In 1979 as a teen, Jay was introduced to the big stage, touring with R&B legend Al Wilson ("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' band and National arenas with Danny Johnson and The Bandits supporting ZZ Top.

Schellen has continued to work with Sherwood on a number of other projects including joining progressive group Circa in 2008 (replacing Alan White), thus re-joining Tony Kaye again on keyboards and Jimmy Haun on guitars.

In 2010 Jay joined Sherwood, Jimmy Haun and Kaye again to perform "Headsets" in collaboration with legendary Rock and Roll DJ Jim Ladd staged at the Laserium in Los Angeles, California.

From September 2013, he was performing in the Las Vegas production of Raiding the Rock Vault, initially alongside his Asia bandmate John Payne.

For the February 2018 Cruise to the Edge shows, Schellen once again performed as second guest drummer to support White, who had been battling a bacterial infection in his joints since November 2017.