The Syn are an English band that lasted from 1965 to 1967 and then reunited as a progressive rock band in 2004. Chris Welch, in his book, Close to the Edge: The Story of Yes wrote, "The Syn were very similar to Yes in fact. It was very much a precursor of Yes." [1]

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Early years

The roots of The Syn are in an earlier north London R&B band called High Court including Steve Nardelli on guitar and his school friend George Arzimanow on vocals. The band evolved over time and, in 1965, with Nardelli now handling lead vocals and John Painter on guitar, they changed their name to The Syn.

Shortly after, however, The Syn merged with another local band, The Selfs, so Nardelli and Painter were joined by Chris Squire (bass), Andrew Jackman (keys) and Martyn Adelman (drums). The band's first gig, at Nardelli's school Kingsbury County, included covers of "(Love is Like a) Heat Wave" and The Marvelettes' "I'll Keep On Holding On". Paul Korda produced his composition "Merry-go-round" as a demonstration record for the band.

Psychedelic period

John Painter was replaced by Peter Banks and Martyn Adelman was replaced by Gunnar Hákonarson from Iceland. The band also got a new manager, Peter Huggett, former bass player with Lonnie Donegan.

The band moved away from R&B covers and started writing their own material, led by Jackman and Nardelli. Reflecting the musical changes going on around them, they became more influenced by psychedelic music. They released two singles titled Created by Clive (b/w Grounded ) and Flowerman (b/w 14 Hour Technicolour Dream ) in 1967.

In 1967, they played in support of Jimi Hendrix at the Marquee Club in London, a legendary ^[2] gig attended by many rock luminaries including The Beatles, and that introduced Hendrix to the music world.

Later line-ups saw a number of different drummers play after Hákonarson returned to Iceland.

Aftermath

The band split up in 1967. Both Squire and Banks then joined Mabel Greer's Toyshop before eventually coming back together in Yes.

Nardelli, Jackman and sometimes Squire also worked together after the band split up. Nardelli and Jackman recorded a planned further Syn single, entitled "Sunshine and Make Believe", with session appearances by Tony Kaye on keys and David O'List on guitar. Unfortunately, tapes for this session could not be located in 2004. Jackman recorded another Syn piece with an orchestra, "The Last Performance of the Royal Regimental Very Victorious and Valiant Band", eventually released on the 2004 compilation Original Syn . Another Syn piece, "Mr White's White Flying Machine", was released in 1970 by Ayshea in a session produced by Jackman and with Squire on bass.

Jackman continued to work with Squire, including on his first solo album Fish Out of Water and on Yes's Tormato . Squire has emphasised Jackman's role on Fish Out of Water , saying he offered him co-writing credits, but Jackman declined. ^[3]

Reunion

The Syn reunion grew out of two events. In 2003, Martyn Adelman contacted the webmaster of a and agreed to do an . Steve Nardelli saw this and was put back in touch with Adelman. With Banks too, they met up for lunch and discussed a reunion. Around the same time, Andrew Jackman died and there was a desire to mark his passing. ^[4]

In 2004, the new band started rehearsals. Banks had brought in keyboard player Gerard Johnson, with whom he had worked on several previous projects. John Wetton was originally to have played bass, but pulled out at the last minute and was replaced by Steve Gee (bassist in progressive rock band Landmarq). The sessions produced new versions of old Syn songs "Illusion" and "Grounded" and an extended new version of Yes' song "Time and a Word". Recordings were carried out at the studio owned by guitarist Paul Stacey. However, Banks did not continue on with the group, and gave an explanation on his web site which was later removed.

Nardelli continued with the band and, in late 2004, he and Johnson had begun recording on a new song "Cathedral of Love" when Nardelli asked Squire if he could play on the tune. Squire did and went on to join the band. Paul Stacey became the guitarist and his twin Jeremy Stacey, the drummer. Adelman had chosen to step away from performing, although he remained associated with the band for a period as a photographer—photography rather than drumming having been his career for over 30 years.

