacular event.

MOT: Yeah, as opposed to a tour.

BS: The thing is that the concept is noble, but the execution…

AW: I love that. That's a great title for an album.

BS: [laughs] The execution is politically just daunting, and I think impossible personally, and I'm a huge fan who would love to see that kind of thing happen, but I think from my perspective it's politically impossible.

MOT: Getting back to CIRCA:, are you seeing this as pretty much a one-off that could or could not happen again, or is it something that you're committing to being an on-going thing in some sort of capacity?

BS: I think that, as a guy who owns a studio, and I can always facilitate creativity by virtue of having the studio. We're friends; he [Tony] lives right near me. We're going to want to keep working together. We're friends [Billy and Alan]; he lives in Seattle, he'll fly down, so the idea of it remaining and trying to create more of that kind of music to me is very appealing. Yeah, I'm into that, and I think everyone is.

MOT: Conspiracy was a little bit like that, right?

BS: Um, Conspiracy started as a group of songs that were sort of mismatched--songs that Chris and I had written and Alan was on a few, and Jay was on a few, and Michael Bland. Once I joined the band, it was like well let's put the songs together and release them, because it seemed like the right thing to do, then we created the Unknown, but I did a lot of that, even though Jay played on the drums, and Chris played bass, but I played some bass on there too and filled in a lot of gaps, and this thing I didn't. I played bass and sang; everybody else did their bit, so it's a lot different from that, and it feels different. I don't have to carry as much of the load, so for me it's a lot easier to be involved in.

AW: It's a good album.

MOT: I have a few individual questions for you; I'll start with you Billy. Does the music have a lot of creative, melodic, bass lines, much like in a Chris Squire vein with Yes, at its best?

BS: It's like a combination of Chris Squire type thing with Jaco twist in the melody, and Colin Moulding kind of bass playing from XTC. It's very melodic, and it's very much with Alan, so the rhythms are working with the drums in a way that…it's definitively moving around a lot, and very, very musical, but I've always played that way even before I even knew any of these guys, because I always loved the way Chris played, so whenever I went into the studio, I overplayed [laughs], so that's kind been the thing that I've done. The only reason I've kind of shied away from it, because I haven't been playing a lot of bass. I've ended up playing guitar in Yes and just doing a lot of other instruments, so it was kind of cool on this record to be able to come back to it…yeah, Alan White's there, let's make this thing go crazy [laughs].

AW: That was good.

MOT: This next question for Alan kind of touches on what we talked about before. You're kind of seen as a current member of Yes; whenever Yes comes back together, you'll be there, so how does this compare to working with Yes?

AW: This is a constructive thing…that is has Yes-isms involved in it, and I'm always intrigued with playing different kind of stuff and different adventures moving forward like I said before, but it's not the band as it is, like they say the classic lineup kind of thing--it's not the same thing, but at the same time, it's a 2007 version of something that's very close, and a lot of interesting playing, something that intrigues me, and I love challenges, and that's what I love, and in fact the last track I did, it challenged, killed me, it was good. When ended up by doing it right, so it's some kooky stuff in there.

TK: Yeah, we were doing some strange time signatures that were very Yessy.

AW: Really strange time…yeah, and very Yessy.

MOT: But different time signatures are more the feeling you're trying to get as opposed to say, "Hey, let's do something that's in 7/8 right here."

AW: Yeah, but the secret is to make it sound like it's in four. If you can play time signatures that are a bizarre concept…

TK: It was in the song. It's in the melody.

BS: It's in the melody.

AW: It's in the melody, and that's what I tell people all the time. I grew up playing piano and stuff like that, and then I developed the drum thing, so when you can hear the melody, you play with the melody. It makes so much difference.

MOT: So it's very organic.

AW: It's very organic, but make it organic, not technical.

MOT: You don't make it organic, right? It just happens.

