TO BE PERFECTLY FRANK, BECAUSE I WAS LIVING IN AFRICA AT THE TIME, I NEVER GOT INTO TOTO’S MUSIC, AND I’D NEVER SEEN GUITARIST STEVE LUKATHER PLAY WITH RINGO STARR’S ‘ALL STARR’ BAND.
MY FIRST EXPOSURE TO LUKATHER WAS SEEING HIM WITH HIS ‘NERVE BUNDLE’ BAND AT THE BAKED POTATO, AND HE BURNED THE HOUSE DOWN WITH A SEARING MIX OF BLUES, ROCK AND JAZZ. HIS SOLOS WERE AS CLEVER AND AS EARTHY AS HIS MONOLOGUES BETWEEN TUNES, MIXING JERRY SEINFELD-STYLED HUMOR BETWEEN HARD SWINGING TUNES.
WHO IS THIS GUY, AND HOW HAVE I MISSED HIM ALL THESE YEARS?
I GOT A COPY OF HIS AUTOBIOGRAPHY (THE GOSPEL ACCORDING TO LUKE) AND WAS FASCINATED BY HIS COMBINATION OF TAKING HIS MUSIC AND SOULFUL JOURNEY SERIOUSLY BUT ALSO ACTING OUT LIFE LIKE A LIVING WHOOPIE CUSHION. I THEN FOUND OUT WE WERE THE SAME AGE AND GRADUATED HIGH SCHOOLS ABOUT 5 MILES APART FROM EACH OTHER. IT WAS LIKE WE HAD PARALLEL LIVES EXCEPT THAT HE HAD TALENT WITH THE GUITAR AND THE ATTENTION SPAN OF A TSE TSE FLY IN JUST ABOUT EVERYTHING ELSE.
HOW COULD I NOT WANT TO GET TO KNOW HIM?
STILL BREAKING STEREOTYPES, MR. LUKATHER WAS NOT ONLY GRACIOUS ENOUGH TO SET UP A CHAT FOR AS LONG AS I WANTED, BUT HE SCHEDULED THE INTERVIEW TO BEGIN AT 8 AM. WHAT MUSICIAN IS AWAKE THAT EARLY?!?
WE GREW UP CLOSE TO EACH OTHER. I GRADUATED FROM BIRMINGHAM HIGH IN VAN NUYS IN 1974
I played at your prom! That was my band Still Life with Steve McGraw and Mike Landau.
WHERE DID YOU BUY YOUR RECORD ALBUMS?
I started buying records when I was 7-8 years old. There was a local place on Ventura Blvd. We used to go hang out at Tower Records (on Sunset) and meet musicians, get a taste of what’s out there. It was a great place to hang. It’s a thing that’s totally missed in today’s musical life. There’s no way now to find out what’s happening.
YOUR BOOK IS A GAS. WHAT WAS THE REASON TO WRITE IT AT THIS STAGE IN YOUR CAREER?
The Grammy Museum had called me and asked me come down and do a Q&A, play a little bit and share about my career. A bunch of people crammed into this little place, and I was just telling stories and making people laugh. All the crazy things about the sessions I was in and my life on the road.
My agent came up to me afterward and said “You have to write a book” I told him “I don’t want to dig up any dead bodies”, but then I realized that I could write a positive book, and I got a nice offer for it, and I felt that I had a taste for it.
I didn’t realize how much work it would be! It got re-written about 4 times; the first version was with a co-writer who made me sound like a Proper Englishman. (laughs)
I mean, he was great for putting it all in some sort of order, as I was first putting it down I was going from decade to decade without knowing what I was doing. He put it in order, but I had to put it down my way, as my humor was missing.
I re-wrote it again and again and again, and actually did write the whole book after the help in the beginning by Paul Rees, my co-writer. In the end, it had my pen on everything in my life; I even did the audio book.
It turned out to be a positive product; it went to #1 on Amazon and had 5 star reviews.
