GPS were a

progressive rock Progressive rock (shortened as prog rock or simply prog) is a broad genre of rock music that primarily developed in the United Kingdom through the mid- to late 1960s, peaking in the early-to-mid-1970s. Initially termed " progressive pop", the ...

group formed in 2006 by John Payne (vocals, bass, guitar),

Guthrie Govan Guthrie Govan (; born 27 December 1971) is a British guitarist and guitar teacher, known for his work with the bands the Aristocrats, Asia, GPS, the Young Punx and the Fellowship, as well as his solo project Erotic Cakes. More recently, he ha ...

(guitars) and Jay Schellen (drums, percussion). These three had been working together in

Asia Asia ( , ) is the largest continent in the world by both land area and population. It covers an area of more than 44 million square kilometres, about 30% of Earth's total land area and 8% of Earth's total surface area. The continent, which ...

, specifically on an album to have been called ''Architect of Time'', when the fourth member of Asia,

Geoff Downes Geoffrey Downes (born 25 August 1952) is an English keyboardist who gained fame as a member of the new wave group the Buggles with Trevor Horn, the progressive rock band Yes, and the supergroup Asia. Born in Stockport, Downes moved to Lond ...

, joined a reunion of the band's classic line-up, dissolving the then current line-up. Payne, Govan and Schellen announced the formation of a new band in February 2006 to be called One. However, after discovering another rock act with the same name, the band changed its name to GPS, from the initials of the three founders.

Biography

The band released a 10-track album called ''Window to the Soul'' on

InsideOut Inside Out Music is a German progressive rock record label originally based in Kleve, North Rhine-Westphalia, and dedicated to the publication of progressive rock, progressive metal and related styles. In 2009, it formed a partnership with Centu ...

in August 2006 in Europe; the release in North America came the following September. The album had originally been announced as ''One'' with a May release date. All the tracks are credited to Payne/Schellen/Govan, and keyboards on the album and subsequent tour were played by

Ryo Okumoto Ryo Okumoto (奥本亮; born May 24, 1959) is a Japanese rock keyboardist, best known for his work with American progressive rock band Spock's Beard. He joined the band in 1996 and has been a member ever since. When singer and keyboardist Neal ...

Spock's Beard Spock's Beard is an American progressive rock band from Los Angeles, formed in 1992 by brothers Neal (lead vocals, keyboards, guitar) and Alan Morse (guitars), John Ballard (bass), and Nick D'Virgilio (drums). Ballard was replaced by Dave M ...

. The band performed live in September/October 2006 and on two Japanese dates in late 2007. In parallel with GPS, Payne, Govan and Schellen were joined by

Erik Norlander Erik Norlander (born 26 July 1967) is an American musician known for his work in the progressive rock genre. From 2007 to 2014, he was the touring and recording keyboardist for Asia Featuring John Payne. History Starting in 1993, Norlander's ...

on keys in Asia Featuring John Payne. Norlander also filled in for Okumoto for one GPS date in the US. Govan later left Asia Featuring John Payne. Norlander also subsequently left Asia Featuring John Payne, to be replaced by Okumoto.

''Window to the Soul''

# "Window to the Soul" # "New Jerusalem" # "Heaven Can Wait" # "Written on the Wind" # "I Believe in Yesterday" # "The Objector" # "All My Life" # "Gold" # "Since You've Been Gone" # "Taken Dreams" # "In His Eyes" (Govan) + # "The Haunting" (Payne) + All songs by Govan, Payne, and Schellen unless indicated. + On Japanese and South Korean release only About half of the material on ''Window to the Soul'' was originally written for ''Architect of Time''.Dingwall.com
A November 2005 press release from Asia had mentioned "Written on the Wind", "I Believe in Yesterday" and "Since You've Been Gone" as song titles for the Asia album (to have been called ''Architect of Time'') Payne, Govan and Schellen were recording with Downes before the split. The album cover features record executive

John Kalodner John David Kalodner is a retired American A&R (artists and repertoire) executive. History John David Kalodner was born in Philadelphia; he was a writer and photographer at ''Concert'' magazine. Then by 1972 he became a photographer for various re ...

in front of a television.

References

External links

Asia featuring John Payne Official Webpage
{{DEFAULTSORT:GPS (band) British pop music groups English progressive rock groups Inside Out Music albums