AW: No, you have to make it organic…

BS: Well, there's a thing about…if you're we're playing in 11, and it's a quirky time signature. It's real easy to get caught up in trying to identify where the groove is in it, and that sort of stiffens it up, so if you make that organic and kind of cruise through it and find a way to make it flow a half hour into the next one, all the sudden that 11, although it's tricky and it's there, you're feeling of the groove of the thing still, you know what I'm saying? Rather than tripping over the groove and kind of that tricky fusion, it's more just an organic kind of feel thing, but it just happens to be in 11.

AW: Like Reek [Havok] said, "Can I buy a 1?"

BS: And a bar of six.

AW: Can I buy a 1? I'm trying to find a 1 [laughs].

BS: It kind of only goes to an odd meter when the song takes it there. It wasn't that, "OK now we need to plan out some tricky bar of 14," or whatever.

MOT: I have a question for you, Tony. You've been out of the limelight for a while. How does this excite you? You haven't been doing band-type stuff for a long time, and I'd like to hear what you get out of this, or what excites you about this.

AW: Sex. [laughs]

TK: I didn't really want to pontificate about it because I've been in and out of it, in and out of it, in and out of it, it's kind of par for the course, and I got into other things and producing, and managing and all the rest of it, and time went by. You know, it's not really that complicated. Did I miss it or did I miss being on the road and playing, and of course I have. All of these fantastic memories of what happened in the past, but they were gone, and life took another course and all the rest of it, but then I got back together will Billy, and the fire was…

AW: I remember you in the 90125 period and that video where we were all on stage. Everybody's got like painted faces almost; it was like we were all plastic. It was like we were all plastic [laughs]. It was crazy.

TK: Yeah, it was crazy, but Billy roped me in again, and he actually wanted me to play music from a band that I really love too, different to Yes music, but I mean I loved the music of Pink Floyd, and it was perfect.

BS: Or THE WALL stuff, yeah.

TK: THE WALL, DARK SIDE, and so I got back into a sort of playing mind set again; although I was playing at home, writing music, so yeah it was very natural, very easy to come back into this idea of actually playing live again, which is…yeah, it's very tempting to do that again, even at my age, getting back on stage and doing it again, if the music is great, and we started doing it.

MOT: This is going to be very unique for Yes fans, because you represent three distinct eras. You [Tony] were an original member, and…

BS: Well, he's been there through two huge parts.

MOT: …for a big iteration of Yes, and major contributions of the '90s stuff…

[During changing of tapes Alan brought up the promotional films that Yes had done for TIME AND A WORD.]

AW: I was just trying to remember…with you standing behind the tree. Where you were doing "Everydays".

TK: Oh, the Dutch video?

AW: Have you seen that?

BS: Yes, on YouTube. Vintage Yes videos on YouTube.

TK: It was filmed in Holland, and…

AW: It is so funny. It's like the Beatles "Help!", and they're behind a tree and their heads come out like this.

TK: And then there's the dune buggy one.

BS: The dune buggy one is funny.

TK: And it's really sort of beautiful…there's one video, what's the one with "Big Country"?

MOT: "No Opportunity Necessary, No Experience Needed".

TK: Yeah. [everybody sings parts of the song] We were freezing; it was the middle of winter on the seashore, and Chris and I had decided to swap instruments. [The song referred to here is actually "Then".]

AW: Oh, that's right [laughs].

TK: I was playing bass, and Chris was playing keyboards. We were miming perfectly. [everybody laughs]

AW: It was pretty bizarre.

MOT: These were promotional films, right?

TK: Right, yeah.

AW: It was in France…that was in France--in Brittany, or something.

TK: I think it was all recorded together in Holland.

AW: In Holland?

TK: On the seashore…the dune buggy one, and the other one…oh, the nun…

AW: Oh, yeah yeah yeah.

TK: With the nuns chasing us; that was the other one.

AW: That was hilarious.

BS: Benny Hill…

MOT: They feature Steve, don't they? Steve's pretending to play Peter's parts.

TK: Well, that's confusing actually, yeah.

BS: Pete played the guitar parts, but Steve's in the video.

TK: Oh, that's right.

AW: He's full of knowledge [laughs]. But yeah…

TK: It's funny that you should bring that up, because there was a beautiful, sort of naiveness that was the beginning of Yes.

