{"id":70657,"date":"2022-04-27T16:16:10","date_gmt":"2022-04-27T21:16:10","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/hardrockhaven.net\/online\/?p=70657"},"modified":"2022-04-27T16:18:08","modified_gmt":"2022-04-27T21:18:08","slug":"interview-with-jeff-scott-soto-2022","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/hardrockhaven.net\/online\/2022\/interview-with-jeff-scott-soto-2022\/","title":{"rendered":"Jeff Scott Soto"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

by Alexandra Mrozowska
\u2014 Senior Columnist \u2014<\/p><\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n

\u201cIt\u2019s complicated\u201d might be one of the best phrases ever coined if you don\u2019t want to delve into the topic or explain too much about a certain issue. And that\u2019s a situation which, everyone is ready to admit, happens more often than not… \u201cComplicated\u201d was also a key word for yet another conversation Hardrock Haven has recently had with one of the busiest artists on the planet, Jeff Scott Soto. It\u2019s the title of his new solo album \u2013 the eighth one overall \u2013 and, as he rightfully pointed out, perhaps the best term to shortly describe his trademark musical versatility. But there\u2019s even more to that. From performing and touring in post-lockdown reality of what everyone hopes to be the end of the pandemic to the current situation in Ukraine and the society dominated by cancel culture and political correctness, there\u2019s certain complicatedness to the entire musical landscape in mid-2022. And even an attempt to look back on JSS\u2019 early days leaves us with a cultural heritage of a New York-born Angeleno which remains slightly complicated but nevertheless fascinating. Exactly like almost four decades of Jeff Scott Soto\u2019s musical career…<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Hardrock Haven: Your new solo album Complicated <\/em>is to be released on May the 6th<\/sup> on Frontiers Music SRL, but before we get to talk about it, let\u2019s try to pick up where we left off… The last time we talked was in January 2021, when the world was still very much in lockdown. Now that you have returned to the live stage and performed quite a few times, how does it feel to be back? Has anything changed for the audience, or in the way you personally approach things?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Jeff Scott Soto: Nothing\u2019s really changed. I mean, it\u2019s basically something you take for granted when you\u2019re doing it for so long and so freely, and so effortlessly for so many decades now. When you wanna do a show or go for a tour, you just go ahead with it. And to be grounded for so long, obviously you realize how much you miss the realities, how much you miss your life, how much you miss everything what seemed the so-called \u201cnormal.\u201d And yeah, it\u2019s not really quite normal yet, but it\u2019s slowly getting there. [It\u2019s] the same way it took us months to get used to wearing masks and locking down and trying to be safe, it\u2019s gonna take the same amount of time to get used to getting back up there and feeling safe again. But, to be honest with you, I think everybody\u2019s pretty much of the same mentality of, \u201cIt\u2019s been long enough and it\u2019s time to get back to work and it\u2019s time to get back to fun.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Hardrock Haven: Definitely. You\u2019re one of the pioneers when it comes to making music remotely, whereas some artists utilized it for the first time only during the pandemic. So just hypothetically, if such a situation with the virus happened in the \u201880s or in the \u201890s, how do you think the music business would cope with that, without the technology that kept it going somewhat for the last two years?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Jeff Scott Soto: Oh yeah, that\u2019s a great question. It absolutely would have been horrendous… would have been way worse by so many means for so many. Because, of course, we rely on technology for the sake of staying busy and staying creative… All the collaborations that happened with all those quarantine videos and covers… I personally did more in the studio than I ever would\u2019ve done or than I ever would\u2019ve had the time to do \u2013 or even the interest to do \u2013 because of the pandemic. But without those means, without the technology and the means to be able to do these things together while we\u2019re apart from each other, there would have been a lot more mental issues and there would have been a lot more kind of retirements and removing… People would have actually drop away from this business, I think, a lot more than [now] if not for the allowance of being able to continue doing what we do… even from home or the other side of a laptop.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Hardrock Haven: And now that every artist\u2019s dealing with some unfinished business obviously, in your case it\u2019s the unfinished Sons of Apollo tour postponed since 2020. Are there plans to finish it this year?