Steve Lukather May 2008 Interview - "Ever Changing Times"
Steve how’s it going?
Lukather: It’s going great man! Just hanging out, getting ready. I feel like it’s the calm before the storm. We start rehearsals for the tour in a couple of weeks, we’re doing a lot of pre-promotion. And like I told you before I’m recovering from my son’s 21st birthday in Vegas. Anybody with an imagination knows exactly how that went down (laughs).
I had to ask right off the bat; this record “Ever Changing Times” – sounds amazing by the way…
Lukather: Thank you, we worked real hard on that.
I mean, why put this record out now? You basically just got off a two year tour more or less which has to be exhausting.
Lukather: Yeah, Twenty six months out. Well, I left the band – I’m done with that, we were finished. We had a good run. I had been doing this record in my spare time. So I’d be home for a month; I’d have three weeks and I’d go in the studio - just because I have that sort of workaholic mentality and all this material that I wanted to cut. So it just worked out that by the time the tour was finished the record was finished and ready to come out. I’m just putting together my live band which is killer. A bunch of great cats; younger guys - but unbelievably killer players. Everybody in the band is like a lead singer; the vocals are going to be kicking. The vocals are always important because a great player is a great player, but a singer is harder to find. I’m doing a lot of stuff from my vocal records; I have like four vocal, rock records. I might be doing a little of that material. Maybe a jam or two from my past, songs I wrote for other people – I’m still cultivating a set list right now. But it’s really going to be fun. I’m really excited about it. Total workaholic you know, I’ve gotta keep doing this.
One of the first things I noticed about this record was the production. The music really wraps around you. Tell me about getting the sound you wanted. Was there a lot of pre-production involved?
Lukather: There was no pre-production, other than talking on the phone. I wrote a lot of that material with Randy Goodrum my longtime songwriting partner, who also executive produced the record. I put a band together that new I didn’t have to rehearse. The key point talking about sonically is my co-producer and engineer Mr. Steve MacMillan. He was Mutt Lange’s guy, Trevor Horn’s guy, and he worked with Toto in the past as well. We just have a great working relationship. We worked over at my place The Steakhouse in North Hollywood, and we used all old vintage gear. So it was the best of both worlds; we had the classic tube sound and we used the new technology as well. And plus when you get great players they already have a great sound, so it’s really not that hard. You always have to think about the sound source you’re recording; if it sounds like crap in the room, it’s going to sound like crap in the microphone in front of you. So I get guys like; you plug in Lee Sklar’s bass. It’s like “ok, next!” (laughs) The cat’s been recording for 40 years, he knows how to get a good sound. Abe Laborial Jr., his drums sound massive in the room. Of course people have a tendency to EQ. Steve MacMillan, Mac, and I do call him Mac, he just moved the microphone around a bit and there was no EQ – it was recorded flat and it really sounded good. We added all the effects at the console when we were mixing. We plugged in old vintage gear – old Vox’s, old Gibson amps, weird Marshalls, I didn’t use any effects. I mean, there were some on the record, but they were done during the mixing. So when the sound sources were recorded going through old Neve desks with the great old tubes, great set of mics, there’s your great sound.
You’ve got to play the stuff (laughs). That’s the thing about having a great band. When we wrote the songs, we just sat in a hotel room with an acoustic guitar, a crappy little piano sound, and a cassette player. We wrote the songs. My son wrote a couple of songs with us – that’s Trevor; and he played on a couple of tracks as well. So it was working with an acoustic guitar, a keyboard, and you knew once you added the production and everybody put their take on it that it was going to turn out really well.
You mentioned Randy Goodrum whose name is all over this record. Tell me how you guys work together. Is it an easy process for the two of you?
Lukather: Yeah actually – within the first 15 minutes of a song the music is all done. The bulk of time it takes is to write a good lyric; but ask any songwriter that. But we’ve been writing songs together since 1985. We just look at each other and it’s like the Vulcan mind meld, you know? It just happens. In some cases we’d bring in somebody else just for a different flavor. It really just kind of flows. I’ve never walked away with nothing when I work with Randy. He’s really excited, he really gets into it – and it brings out that side of everybody in the room. He’s a total pro, this guy’s written hit songs in every genre there is.
He’s got a great track record.
Lukather: You look at his discography of songs he’s written and you go “really?”
Speaking of songs that are on this record, you’ve got a nice mix of driving stuff like the title track, and then you’ve got tracks like “Stab in the Back” – that one reminds me of Boz Scaggs…
Lukather: That one is my shameless tribute to Steely Dan. It’s that sort of music we used to play in the 70’s. Steely was always one of my favorite bands. Obviously I’ve worked with Boz as a teenager. That whole era of recording – sort of mid to late 70’s to the early 80’s, that was the kind of music that was going on in L.A. So, I didn’t really steer away from anything; music is music - if I like it, if it feels good. I’m not really concerned with writing a Top 40 single at this point - my last name doesn’t end with a Z or anything like that.
With the mix of songs that you have, are there any that you feel that you excel on, or some that come easier for you?
Lukather: I don’t know man, I’m chameleon-like when it comes to all that. I like all different kinds of music. I like to throw some adult chords into some rock music. You listen to these kids today, all they’re playing is fifths, you know? There are some good songs out there, but I like to put in a surprise chord where you go – “oh I didn’t expect that”. That’s what makes it interesting for me. I do like an amp going all the way up to 10 myself. Some of the more rocking stuff my son wrote.
