John Payne has returned, with a new album, new band and a refreshed, revitalized passion for his craft. The long-time former member of Asia has collaborated with keyboard wizard Erik Norlander to form Dukes of the Orient. The band’s self-titled album was released Feb. 16 on Frontiers Music to rave critical reviews. It sees Payne back on the forefront of progressive rock, as he melds the best of the the classic sounds of the genre with lyrical relevance and topicality that is modern and leading edge.
Musically, Dukes of the Orient is very much in the vein of the sort of music Payne was doing over his lengthy tenure with Asia and then Asia Featuring John Payne, bringing together the intricacy and virtuosity of progressive rock with more AOR sensibilities, which was very much in keeping with the style laid down by the original version of Asia.
“This album does have a heavy prog element, but when I say prog I mean old-school prog. Old school prog is very song driven, like with Genesis and Yes. Whereas today prog seems to be a little more of a mathematical exercise; 20 bars at 6/8 and then we’re going to 9/8 and the to 12/13 and then we’re going back to 4/4 – so it’s all about those time signature changes. This album has basically been 10 years in the making, and it’s just a diary of my life for those 10 years,” Payne said.
“I think as soon as you start trying to have the tail wag the dog by following trends or just doing something to please the public to make some money and sell some units, then I don’t think you can do it as well. Led Zeppelin never went out to please anybody; they went out to please themselves and wrote magnificent songs, really great stuff. And I believe most of the best albums that have been done have been done in that spirit.”
Payne was an integral part of Asia for a long time – a quarter of a century in fact. That band released its hugely successful self-titled debut album in 1982, and featured a who’s who of progressive rock legends, comprising Steve Howe (Yes), John Wetton (King Crimson), Geoff Downes (Yes, The Buggles) and Carl Palmer of Emerson Lake and Palmer. The classic lineup only lasted for two albums and then members began to come and go. A decade later, with only Howe and Downes remaining in the fold, the hitherto unknown Payne was brought in as the band’s vocalist, bassist and co-writer. Downes stayed with the band until the original Asia lineup reunited with great fanfare in 2006, an eventuality that was quite upsetting to Payne at the time.
“When Asia got back together it came as a real surprise to me, and now looking back at it, it’s no surprise at all that the original lineup reunited. But it was kind of a shock to me at the time because I had been in the band for such a long time. I had been in the band longer than John Wetton. Looking back, of course it had to happen eventually, but Geoff and I didn’t speak for many years. There were some legalities that happened too, and things happening back and forth with promoters and the like where it created some distaste there,” he said, adding that he and Downes have spoken a few times more recently.
“I didn’t see him this year at the NAMM convention in Anaheim, but last year I saw Geoff and we talked about John Wetton and how unwell he was, and I saw him the year before as well. We were, at one time, great friends; we shared a house together for 15 years. But things have their time, relationships be they a partner or someone in a band, things have their time and they change. It was very affable when we did chat, but there have been no talks of doing anything together now that John has passed. I know they did go on with Billy Sherwood who was filling in for John. I think maybe it’s time for that chapter in my life to be over. I have a new chapter and I am very, very proud of it.”
Originally, Payne and Norlander were going to release the album under the Asia Featuring John Payne brand, which was the agreed upon moniker for the band after the original members of Asia – John Wetton, Steve Howe, Carl Palmer and Geoff Downes – reunited in 2006. But upon the death of Wetton on January 31, 2017, record labels approached by Payne felt it would be best to have a clean slate. And so, Dukes of the Orient was born.
“Both the labels I sent the rough mixes to, including Frontiers, said they loved it but that it wasn’t going to go down too well with the Asia people. And I was like why? I had been doing it on my own for 10 years and I have been in the band since 1992. It’s been my whole life for more than 25 years. And they said that it had only been six months since John Wetton had sadly passed away, it’s going to be seen as me trying to benefit from that situation. And I said, ‘you know that’s not the case. These songs have been around for a long time, almost ten years.’ But basically, they asked if I had thought of creating a new band. I said no, and that I didn’t really want to do it because I have spent so much time building this brand through many Asia albums, just living and breathing my form of Asia for all those years,” he said.
“I sat down and talked to some people and everyone I spoke to said it was a good idea. They believed that the people whole liked my version of Asia won’t be upset and the people who think I am an imposter might come over. So, I finally came around to it and I am glad I did. I went back and spent another eight months re-recording, rewriting and then I engineered, mixed and produced the album. It’s been a real labour of love, because I am so happy with the songs. We had written about 60 songs at the beginning to bring it down to the final eight. We did that and delivered it and so far, the press have embraced this, so I can’t wait for the public to hear it.”
