MER:
Your new solo album Damage Control is due out very soon. Are you pleased with how it’s turned out?
JSS:
I’m so pleased with it. We’ve just finished mixing and mastering a week and a half ago so it’s hot off the press and what you’re hearing is still kind of cooling off.
MER:
Over the years you’ve covered a lot of ground musically from the heavier stuff with Yngwie to the soulful style of some of your solo material. The fans of the Melodic Rock end of your repertoire will be very happy with what they hear. Did you set out with the intention of doing a classic style Melodic Rock album?
JSS:
You know at some point I do have to listen to what my audience likes. I’m not really the eccentric “Oh, I’m going to do this because I want to do it” kind of artist. You do have to occasionally do that to get it out of your system and my last album Beautiful Mess was one of those. I was really excited to do an album like that and it served all of its purposes by going out and finding another audience that might not have known anything about my past. With my new record, I went back to the basics as I felt like I wanted to Rock again and get some of the heavier stuff back into the mix of things … especially in my live show.
MER:
Does it keep it interesting for you and the fans by varying your style from album to album?
JSS:
I have to distinguish my solo work from everything else I’ve done in my career. My solo career is more of an open canvas and gives me a chance to express what I want to do, and I think it does keep people on their toes guessing what I’m going to do next. I don’t want to be tied to one style … I want an open ended vision and to be able to do it when I want to do it.
MER:
You’ve written with many talented writers over the years from Marcel Jacob in Talisman to Neal Schon and Jonathan Cain in Journey. Who have you been working with on your current album?
JSS:
For most of the album I started with the guys in my current solo line-up. They are all great musicians in their own right, but I wanted them to have more input into the music than just being part of my live band. They all contributed to Damage Control — I felt it was important for them to co-write some of the material too since they were going to play on the album. I then went out to find people who I thought could help me complete the songs in the way that was needed to make it a diverse album.
MER:
When you are writing for a Melodic Rock album, do you approach the writing process differently than when writing from a more Funk/Soul direction?
JSS:
Yes and no. I am influenced on what I grew up listening to and what’s around me, and I do what I feel like doing. My lyrics and melodies are all based on how the song is flowing and you have to stylize based on the genre you’re tapping into. For the most part, I just let it flow and don’t really think about it.
MER:
In recent years you’ve worked with the likes of Howie Simon and Gary Schutt on your solo albums. Who is in your band at the moment?
JSS:
There’s Jorge Salan on lead guitar, BJ on guitar, Fernando Mainer on bass, and Edu Cominato from Brazil on drums. These guys have been with me since 2009. They are such diverse and talented musicians that I wanted to get them in as part of this album’s creation.
I changed the band around for Beautiful Mess since Gary and Howie were great, but they weren’t really bringing the new music across in the way I wanted and I needed to retool to bring this music across live. Yet when it came to doing my earlier, more Rock-orientated stuff, the new guys were just as good so they could do all sides of my music the way I wanted it to sound. I had to keep these guys intact for the album and for the future too.
MER:
Your brother Joey plays on the album too. What did he bring to the record?
JSS:
We were in bands together literally since I started walking. He’s just over a year older than me and he was always the drummer in every band I was in until I joined with Yngwie. He bowed out of being a musician and that life when he started a family. About 3 or 4 years ago he got back into it. It’s strange to reignite your career when you’re in your mid-40’s, but it’s great to finally get an album done where my brother plays the drums. After all these years and all the time we played together, the one thing that we didn’t do was play on an album together, so we’ve finally been able to do that now. I got him on one of the tracks I thought he’d be perfect for and I’m so happy to have him on there.
MER:
You have guest appearances by Dave Meniketti (Y&T), Jamie Borger (Talisman/Treat), Casey Grillo (Kamelot), and Joel Hoekstra (Night Ranger) on the album. Did you have a wish list of people you wanted on your album?
JSS:
Absolutely. First, I made a wish list of people I wanted to write with to help me create the album in the first place, and then there were those I wanted to play on my album. I met Casey last year when Kamelot were going on tour and they lost their singer and they came to me with the possibility of fronting the band. I’d have loved to have done that, but I had too many commitments and timing was against us. In the meantime, I listened to the bands catalog just in case things changed, and I was able to do it and in doing so, I realized how ridiculously talented Casey Grillo was. I found out he was a neighbor of Gary Schutt, so when I got Gary in to co-write a song I asked him if he thought Casey would play on the album and he said “Are you kidding, Casey would pay you to do it.” He said he’d do anything to be on the album and he played on two songs that I thought would be perfect for him. I didn’t know that much about Kamelot at the time, but when I listened to their music I absolutely loved it. It was just a shame that I couldn’t get to play on those dates because I’d loved to have done them.