Did he play the riff on “Tell Me What You Want From Me”?
Lukather: Yeah! That’s his riff. That’s him playing it. That was cut live. I was playing acoustic guitar, (Lee) Sklar and me, Jeff Babko on keyboards, and Abe Jr. on drums. That was a kick man, we go “hey we’re cutting”, and he killed it. He did some background vocals too – because he comes every session just to hang.
How’d you initially involve Trevor on the record?
Lukather: I just said “I think you’re ready dude, write me a riff and I’ll write something around it”. He came up with this really cool riff which is really a lot harder to play than it sounds. He writes these really quirky chords and stuff. He’s not one of these guys who sits and wails in his room. He’s got a great feel and he can play solos and stuff like that, but his real forte is chords and writing songs. Check out his MySpace and his tunes, he’s really happening. He’s a moment away from getting a big record deal.
Speaking of Trevor and all the other guys you’ve got on the record, did you initially plan to have that list of players or did it sort of evolve?
Lukather: You know, my friends are hanging around (laughs). I hadn’t worked with Steve Porcaro in a while, Joseph Williams same thing. Joe was writing some stuff for his record, and I said you’ve got to come down and do some stuff with me. We used the barter system a lot. If somebody came down to hang in the studio, they were on the record. Like Bernard Fowler who sings background on the record, he sings with the Stones. I said “Bernard, get you r ass out there and sing on something”. Then I played on a track for his record. We did a lot of that. It was whoever showed up. I did that with Bill Champlin, same thing. These are guys I grew up with, I’ve known them for 30 some years.
One of the other things that struck me about this record is that it’s so listenable and flows so well. I think it will satisfy your more guitar heave fans as well as the Toto folks. What are your thoughts on that?
Lukather: I didn’t really try – I mean I went out there for a few years and did things with Larry Carlton, scratch the jazz/fusion itch. Larry and I did really well, won a Grammy a few years ago, it was a lot of fun. It was a different audience altogether. It was a sea of guys wearing Marshall and Fender t-shirts you know? My music will satisfy more of the song oriented people, but we’re going to play on it. I think what I did was write for the song. There are a lot of guys that their forte is full shred. I mean, I can hang in that arena, but it’s not 100 percent of what I’m into. I’m a sucker for a good melody and a good lyric and a good groove. So I tried to stick to that particular area on this record. The pre-requisite of having this record deal thrown at me was like “they want a melodic rock record with vocals”. I said “I can do that”. It’s been 10 years since I’ve done that, it sounds like fun.
How’d you get hooked up with this label?
Lukather: Randy Goodrum brought me this whole deal. It’s a new label out of Japan but they have a worldwide deal. He said “these guys just love what you do” - as long as it turned out like it did (laughs). And, Randy was keeping me honest from their point of view. They really didn’t hear the record until it was done.
From the reviews I’ve been seeing, people have been saying things like “It’s the most complete solo record he’s done, the most mature effort”. What are your thoughts on that?
Lukather: I’m definitely getting more mature bro! (laughs) My take is that I made a really honest record that I’m very proud of and worked very hard on – in my spare time which I really didn’t have much of. I’m only as good as the people I surround myself with. This is really a group effort, I can’t just pat myself on the back here. I had great ideas, great co-writers, great co-production. What can I say, so far the reactions been real good. Now I’m going to go on the road and play and see what happens.
What king of a band have you put together to take out on the road?
Lukather: It’s pretty interesting; guys from different walks of life. The only guy that might be familiar is Tony Spinner who was out with Toto. He’s got an incredible voice, he’s also a really good guitar player. So I needed that second guitar and that high voice. Steve Weingard (keys); some of these guys come from a jazz background because of who they worked with, but they all started out as rock n’ rollers – we all did, it was that we got to jazz later. But it’s not a jazz band, it’s all vocals – no jazz covers. Have Eric Valentine on drums who is just ridiculous, he comes from that Dennis Chambers school. Carlitos Del Puerto who plays bass and sings – he’s a young cat about 30 years old. I met a lot of these guys through Steve Weingard who’s my musical director. I said “find me the A band, I’ve gotta go on the road I’ll be back” (laughs) – and he did.
You seem really comfortable with the frontman role too.
Lukather: I’ve had to morph into that as I have been doing for the last 15 or more years. I feel very comfortable in front of my audience. This is what I’ve been doing my whole life. I can make fun of myself and have a laugh with the guys and then talk to the audience. I try to keep it interesting and humorous.
I’ve got some real interesting things in store for the United States. It’s a little premature to say anything, but I will be touring the United States rather extensively. I may do a couple of things from my past but not the obvious stuff. There’s no point in that. I’m not Mr. Toto, I don’t pretend to be that – and I don’t really want to be that. There’s enough people that like my stuff to come and see me play. So I’m going to try to build it from there, because I really don’t have any intention of going back to the old situation at this particular point in my life. Unfortunately as great as the band was when it was on the road, not one of them was from the original band. I’m thinking if everybody’s a replacement, then maybe I should just do this myself.
All right Steve, that’s all I’ve got for you.
Lukather: Thank you very much for your time man, I appreciate it more than you know.