One could say that Lawrence Gowan had the ultimate audition in the world of rock music. Classic rock legends, Styx, had been reaching a boiling point of artistic differences for some time, which would eventually lead to some dramatic lineup shifts in the future. So when Gowan opened for Styx in 1996, founding member Tommy Shaw took notice. When original lead vocalist Dennis DeYoung took an absence in 1999, its was clear who the replacement would eventually be.
“I was doing a solo-run across Canada and it so happened that I was going to open two shows for them at the Montreal forum. They got a chance to see me perform there in front of 15,000 people and the crowd was singing along with the songs,” says Gowan.
Once Shaw made the call, Gowan began filling in for DeYoung. It wasn’t exactly a difficult transition. Aside from impressing the band in front of 15,000 fans, Gowan’s solo work and style are a perfect fit for Styx. His previous work as a solo artist and with his former band, Rhinegold, fall into a similar genre of keyboard-laden, progressive classic rock. In no time at all, Gowan was officially the new lead singer of Styx.
Not that it is an easy role to step into. Styx has been around for forever and a day, spanning decades of musical history with numerous major hits that you may not even be aware you know the lyrics of by heart; but safe money would bet on the notion that you do. Along with a legion of fans from back in the day, Styx has remained a staple in pop-culture through various avenues of mass-media. “Mr.Roboto” is featured in numerous car commercials, “Lady” was covered in the classic comedy Old School, their prolific song “Renegade” is heard at least once at every Pittsburgh Steelers game and the running joke in Adam Sandler’s Big Daddy revolves around Styx being “the greatest band in the world and all the critics are cynical assholes.”
With the recent release of the musical-turned-movie Rock of Ages, Styx is sure to receive even more adjacent notoriety with a few of their songs featured on that soundtrack as well. Kids today may not know immediately who Styx is, but the reach that their music has is undeniable.
“It’s something that we’re very, very aware of. It’s in our face every single night. We see the people standing out there and half of them are under thirty years of age, a good chunk of those are under twenty. So its not lost on us by any means,” says Gowan. “We take strong note of that. You know, it makes us play the songs better. It’s impossible not to realize that this is the first time a lot of people are hearing these songs for the first time live and that’s really what we do best. It’s what we do most, anyway. It’s very awesome. That can be the inspirational moment that makes you play that song better than you’ve played it previously. We’ve played these songs over 1500 times in the past 14 years, and you need those little moments to…I was going to use Tenacious D’s “inspirado”, haha. The moment of inspirado. I find it funny when other musicians will lament over having to play live, but what they fail to realize is what the audience brings to it, what you’re able to cull from that. It can lift your performance. We happen to be a band that is very aware of that and we use it to lift the show higher and that’s part of the magic.”
Given Styx’s strong prog-rock roots, Gowan easily embraces the lead vocal role thanks to his formal background in music and through his solo work as a keyboard player and songwriter. Keyboards can be a touchy subject in rock music leading to a constant struggle between guitars and keys vying for supremacy, but Styx has always found the balance, and Gowan’s style gels extremely well with the band.
“It’s a musical dilemma that you run into. The beauty of keyboards in rock is that they make everything sound grander and more majestic, but how much is too much? It’s a balancing act that you’re always looking for. It’s funny because I’m the keyboard player that happens to love guitars. I call it my hobby instrument. With my solo shows I play about half of the show on guitar, mainly because because it snaps me back to the raw basics of what classic rock music is built upon. But I’m more drawn to the keyboards, I guess, because I’m a better player and because I’m constantly looking for a way of elevating a song with a keyboard part.
With Styx songs-I’ve only been in the band for about 14 years, so a lot of their bigger hits were recorded back before I was in the band- the keyboard parts and the guitar parts, the way that they’re divided up, they kind of compliment each other in a way that they fit together like really well-honed puzzle pieces. It’s a big part of what Styx songs are. Now, because there’s two guitarists, you’re going to lean a little heavier on the guitars because two thirds of the song are coming from that perspective. It’s a difficult balancing act. Even as a keyboard player, until I finally hear the guitar in there, it’s somehow not quite a rock song.”
According to Gowan, the perfect example of this is the song “One With Everything” off of Styx’s 2003 release, Cyclorama.
“That song exemplifies the perfect balance between keys and guitars. I had a whole solo section already written that I kind of worked into the pieces that Tommy (Shaw) had written in the verses of that song and it just worked out perfectly because he got full-reign with the guitar and the whole riffing thing with the verses and suddenly the song goes to a different place entirely with the keyboard solo and I think thats just really strong. Like I said, it’s a constant battle.”
Styx is still constantly touring around the country; currently, with fellow rock legends REO Speedwagon and Detroit’s motor-city madman, Ted Nugent, on the Midwest Rock ‘n Roll Express tour and are “loving it” says Gowan.
“It’s the first time for us performing with Ted Nugent and people really forget what a great guitar player he is. He’s great on stage, a great guitar player. He really whips up the crowd and like I said, I go out and watch him play every single night.”
With their constant touring, Styx has little time to enter the studio, though they are logging away numerous tracks and songs for an eventual upcoming album.
“The beautiful thing is there is such a demand for this band to play around the world that it becomes difficult to stop and record all of the material we’ve been working on while on the road. We’re finding our way to balance the two sides, but at the moment, there’s so much demand for the band to play that we’re just focused on that,” says Gowan.
Which should pay off later in the summer.
“I know as we get into July, I go into a few solo things, so that’s on the horizon. Then Styx comes and plays three nights in the fall. But then when we get back on the road again in August, that’s when we get back into the full-out, evening-with-Styx shows. As much as we love these mega tours, we only get to play for about an hour and twenty minutes. The full-blown 2-hour Styx show is really where we get to stretch out and play entire albums, and that’s a challenging night of music to play. But it’s something that is incredibly satisfying. So we’ll be getting into that again later this year. And then one of these days we’ll actually get back into the studio and record the next album.”
by Ryan Sullivan
Photo by Ash Newell