Some people thought there were some offensive comments, or that I was bagging on religion because I called it The Gospel According to Luke. If you know me, it was tongue in cheek; I believe in God too! It wasn’t a put down or anything.
YOU HAVE TO PUT THE “FUN” BACK IN “FUNDAMENTALISM”
You know what I mean! I put the “funk” back in “dysfunctional”. (laughs)
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“I put the ‘funk’ back in ‘dysfunctional'”
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WHAT WAS THE BIGGEST THING YOU WANTED TO CONVEY IN YOUR BOOK?
Just give a broad stroke of my career. I had to cut out 400 pages of it! I think I gave a very honest but also positive viewpoint of my career. I threw myself under the bus; I didn’t take anybody with me.
I just told stories of the things that happened to me, and people dug it. What am I going to be, like Spinal Tap with a tour bus for the book? I don’t consider myself a real “writer”; I’m a guy who tells a story.
I’m friends with some professional comedians. I’m funny, but not a professional comedian. It’s one thing when you’re out there to make them laugh, and if you don’t, Oh my God!
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“I threw myself under the bus; I didn’t take anybody with me”
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SOME PARTS OF THE BOOK WERE VERY REVEALING ABOUT YOU. I FOUND IT VERY INTERESTING THAT YOU SAID THAT PEOPLE HIRED YOU BECAUSE YOU ARE “A SERIOUS MUSICIAN BUT ALSO BECAUSE I’M SILLY”. THAT’S AN INTERESTING COMBINATION.
Vibe is half the game, man. How do you make people feel when you’re playing there music and you show up at somebody’s house and you want them to like it and do what they want you to do? If they had something specific for me, I’d play that. Most of the time it was “play whatever you want, and whatever you hear”.
I have an arranger’s ear, so I always have lots of ideas for lots of parts. My instincts are usually pretty correct, ***and they’d just let me go my way and do solos in one or two takes. Boom. Done. See ya later. That’s just the way we worked our whole lives.
That’s how I did my new record (I Found The Sun Again). We did it “live” and I then overdubbed the lead vocals the same day. Boom-it was done in just eight days.
I wanted to see if I could still do that in an era when everything is computerized, sync’d in tune, fixed in the grid and time-corrected. These days, it’s too perfect. Even Miles Davis and John Coltrane squeaked their horns once in awhile, and they left it in.
Nobody’s perfect; I left a few warts in there that I probably would have fixed if I was going to do it with all of the multi tracks, but I wanted it to be real. I’ve got rough edges; I’ve got jagged edges and warts all over myself as well, so I’m not going to lie to people and I wanted to give them an honest performance. I’m proud that I kept it honest. Especially at a time when any idiot can make a record with a computer.
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“I wanted to see if I could still do that in an era when everything is computerized, sync’d in tune, fixed in the grid and time-corrected. These days, it’s too perfect. Even Miles Davis and John Coltrane squeaked their horns once in awhile, and they left it in”
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THE ALBUM IS INTERESTING BECAUSE YOU PULL SOME SURPRISES. YOU DO A LONG JAM ON THE INTRO TO ROBIN TROWER’S SUCCINCT OPENING ON “BRIDGE OF SIGHS” AND ARE CONCISE ON TRAFFIC’S FAMOUS “LOW SPARK OF HIGH HEAL BOYS” THAT WAS A LONG INSTRUMENTAL ON THE ORIGINAL. 800
I wasn’t paying attention to a rule book. I just wrote up some charts, hired the guys, no rehearsals, no demos, no click tracks. Nothing. “Here it is, guys, let’s run the parts. Let’s fix whatever’s wrong, rehearse a few bits and cut this !%&^($ thing.” The whole record was done “Take Two”. Every song. Joseph did a few background vocals for me; my vocals were done the same day with the guys sitting there, just like how we did it in the 70s and 80s.
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“I just wrote up some charts, hired the guys, no rehearsals, no demos, no click tracks. Nothing. ‘Here it is, guys, let’s run the parts. Let’s fix whatever’s wrong, rehearse a few bits and cut this !%&^($ thing.'”