The band released their first full studio album Syndestructible in October 2005, with Cathedral of Love coming out beforehand as a single. The lineup of musicians performing on that album is

• Paul Stacey - guitars, engineer, co-producer
• Gerard Johnson - keyboards, co-producer
• Steve Nardelli - vocals
• Jeremy Stacey - drums
• Chris Squire - bass, backing vocals

An interviewer for 20th Century Guitar magazine described Syndestructible as "one of the best prog-rock albums of the new century" and "a masterpiece of beat-prog." ^[5] Richie Unterberger for Allmusic said, "It's rather like hearing a slightly middle-of-the-road version of Yes, with plenty of multi-sectioned song structures and progressive rock interplay between the instruments. [...] It's well executed and well recorded. But it should have been credited to Steve Nardelli and Chris Squire, or a different band name than Syn, as the links to the '60s Syn sound are virtually absent." ^[6] The More Drama Tour, scheduled to begin in North America in August 2005, was to have seen three acts, The Syn, White and Steve Howe touring together, with Squire, Howe, Alan White and Geoff Downes playing Yes material at the end of the evening (with Kevin Currie of White handling lead vocals). However, the tour was cancelled shortly before it was due to begin. The Syn line-up for the tour was to have comprised:

• Francis Dunnery - guitars
• Gerard Johnson - keyboards
• Steve Nardelli - vocals
• Gary Husband - drums
• Chris Squire - bass

The Syn album line-up debuted live at a show in London at the end of 2005 (assisted by Husband), but for live dates in January 2006, the band was:

• Steve Nardelli - vocals
• Chris Squire - bass guitar
• Gerard Johnson - keyboards
• Shane Theriot - guitar
• Alan White - drums

A UK tour in May that year was cancelled through poor ticket sales and, on 16 May 2006, Squire announced his departure from the group: "Chris has decided to leave the Syn, and is no longer involved with that band despite reports to the contrary." ^[7] Nardelli assembled an album, Armistice Day , combining a new studio track ("Armistice Day", recorded with Johnson and P. Stacey) with live work from 2006. Although Johnson recorded and mixed the track, he was never paid for his work. ^[8] In an October 18, 2006, in a message on Yesworld.com, Chris Squire discouraged fans from purchasing the album. ^{[9] [10]} The album was released without the permission of any of the artists, save Nardelli himself. Both Johnson and P. Stacey left the band. While a release date in November 2006 was initially announced, legal action saw the album delayed until 2007.

New line-up

In June 2007, Nardelli said, "The Syn today is me and the musicians I chose to play with." ^[11] Nardelli formed a new Syn line up in 2008, as follows:

• Steve Nardelli - vocals
• Francis Dunnery - guitars
• Tom Brislin - keyboards

The band recorded a new album, Big Sky , released early 2009, with Brett Kull, Paul Ramsey and Dorie Jackson. A US tour began (with Kull, Ramsey, Jackson and Jamie Bishop) in April 2009, but was cancelled after 6 dates, with the band breaking up. Brislin, Kull, Ramsey and Bishop went on to join Dunnery in his New Progressives project. In October 2008, Umbrello Music Entertainment released a track written by Nardelli for the musicians from The Syn fan forum called "Reasons and Rituals". The executive producer for the project is radio station host and teacher Steve Sikes-Nova. The project is named 14 Hour Technicolour Dream V-Band after the Nardelli/Jackman written Syn track, and more music is planned.

Meanwhile, Johnson and the Stacey brothers are continuing to work with Squire. Chris Squire, Gerard Johnson and Jeremy Stacey worked with two of Andrew Jackman's brothers (Jeremy Jackman and Gregg Jackman) on Chris Squire's Swiss Choir album, while Squire, Johnson and both Staceys have been working on another Squire solo project.

Discography

Albums

Original Syn YesServices Limited edition - Umbrello/2004
Syndestructible - Umbrello/2005
Original Syn -Umbrello/2005
Armistice Day - Umbrello/2007
Big Sky - Umbrello/forthcoming, due 2009

With Various Artists

various artists: The Psychedelic Scene
various artists: The Freakbeat Scene
various artists: Rubble Collection 3
compilation: Peter Banks Can I Play You Something? (The Pre-Yes Years Recordings from 1964-1968) , 1999
various artists: Nuggets II , 2001
The Syn/Steve Howe/White More Drama Tour (cancelled )

DVDs

"Syndestructible Tour" - Umbrello/2007

Singles

"Created By Clive"/"Grounded" - Deram/1967
"Flowerman"/"14 Hour Technicolour Dream" - Deram/1967
"Cathedral of Love" - Umbrello/2006

References

1. ''Close to the Edge: The Story of Yes'' by Chris Welch
2. Jimi Hendrix Experience - Biography
3. ''Fish Out of Water'' deluxe edition, video interview
4. Yes Discography by Henry Potts
5. An interview with Chris Squire and Steve Nardelli of The Syn
6. Syndestructible: Critic's Review
7. Chris Squire News (Wayback Machine archive)
8. Statement by Gerard Johnson on Forum - alt.music.yes
9. Chris Squire Official Web Site
10. Interview Chris Squire and Steve Nardelli
11. Statement by Steve Nardelli on Forum - All Good People