Developed from the street of suburban Chicago during the early 1970’s , the rock band Styx would evolve into one of the world’s most popular and progressive acts, dominating FM radio and striking a balance between guitar driven rocks songs, melodic harmonies, and power ballads. Despite internal struggles over musical direction, lineup changes, and health issues, Styx has weathered the storm and grown stronger as a result. With 15 studio albums that have produced 8 Top Ten singles, the band has sold over 30 million albums and shows no signs of slowing down anytime soon. Tommy Shaw (vocals, guitar), James “JY” Young (guitar, vocals), Lawrence Gowan (vocals, keyboards), Ricky Phillips (bass), and Todd Sucherman (drums) continue the Styx legacy with a catalog that includes “Come Sail Away,” "Fooling Yourself”, “The Grand Illusion”, “Blue Collar Man”, Renegade”, and “Too Much Time On My Hands” amongst others. Sound Waves Magazine caught up with original member James “JY” Young to talk about the band and their upcoming tour that will include at stop at the MGM Grand Theatre at Foxwoods on July 8th:

We’re looking forward to seeing you and the band on your upcoming tour. You’re touring with Yes as well. Is this your first time with them?

JAMES YOUNG: Indeed, it should be great. Yes was a very influential band in our formative years. In my mind, Yes was the first band to really use full on, classical influences in rock music. And I thought it was an amazing thing. We’re all influenced by classical music on some level. They sort of paved the way for us to use it in our original music. And I’m thankful to them for that. A song like “Lorelei” (from 1975) for example, the first half is kind of a tip of the hat to The Who and “Baba O’Riley”; the second half with the whole descending bass line with the big vocal chorus, that’s a tip of the hat to Chris Squire and Yes.

What can we expect to see on your tour this time around?

JY: We start the show on the 4th of July, so the MGM Grand show (on July 8th) is early in the tour. It’s a work in progress because we’ve never played in front of their (Yes) fans before and vice versa. People who are paying money to see Styx will want to hear us be Styx. How much we skew it in the prog direction will probably evolve on a nightly basis based on what happens the night before.

Does (original bassist) Chuck Panozzo still make an appearance with you?

JY: Chuck has made a concerted effort to be at every one of these shows. He’s not quite strong enough to always be at every show, but as a founding member of the band, he has the moment when he comes out and is introduced about two-thirds of the way through the show and drives the crowd into a frenzy. The fans love it when he’s out there and we love having him there.

Styx’s musical direction has been talked about a lot. Even though the band got into the theatrics, what I always liked was the guitar-driven rock songs, many of which you wrote. How do you and (guitarist) Tommy (Shaw) write and work out guitar parts? You’ve been together for many years. Do you have a formal process?

JY: In recent times, it sounds like Styx when he and I work together. If you look at the work that Tommy’s done with Damn Yankees, there’s not as much soft, introspective type of music there with the Ted Nugent influence pushing him towards the rock thing. And I have a similar influence on Tommy, but in the context of Styx, I think he feels at home in showing a softer vulnerability side in his writing. I’m less able to help him there.

How about in terms of guitar playing styles?

JY: Tommy is certainly a more versatile guitarist that I am. And I think he’s more focused on his guitar. He’s more of a pure musician than I am. I love his guitar playing and he loves my guitar playing.

Who were your musical influences in the early days?

JY: Hendrix was the most profound influence on me. But I would say that I probably learned more from analyzing Eric Clapton. It was a little more straightforward. I finally met (Eric) Clapton for the first time last year at the Crossroads Festival in Chicago. I talked to him about that solo in “Crossroads - Live At The Fillmore”. My parents had a record player that you could slow down to play on the same key but an octave lower and at half speed. So I took “Crossroads” and put it on a half speed to learn what he was playing. He admitted that he made a mistake during the solo. I thought that solo was perfect.

Can you talk about Lawrence Gowan for a minute (Dennis DeYoung’s replacement on vocals and keyboards)? How has it been working with Lawrence?

JY: Lawrence is just a phenomenal talent and a phenomenal person. Dennis (DeYoung) really didn’t like being on the road. And Dennis was unhappy on the road. The road is an evil creature that takes well-adjusted, happy people and can make them miserable. It can take people with emotional difficulties who are not well adjusted and really do bad things to them and in the worst instances, kill them. It’s brutal if you don’t have your balance going into it. Yet Lawrence is unfazed. He was born in Glasgow, Scotland. And it’s cold there in the summertime. There’s something about that Scottish things….I guess to survive in that climate (laughs). And that’s the kind of guy you want in a band. He was classically trained at the Royal Conservatory in Canada. He’s really a well-skilled keyboard player. He fits perfectly in what we do. In “The Grand Illusion”, which is usually the first song he sings in the set, he hits that opening note with full authority.

I would agree.

JY: We’ve developed this amazing connection with our family; it’s just a great friendship there. He feels like a family member of mine.