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IT WAS ESSENTIALLY YOUR BAKED POTATO BAND
Kind of. I just got together my friends and interesting guys like (David) Paich. I was able to use him as ‘just’ a player. He was excited just to be there and he was bearing down on the Hammond and piano. Just Old School, the way we grew up.
There was no pressure on us. Just like the early sessions, everyone was involved with great ideas. It was a lot of fun. Even the guys from Toto-it was like a mini-reunion.
IN YOUR BOOK, IT COMES OUT LIKE YOU FEEL LIKE YOU ARE THE LAST OF A GENERATION, OF A “KIND”, SO TO SPEAK.
Oh, we were the last generation, the last “studio guys”.
The type who would show up every day, didn’t know what we were going to do. We were going to work; we had to be ready for anything. We didn’t know if there was going to be sight reading, which guitar to use… you had to have everything ready to go. “What are we doing today?”
You didn’t even know who you were going to be playing with until you got there. You’d see people’s (musical) trunks with their names on them in the hallways. “Cool! So and so is going to be here! It’s going to be a great day!”
I got to play with the greatest musicians in the world everyday, with the most genius of artists of all time. It was one of the greatest times in my life.
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“You couldn’t do solos on five different tracks and then pick your favorite. If they didn’t like it, they would erase it, so I’d better do something good!”
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WHO IS A STUDIO MASTER?
There are so many. You got Lee Ritenour, Larry Carlton, Jay Graden, Mike Landau, all of these guys who were my friends since I was 12 years old. Of the newer generation you have Kim Pierson, Mike Thompson. There’s a lot of great new guys, but there’s no studio work like there was before. People have their own home studios, do Share Files, or do Face Time, but I’m a “live” guy.
I’d show up, work up an arrangement and then have to deliver.
IT’S INTERESTING THAT YOU GREW UP WITH THE SONS OF SOME BIG TIME JAZZ MUSICIANS LIKE MARTY PAICH AND VICTOR FELDMAN. DID YOU PICK THEIR BRAINS?
Of course! I talked to Marty all of the time and get some arranging lessons. He would call me with advice; he was one of the coolest guys ever. He’d call me and say “How’s Paich doin’?” His own son! He was a wonderful man. I loved him.
I actually did an album with Victor Feldman, when I first started out. He played keyboards. Man! What a genius of a musician…he was a jazz pianist, percussionist and vibist with Miles Davis (on Seven Steps to Heaven). He was the sweetest man.
IN YOUR BOOK, YOU MENTION BRIEFLY THAT YOU ALSO GREW UP AROUND JAMES NEWTON HOWARD AND JOHN WILLIAMS.
I only knew Williams as a neighbor, but I never picked his brain. It was just “Hi, Mr. Williams”. I wasn’t the type of cat he’d hang out with. (laughs)
Whereas, in James Newton Howard’s case he was and is a very close friend.
THE MOST INTRIGUING PART OF YOUR BOOK IS THAT PART OF IT FOCUSES ON GETTING YOUR OWN PERSONAL SOUND, YET AT THE SAME TIME GOING OVER HOW TO EXACTLY PLAY A ROLLING STONE OR BEATLE SONG. HOW DO YOU RECONCILE THESE TWO SEEMINGLY OPPOSITE CONCEPTS?
I’m a product of everything I’ve ever heard in my life, from my first Beatles record on.
It all goes into my brain. I’ve studied it; I’ve learned solos from all the masters and all of the heroes that we all know.
Whatever ended up coming out was just me.
Now, everyone learns off of the Internet, but back then we had to lift the needle off the record and play it again and again, so you had to develop patience, working towards a goal as opposed to instant gratification, which you get now.
