“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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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

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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

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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 is a journalist, podcaster, event host and music industry lecturer who joined Kerrang! in 1999 and then the dark side – Prog – a decade later as Deputy Editor. Jo's had tea with Robert Fripp, touched Ian Anderson's favourite flute (!) and asked Suzi Quatro what one wears under a leather catsuit. Jo is now Associate Editor of Prog, 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 and can be occasionally heard polluting the BBC Radio airwaves as a pop and rock pundit. Steven Wilson still owes her £3, which he borrowed to pay for parking before a King Crimson show in Aylesbury.