Payne’s primary musical partner in the Dukes of the Orient project is keyboardist extraordinaire Erik Norlander (Last in Line, Lana Lane), a native of California, who grew up with a passion for the legends of British progressive rock. Norlander also thought the idea of a fresh start was the best way to approach the release of this new music, even though it had primarily been written over the past decade, while Payne was still touring with Asia Featuring John Payne.
“Erik is a very old soul, especially in his approach to music. We mixed this through analog all the way. We mixed this like a 1970s album. When I mixed it I used old compressors, old EQs – it’s very analog in its mixing and its presentation. Erik loves to go out and find these instruments from the 1960s and 1970s and has them rebuilt to the original specs and uses them in all his work, and you cannot get away from how much that evokes the sound of those days. There is something so familiar when you hear those old progressive Moog synthesizers and Moog modulators and string machines and all the things that basically started in the early days of Yes and Genesis,” Payne said of his friend and bandmate, adding that the two were introduced by a mutual friend a few years ago, while Payne was back living in the U.K. waiting for his U.S. green card. He is now living full time in Las Vegas.
“I spent months back in the U.K. looking for a keyboard player and people said I needed to contact Erik because he had a really traditional prog keyboard sound. I have always gelled well with keyboard players and it was no different with Erik. I like singing to keyboards. I like the very fixed structure of a keyboard, even though I came from the guitar school of playing and writing. I have always had great guitar players over the years with Asia, whether it be Elliot Randall, Guthrie Govan, Al Pitrelli, Pat Thrall. But for writing there is something great in working alongside a keyboard player during the writing process. I come from a harder rock background and was a big fan of Dio, Rainbow, Sabbath and Deep Purple. I have always loved keyboards in rock music.”
Lyrically, Payne is not overtly political, but does try to bring awareness of big picture issues that are affecting the planet and the millions upon millions of people who live upon it.
“There are political things on this album, political things that are going on here in the United States and the rest of the world. And there are some cultural and environmental things. My politics basically starts with the environment and what we are doing to this beautiful planet and how it’s hurting the seven and a half billion people who live here. It’s always my viewpoint, but I also try to write in such a way as my viewpoint is not always direct, so that maybe three people see it slightly differently from one another,” he said, explaining the stories behind some of the songs.
“There is one song about my favourite novel Great Expectations [by Charles Dickens] which on the album has a Latin title, Amor Vincit Omnia, and a Latin chorus which says love conquers all. And that’s really the main message. That’s definitely one of the more direct songs. And there is a song on there about King George III, the crazy king that we had [1760-1820] and that song is A Sorrow’s Crown, and it’s about him trying to claim he is not mad.
“Brother in Arms is about the futility of war and how people are sent out to war, usually very young, and most come back as unsung heroes or come back and are totally forgotten. And it’s also about camaraderie as well, and kind of relates to how Erik and I kind of drifted away from each other as friends over the last 10 years and then came back together again to work on this album. So it works on a couple of levels.”
As yet, there have been no tour dates set for Dukes of the Orient. Part of the reason is that Payne wants to book shows that allow him to bring on a more expansive and sophisticated stage show, making each concert a true multi-media event for the audience.
“Those who have seen me perform live notice that I am not shy at all. I will talk about politics or make jokes. I will mess about, I will take the mickey out of people and none of it is preplanned at all. It’s very intimate and fun that way, the way I would like to engage an audience. This is going to be much more structured as a show. There is going to be much more emphasis on lighting and on video content behind us. So, it’s going to be more of a Pink Floyd-type show where it’s going to be an overall audio-visual experience. And every night will be pretty similar, as opposed to being a looser format as I have done before,” he explained.
“I like the aspect of it being a special event, which means I need to look for the right venues to put it in. I like to create new things for myself and see it as a challenge. It will be a lot of work, but I think it would be really nice to do a show like this, as opposed to a band just turning up and playing at a club. The dates at the moment are few and far between but they will be more like spectacles. People will talk about them and I think that will elevate the band more quickly.”
For more information on Dukes of the Orient, visit http://www.dukesoftheorient.com.
- Jim Barber is a veteran award-winning journalist and author based in Napanee, ON, who has been writing about music and musicians for a quarter of a century. Besides his journalistic endeavours, he now works as a communications and marketing specialist. Contact him at jimbarberwritingservices@gmail.com.
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