From Tower Records' Pulse Magazine, circa 1985

Young and Restless - Styx Guitarist James Young Searches For His Identity

by Dave Zimmer
Fans of Styx's Wall of Voice sound beware. Just because James "JY" Young happens to be the guitarist in the band responsible for such anthem-filled LPs as The Grand Illusion, Paradise Theatre and Kilroy Was Here, one shouldn't expect his first solo venture to mine similar musical ground. In fact, the recently released City Slicker, which Young recorded with Jan Hammer, is 180 degrees from Styx. Try raucous, blistering rock that is high on sweat, low on polish.
"I wanted to kill on this record," says JY, "which is s something I rarely get a chance to do in Styx. I've always wanted to pull things in a more hard-edged direction, but the consensus band sound would never really allow for it."
After watching fellow Styx mates Tommy Shaw and Dennis DeYoung put together albums on their own, Young decided it was his turn. But rather than handle all of the instrumental work himself, he sought out Jan Hammer.
"I wanted to work with a world class soloist," Young says. "One guy doing all of the solos on any record gets old. So I contacted Jan. I'd never met him before. And this was before the Miami Vice soundtrack really took off. Jan had just done a couple of projects with Neal Schon. So he was into playing some rock and roll."
Sessions for City Slicker began in February of 1984. Young recalls, "The Hammer sound I'd always remembered was what he did with Billy Cobham on Spectrum. He played synthesizer and keyboards like a guitar player. He just blazed those solos. I wasn't sure what to expect when we started playing together. But right away, Jan came up with these hot sounds that sort of echoed and paralleled what I was doing. It was strange but great. We ended up trading a lot of licks."
Hammer also handled the drum tracks and some Fairlight bass. Colin Hodgkinson and Rick Young took care of the bulk of the bass parts, while all of the guitar was played by Young. He relied mainly on a double-pick-up Ibanez for rhythm tracks and Fender Stratocaster for leads.
"Every guitar sound on the record was played through a little tuning room Marshall amp, set at an extremely low volume," says Young. "And I laid down all my parts in the control room, rather than out in the studio. That way, I could hear a complete mix with all of the monitors cranked up and really emotionally respond to the songs. I was also right there with the engineers and could basically produce my own playing, rather than have someone tell me how it sounded."
As far as effects go, Young used a Lexicon 324 digital reverb unit and a custom made distortion box. "It's the only one of its kind," says JY, "built by a guy I went to college with, Dave Yoshinari, a brilliant electronic engineer. Back in 1978, I told him, 'Build me a box that'll allow me to hold that F# like Hendrix at the beginning of 'Foxy Lady' and have it go into feedback.' I stood in front of Dave and we tested it while he changed resistors and transistors until he got it just right. I've been using it ever since. I call it my 'Yoshinirator.'"
Since JY financed the recording of City Slicker, he was able to do whatever he wanted on the album. "You must understand," says Young, "that all we ever do in Styx is compromise. I was definitely tired of that, and just wanted to cut loose." With rowdy tracks like "Chain Me Down," "Wild Dogs In The Night" and "Runnin' Out Of Time" representing the heart of the music, JY didn't pull in the reigns [sic] at all.
He also decided, early on, that he wasn't going to offer the record to A&M. "I didn't want to be concerned about whether or not I'd written a hit single," says Young. "And Dennis and Tommy had just come out with their solo records. So I didn't think my album would have gotten the attention it deserved. Consequently, I went looking for an independent label with good distribution and decided on Passport - who may not have the homerun power of a CBS, but have the ability to establish me on my own."
Rather than viewing City Slicker as a one-off side project, Young is already thinking about making another LP. "Styx hasn't broken up," Young assures, "but my career does not begin and end with that band. I feel I'm just coming into my own as a guitar player and want to experiment with some things that I could never do in the context of Styx. Also, since so far I've been one of the more unknown members of the band, it means I'm also one of the most underexposed. I look at that as a positive thing. I can basically do anything I want on my own without getting stereotyped."