Steve Lukather
January 2008
When did you make up your mind about doing another solo album?
My songwriting partner Randy Goodrum brought the idea and the record deal to me. It seemed like it was time to do another vocal record. A new challenge so to speak.
What was your vision for the musical direction?
Well, I didn't really have one at first. I wanted it to rock a bit but I really wanted just to write great tunes and experiment with song form and just break some rules while still being accessible to most people.
Back in 2006 you said that you were working on two solo albums, a vocal one and an all instrumental. How about the other one?
(Laughs) Well I am late with the instrumental one. I have been very busy with Toto and making this solo record. I think maybe next year I will do something out there musically with Steve Porcaro that will be 90% instrumental. Rock soundtrack kind of stuff. I always like to do different stuff but for now I am finishing Toto and then getting ready to do a solo tour starting in summer through fall worldwide.
How did you get the instrumentalists together for the solo record?
I just got guys I like and know. Great players. I am lucky that way! I took older guys like me and Lee Sklar and put us with young guys like Abe Laboriel Jr and my son Trev and Jeff Babko is in the middle. Best of all worlds. I have known most of these guys my whole life or their whole lives anyway. (Laughs) Just felt natural to me.
So you are surrounded with session musicians on this release. Quite the opposite of what you were doing in the past...
Great musicians are great musicians. I don’t like or believe in titles.
Is there still a session scene like it was in the 70s-80s?
No session scene at all anymore. It’s over. We were the last generation of real studio guys. It was a blast and it’s overwhelming just how much we did! It was awesome and a lot of fun and I learned a lot and played with some of the biggest legends of all time and did the biggest records of all time!
Now you don't even have to meet the guy who you are recording for. You just need a home studio, a good computer and Internet connection. How do you feel about this?
I think it sucks. There is no vibe to it. It’s cold and soulless. I do it once in a great while but it is not the same. I miss the good old days.
Are you a computer guy yourself? Do you spend time on the Internet?
I spend lots of time on the Internet. It is the coolest thing ever!
Well, back to your solo stuff. When did you start writing and how long it took overall?
Randy and I just started writing a song a day till we had what we liked and then I wrote with a few other people as well and my son Trevor. That was a gas. So I co-wrote everything except the last instrumental track which is 100% me. Randy Goodrum and I wrote most of it and my son co-wrote 2 songs with us as well. It took like maybe 3 weeks or so?
Were all the songs meant for this album or you had some ideas written for Toto that you didn't release with them?
Nope. This was just for this record. I don’t believe in holding songs back. I write specifically for a project, always have.
Your new baby was about to arrive when you were in the writing stages. Did it have any special influence on some songs?
Actually I found out my wife was pregnant when we were cutting the basic track last January. My new baby is so awesome and cute. It’s a trip having a new one at my age that’s for sure but I am so in love with her.
So what inspired you when it came to the lyrics?
It’s about my life or my jaded view of it. (Laughs) Randy is really the word man, also Stan Lynch wrote “How Many Zeros” with me. I have a different view of life and the world than I did 30 years ago so it’s about all that stuff too.
What's the idea behind the album's title “Ever Changing Times”?
Well, I turned 50, I had a new baby, Toto is 30 years old and life is changing all around us. It seemed like a perfect title.
Is there any song on the album that you like better than the others? Which one and why?
No not really. I dig them all. They’re like children that I watched grow up.
The album's cover has a very nice shot. Where was that picture taken?
It’s in the desert outside Los Angeles. It is real. No Photoshop.
You said that you are going out and play live supporting this album. What are the plans?
I will start in the summer and go for as long as I can and want to. I will be playing stuff off all my solo records. No fusion. (Laughs) I am putting a kick ass setlist together. Gotta stay fresh but there will be many surprises. It’s gonna rock for sure!
Have do you decided on which Toto songs to play?
I may include some weird Toto music as well that I wrote and sang. Not the obvious hits. I am kind of tired of all that after 30 years. (Laughs) Stuff that I want to do that feels good outside the real Toto thing. Songs that I wrote and sang that maybe have never been played live. I am still getting all that together.
What is your touring line-up will be like? The same guys that recorded the album?
Well some but I am getting a new band together. I need everyone to be really good singers and players. I am close to getting that all lined up.
You have probably played on more albums than anyone else in the music biz. Do you keep track of all the albums you contributed to?
Jeez, that’s hard to say. Some say 800, some say 1200 I don’t know. Only about half of what I have done is on my website. (Laughs)
And how much CDs you have with your own playing on?
God, I have a lot as they get sent to me. I have no idea.
You played a gig on the Falling In Between Tour in Budapest. Do you have any memories of that show?
Yeah, my daughter was there cause she was interning in Germany and she took the train up to see her friend that lives there and it was a great gig as I remember.
When do you plan to have the long awaited 30th Anniversary Tour and what can we expect from that?
I don’t see that happening at this point. 30 years is a long time and I need a long break after a 2 1/2 year tour. I am still on it! (Laughs) We finish in April and then I will go out on my own. We had a great run.
And for closing, what were your 3 favourite albums from 2007?
New Radiohead, Foo Fighters and Amos Lee.