MER:
What about Dave Meniketti?
JSS:
Dave Meniketti came in on the 11th hour when we were actually mixing the album. It was down to the drummer from Y&T, Mike Vanderhule, really. I’d seen him in London a few months ago and I told him I was working on my album and Mike said he’d do anything to be on the album, and I thought I might have to take him up on that. We were mixing the album and there was one song where I was going to do everything. It was the only ballad on the album … a song called “BonaFide”. I thought there wasn’t anything too crazy musically in it, and I thought I could play it all myself without too much trouble, including the lead guitar. As I was going along I just thought maybe the lead guitar wasn’t quite cutting it, so I initially got Gary Schutt in to do some of the guitars. Then Mike came in to do the drums and said that Dave would sound great on it. I thought that was a great idea, but didn’t think he’d want to do it and I didn’t want to hear that from one of my musical heroes. I asked Dave and he was all for it and was very happy to do it. To have Dave Meniketti on my album was such a thrill.
MER:
You must have an address book of musicians running into a fair few volumes by now. Was there anyone you’d really have liked to have been on your album that just couldn’t make it for scheduling purposes?
JSS:
There were a few that I went to who just couldn’t make it due to scheduling issues, so we couldn’t match up the timing, especially since I was starting to piece things together around July last year (2011), and we started recording in September. I wanted to get Nuno Bettencourt in, for instance, but he was busy on tour with Rhianna and getting some new Extreme material together, so it just didn’t work out. Hopefully I can take that rain check up on the next one.
MER:
You play several instruments yourself, including keyboards, bass, drums, and guitar. Have you ever considered doing a totally solo, solo album and play everything yourself?
JSS: I don’t really play the drums … I get by, but that’s about it. I wouldn’t want to do it just so I could say I have done it. I’d rather get the songs to sound better by getting people in who actually know how to play their instruments and I could concentrate on the singing since that’s what I do best.
MER:
You play a touch of the trumpet too. Do you think you’ll ever lay down a screaming trumpet solo or two on a future album?
JSS:
I started playing at school and that’s where I learned how to read music — before I did everything by ear — that’s how I taught myself to play the piano and guitar. I had no idea what the notes meant, but once I learned the piano at school I was able to transcribe music and it all just fell together.
I haven’t really played the trumpet since High School. I was part of a variety band 10 years ago, and we had a horn section, so every now and then I’d pick up my trumpet and run through a few scales and my embouchure was just about still there, but I don’t think I’d try to do it again these days.
MER:
Ronnie James Dio was also a trumpet player in his youth and both you and Ronnie have been known for having very powerful, yet melodic voices. Do you think that playing the trumpet and learning to breathe properly and use your diaphragm correctly helps you with your singing?
JSS:
It probably does, but I haven’t heard of any medical or scientific evidence to prove that. But, since both Ronnie and I were trumpet players, then maybe I should go on record and say being a trumpet player makes you a great singer!
MER: Damage Control is going to be available as a regular and special edition version with a DVD. Do you think it’s important these days to offer these bonus elements to help combat people downloading music?
JSS:
That was one of the reasons I started doing that back in the day. It seems to have become the norm now to have bonus DVD’s or a bonus package with the album. That was an idea I had when I did the Prism album with Frontiers. I did a couple of videos and added them to the album. It was a little harder back then to try to download the videos and YouTube wasn’t so big back then. The videos were a way of trying to encourage people to buy the music rather than downloading it for free. There are still some who just want to hear the songs and don’t care about holding a physical album, but if you do put the effort in to make a good package, there are those who do follow through and buy it and they are being a part of supporting the cause rather than killing the cause.
As far as I’m concerned, the 14 song edition of the album is the proper version of the album. My label had their own idea of what they wanted from the standard edition, but the deluxe edition comes with a DVD with some videos, an EPK, and an interview that that explains basically why there’s about 24 musicians on the album and the creation of Damage Control. The additional three tracks on this version complete the exact vision of what I want from this album. I went to different friends and writers who could create the hills, peaks, and valleys that I needed to complete the album.
MER: It’s been a while since fans saw you on tour. Are you hoping to get out on the road again with your own material?
