YES, the progressive rock outfit that first got together in 1968, is still going strong despite many changes in the band. Over the years this Brit group has experimented with melody, rhythm and harmony like kids toying with an Erector set.
And in the process they’ve sold 28 million albums, among them “Yes,” “Close to the Edge,” “Fragile” and most recently “The Ladder.”
The current Yes men include founding members Jon Anderson and Chris Squire, old timers Steve Howe and Alan White, and the new guys — Billy Sherwood and Igor Khoroshev.
Anderson, 55, the band’s vocalist and lyricist, spoke with The Post while in rehearsals for a three-show engagement starting Tuesday at the Beacon Theater.
Though he and his bandmates have been accused of being pretentious and self-indulgent, Anderson was soft-spoken, modest and sincere, speaking without guile about his own brand of mysticism and his music.
Post: Despite a few radio hits like “Owner of a Lonely Heart,” the band never seemed interested in being pop stars.
Anderson: That’s right. We didn’t want to be pop musicians because we were too old then, and we’re certainly too old now. The idea has always been, let’s be musicians first and foremost.
Post: Still, you’ve had more than your share of turmoil.
Anderson: We’re very critical about what we are and what we do. When one of us has a tough night, the rest don’t have to say anything. He’s the first person to say sorry.
Post: Are you that guy sometimes?
Anderson: It’s happened to me once or twice. There are times I couldn’t hear properly or I lost concentration and I’ve forgot words. You don’t want any of that to happen because it affects the entire band.
Post: So you talk about your shows afterward?
Anderson: If a band is made up of friends, and Yes are good friends, we talk. We’re still competitive with each other, but that’s a good thing and it reflects in our show.
Post: Some say you’re over the hill — a dinosaur act.
Anderson: We don’t show up on stage to hang around, make a little music and take the money and run. We are constantly proving we are very good on stage.
Post: Is that why Yes is playing the Beacon rather than a larger hall?
Anderson: Well, when you play in front of 20,000 people there is a definite energy rush, and the music feels bigger and more expanded. But when you’re in a theater the music is more precise, more defined, and you see and feel the reactions.
Post: Are you as good a singer as when you were younger?
Anderson: You develop a style, and you build your vocal range over the years. I hope I’m still getting better. These days I feel like I’m really getting it right after all these years.
Post: What are the differences between your first record, “Yes,” and your new disc, “The Ladder”?
Anderson: There haven’t been many changes. I tend to think it’s been a great cycle. We’ve matured, but we’ve stayed the same.
Post: If the critics are right, your albums have sometimes been uneven.
Anderson: “Close to the Edge” [released in ’72] and “Tales From Topographic Oceans” [released in ’73] are great music, but at that time I questioned why we did them because they were so harshly criticized. Time has totally vindicated both of those albums.
Post: What about “The Symphonic Music of Yes”? That was a dud.
Anderson: Let me explain what happened there. I started doing some orchestral sketches of music that I thought would really work. But the project was taken out of my control and fell into the hands of a producer who was a nice guy, a sweet guy, but not of the musical level I like to work with. When I heard how it ended up, I was emotionally and musically devastated. It was definitely not what I would have done.
Post: You’re said to be a very spiritual person.
Anderson: I’ve always been interested in things I cannot see. Through meditation I’ve realized there is more to this world than we can see.
Post: Like what?
Anderson: Fourth-dimension beings who are evolving into light beings of the fifth dimension.
Post: Light beings?
Anderson: When I say light beings, these are beings that live in a faster dimension than ours. We might call them fairies. These are ideas that are very well written about. There are people who have visitations and visit other dimensional worlds. But they are the highly developed people.
Post: Have you had any personal experiences with these highly developed people?
Anderson: I’ve had three.
Post: Really?
Anderson: On my 40th birthday, while I was in Malaysia on holiday, I had a visitation. It was like a laser light in the room with me, and I knew exactly what I was seeing.
Post: You weren’t drunk or taking drugs?
Anderson: No. That was a confirmation of the supernatural. It was as much an ascension as seeing a beautiful hawk in flight above you. That hawk is telling you to look above the earthly world, look from its perspective. These are parts of the workings of the earth.