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“I’m a product of everything I’ve ever heard in my life, from my first Beatles record on”
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DO YOU FEEL HONORED, OR DOES IT BOTHER THE CREATIVE SIDE OF YOU, WHEN YOU’RE IN SOMEONE’S BAND, SUCH AS RINGO’S ALL STARR BAND, AND YOU’RE TOLD TO PLAY THE EXACT NOTES OF THE SOLOS THE WAY IT WAS ORIGINALLY RECORDED.
I have no problem doing what the boss wants me to do. (serious tone) If he needs me to do it a certain way, I’m all %&#! In.
Whoever I’m playing with the ALL STARRS, whether it’s with Greg Rollie playing a song by Santana, you learn to key into certain licks of the song. The same thing with Todd Rundgren or Colin Hay or Grahame Gouldman from 10cc. I want to play those solos note for note because they are CLASSIC. There’s nothing else you can play; It’s part of your dna. Of course you have to play the George Harrison part like that, otherwise it would suck.
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“I’ve got rough edges; I’ve got jagged edges and warts all over myself as well, so I’m not going to lie to people and I wanted to give them an honest performance. I’m proud that I kept it honest. Especially at a time when any idiot can make a record with a computer”
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GROUPIE QUESTION-WHAT IS IT LIKE HAVING RINGO STARR’S PULSE BEHIND YOU WHEN YOUR’RE PLAYING?
Magic.
He has a pocket. People forget just how brilliant he was in coming up with these crazy drum parts for things like “Ticket to Ride”. The way he hears and feels time. There were no click tracks on those Beatles records! He just had a ball laying it down; that’s real talent!
When I played with him, he lays real behind the beat, with his own backbeat. It’s got a swing to it; it’s not about technical burning, like Vinnie Colaiuta-craziness (which I also love), but if it weren’t for Ringo, none of these other drummers would exist.
Ringo started the whole thing. He brought the drums to the forefront. He’s the only drummer I know that you can just hear the drum part and know what song it is. How many guys can say that?!?
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“if it weren’t for Ringo, none of these other drummers would exist”
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YOUR OWN DRUMMER GREGG BISSONETTE PRIDES HIMSELF ON BEING A RINGO AUTHORITY. CAN YOU TELL THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN THE TWO WHEN YOU’RE PLAYING IN FRONT OF THEM?
Sure. But Gregg is one of the greatest of all time, and he’s a dear brother. He’s the one that got me into Ringo’s All Starrs anyway. I own him a debt of gratitude that I could never pay back.
He’s on my new record, and I consider him one of my go-to guys. He’s also one of the nicest guys who ever walked the planet earth. He’s a joy, a pro, and he always brings it. I let everybody shine on this record, and he shined.
To call my album a solo record is a joke. Every cat brought his “A” game, so they made me look good.
IN YOUR BOOK, YOU BRIEFLY TALK ABOUT YOUR “GRANDMA MIA”, AND NOW BISSONETTE AS YOUR “GO TO” ADVISORS. HOW HAVE THESE PEOPLE HELPED YOU SPIRITUALLY?
My spirituality started with my grandmother. My Grandma Mia was a very spiritual lady. She memorized the Bible; she took notes on it. She didn’t believe in the church and the money and all that. She just came from the heart. She’d say, “you don’t need a place to go if you want to be close to God. All you need to do is ask.” That’s how I was raised.
Religion is great. It is a great starting point, but organized religion and me…I’m just too crazy for it! There’s too many rules.
I don’t like rules. I break rules; But I’ve also made a lot of bad decisions in my life. (laughs) I’m good with God, though. It’s a daily event with Him, and I thank Him every day for my life.
Gregg is spiritual in his own way; everybody deals with his spirituality in his own personal way. Nobody’s better than everybody else. God is God and how you get there is your choice.
My next door neighbors are Jewish, and I’ve been to temple. My fanatic aunt was Catholic and took me to 3 hour Latin services when I was eight, hating life.
I went to a Lutheran Jr. High School because I was a troublemaker in public school. My parents thought that I needed some religion, which didn’t help, but there were nice people there. We’re all still friends. (laughs). I’m good with God; we have a good relationship.
