June 2010

Bobby talks about his new band YOSO and their debut album "Elements"

Tell us something about the founding process of YOSO, please! If I am right, then it all started with the collaboration between Bobby Kimball and Billy Sherwood on recording together for some tribute albums!?

That’s basically correct. While I was working with Billy on a "Tribute CD" he was producing, things were working out so well, we thought it might be a good idea to try putting a band together, record a CD, and do some touring. After all, we’re musicians, and Billy and I seemed to click very well together as a writing team. Since Billy plays every instrument, he managed to put together several basic tracks for me to take home and write lyrics to. It was a very fun process, and the next thing we knew, we had a full CD written. During that process, Tony Kaye, who was considered a member of the band started putting his keyboard parts on, and each player fell into that scheme, and the CD turned out great.

How did the other members come on board? Did you hold any auditions or are the other members hand-picked friends?

Besides Tony, Billy, and myself, we’ve changed some of the players in the group for various reasons. We’ve been doing our best to get the best players that fit, not only the music we play, but also the attitude of the music. After all, being in a band is like being married to these people, because you end up being around them almost all of the time. It’s so important to pick players who can get along, and live in close quarters together without major problems.

Who had the idea to mix the names of your former band TOTO and YES and came up with YOSO?

Billy and I were sitting around in his patio, and coming up with several names that described the music we would be recording, and the music we’ll be playing live in concert. At the moment, we’ll be doing about 5 songs from "Yes", and 5 from "Toto". Then, we’ll do 5 of the songs, soon to be released on our first CD. We had come up with names like "Yoto", and various other versions of the 4 letters. Two letters from each group. "Yoso" seemed to be the best combination., and that’s where it ended.

Since YOSO features members of two renown acts, TOTO and YES, some people use the term "supergroup" in context with you. Do you feel well with it?

Both "Yes & Toto" were Super Groups, and since we’ll be playing songs from those two incarnations, we prefer not to call ourselves a Super Group until we’ve had a chance to prove ourselves. I can say that it feels very much like a highly elevated band of musicians, and we don’t claim to be "Yes nor Toto", we will do our best to present the songs as closely as possible to our fans. We would also like to present our own creations in the midst of these Super Hits,... if nothing more than to let the fans know that our music stands up well appreciated next to some of the greatest hit songs of all time.

You did already play live together before recording "Elements". Did the live experiences influence your writing and recording for the new album in any way?

Actually, by the time we played together live for the first concerts, we had already finished the "Elements" CD. I would say that having the CD already behind us influenced the live performance more that the other way around.

"Elements" even features a bonus CD with some live material you recorded. Can you please tell us a little more about the material you used for this bonus CD?

The "Bonus Tracks" in the live shows "are the songs we perform from our former bands". These songs are very recognizable hit singles from both "Yes & Toto", and our fan base in the inception of "Yoso" will want to (demand to) hear these songs in our set list. These are songs we were part of the creation of, and people want to hear Tony play his original keyboard parts he created on songs like "Owner Of A lonely Heart", just as they want to hear the original lead vocalist on "Hold The Line", "Rosanna"...etc. There is something very genuine about getting to be in the presence of the original sound that made a song a hit, and kept it memorable over the years. Billy produced some "Yes" CDs, and played guitar on some, and these parts are very recognizable. Having this combination on one team is very fun, and not only has the quality of the two bands, but in the new material, you can hear the attitude of both bands together in our music.

Did you have any specific style of music on your mind that you wanted to create when you founded YOSO or did you just wait and see where writing and recording together is going to lead you?

By virtue of the fact that "Yes" is more of a "Prag-Rock" Band, and "Toto" is more of an "Arena Rock" Band, the mixture of the two kinds of music brings on a life of it own. We do our best to stay true to one, or the other style of music when necessary, but when we mix the two styles, it becomes "Purely Yoso Music". It’s like no other music out there. We really didn’t have a premeditated style of music in mind, because Billy wrote the music, and I wrote the lyrics and did most of the vocals. This brought both styles to the center of the new sound that IS "YOSO".

What’s the meaning behind the title of your first album, "Elements"?

If you think about the name, we are the elements of two bands, two totally different styles of music, and the mix of the two seem to be "Elements" that work very well together.

All of you have gained a lot of experiences with different bands in the past, but with YOSO it’s kind of a new start for you. Do you still feel thrilled and excited about releasing your first mutual album or is it just kind of routine for you?

I would imagine all of us are very excited about coming to the plate with something new and different. Everyone seems thrilled about presenting our versions of the "Yes and Toto" songs, but the real excitement comes from the new material that joins the "Elements" together into a very different, but familiar sound. Yes, we’re excited about this new CD.

When you play people will expect you to play some songs from the YES and TOTO back catalogue. Will you do them this favor and will you focus more on the YES or the TOTO history then?

What we’ve done, is to pick the songs from the "Yes" catalog, and the "Toto" catalog that we feel the fans of those bands would appreciate the most. Also, we made a great effort to do songs that each of us had a connection to. Billy wrote a song on "Kingdom of Desire" with David Paich, so we’ll be doing that one. I tried to pick the Toto songs I sang, or co-wrote, so there is a connection for each of us in those choices. It will be an equal focus on both bands in our set list. It was only fair for us to do it this way. Then, we’ll do an equal amount of our own creations amongst the other songs.

Bobby Kimball and Billy Sherwood share lead vocals on "Elements", and I think it adds a very special note to the sound of YOSO. Is that something you planned from the beginning or did you just find out about it when writing and recording together?

There were certain songs that fit Billy’s voice, and others which were more suited for my voice. When you pick songs for a set, it’s very important to place the puzzle pieces in the correct frame. At first, Billy was singing "Owner of A Lonely Heart", but he asked me to sing it because it more suited for my voice. Likewise, I asked him to sing the songs which were more suited for his voice. When a band is creating a CD (always hoping they can make the very best of their work) there are very few rules to follow. You make decisions to adjust things to achieve the best results.

Do you have long term plans for YOSO or does the future of the band depend on the success of "Elements"?

It’s difficult to predict the future about whether a band will be able to endure a long-time relationship, but we all have great hopes that "Yoso" will become an item in the music business to be reckoned with right up there with the best of bands. It is our intention to be together for a long time, and make a lot of great music to be enjoyed by a lot of fans.

Will you play any live shows in Europe in the near future? Your label announced US-dates only...

We’ll start our tour in the USA, but we have long-term plans to play every corner of the world. Once the CD is out, we would like to support it by doing many concerts for the fans we make, and we plan to keep making more, and better music in the future, so that we can gather a multitude of fans world-wide.
Thanks you for your questions, and we hope to meet you out on the road...Bobby