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Jeff Scott Soto: So far, at the moment, we only have the South America portion booked. We haven\u2019t looked into the European one yet, as things continue to take them a while to get back to normal in terms of mandates and protocols… but also, we have to deal with this whole thing going on in Ukraine, and it\u2019s concerning for a lot of bands to be travelling in Europe, especially Eastern Europe right now. And we did have a lot of shows in Eastern Europe \u2013 we had shows in Russia and we had shows in Ukraine… So I think at this point it\u2019s still on a holding pattern for the European side of things, but we\u2019re watching everything as it goes… The main thing [is], we have to also consider what you said, a lot of people are going back to making up dates and making up a lot of cancelled or postponed items. So there\u2019s gonna be a massive traffic jam of too many bands and too many artists and too many people trying to make up the same dates… and between the fact that people just don\u2019t have that kind of money to do everything all at once, also the availability and the opening windows of certain venues, it\u2019s best for us to wait and to do it when it\u2019s right and when the time is working for everybody that\u2019s involved, between our band and our camp.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Hardrock Haven: Let\u2019s focus on your upcoming solo album then and maybe let\u2019s start from the album title \u2013 which in your case is never accidental, I guess\u2026<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Jeff Scott Soto: Right [laughs].<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Hardrock Haven: So, what\u2019s so complicated<\/em>? Why is complicated the key word of sorts?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Jeff Scott Soto: As you\u2019ve said, I always have reasons for naming the albums and naming certain things for certain reasons or themes. And this particular one, it\u2019s more funny than it is in-depth or deep. When I was doing the interviews for the Duets <\/em>album [The Duets Collection, Vol. 1<\/em>, 2021] last year, at the end of one of the interviews one of the journalists basically said, \u201cSo, Jeff, if I had to tell somebody who knows nothing about Jeff Scott Soto, knows nothing about your voice and your music, and I wanted to introduce them to you, what would be the best way to describe you as an artist, as a performer…? You know, are you a rock singer, are you a metal singer, are you a pop singer…? What\u2019s the best way…?\u201d And I said, \u201cIt\u2019s complicated, you know…\u201d Being a student of a band like Queen all my life, for instance, there\u2019s no general direction that Queen would actually give you or send you. I\u2019m so involved and so influenced by so much of what they did that it\u2019s impossible to say, I like only the rock side of Queen or the pop side of Queen, or the disco [side], or the funk, or the opera, or the blues or the jazz… There\u2019s so many categories that they played and they were existing under. And I feel the same way as an artist \u2013 I want to be all of the above. I want to be more complicated in terms of trying to pinpoint me as a kind of artist that most people want to [categorize]. You know, you generally get stereotyped or typecast as the kind of artist that people wanna hear and see you as. And for me, it\u2019s complicated to answer that. And I like the way that\u2019s stuck. And I remember thinking, \u201cThat\u2019s a great way to describe me and it would be a great way to describe my music, my career… It\u2019s just complicated.\u201d I just thought it was a great way to kind of plant that seed and remind the people that I\u2019m not just a one-trick pony.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Hardrock Haven: Absolutely. So, Complicated<\/em> has a clear Talisman vibe to it, musically. Was it deliberate, something you agreed upon, or maybe it\u2019s the influence of [the late Talisman founder, songwriter and bassist] Marcel Jacob Alessandro [Del Vecchio, the album\u2019s co-writer and producer] can\u2019t help but somehow utilize in his songwriting, especially when you two work together?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Jeff Scott Soto: It\u2019s a combination of both, to be honest. On Wide Awake (In My Dreamland) <\/em>[2020] that we did together, Alessandro decided to write the songs based on what he loves about my career as the whole. He took a lot of different facets, a lot of portions of my life and my career to create those songs. On this particular one, we had a conversation that he wanted to do the same thing \u2013 but he wanted to be a little more focused on one of the bands that\u2019s kind of missing in my life in terms of direction and style and sound, and that is Talisman. If Talisman still existed in this day and age, it would be silly for me to make music that sounds like it could be Talisman music. But because I\u2019m not doing that now and currently Talisman is dormant and we\u2019re not playing or discussing any new material, it makes more sense to tap into that missing element of what I\u2019m not doing currently in my career and in my releases. It\u2019s a very important