You and all of the members of the band look like you enjoy yourself on stage.

JY: For the first twenty-five years of my career, I took it very seriously. I was unhappy on stage. And I made a conscious decision that was prompted by some people close to me and even some fans who told he they didn’t see the joy on my face when I was up there. Sometimes when you make a conscious decision to do something, it’s rewarded tenfold. And when I decided to put a smile on my face, I consciously make an effort to show that I am joyful to be there. And it had been rewarded a hundred fold from the audience. And why shouldn’t I be joyful to be there?

How has touring changed for you in the past twenty years?

JY: Well, some of the same hotels are still there (laughs). The road is survivable if you have the right attitude and the right mental makeup, and I’ve always viewed it as an adventure.

Do you sit down and formally practice these days?

JY: Not so much. I practiced in earnest for the Grand Illusion/Pieces of Eight Theatre Tour we did last year where we had songs that we had never performed live. The once that we performed twenty years ago, I had to go back and listen closely and work hard on them and I realized that I had a lot of parts that I needed to develop music memory for myself, and the only way to do that is practice. In some ways, it has made me a better guitarist.

You did “Regeneration, Volume 1”, which was a 7 song EP (comprised of six classic Styx tracks re-recorded plus one new track). And now you have “Regeneration, Volume 2. Is that still in process? Will it be available on this tour?

JY: Volume 2 is at the manufacturer. I hope it will be available by the time we get to you.

And how was the work on that?

JY: “Regeneration” was good, but I think we actually refined the process that’s advanced from Volume 1, so I think people are going to be very pleased with these tracks.

Did you find yourself changing a lot of things (from the original recordings)?

JY: The worst sin that we could commit is to somehow have these tracks pale in comparison to the originals. The opportunity was there for us to have a second chance to sing these things, and I think I definitely beat my vocals both on “Miss America” and “Snowblind”. And I think I beat my guitar solos certainly on “Snowblind” and on “Queen of Spades”. I thought the solo was OK on the original but always thought that I could do better. And I really stepped up my game on that particular solo.

How often do you reflect back on the band’s history?

JY: You can’t help but look back. I’m astounded by how deeply woven Styx is into the fabric of pop culture. I remember that we sat around and brainstormed when we had a reunion tour in 1996 that was very successful. Out of the clear blue, we get a call from Adam Sandler’s people who say that they want to use three Styx songs for movie Adam’s doing and Tommy Shaw will be mentioned by name. If you tried to make that happen, there’s not enough money on the plant to convince someone. This is like some wonderful things falls out of the sky into your lap. In the movie, when the little kid says that Styx is one of the greatest rock bands ever….you can’t buy that!

Do you ever look at the audience at your shows and see generations handing the music down?

JY: We see teenagers and pre-teens in the audience with a Styx t-shirt on who know every lyric to every song, I’m like, I don’t know how this happened, but I am certainly not going to complain about it.

Things like “You Tube” have probably helped.

JY: The internet has helped kill the physical record business as we used to know it, but the internet has given back in some amazing ways. For rock bands, the real demand for us is to be performing on stage live. And yes, were making a DVD of our live performance, but you just can’t duplicate that environment of being surrounded by 8,000 people that are all signing the songs together. The internet has sort of made people aware of the power that we have onstage.

What’s the future for Styx? How far ahead do you look?

JY: Well, lately they’ve been asking me about when am I going to retire. Retirement is for people who don’t like what they’re doing and want to find something else to do with their lives now that they’ve got themselves financially set. B.B. King is taking the stage still, even if it’s in a wheelchair, and playing and singing those songs people love to hear him sing. He’s bringing people joy, and he well beyond the age of 80. I love my job. I love what I do. I love being on stage; I always have. And there’s just an incredible joyfulness that comes to me when I do it. Why would I ever choose to go fishing instead of go play a rock show? And so I see as something I’ll do until they have to scrape me off the stage.

Styx is still relevant. Some bands may simply go through the motions later on in their career. That’s not the case with Styx.

JY: It was sad to see our original drummer John Panazzo pass away in 1996. But the silver lining to that very dark cloud for us was his replacement, who is about 19 years younger than me. Two years ago, in a Modern Drummer reader’s poll, he was voted best drummer in the world. Todd (Sucherman) is like having a new engine under the hood. You want to talk about remaining relevant? He just makes this race car run better.

I think you can see when a band enjoys themselves and appreciates each other’s company.

JY: It’s more democratic than it’s ever been in this band and there’s a true appreciate for all of us. You stand back and I look around me and think I’ve got home run hitters on every side of me. There’s no weakness in this lineup, so why would you want to play on a different baseball team?

- Don Sikorski

Styx and Yes will co-headline the Progressive U.S. Tour that makes a stop at the MGM Grand at Foxwoods on Friday, July 8th. Styx is also putting the final touches on “Regeneration, Volume 2” which will be available for sale on this tour. Check out www.styxworld.com for more on the band and the upcoming tour.