MOT: Innocence.

TK: Innocence, and even at this later date in life, we seem to have sort of found it again, which is really cool.

BS: Well, it's fun to work on music when you're not in that political thing that just comes with the package.

AW: It's funny we're all still alive [laughs].

MOT: In closing about CIRCA:, is there anything you want to say or something you're dying to get out…?

BS: The idea basically of us getting together and why, I felt it was kind of important to make this information clear, because a lot of times out there in the Yes community, some of the information gets convoluted and it gets twisted, and the wrong information gets out, or there's hypothetical this, hypothetical that. And as much as we can get input from the fans, we're here. As I said, maybe they can kind of help us come up with some advice for the set.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Watch for updates at the CIRCA: web site, which will be opening soon.

Also visit the CIRCA: MySpace site, which will feature a track from the album

posted in Progressive/Art rock - 0 replies

New Marillion CD

2007-03-11T00:26:51Z

Somewhere Else - New CD available for preorder...Release date in mid April

http://www.marillion.com

posted in Progressive/Art rock - 0 replies

Glass Hammer

2007-03-09T06:36:19Z

Seeing listings for so much other prog I like, I was surprised not to see any mention of one of my newer faves, Glass Hammer. The Shadowlands album is amazing, and is the closest contemporary thing I can find to classic Yes.

posted in Progressive/Art rock - 0 replies

Arashk, Iranian hard/progressive rock band

2007-03-06T11:54:48Z

Hi!

I am Salim, a composer in Iranian hard/progressive rock band named Arashk. We live in Iran and now have released our first album, Abrahadabra.

Actually myself, as the main composer on this album have always had problems in defining my music's style. Maybe it is because the variety of musical styles that I use to listen! So if you like please check this music at our website and help me in some definition!! www.arashkband.com

Best,
Salim
Arashk Band

posted in Progressive/Art rock - 0 replies

Blue Shift

2007-02-22T14:31:51Z

Just stumbled on one of the best progressive albums I've heard in a very long time, "Not the Future I Ordered" by Blue Shift. It was issued in '98, and it looks like they only put out one album. There's a strong Yes influence, and you can here everything from Tales through 90125 peep out here and there, but all filtered through the group's originality. Listening to the song "Rome", I can tell these guys have been listening to my favorite Yes track, "Awaken." I mean, how many songs can you think of where THAT influence is in there (only "Every Bloody Emperor" off the Van der Graaf reunion comes to mind)? The sound is very "modern," though, as opposed to vintage, and the digital production is state-of-the-art. Good stuff, and a nice find (and thanks to the Musea samplers for cueing me into this one). Anyone know what guitarist Joey Backenstoe and keyboardist Mark Barton went on to do?

posted in Progressive/Art rock - 0 replies

New England Art Rock Society

2007-02-20T20:49:04Z

Hello Everyone - I just wanted to remind folks of the following event:

NewEARS (the New England Art Rock Society) presents: Murali Coryell All Star Blues Band (Tony Levin, Jerry Marotta and other special guests.) at The Lowell Brewery at 8:00pm
$20 in advance...$25 Day of show .

See the events calendar for details (directions, etc.)

If you're in the Boston area, please drop on by! Bring a friend. Tony & company are always great seen live.

posted in Progressive/Art rock - 0 replies

Gel-Sol's album "Unifactor" to be released on Upstairs Recordings

2007-02-13T06:24:19Z

Greetings!

I am happy to announce that my second album "Unifactor" will be released in late february/early march on Upstairs Recordings, out of Vancouver:

http://www.upstairsrecordings.com

500 cds will be made, and will be available through Upstairs website, Amazon.com, and itunes. More info to come.

The album is approximately 67 minutes, and a logical follow-up to 2004's "Music Made For You...And By You, I Mean Me. (aka em:t 1104)

Tracklisting:

01. Open Her
02. Brontosaur Yu
03. Propulsion
04. Slowjob
05. Cool Sweet Awesome Yay!
06. 3c273
07. Mother Never Known
08. Ohne Schlage
09. Saying Goodbye is Never Easy
10. Unifactor

Big thanks to Buzz Roswell and Don Verbrilli for making this happen!

