Where are they
now? - Asia
and related projects
This page last updated: 17 Jul 2020
Asia Official website; MySpace page; Twitter; Facebook;
Official
Google Group; authorised
fan club
In Apr 2019, a new line-up of Asia was announced of Geoff Downes (Yes;
keys), Billy
Sherwood (Yes; bass, lead vocals), Carl Palmer (ex-Emerson,
Lake & Palmer; drums) and Ron "Bumblefoot" Thal
(Sons of Apollo,
ex-Guns N' Roses; guitar, lead vocals). The band were on
tour summer 2019 in a package
with Yes and others. Asked whether there are any plans for
this line-up to record, Downes tweeted
26 Jun 2019, "I sincerely hope so. Feels like it might be time..."
In a Jul
2019 interview, Downes said, "Hopefully, we'll do something in
the future. I think [Thal]'s done a fantastic job. It would be a
shame if we didn't continue and make some music together." On tour
in Jun 2019, he said to a fan that he hoped to record an album with
this line-up in autumn 2019, with a release to come before a new Yes album.
Palmer, around Jul 2019, also said he would like to make an album,
and Sherwood, in this Jul 2019
interview, affirmed he was open to that as well. At the end of
an Aug
2019 interview, asked about his future with Asia, Thal said he
would "roll with the flow of it all." He continued: "it raises a lot
of thoughts [...] Do people want new music from this line-up or do
they just want to come and hear the hits that they love? Uhm... do
we do one song, just for the next tour, something like that; do we
do a whole album? Honestly, I can go any which way. I'm cool with
whatever."
Wetton had been receiving treatment for colon cancer from May 2015
and he and Downes wrote a new album through 2015-6. Touring was
announced for 2017, but Wetton pulled out of the initial batch of
dates because of treatment, with Sherwood announced as subbing for
him, before then passing. In a Feb
2017 interview, Downes said, "John had already said that he
wouldn't be well enough to do the tour and I had worked with Billy
Sherwood in Yes and what was meant to be something of a temporary
thing has become a full-time gig for him since things took a turn
for the worse with John, who died earlier this week." In a statement
about Wetton's passing, Downes said:
We were planning another album, but sadly he was
not well enough to complete it. I feel heartbroken about this,
as I knew John thought it was to be one of our finest albums to
date. I remain as proud as ever of our Wetton/Downes writing
partnership. I am hoping one day that I will be able to finish
it, and that it will be appreciated by all those who loved his
and our music, and most importantly, a legacy he would have been
proud of.
Life will not be the same without him. And words are not really
enough to describe the loss I feel right now, and the many
friends and fans all over the World will also be feeling. It is
the end of an era for all of us. But we will soldier on - the
music of John Wetton needs to be heard loud and clear from the
rooftops.
Final writing sessions with Wetton
In the Feb 2017 interview, asked if they planned to complete the
album they had been working on, Downes replied, "Yes. I think so. He
had a lot of material for it. I think we will definitely do
something with it because I think John would like me to do that."
Downes has reiterated this position subsequently. To the Feb 2018
issue of Prog, Downes said, "I am personally committed to
finishing the songs we had started in 2015/2016." Asked on Twitter
in Apr 2018 about plans for releasing this material, Downes
replied, "Working on it".
Work on this material may go back to Jul 2015. In a late Jan 2016
interview, Downes said he'd "been writing with John Wetton for
another Asia album" and, on 11 Feb 2016, both Downes and Wetton
tweeted about meeting up to work on a new album. Wetton said:
"Looking forward to (yet) more writing today with @asiageoff
Mr.Downes. Next ASIA record moves along apace." Downes later said:
"Excellent day in Bomo with my old chum @arkangel2605 [Wetton's
Twitter account] Very productive - new Asia album on the way!" On 3
Mar 2016, Wetton then travelled to meet Downes in Wales "to
formalise new ASIA material", according to a tweet he made. Downes
tweeted afterwards: "Excellent day with @arkangel2605 today at my
studio. New Asia album en route!" In a Mar
2016 interview (possibly conducted in Feb), Downes said, "I've
been working with John on some material since last year [2015]
actually. John's been sick for the last year or so now and has been
having some fairly extensive medical treatment. In between that
we've been putting together some songs that we hope sooner or later
we will actually go into the studio and do another Asia album." In
an Apr 2016 interview,
Downes said: "I have been working with him [Wetton] on some new
material and hopefully we will get an album out in the not too
distant future." In a later Apr 2016 interview, Downes said: "we are
still writing and we [sic] be doing an album with John Wetton
towards the end of [2016]." A May
2016 tweet by Wetton showed a CD-R and said, "next ASIA record
is on here, now we just have to record it!" In
an Oct
2016 interview, Downes said: "Asia, hopefully we'll get that
back up and running soon. That's the idea. We've been working on new
material, and we have a whole album planned." Wetton described the
first song as 7.5 minutes long and as in 17/8. He also mentioned one
song title was "Tattoo on Your Soul". Asked about that title by a
fan in Jun 2019, Downes implied he called the piece "Indigo".
