This year has delivered a series of milestones for guitarist Steve Howe. Whether you prefer Howe’s progressive work in Yes or his radio hits from Asia, you can expect both bands to be in the news in the coming months. To start it all off, April 15th marked the release of Phoenix, the first album featuring the original members of Asia since 1983. A steady stream of tour dates in the U.S., Japan, and Europe has followed, and it doesn’t look like Howe is going to have much time to relax. After all, he’s got the 40th anniversary of Yes to celebrate.
When
Howe talked with
Ultimate-Guitar, he was in the midst of preparing for a massive summer tour in support of
Yes’ reunion. Although he alluded to the fact that there might be even more big news to come about
Yes, he stopped short of letting it all out. It looks like we’ll have to wait to hear the full details, but
Howe fans should be interested to know that he just released a new album of “
one-man guitar tunes” called
Motif. For those only familiar with Yes and Asia, be prepared to hear an even more eclectic side to Howe on the solo record.
UG: What originally prompted you to reunite with the other members of Asia?
Steve: For the four of us, it was a time where we were all able to think about it seriously. It came about for me because Yes had taken one year off, and that one year off turned into 3 years off. At the time I met up with John, Geoff, and Carl, and spoke about it. We played the first album and enjoyed ourselves, and we celebrated being Asia in a new state. So it really fit into our plans at the time.
I read a quote where you called the new album "an enormous test, a challenge worthy of our intent." Can you elaborate on that?
I guess I thought it was a challenge because at first we weren't sure if it was going to go that far. Having a new album seemed like an improbable task, but then we realized that the music and the writing styles could still mix. We could kind of come up with something that was individual enough and proved us to be players in the band. So we took on the challenge and we didn't really have a lot of trouble. Normally guys that get back together have trouble, but we just kind of kept working and didn't worry. It came about in quite a nice way, quite a beautiful way.
How much has the writing process changed in Asia since your time together in the 1980s?
On this album, it's gone back to really how it should have been and how it was on the first album. This album has 2 songs by myself, and I co-wrote other ones with the band. So I'm really pleased that it does represent some of what I write. In a lot of ways, it also is a great opportunity mentally for me to make Asia a little bit more colorful in the acoustic sense. I think we were going there on the 2nd album, actually. We just got a little bit lost at times. But I think now we've got such clarity, and I'm quite excited by discovering the styles we have in this band.
Did you use your signature Gibson ES-175 on most of the album?
No, not really. I was playing it primarily back in the early 80s. I found it to be a wonderful guitar. When Asia reformed, I got the guitar refretted. It's got a few extra pokey things you can do with it. It's a wonderful guitar, and after refretting it, I think it's more wonderful now. So I've kind of really been using that guitar a lot. But all over the album, I'll use a Telecaster, the Stratocaster, steel guitar or acoustic guitar. A lot of times I am playing the acoustic. On the electric front, I do a lot of things with the Variax for effects, which is fun to get some sounds out of. I generally use a small batch of guitars. Well, it's maybe not that small!
One of the tracks on the new album, "Sleeping Giant/No Way Back," features what sounds like it could be a sitar. Is that a guitar effect or an actual sitar?
That's the Variax. Yeah, the Variax there is simulating what's called a Dano Sitar guitar. I have one and they're very nice. Line 6's guitars get that sound on a particular setting, so I used that. Wait... No, it's actually the same maker called the Line 6 Variax, but it's an acoustic model. You can use it like a sitar.
When you enter into pre-production or start rehearsals with Asia, do you usually go in with song ideas already in the back of your head? Do many of the ideas come out in jam sessions?
I think we kind of make it a different combination of various methods for making an album. There are certain ways for all of us, and you can look at it as a methodical process when you construct an album. We thought about giving ourselves one month to do a certain part of that project, whether it's collaborative or sharing and selecting. Then there's a 2 to 3 month period where you start having maps of the songs. Then people start overdubbing and people start working out what they might change in Pro Tools a little bit. The arrangement gradually gets strengthened as people work out how to play with things. That's the most agreeable way, and I think that adds to the level of production that you can get.
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| "Normally guys that get back together have trouble, but we just kind of kept working and didn't worry." |
Yes is often associated with complex, 10-minute-plus songs. Because Yes does tend to lean towards a more progressive sound, does the writing process differ greatly between Yes and Asia?
To start with, let's say it’s very different. We did make 3 albums at the beginning of 2000, late 1999. I think when people say "Yes recordings," they're talking about the first 3 in the 70's, when we had The Yes Album, Fragile, and Close To The Edge. From that standpoint, that's what Yes was. There was a sharing and a push to get Chris' writing in. John had plenty of writing and I had lots of tunes. That was how we did Fragile and Close To The Edge.
John and I started writing together, which was really great. But that was just a new version of John or Chris writing together. In a way, we wrote totally different from now. People had ideas; we had our tapes and we had a cassette player. We had things to throw in the pile, and then we might have jammed. But in the end, things had to get rehearsed and get practiced, to get written and rehearsed at the same time, sometimes without lyrics.
