Jay Schellen
Encyclopedia
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
drummer who is best known as a member of the hard-rock band Hurricane
Hurricane (band)
Hurricane was a 1980s heavy metal / glam metal rock band originally featuring current Foreigner lead vocalist Kelly Hansen , Robert Sarzo , Tony Cavazo , and Jay Schellen...
. Schellen has also worked and currently working with a number of other heavy rock and progressive rock
Progressive rock
Progressive rock is a subgenre of rock music that developed in the late 1960s and early 1970s as part of a "mostly British attempt to elevate rock music to new levels of artistic credibility." John Covach, in Contemporary Music Review, says that many thought it would not just "succeed the pop of...
bands, including with Asia
Asia (band)
Asia are an English rock group formed in 1981. The band was labelled a supergroup as it included former members of several veteran progressive rock bands, namely John Wetton , Geoff Downes , Steve Howe and Carl Palmer Asia are an English rock group formed in 1981. The band was labelled a...
World Trade
World Trade
World Trade can refer to:*International trade*International finance*World Trade Organization*World Trade, a progressive rock band*World Trade Center...
, CIRCA:
Circa:
Circa is a progressive rock supergroup founded by four musicians associated with Yes: current Yes member Alan White , former Yes members Tony Kaye and Billy Sherwood , and guitarist Jimmy Haun, who played on the Yes album Union.-Origins:Jimmy Haun and Michael Sherwood were childhood friends...
, Unruly Child
Unruly Child
Unruly Child is an American Adult-oriented rock band, founded in 1991.-Discography:-Band members:*Marcie Free - Vocals*Bruce Gowdy - guitars*Guy Allison - keyboards*Jay Schellen - Drums, percussion*Larry Antonino - Bass guitar...
and several members of Yes
Yes (band)
Yes are an English rock band who achieved worldwide success with their progressive, art, and symphonic style of rock music. Regarded as one of the pioneers of the progressive genre, Yes are known for their lengthy songs, mystical lyrics, elaborate album art, and live stage sets...
.
Career
in 1979 as a teen Jay was introduced to the big Stage touring with R&B Legend Al WilsonAl Wilson
Aldra Kauwa Wilson is a former American football linebacker of the National Football League. He was drafted by the Denver Broncos 31st overall in the 1999 NFL Draft. He played college football at Tennessee....
("Show and Tell") supporting The Ohio Players. After moving to Los Angeles in 1981 Jay broke into the LA session scene and played local stages with former Yes guitarist Peter Banks
Peter Banks
Peter Banks is an English guitarist. He was the original guitarist of the progressive rock band Yes.-Early career:When Banks was a young boy, his father bought him an acoustic guitar...
' band and National arenas with Danny Johnson and The Bandits supporting ZZ Top
ZZ Top
ZZ Top is an American rock band, sometimes referred to as "That Little Ol' Band from Texas". Their style, which is rooted in blues-based boogie rock, has come to incorporate elements of arena, southern, and boogie rock. The band, from Houston Texas, formed in 1969...
.
in 1982 Jay was invited to join the Legendary English pop band Badfinger
Badfinger
Badfinger were a British rock band consisting originally of Pete Ham, Ron Griffiths, Mike Gibbins and Tom Evans, active from 1968 to 1983, and evolving from The Iveys, formed by Ham, Griffiths and David "Dai" Jenkins in Swansea, Wales, in the early 1960s. Joey Molland joined the group in 1969,...
joining Tommy Evans, Joey Molland, Glen Sherba and Yes keyboardist Tony Kaye
Tony Kaye (musician)
Tony Kaye is a British musician.Kaye was the original keyboard player for the progressive rock group Yes from 1968 to 1971, and rejoined Yes from 1983 to 1995...
.
In 1984, Schellen joined Stone Fury, working with singer Lenny Wolf
Lenny Wolf
Lenny Wolf is the frontman for the band Kingdom Come. In addition to being the lead vocalist, he has also played multiple instruments on various Kingdom Come albums. He also collaborated on the song "Eyes of Time", from The Final Experiment, the debut album by Arjen Anthony Lucassen's project...
and guitarist Bruce Gowdy
Bruce Gowdy
Bruce Gowdy is an American guitarist, best known for his work with World Trade and Unruly Child.-Biography:Gowdy was a founding member of World Trade with Billy Sherwood and Guy Allison. He later formed Unruly Child with Allison. He was also a member of Stone Fury and has worked with musician...