For more info, samples and a shitload of downloads, please visit www.gel-sol.com and www.myspace.com/gelsol

Drop me a line and I might send you some more music!

Thanks!

Yer Pal,
Gel-Sol
www.gel-sol.com
www.myspace.com/gelsol

posted in Progressive/Art rock - 6 replies

New Camel Tribe !

2007-02-04T05:36:02Z

Just thought I'd post this new tribe up for anyone who might be interested. Please contact me if you're interested in joining or have any info. about them, especially details of their 1970's gigs in the States.

posted in Progressive/Art rock - 1 reply

Musea Records samplers

2007-01-24T16:00:51Z

Just stumbled across this the other day........the French prog label "Musea" has a whole line of full-length prog samplers, with bands from around the world, that are available on Amazon for $6-9 each. I've gotten a bunch of them, and have made it through a couple, and I'd say about 80% of the stuff on there is good so far (which isn't a bad ratio for a sampler). They've definitely exposed me to some bands I hadn't heard of before.

posted in Progressive/Art rock - 0 replies

THE SYNTHETIC DREAM FOUNDATION

2007-01-18T22:30:28Z

THE SYNTHETIC DREAM FOUNDATION has finally put up a band page on myspace and has a remix posted on there for a remix they did for In strict confidence that is well worth checking out. Their page is
http://www.myspace.com/thesyntheticdreamfoundation

posted in Progressive/Art rock - 0 replies

Happy The Man

2007-01-13T22:13:16Z

Anyone have any thoughts on this group?

posted in Progressive/Art rock - 9 replies

Top of the tribe list??

2007-01-10T05:37:43Z

Does anyone know why this tribe, which begins with a "P" and contains no special punctuation at the beginning of the name (that's visible, anyway), floats to the top of the list of tribes?

posted in Progressive/Art rock - 14 replies

Best Prog Album of All Time...?

2007-01-10T05:06:01Z

I'd have to say the 1973 effort by the progenitors of prog: Larks' Tongues In Aspic by King Crimson.

posted in Progressive/Art rock - 165 replies

Just wanted to introduce myself

2006-12-22T00:32:00Z

Hi I keep a web site for songwriter Patrick Dodd; I think most of the folks that come to this site would like his music. You can listen and download for free at http://www.patrickdodd.com

posted in Progressive/Art rock - 0 replies

Henry Cow

2006-12-20T19:39:05Z

On tour in the Eastern US--anyone find a review?

posted in Progressive/Art rock - 8 replies

dis Friday Dec.15th come shake your booty with KAPAKAHI & Finless Brown at the ELBO Room

2006-12-13T21:46:31Z

check out the following to know what will be going down this Friday Night, Dec. 15th at the Elbo Room 647 Valencia St. SF!

www.kapakahimusic.com
www.myspace.com/kapakahi
www.cdbaby.com/cd/kapakahi

www.finlessbrown.com
www.myspace.com/finlessbrown

posted in Progressive/Art rock - 2 replies

join me at acid mothers temple!

2006-12-11T15:47:58Z

I am lonely!

posted in Progressive/Art rock - 2 replies

Brand Spankin' New Muse!

2006-12-02T03:53:39Z

First listen... OMG! I am at work listening on little speakers, but I promise to give it the full listen later. Headphones. Yeah. But HOLY CRAP it's awesome!! Soldier's Poem's vocals had me tearing up, thinking Freddie had come back to us. My kids and I are already crazy about Muse, we've all been counting the days till it's release.

It was SO worth the wait!!!

posted in Progressive/Art rock - 24 replies

Prog Talk 1: Embarrassed bands?

2006-11-29T05:05:01Z

The September '06 issue of Classic Rock magazine was about prog and had an interesting interview with some famous prog rock icons like Greg Lake, Mike Portnoy, Steven Wilson, Steve Hackett, Fish, and Thijs Van Leer. I think it would be interesting to answer the same questions here in this tribe. We can skip the first question "What is prog" because we've recently covered that. So here goes.