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“I’m good with God, though. It’s a daily event with Him, and I thank Him every day for my life”
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WE’RE ALL ON A PILGRIMAGE.
SHIFTING GEARS. I WANT TO TALKE ABOUT ONE OF YOUR MOST FAMOUS GUITAR SOLOS FROM A DIFFERENT PERSPECTIVE. HAVE YOU SEEN RICK BEATTO’S VIDEO OF HIM ANALYZYING YOUR GUITAR SOLO OF “ROSANNA”?
Rick Beatto is a &%$#!* genius! He’s a lovely man, and he’s been really kind to me. I was touched by all of that.
DID YOU THINK ABOUT YOUR SOLO AS MUCH AS BEATTO ANALYSES IT?
No, never, unless there was a specific melodic part that was very obvious or written out for me. They just wanted me to do what I do. I just improvised until I played something that everybody liked. I had to do it in one or two takes because back then we didn’t have gobs of tracks like we do now. The whole album would be done on 24 tracks.
You couldn’t do solos on five different tracks and then pick your favorite. If they didn’t like it, they would erase it, so I’d better do something good! (laughs) We can’t go back and say “we really liked what you played before the last time” because it’s gone!
There would be some weird moments like that, but most of the time I’d nail it pretty quick. That was part of the job; you had to be able to play like that.
It’s like people say “Wow! You can really sing!” Well, isn’t that the job? Do you assume that it’s fixed and fake like most things are these days?
WHEN YOU WATCHED BEATTO’S ANALYSIS, DID YOU LEARN ANYTHING ABOUT THE SONG?
I get embarrassed watching things about myself. Rick’s such a sweet man, and people kept telling me “you gotta check this out”. I watched it and “Wow”-he’s been kind to me. I usually don’t get that kind of attention. I was very touched by it.
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“It’s hard to get your foot in the door, but it’s not luck to get called back the second time, the third time and the fourth time”
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YOU TALK IN THE BOOK ABOUT BEING A SUCCESS. HOW WOULD YOU DEFINE “SUCCESS”?
A long career.
Anyone can have a hit record. Once.
It’s like people saying I’ve had a great opportunity, living in the right place and getting recommended for sessions when I was a kid. But you don’t get asked back the second time unless you bring it.
It’s hard to get your foot in the door, but it’s not luck to get called back the second time, the third time and the fourth time.
All I ever wanted to do as a kid was play music; ever since I saw The Beatles play on The Ed Sullivan Show. It’s the only thing I could ever do better than other people. I had a little gift for it, which was odd at the time for a little kid to play Beatle songs. Now everyone does it, but back then it was new. I was a &%$#% oddball. “Who’s this kid that can pay all this stuff?”
It was easy stuff in comparison to today, but the fact that I was only in single digits and could do it…then I became 11 and 12. Landau was 12-we were the two local guys. We teamed up and we’re still best friends. He’s still my favorite guitar player; he’s a genius.
We knew what the job was. I just always wanted to do it. I had to do it-you either played it great or you don’t get called again.
There was a lot of pressure back then, and I was handling it as a teenager.
And yet, it’s funny, because the critics turned on us because we had that ability, and still have that ability.
People would say, “You’re a studio band. You’re not in a real band.” We played like this in high school. I mean, we studied music, and that’s considered a deficit?!?
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“It’s like people saying I’ve had a great opportunity, living in the right place and getting recommended for sessions when I was a kid. But you don’t get asked back the second time unless you bring it”
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IT’S LIKE THE MOVIE GOOD WILL HUNTING WHERE THE PROFESSOR CRITICIZES STUDENT MATT DAMON FOR SOLVING THE MATH PROBLEM THAT HE WASN’T ABLE TO DO.
I had a guitar teacher that tried to change the way I picked. It screwed me up. I’ll never forget, because he told me I was holding the pick wrong. I had all these chops he didn’t have, but he had the bebop stuff that I didn’t have. He was just pissed off at me; I was just a young kid.
