Love Quote by Billy Sherwood

There’s a careful bit of diplomacy baked into Sherwood’s line: reverence without reenactment. As a late-era steward of a band with a fanbase that can treat the canon like scripture, he’s signaling loyalty to the backlog ("I love all Yes music") while quietly rejecting the job description of human jukebox. The phrase "love to play it live" nods to the economic and emotional reality of legacy acts: touring is where the connection is most immediate and the bills get paid, and audiences often want the hits as reassurance that the band they idolize still exists in recognizable form.

Then he pivots: "but I’m most interested in making new music". That "but" carries the real message. Sherwood is asserting authorship in a situation where authorship is contested. Yes isn’t just a group; it’s a brand with a long, quarrelsome history, multiple lineups, and fans who argue about authenticity like sports talk radio. New material becomes a referendum: are you continuing the organism or decorating its tomb?

The subtext is also personal. Sherwood has often been seen as a capable custodian, sometimes cast as substitute or stand-in in the post-Anderson/Squire landscape. Saying he’s "most interested" in new music reframes him from caretaker to creative engine, staking a claim to the future rather than the museum. It’s not an attack on nostalgia; it’s a bid to keep Yes from becoming a tribute band to itself.