However, in a Jun
2017 interview, it was reported that Palmer "says it's too
early to say if the new lineup, featuring Sherwood, will record
together." In another Jun
2017 interview, Palmer talked about events and the future more
broadly:
“We thought he’d make the March [2017]
period for the tour, but he suddenly took a turn at the very
end,” Palmer said. “Those last three weeks, he was very ill and
he passed.”
Asia had already committed to opening for Journey, but Palmer
wasn’t sure if they could continue or even if Journey [...]
still wanted them [...]
But the band’s management said, “They still want you. Please
find a bass player.”
As it happened, they had one in mind.
Before Wetton died, Palmer said the band had some difficult
discussions about whether Asia would carry on.
The drummer said, “Before he did go, we asked Jo[h]n if we were
to carry on, who would you want to take your place?”
Wetton chose Billy Sherwood [...]
Beyond this tour, Palmer doesn’t know what will happen next. He
will keep playing music — that much is certain, but whether it’s
with just his own band, with Asia or as part of another group,
he’s not entirely sure.
Shortly before Wetton's death, in comments in Jan
2017, Palmer said, "I wasn't going to be making the next Asia
album anyway because I was a bit concerned about the direction of
the band. It was getting a little bit too middle of the road. I
didn't realize that John was this ill when I made this announcement
to him, so obviously I'll review that. If he can record at all I'll
look at the situation again." In comments to a fan on tour in Jun
2019, Palmer implied that Wetton's vocals would not be used on a new
album.
Touring
In a Nov
2019 interview, Downes said of Asia touring, "we could
possibly do something further in the future." In a Facebook
post in May 2020, Sherwood, in passing, implied that he would
be involved in Asia touring at some future time.
Asia joined Yes, Carl Palmer's ELP Legacy with Arthur Brown, and
John Lodge on a joint tour summer 2019 North American tour: see details
under Yes. The line-up was Downes, Palmer, Sherwood and Thal,
but with Steve Howe
guesting for a portion of the set. Asia's set on the opening night
of the tour was "Go", "Don't Cry", "Video Killed the Radio Star"
(originally by The Buggles), "The Smile has Left Your Eyes", "Lucky
Man" (originally by ELP), "Bolero" ("Cutting It Fine" extract,
Downes keys solo), "Wildest Dreams" (with Howe on guitar and Thal
just on lead vocals until end of set), "Sole Survivor", "Only Time
will Tell", "Heat of the Moment". Thal had originally been asked to
tour on guitar with the band in 2017, but wasn't available. He was
asked again in 2019, but originally just on guitar, with a separate
lead singer planned, but that plan didn't work out, and Thal was
asked to handle lead vocals too. He said to fans on the 2019 tour
that two vocalists under consideration had been John Parr (worked with Roger Daltrey) and Fran Cosmo (ex-Boston).
Management is by Martin Darvill.
Other news
An
Extraordinary Life is a forthcoming box set
commemorating Wetton's life and based around a re-release of his
studio solo albums: see details on
main page. To celebrate what would have been John Wetton's
70th birthday and in conjunction with the news of the box set, a
1981 rehearsal recording of Asia performing "Déyà" was released on YouTube.
The piece was eventually released on Phoenix.
Thal released an acoustic covers EP, Barefoot
3, on 5 Jun 2020 on Bandcamp. The 6 tracks include a
cover of "Only Time will Tell" (YouTube
video).
Asia Featuring John Payne
In early 2006, Asia had consisted of Geoff
Downes (keys), John
Payne (bass, vocals, guitars), Guthrie Govan
(guitars) and Jay Schellen
(CIRCA:, ex-Conspiracy,
Billy Sherwood, ex-World
Trade, ex-Peter Banks, since
worked with Yes; drums, backing vocals), when Downes left
for the reunion of the original band. Payne/Govan/Schellen then
formed GPS, with Ryo Okumoto
(Spock's Beard)
on keys. The Asia Featuring John Payne name was contractually
agreed with the reunion band on 9 May 2006, but Payne did not
assemble the band until later, after GPS had failed to take off
commercially. In May 2007, Payne/Govan/Schellen announced the
formation of Asia Featuring
John Payne (MySpace
page), with Erik
Norlander (ex-Ayreon) later announced on
keys. Since then, AFJP have played scattered US dates with a set
list covering both the Payne and Wetton eras
of Asia. Their first show under this name was in Jun 2008, but
Govan soon left the band. From the beginning, Asia Featuring John
Payne were working on their debut studio album. The project was
initially trailed under the name Architect of Time as a
continuation or completion of the 2005/6 Asia sessions (though
some of that material was used on the GPS album, Window to the
Soul). However, Payne was subsequently writing with
Norlander and no material was carried over from Architect of
Time (Payne also used the "Architect
of Time" name for an unrelated solo release). The album
name then changed to Americana. However, Payne's Vegas
show, Raiding the Rock Vault, kept him busy and the album
languished. Norlander left in 2014, and Schellen left in 2015.
