Stereo Embers The Podcast 0035: Tony Kaye (Yes

“Tony Kaye Plays The Net Now”

Tony Kaye was a baseliner on the tennis court for years, but then
he figured out the efficacy of playing the net and he was hooked.
Kaye was hooked on music at an early age, starting his formal
classical piano training at the tender age of four. When he signed
on to be an original member of Yes in 1968, his classical roots
were long behind him. He’d been playing jazz for years and after
seeing Graham Bond stomp away on the Hammond, Kaye realized
that playing rock and roll meant not treating his organ like a piano.
In this conversation, Kaye talks to Alex about his relationship to
his instrument, what it was like playing clubs in Germany at the same time as The Beatles, and why he admires Geoff Downes so much. Kaye also talks about why he’s chosen isolation, why friendships are hard to maintain in rock and roll and what he thinks of the #Yes50 tour.