Imagine if Eddie Van Halen had taken those guitar lessons, we never would have had him.
I’m glad I studied music; it’s been helpful in my career, but it’s not necessary for everybody. You can still be a great musician without learning how to read and write music.
It’s like if you learn a foreign language; aren’t you glad you know how to speak French when you’re in France? Music is another language. If you don’t want to learn it, you can still make music. There are some musical giants that can’t read a note. They became trailblazers and brought something new because they weren’t traditionalists.
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“you either played it great or you don’t get called again”
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DID YOU EVER THINK TO YOURSELF, PARTICULARLY AFTER A “HIT” LIKE “ROZANNA” OR “AFRICA”, THAT YOU FINALLY MADE IT AS A MUSIC IAN?
Dude I’ve been practicing since 5 in the morning before you called (at 8am).
It’s a never-ending quest. Once you stop giving a &^%$*, you sound like you’ve stopped giving a &^%$.
I’ve been given a gift from God, and I’ve been able to use it. I cherish it. It’s the only thing that I can do.
Because of the COVID lockdown, I’ve been locked in this %^&$* house for a year. For me, it’s always been about being able to play “live” and you don’t get that kind of chops that you could have playing two hours a night, five times a week unless you practice like this. You’ve got to work those muscles.
WHAT HAVE YOU LEARNED ABOUT YOUR SELF DURING THE LOCKDOWN?
A lot. I’ve had a lot of time for self-reflection.
I fell in love with a wonderful woman, she’s taking my life into a most positive way. She spends hours just making this fresh vegetable soup from scratch from her garden. I found the right woman for me at the right time. She just happened to move in right before the lockdown. I also made my record just a month right before the lockdown. We were able to play ‘live’ without these masks. 2636
I’ve never had this much time off before. Not even as a little kid. I’m lucky that I can afford it and I don’t have to be panicking financially, because I’ve saved money and live within my means. But at the same times I’ve got to see my kids every day even though my younger kids are stuck in New Jersey with the grandparents because they left in December. It’s too scary to come back to LA.
I’ve got ZOOM school with my 13 year old daughter. She has no social life! It’s at 13 when that whole thing starts. She has to stay in the whole summer when she should have been at the beach, going to parties and sleepovers. I feel terrible for her.
On the other hand, my 10 year old son is autistic, and he just wants to groove and hang out, so he’s got a captive audience.
My son’s getting married to Johnathan Cain’s daughter. It’s a Journey Toto baby.
WHY IS THE BAKED POTATO SO SPECIAL TO YOU?
It’s right down the hill from me, man. I grew up going to see Lee Ritenour, Larry Carlton and all of the legendary studio guys. Harvey Mason and all of the guys who were happening when we were teenagers, could get into a club, buy a couple of Coca Colas, and just stand there and watch guys that we wanted to be.
Now, they’re some of my best friends. But then, you could get so close to them there, then you’d see their names on the back of your records, and maybe meet them after, and then hang. Nothing like hanging with Ritenour after his set!
Jay Green was there, and he really helped start my career, getting me so many gigs. Him and Jeff Porcaro, David Paich, David Foster, who all played there. It all built up organically from there.
There was a void in the guitar scene there after Carlton and Ritenour left, and I just snuck in!
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” I grew up going to see Lee Ritenour, Larry Carlton and all of the legendary studio guys. Harvey Mason and all of the guys who were happening when we were teenagers, could get into a club, buy a couple of Coca Colas, and just stand there and watch guys that we wanted to be”
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WHAT WOULD TODAY’S STEVE LUKATHER TELL A 20 YEAR OLD STEVE LUKATHER?
Save your money; don’t do ‘blow’. Don’t overdo it in the “fiesta department”.
Back then everyone was crazy in Los Angeles, even the gardener was supplying.
It was a crazy time. Yes, some of it was fun, but most of it was stupid, wasteful and I really regret it.