By 2017/8, the a line-up was Payne, Johnny Fedevich (drums), Jamie
Hosmer (keys), Moni Scaria (guitar) and Jeff Kollman (guitar). A Jun
2017 show in Florida had the following set: "Long Way from
Home", "Only Time will Tell", "Who will Stop the Rain?", "Silent
Nation", "Days like These", "Desire", "Go", "Time Again", "Different
Worlds", "Military Man", "Heat of the Moment", "Sole Survivor". They
played Buffalo, NY on 20 Jul 2018, without Kollman; set: "Long Way
from Home", "Only Time will Tell", "Who will Stop the Rain?",
"Silent Nation", "Days Like These", "Desire", "Go", "Time Again",
"Don't Cry", "Military Man", "Heat of the Moment", encore: "Sole
Survivor". Payne also continues with his touring show, The Rock
Pack, featuring various and changing classic rock singers backed by
Scaria/Kollman/Hosmer/Fedevich. Payne plays bass for the backing
show and sings on Asia numbers. A Jul 2017 show, for example, had
the following: "Only Time will Tell" (Payne lead vocals), "Time
Again" (Payne), "Sole Survivor" (Payne), "Hold the Line" (Bobby
Kimball (ex-Toto)), "Rosanna" (Kimball with
Payne), "Separate Ways" (Steve Augeri (ex-Journey)),
"Faithfully" (Augeri), "Anyway You Want It" (Augeri), "Double
Vision" (Lou Gramm (ex-Foreigner)), "Cold as
Ice" (Gramm), "Hot Blooded" (Gramm), "Heat of the Moment" (Payne),
"Africa" (Kimball), "Don't Stop Believin'" (Augeri), "I Wanna Know
What Love is" (Gramm with Augeri), "Jukebox Hero" (Gramm with
Augeri). 2019 saw a joint tour by Lou Gramm and AFJP, with AFJP
acting as Gramm's backing band for his set. The band was to play The 80s Cruise in Mar
2020.
At the beginning of 2017, Americana
re-emerged. Feb 2017 on Facebook, Payne said, "finally to mix Asia
FJP Americana." The album was eventually released Feb 2018, but as
the eponymous release of Dukes
of the Orient rather than under the AFJP branding. The
band are billed as Payne (vocals, bass, additional lead and rhythm
guitar) and Norlander (keys), with the album also involving Kollman,
Govan, Schellen and others. Payne explained the re-branding in the
promotional materials: "This started as an Asia FJP album initially
but we, and the record company, felt releasing an Asia FJP album so
close to the tragic passing of John Wetton lacking respect." In a
promo video posted
in Apr 2018, Norlander explained, "I felt strongly about
re-naming the band because the Asia brand had changed so much", that
is, the reunion Asia had changed line-up, Wetton had passed away,
and they had toured with Sherwood, who he describes as "a good
friend of ours". Norlander continued, "It just became so muddy to
me. And I thought, let's not throw another variation of Asia into
this mix. It's already complicated enough for people to follow. This
is an album of all original music. You [Payne] and I wrote all of
this. None of this was left over from past projects. Y'know, people
had asked about the Architects of Time thing that you
started with Geoff in 2006, after Silent Nation. None of it
comes from that. You and I wrote this as a new band. Let's re-name
it as a new band. Let's keep it clear." Payne responds: "I couldn't
see that at first. [...] I'd been in the band since 1991. That's all
I'd ever done from '91 onwards. [...] Now I see it [new name] as the
right decision". AFJP continues as a separate activity (without
Norlander). On social media in Dec 2017, Norlander explained, "I
left AFJP in 2014, but John continues to play live dates with his
current version of the AFJP band [...] I'm not a part of that, but
of course I wish them well. The Dukes are a totally separate band."
A second Dukes of the Orient album, Freakshow,
is due Aug 2020 on Frontiers, with Payne (vocals, bass, guitars),
Norlander (keys), Frank
Klepacki (wrote music for the Command
& Conquer game series; drums), Alex Garcia
(guitars) and Eric Tewalt (sax).
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Thanks.