. From 1985 to 1991, Jay joined the Melodic Rock Group Hurricane
Hurricane (band)
Hurricane was a 1980s heavy metal / glam metal rock band originally featuring current Foreigner lead vocalist Kelly Hansen , Robert Sarzo , Tony Cavazo , and Jay Schellen...
. Hurricane went on to record three records, Take What You Want, Over the Edge and Slave to the Thrill, 3 world wide tours and posted two top ten MTV
MTV
MTV, formerly an initialism of Music Television, is an American network based in New York City that launched on August 1, 1981. The original purpose of the channel was to play music videos guided by on-air hosts known as VJs....
videos. In 1993, Schellen joined Gowdy in a new melodic rock project, Unruly Child
Unruly Child
Unruly Child is an American Adult-oriented rock band, founded in 1991.-Discography:-Band members:*Marcie Free - Vocals*Bruce Gowdy - guitars*Guy Allison - keyboards*Jay Schellen - Drums, percussion*Larry Antonino - Bass guitar...
, releasing a self-titled CD. Schellen again worked with Gowdy in 1995, joining World Trade
World Trade (band)
World Trade was a U.S. progressive rock band that featured Billy Sherwood on bass and vocals and Bruce Gowdy on guitar. Yes's Chris Squire performed on their second album, Euphoria.-History:...
for their second album Euphoria, alongside Billy Sherwood
Billy Sherwood
William "Billy" Wyman Sherwood is a musician, record producer, and engineer.-Family:Sherwood comes from a musical family which includes his father Bobby Sherwood, who was an actor, musician, and big band leader, his mother Phyllis, a singer and drummer, and brother Michael, a keyboardist and...
(later in Yes). Schellen and Sherwood were the only members of World Trade for appearances on two tribute albums released on the Magna Carta
Magna Carta
Magna Carta is an English charter, originally issued in the year 1215 and reissued later in the 13th century in modified versions, which included the most direct challenges to the monarch's authority to date. The charter first passed into law in 1225...
record label in 1995.
In 1995-1997, Schellen formed Sircle of Silence with singer David Reece
David Reece
David L. Reece is an American vocalist best known for his time with Accept and contribution to their 1989 album Eat the Heat.-Before Accept:...
(ex-Accept
Accept
Accept is a German heavy metal band from the town of Solingen, originally assembled by former vocalist Udo Dirkschneider, guitarist Wolf Hoffmann and bassist Peter Baltes. Their beginnings can be traced back to the late 1960s...
, ex-Bangalore Choir
Bangalore Choir
Bangalore Choir is an American hard rock band formed in 1991. They were formed by the former frontman of Accept, David Reece, and guitarists Curt Mitchell and John Kirk . Joining them from Hericane Alice, was bassist Ian Mayo and Jackie Ramos on drums. Their debut album was produced by Max...
), guitarist Larry Farkas (ex-Vengeance Rising
Vengeance Rising
Vengeance Rising is an American Christian thrash metal band from Los Angeles, CA. Fronted by vocalist Roger Martinez, they originally formed as Vengeance in 1987, but changed their name in 1989 to avoid conflict with another band from the Netherlands...
, ex-Die Happy
Die Happy (band)
Die Happy was a Christian metal band that formed in 1990. The band was formed when Vengeance Rising members Larry Farkas, Doug Thieme, Glenn Mancaruso, and Roger Dale Martin split the band, citing unrest with that band's front man and vocalist, Roger Martinez...
) and bass guitarist Greg Chaisson
Greg Chaisson
Greg Chaisson is a bass guitarist who has been in various bands including Badlands, Surgical Steel , Legs Diamond, Blindside Blues Band, Die Happy, and Red Sea. He was also involved with the band Steeler, which was Yngwie Malmsteen's first American band and was started by Ron Keel. He currently...
(ex-Badlands). In 1997, Schellen published his well regarded drum method book Rocking Independence. In 1998, he played in Heaven and Earth with former Hurricane bandmate Kelly Hansen
Kelly Hansen
Kelly Hansen is an American singer, best known as the current frontman of the rock band Foreigner. He started his career as an independent studio singer. He later met guitarist Robert Sarzo and bassist Tony Cavazo , with whom he formed the hard-rock band Hurricane in 1984...
and guitarist Stuart Saunders Smith
Stuart Saunders Smith
Stuart Saunders Smith is a notable and widely performed American composer, percussionist, and poet. He was born in Portland, Maine and grew up in Portland and central Maine, to a family that had originally come from central Maine.He studied with Edward Diemente at the Hartt School of Music...