I’m 63 years old, I look in the mirror and think “How did THAT happen?” I gotta keep painting the gray hair. (laughs)
WHO’S GIVEN YOU THE BEST ADVICE IN YOUR LIFE?
There have been so many people.
I’ve always looked up to the people that came before me. The greats that I’ve had a chance to work with. The legends and geniuses. I ask questions and I listen to their stories. I took it all in.
When you’re in a room with a genius like Joni Mitchell, and she’s singing two feet from you while you’re playing, it can be daunting and inspiring, and “if I screw this thing up, it will be my fault”.
Same with Barbara Streisand. When you hear her sing, no matter what you think of her music, you can hear it in your BONES!
IT’S GREAT THAT YOU”RE WILLING TO LEARN. MOST PEOPLE AREN’T
Like I said before, once you stop giving a s—, you start playing like s—. You just Xerox your part and send it off every night.
You’ve got to keep pushing. That’s why I did this latest album the way I did.
I basically did an Old School jazz record, but didn’t play jazz, although we used jazz sensibilities with improvisation and not rehearsing or re-doing anything. One take. You can even hear people saying “what do we hear next” in the background! “Just vamp until I play something!” (laughs)
No one does it this way anymore. That’s why I did it.
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“f you haven’t been burned and ripped off by accountants and managers then you’re not really in the music business”
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GIVE ME THREE BOOKS YOU THINK EVERYONE SHOULD READ
Well, it’s not The Art of the Deal anymore! (laughs hard)
Everyone’s going to say The Bible, then what else?
I have a fascination with UFOs and life after death, so a lot of books like that. Spirituality and Self Help. I read musical biographies.
The problem is that with my ADHD and my age after 3 pages I’m snoring! (laughs) But I read every day.
WHO IN WORLD HISTORY WOULD YOU LIKE TO SPEND AN EVENING WITH AND PICK THEIR BRAIN?
Jesus.
WHY?
Because He would know everything. He’s the One Stop Shop! (laughs)
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“One take. You can even hear people saying “what do we hear next” in the background! ‘Just vamp until I play something!”'”
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WHO WOULD YOU PAY $5000 TO PERFORM? LIVING OR DEAD?
Beatles or Jimi Hendrix. An impossible dream.
WHAT HAVE YOU LEARNED IN THE MUSIC BUSINESS?
If you haven’t been burned and ripped off by accountants and managers then you’re not really in the music business.
WHAT DO YOU WANT PEOPLE TO SAY AT YOUR MEMORIAL SERVICE?
He was a funny cat, he could play ok and he was a good father, boyfriend and husband.
PRESIDENT DWIGHT EISENHOWER ONCE WROTE THAT THE KEY TO A SUCCESSFUL LIFE “IS TO TAKE YOUR JOB SERIOUSLY, BUT NOT YOURSELF SERIOUSLY”. AND, I AM WILLING TO BET $5000 THAT THIS IS THE FIRST ARTICLE THAT HAS EVER HAD PRESIDENT EISENHOWER AND STEVE LUKATHER IN THE SAME TOPIC. WELL, THAT JUST SHOWS THAT THERE ARE CERTAIN QUALITIES THAT WORK, AND MR. LUKATHER DEMONSTRATES THAT IN EVERYTHING HE AND HIS GUITAR TOUCHES AS WELL AS WITH EVERY LIFE THAT HE HIMSELF COMES INTO CONTACT WITH. THE MIX OF SERIOUSNESS ABOUT THE IMPORTANT THINGS IN LIFE AND ABSOLUTE SILLINESS ABOUT WHAT DOESN’T LAST IS REFRESHING, ESPECIALLY IN A TIME WHEN EVERYONE IS LOOKING FOR A BIT OF CHEER. CHECK OUT HIS ALBUM FOR SOME MUSICAL INSPIRATION AND LOOK FORWARD TO THE DAY WHEN HE, AND WE, CAN RETURN TO THE CLUB WHICH HAS INSPIRED BOTH HIM AND US OVER THE YEARS.