JSS:
I absolutely am. It’s one of the things I particularly want to do especially since the direction of the music has a Hard Rock base. I want to rock again and get my grit in there and get some good rocking going on. With that said, I want to get out on the road this year and I’ll play every place that’ll have me. It’s been a while since I did a proper tour in the UK and it’s long overdue, so I can’t wait to get back on the road.
MER:
How will this fit in with your commitments with Trans-Siberian Orchestra?
JSS:
They are doing another spring tour and are starting rehearsals next month and that was one thing I had to bow out of. I want to concentrate on my own work now. I did TSO for a while to have a break and to get away from my own thing for a while. I had to turn down this tour as I wanted to stride back with my own thing since I really missed playing my own music.
MER:
The TSO shows are totally unique musically and stunning visually. How was it for you being a part of that?
JSS:
It’s been absolutely fantastic. I didn’t think that’d really be my cup of tea. TSO is really a Rock theatre — a musical theatre with a Rock base, but because of the people involved in it from the musicians and the staff that work within the production, it made it so pleasurable to be a part of it … it’s been a wonderful experience.
MER:
As well as your solo career and TSO, you’ve also been involved with WET with Erik Martensson and Robert Sall. Is this still an ongoing project?
JSS:
It certainly is. I just made an announcement that we are working on a new album — I’m promoting this one and we’ll be writing new material to record soon, so we’ll certainly be following up on that.
MER:
You stepped in to play at the Firefest Festival at the last moment when Warrant pulled out. How was that show?
JSS:
Yeah, Warrant pulled out for whatever reason and I thought it would be a great thing to do and kind of be like the heroes of the day, but we had to make sure that we didn’t suck. It’s always tough to prepare for a single show, especially when you’ve never played a single show together as a band. We had to make chemistry together so quickly, and I think we pulled it off. We rehearsed 2 days together, then flew in and did our thing.
MER:
It really is a reflection on how highly you are thought of in the business that people know that they can call on you at such short notice and that you always deliver the goods. Do you think it is this professionalism that has resulted in you doing so many projects and sessions over the years?
JSS:
There seems to have been many instances in my career that have turned out that way. Even stepping in with Journey was like that. There was no real notice. They flew me in and two days later with no rehearsal and only a run through minutes before we went out on stage in front of 22,000 people, and I played my first Journey show. I always put myself in the predicament of grace under pressure, so to speak, and with that I hope I deliver and I’m out there doing my best and I hope that people like what I do and appreciate it and love what they hear. It’s so difficult to put into words, but I feel so humbled that I get to do what I love for a living.
MER: Your shows with Journey in the UK received such a positive response, especially when you played some vintage gems like “Winds Of March”.
JSS:
I enjoyed my time in Journey very much. When we toured the States with Def Leppard we did more of a greatest hits set. When we did the European tour, it was our own set and we all agreed to vary it up and do some things that wouldn’t normally be heard at a Journey show, and I was really happy about that.
MER:
On a different note altogether, you played at the annual Stars To The Rescue XXI show, which benefits the Animal Rescue Foundation (ARF). I take it that you’re somewhat of a dog lover?
JSS:
I had three dogs, but two of them passed away and due to a recent divorce the third one went with the ex-wife, but yes, I absolutely love dogs.
I did that show in San Francisco last week. One of the highlights was that I got to sing “Fool Around And Fell In Love” with Mickey Thomas, and that was the first song I ever sang in front of a live audience when I was 12 and in a band in my middle school. I hadn’t sung that song since then. So 34 years later I got to sing that song with the guy that originally recorded it.
MER:
It’s been almost 30 years since your debut with Yngwie. That’s absolutely incredible. Did you ever think that when that album came out you’d still be doing this 30 years later?
JSS:
I never thought about being a solo artist as I’ve been a very band-orientated person, and since I was 8 years old, this is what I’ve always wanted to do with my life, so to say that I’d be sitting here all those years later talking about my latest record and still being a part of it is amazing. It was always part of the curriculum.
MER:
What are your plans for the rest of the year?
JSS: I’ll be working on the new WET album before I tour and I want to get that in the can before I get too busy, so I want to get my vocals done and then Frontiers Records can decide when they want to release it. So we’ll be working on that while we’re getting ready to launch the actual tour. Then we’ll get out and take my solo band on the road to as many places as we can get to.
For more information visit: www.jeffscottsoto.com and www.frontiers.it
Be the first to comment