When Aurora Came to the Studio
Steve Howe, Roger Dean and Curtis Schwartz with the original artwork for YES’s forthcoming album Aurora at Curtis Schwartz Studio.
Every day at the studio has its own magic.
Recently, Roger Dean came to Curtis Schwartz Studio to show Steve Howe and me the original artwork for the new YES album, Aurora. It was a special moment, and one more reminder that every project brings something unique.
I’ve been deeply involved in the making of this record here at the studio, and it means a great deal to me that this is now the third YES album in a row that I’ve been involved in making here at the studio. But seeing the artwork arrive in person was a special moment in a different way.
Steve Howe and Roger Dean holding the original Aurora album artwork at Curtis Schwartz Studio.
On a screen, album art can look striking. Standing in front of the original painting, in the same room where so much of the music had taken shape, it felt something else entirely — more vivid, more immediate, and more deeply connected to the spirit of the record.
What struck me most was how naturally it all belonged together: the music, the painting, the atmosphere in the room, and the shared sense of purpose behind it all. Great records are not made in isolation. They grow out of trust, continuity, collaboration, and the right environment for ideas to develop properly — usually not in a rush, either.
Behind the scenes at Curtis Schwartz Studio as Roger Dean and Steve Howe view the original Aurora artwork beside the Steinway piano.
That has always mattered to me here. Curtis Schwartz Studio was never intended to be a production line. It’s a place where artists can listen properly, think clearly, step outside into the gardens and woodland if they need a reset, experiment, refine, and make important creative decisions in a calm and highly musical setting. When artists of the calibre of YES choose to return, that says more than any sales pitch ever could.
Having Roger here with Steve, standing beside the finished artwork, was also a reminder that albums still matter as complete creative statements. The visual world matters. The sound world matters. And when both are strong, they help give a record its identity before a note is even heard.
And, in one of those strange and rather lovely moments that no one would have dared invent for fear of overdoing it, there was even a real aurora visible over Curtis Schwartz Studio during the making of our record. It seemed only right to include it here.
A real aurora over Curtis Schwartz Studio during the making of the forthcoming YES album Aurora.
I’ll say more about Aurora in due course, but I wanted to share this moment because it captured something I care about very deeply: first-class artists doing first-class work in a place designed to support exactly that.
It was a real pleasure to help bring this album into being here at Curtis Schwartz Studio, and a genuine joy to see Aurora arrive in the room.
Interested in a behind-the-scenes look at how these records were made?
A chance to visit Curtis Schwartz Studio, hear the story of the sessions, and explore how the records took shape.
Curious about the studio behind Aurora?
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