. 1998-1999 saw a second Unruly Child album with Gowdy and Hansen. In 1999, Schellen played on Sherwood's debut solo album The Big Peace, while the next year he recorded for Sherwood's project with Yes bassist Chris Squire
Chris Squire
Christopher Russell Edward "Chris" Squire , is an English musician, known as the bass guitarist and backing vocalist for the progressive rock group Yes. He is the only member of the group to appear on every album.-Before Yes:...
, Conspiracy
Conspiracy (band)
Conspiracy was a progressive rock band founded by Billy Sherwood and Chris Squire . The band released two albums: Conspiracy and The Unknown , and a live DVD...
. In 2003, Schellen re-joined Conspiracy, recording The Unknown, followed by a live-in-the-studio DVD recorded in 2004 and released in 2006. Schellen has continued to work with Sherwood on a number of other projects including joining progressive group Circa in 2008 (replacing Alan White
Alan White (Yes drummer)
Alan White is an English rock drummer known for his work with the progressive rock band Yes. White was also a member of the Plastic Ono Band, playing live in 1969 at the Toronto Rock and Roll Revival, which was recorded and released three months later as Live Peace in Toronto 1969...
), thus re-joining Tony Kaye
Tony Kaye (musician)
Tony Kaye is a British musician.Kaye was the original keyboard player for the progressive rock group Yes from 1968 to 1971, and rejoined Yes from 1983 to 1995...
again on keyboards. They released Circa HQ in January 2009. He also worked with Yoso
Yoso
Yoso is a melodic rock/progressive rock supergroup combining former members of Yes and Toto...
in the band's initial stages, again working with Sherwood and Kaye. In 2010 Jay joined Sherwood and Kaye again to perform "Headsets" in collaboration with legenday Rock and Roll DJ Jim Ladd
Jim Ladd
Jim Ladd , an American disc jockey, radio producer and writer, is one of the few notable remaining freeform rock DJs in United States commercial radio.- Radio show style :...
staged at the Laserium in Los Angeles, California.
In 2004, Schellen with Sherwood worked on pre-production for Asia
Asia (band)
Asia are an English rock group formed in 1981. The band was labelled a supergroup as it included former members of several veteran progressive rock bands, namely John Wetton , Geoff Downes , Steve Howe and Carl Palmer Asia are an English rock group formed in 1981. The band was labelled a...
's album Silent Nation with Geoff Downes
Geoff Downes
Geoffrey "Geoff" Downes is an English rock keyboard player, songwriter, best known as the keyboardist for the bands The Buggles, Yes and Asia, of which he is the only consistent member. When he was a keyboardist for The Buggles, he played multiple keyboards to achieve a New Wave technopop sound...
(another former Yes keyboardist). In August 2005, Schellen replaced Chris Slade
Chris Slade
Chris Slade is a Welsh rock drummer.-Career:Slade has worked with Gary Numan, Tom Jones, Olivia Newton-John , and Uriah Heep. He was a member of Manfred Mann's Earth Band from 1972 to 1978...
as drummer in Asia. The group toured Europe extensively, however, in 2006, Downes left the line up for a reunion of the original Asia quartet: Schellen and the other two Asia band members, singer John Payne
John Payne (singer)
John Payne is a British musician, best known as the lead singer and bassist of Asia from 1992 to 2006 and from June 2007 with ASIA Featuring John Payne....
and guitarist Guthrie Govan
Guthrie Govan
Guthrie Govan is a guitarist known for his work with the bands Asia , GPS, The Young Punx and The Fellowship as well as Erotic Cakes...
, formed a new band, GPS
GPS (band)
GPS is a progressive rock group formed in 2006 by John Payne , Guthrie Govan and Jay Schellen...
. GPS released their debut CD Window to the Soul. In 2008, Asia Featuring John Payne was formed with Payne, Govan, keyboardist Erik Norlander
Erik Norlander
Erik Norlander is an American musician who describes himself as a 'keyboardist, composer, producer and engineer'. Norlander has produced albums for Rocket Scientists and his wife, Lana Lane. He also has a progressive rock solo project titled simply Erik Norlander...
, and Schellen on drums. Scheduled for 2010, Jay will be featured on new releases from Asia featuring John Payne, Unruly Child and Firewolfe.