“A lot of the music I’ve made has had the goal of achieving something similar to Yes”: Steve Howe was the middle ground between Moby and his punk-hating guitar teacher

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Electronica, ambient and rock artist still listens to Close To The Edge once a month

Moby and Yes
(Image credit: Getty Images)

In 2018 musician and producer Moby – whose career extends across multiple genres from electronica and ambient to rock and punk – told Prog why Yes had mattered to him since his childhood.

“I grew up in Connecticut and my mom was a hippie and we listened to a lot of college radio and AOR together. I first heard Yes when Roundabout was their big single. In 1978, aged 13, I went to my first ever concert: Yes in Madison Square Garden.

It was a school night and everything about it was so exciting, it made an indelible impression. I was thrilled to see Rick Wakeman – but I was most impressed with Steve Howe, a player so unique but always in service to the song.

From the age of 10, I played guitar and my teacher only liked complicated music. We had a schism because I liked a lot of punk rock and he hated that – but we both agreed on Steve Howe, and I learned to play Roundabout note-perfect.

Later, I got really lucky: one of my friends, his father worked at CBS and had access to the Yes catalogue for free, which he gave to me.

Yes - Heart Of The Sunrise Live 1972 Yessongs [HD] - YouTube Yes - Heart Of The Sunrise Live 1972 Yessongs [HD] - YouTube
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What I like about Yes is their approach to atmosphere and melody. Neil Young records are great, but a document of a band in a room. Yes use the studio as an instrument to craft something bigger, to create a transcendent atmosphere. Aged 13, I could be in a suburban bedroom but transported somewhere else – and Roger Dean’s artwork certainly helped.

In the 80s and 90s they dropped off the cultural radar. Then Vincent Gallo used Heart Of The Sunrise in his [1998] film Buffalo ’66. I knew him, and talked to him about Yes; it made it okay for us closet fans to admit how much we loved them.

Yes ~ And You and I ~ Live at Montreux [2003] [HD 1080p] - YouTube Yes ~ And You and I ~ Live at Montreux [2003] [HD 1080p] - YouTube
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At their best Yes created entire landscapes and worlds like no other. They’ve inspired me in that a lot of the music I’ve made has had the goal of achieving something similar.

Close To The Edge is my favourite album. I go back to it at least once a month. It has such flawless songs and recordings. Even if And You And I and Close To The Edge were the only tracks on the album, it would still be in my top 10.” 

Jo Kendall
Jo Kendall

Jo is a journalist, podcaster, event host and music industry lecturer with 23 years in music magazines since joining Kerrang! as office manager in 1999. But before that Jo had 10 years as a London-based gig promoter and DJ, also working in various vintage record shops and for the UK arm of the Sub Pop label as a warehouse and press assistant. Jo's had tea with Robert Fripp, touched Ian Anderson's favourite flute (!), asked Suzi Quatro what one wears under a leather catsuit, and invented several ridiculous editorial ideas such as the regular celebrity cooking column for Prog, Supper's Ready. After being Deputy Editor for Prog for five years and Managing Editor of Classic Rock for three, Jo is now Associate Editor of Prog, where she's been since its inception in 2009, and a regular contributor to Classic Rock. She continues to spread the experimental and psychedelic music-based word amid unsuspecting students at BIMM Institute London, hoping to inspire the next gen of rock, metal, prog and indie creators and appreciators.