Why are so many prog bands embarrased to be called prog?

posted in Progressive/Art rock - 23 replies

New Rumi Cd released

2006-11-28T21:10:17Z

True Love Rumi.......it si a great gift for spriritual people....... you can listen or get it from www.trueloverumi.com or cdbaby.com
enjoy it

posted in Progressive/Art rock - 0 replies

Best Camel album?

2006-11-26T01:22:03Z

I'd have to say 1974's "Mirage"

That album I feel truly emcompasses the band's unique sound, flow and originality.

What's your favorite Camel album and why?

posted in Progressive/Art rock - 9 replies

Genesis Reunion Announcement

2006-11-22T22:56:34Z

Not long now before the official announcement on Genesis' plans for 2007. Looks like its just Phil, Mike, & Tony. Nov 7th is the webcast announcement.

The official band website will have the streaming video link.

Yes, I'm so happy I just blew out a testicle....

posted in Progressive/Art rock - 29 replies

Gravity Eyelids by Porcupine Tree

2006-11-19T15:47:29Z

I generally don't like Porcupine Tree -- way too metal -- but this is an awesome song. I'm listening to it right now. It makes me feel like I'm being put under some kind of spell.

posted in Progressive/Art rock - 8 replies

Magma catching on with a new generation of prog fans

2006-11-13T19:16:53Z

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=52vhtwuGjOA

Maybe there is hope for the future......

posted in Progressive/Art rock - 13 replies

Frost

2006-11-07T21:05:22Z

You guys should check this out, it's an old friend of mine with a great new album
www.frost-music.com

posted in Progressive/Art rock - 1 reply

Let's talk about it

2006-11-01T17:37:10Z

Ok, I'm going to put my proverbial balls on the chopping block with this argument. Feel free to state your case. I'm curious to know everyone's take on this.

I've been ruminating in my copious spare time that there are two subsets within Progressive Rock as I know it. The first is Art Rock, and the other Fusion. Yes, Jazz/Rock Fusion.

My argument is this: Art rock is more story based and has among its devotees such bands as Genesis, Emerson, Lake & Palmer, Yes, & King Crimson.

Fusion has among its base songs from Mahavishnu Orchestra, Miles Davis, Tony Williams Lifetime Quartet, Weather Report, etc.

After listening to some ELP of late I can't help but hear the similarity of certain tunes to some Mahavishnu pieces and vice versa.

So, who can get behind there being two subsets of Prog, and who's gonna trample my balls with spiked boots?

Faust

posted in Progressive/Art rock - 5 replies

classic rock magazine

2006-10-26T17:33:11Z

Just got a copy of UK magazine Classic Rock. It's a Prog Rock edition with stories on Muse, King crimson, mars Volta , fish etc and the main story on the state of prog rock. Also comes with great 12 track CD free. It features Porcupine Tree, Spocks Beard, GPS, Flower Kings, Fish, Circulus, Mostly Autumn etc. get it if you can!

posted in Progressive/Art rock - 9 replies

Porcupine Tree show report

2006-10-17T06:22:21Z

Check out what Matt and I had to say about the San Francisco Fillmore show:

http://porcupinetree.tribe.net/thread/ef3b572a-37be-4d4d-8099-6ffc655badcb

posted in Progressive/Art rock - 0 replies

Prepare yourselves! Asia returns!

2006-10-06T09:22:21Z

Just when you thought they were long forgotten, and perhaps derided as the worst prog rock band ever, ASIA is coming back on tour. "Playing all the Asia hits." proclaims the advert. I'm not sure what that means exactly, but here's the link.

http://www.asiaworld.org/

I'm not a fan and in no way associated with or profiting from this casual mention, other than for the laughs. I can hear the sound of one hand clapping, faintly in the distance... oh, wait. No that's the fan blade of an antique refrigerator... sorry...

posted in Progressive/Art rock - 11 replies