Then, it was different. That's partly why I find it quite pleasurable, each project that I've been doing recently. The writing is totally different. It can feel different. Maybe the style of the guitar will be different or it will just have a sense of variety to it. In Yes, I think we were very musical then. It was a nice kind of confident musical sound. To get the goods, the ideas would be flowing around.
You hit a huge milestone this year with the 40th anniversary of Yes, which is just amazing.
We're going to make a big announcement soon about what is going to happen this year. So watch out for the big announcement.
Will you be planning a tour with Yes this year?
Yes. That's what we're basically wanting to do, and it's getting there.
Are you touring with the Steve Howe Trio currently?
After Asia is done, we'll do a little bit of it. We've got a 3-month period where we're touring for Phoenix. In June, when Asia's done Japan, Europe, the U.S., and the UK, then I'm going to tour with my trio. We should have a record out by then. That's going to be getting started off with shows in the UK. Then we'll do Yes rehearsals and US dates. In the meantime, I've got Motif, a guitar record. There are 20 tracks of solo guitar, and I used about 9 different guitars to make this record.
What musicians have inspired you in the past?
I think it all started when I first heard Chet Atkins, really. I just thought that the guitar was a great instrument to play and maybe I was really going to get good at it. Then I heard Chet Atkins and I thought, "Well, actually, that's what I'd love to do." There was a crossover from country to rock and roll, really. I could hear it in these tracks. I still think Bill Haley is fantastic, absolutely fantastic, and the guitarist who was absolutely fantastic was Franny Beecher. There are a lot of great people.
You've done a lot of incredible acoustic work on your albums over the years. Do you tend to write on the acoustic?
When I'm inventing things on my own and playing the guitar, it's generally on acoustic guitar. I do like to play electric guitar, but I used to be kind of more terrified of it. I play the Gretsch on about 5 tracks and it's very much in the style and sound that Chet used to make. So I've kind of included it to show that I'm not so shy now. But how he used to the tremolo on the Gretsch, I have no idea. He did it so well!
How old were you when you first picked up the guitar?
I was 12. I was ridiculous because I actually thought I could play immediately. They were right – I couldn't! But I didn't get lessons. I did listen to records and a couple years later I had an electric guitar and was playing with a school group. I met with a couple of guys not far away and we started playing together. It was mainly instrumental like The Shadows and The Ventures and those types of bands. It was pop guitar, and I was quite happy doing that.
What techniques would you recommend to those who are just beginning to play?
My main thing was chords. I was interested in chords, fascinated with them. I loved to learn about them and I still do. It's a huge advantage. You'll be in a song and you'll go, "Oh, wow! Of course, I can do that or I can use that." That's part of the joy of music, discovering all these things. It's all about discovery. When I heard Steve Morse I went, "Wow, listen to this guy play!" I love Steve Morse's work so much. The first album produced by Ken Scott was an incredible document of what instrumental music is supposed to be. I really, really felt it was wonderful.
I kept tabs when I met Martin Taylor, the jazz guitarist, who I had done some work with. He's an amazing guitarist and it jolted me. If you listen to somebody and you don't know how they're playing, it's good! You could be sitting next to him and thinking, "I don't know how he does that, but it's amazing." There's a lovely sharing with people that happens.
I like classical guitar and blues, and I quite like early music. Also, I like playing rock guitar unashamedly. Getting onstage with an electric guitar is a really good feeling! But then again, it is with any guitar.
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| "I generally use a small batch of guitars. Well, it's maybe not that small!" |
Do you use pretty much the same equipment onstage that you do in the studio?
In Asia I haven't really attempted to do that in a serious way. I've enjoyed it more not having to do multiple button switches to create a sound, but just going to a program that works it out. In the studio we programmed the Line 6 Vetta amps, and it sounds fantastic. I'm going to do that for most of my future projects. No with the trio, because in the trio I just use a guitar and an amp. But in Yes, of course, it's really good fun to use the Line 6 approach to recording all the sounds I want. That means I don't really have to change guitars so much.
I've noticed on your website that you actually sell guitars from time to time. How did you come about doing that hobby?
There might be guitars that I'm not using. In my mind, I refine my collection. I whittle it down. I am a player foremost and a collector second. There's a batch of guitars that some might not realize the value of. More or less, one of the guitars was made around 1810 or 1820. They've got an interesting amount of history. The bulk of my collection are ones that you can really play well. Gradually I realized that there are just so many that you can accommodate. So it's coming down to how I like to play the guitar more or less.
How many do you think you have in your collection right now?
I was getting it down to 150 back in the mid-80s. I think I've got about 65 really serious guitars, maybe 70.
Are there any particular moments that have been highlights for you, whether in Yes, Asia, or during your solo career?
Let's make it 3. The first one was the first record I made when I was 17. It was "Maybellene" by Chuck Berry. To make a record when you're 17 was a dream. Then again, Yes' Fragile was 7 years later. I was playing really, really well with the possibilities. Asia, when it first came out, was interesting because it wasn't Yes. It was kind of tantalizing and fun. I thought it was really interesting. There were ups and downs, but you take the rough with the smooth!
Interview by Amy Kelly
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