one as well \u2013 it was an important one for Alessandro and clearly, it\u2019s an important one for my personal career and my own body of work. So I was happy to tap more into the Talisman kind of style. But as you said \u2013 yes, Alessandro had the same experience of working with Marcel as I had [Marcel Jacob was a producer of the first Edge of Forever album Feeding the Fire <\/em>back in 2004 and Alessandro considers Jacob his mentor]. So, naturally, he\u2019s influenced by the stuff, he knows how to write the stuff… I could call Alessandro tomorrow and say, \u201cLet\u2019s write a Talisman album,\u201d and he would know exactly what to do. And that\u2019s one of the reasons that we tapped [into that]. We decided to really generalize the direction of Complicated <\/em>to more of a Talisman vibe and feel.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Hardrock Haven: And as far as the particular songs on the album are concerned, you seem not to like discussing particular inspirations behind your song lyrics, often claiming everyone should interpret them in their own way…<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Jeff Scott Soto: Yeah. In general, I don\u2019t mind explaining what the song or lyric means, but for the most part, as you said… I\u2019ve said it many a time that I like to write in double entendre because it gives a song a little more interesting meaning, especially for the person listening to [it] or reading the lyrics. It\u2019s the same thing as reading a book versus watching the movie. When you\u2019re reading a book, it may take you maybe a week or two weeks up to finish it, depending on the size of the book, and you\u2019re really absorbed by the characters \u2018cause you don\u2019t have faces. You don\u2019t have images of what these people look like, based on a director or a screen- or playwriter, or a casting director rather. When you see a movie and it\u2019s two hours later, you\u2019re done with that particular story and it\u2019s all mapped up for you. You don\u2019t have to use your own imagination, because it\u2019s all displayed for you. I like the fact that people can use their own imagination for lyrics and for songs, and for meanings of themes, because for me personally it just makes it more interesting. It makes it more interesting for you to think what the song is about, and it could be about something else \u2013 it could be about several things. And to me, that\u2019s way more exciting than just writing a lyric that\u2019s black-and-white and you know exactly what it\u2019s about. There\u2019s nothing wrong with that either, but in general, at my age now and with the amount of things that I\u2019ve done, I find it more interesting under these terms and these guidelines.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Hardrock Haven: Definitely. The new album has been promoted as being your best since Damage Control <\/em>[2012], which was very personal and very honest. Did you approach the songwriting process for Complicated<\/em> from the same angle as it was with Damage Control<\/em>?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Jeff Scott Soto: I think the comparison to Damage Control <\/em>was made based on [that] Damage Control <\/em>was an all-round JSS album. It had a lot of different influences of what I have done to that point, and things that I was going to be doing into the future at that point. And I think the same thing can be said for Complicated<\/em>, because it\u2019s setting a kind of a memory level of what I\u2019ve already done but it\u2019s doing it in a different way. It\u2019s got a different flavor, a different kind of contemporary feel to it even though it sounds like classic rock. And I think that\u2019s one of the reasons why it was compared to Damage Control <\/em>in terms of just having that variety and certain amounts of different things that you can really tap into my career as opposed to… well, you know, my [album] Beautiful Mess <\/em>[2009] for instance. When I did it, I really wanted to tap into another direction completely and I knew my general fans were not gonna accept it and like it, but for the most part I did it for me. Damage Control <\/em>was more for the fans, and that\u2019s who I think Complicated <\/em>is more for.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Hardrock Haven: Some of the songs on Complicated<\/em> seem to be a bit nostalgic, like \u201cBack to the Beginning\u201d for example. So if you were indeed taken back to your beginnings and able to pass on some helpful advice to your younger self \u2013 perhaps at the point of recording with Yngwie Malmsteen for the first time \u2013 what would you say?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Jeff Scott Soto: I think I would\u2019ve done everything the same way I did then. As you learn the business, as you\u2019re growing into business and you start getting more opportunities and a name for yourself… for me, the key thing has always been honesty and basically just to stay humble, just to stay as you were when you started in this. Because it\u2019s so easy to get jaded and to be guided away from your natural, normal self when people start praising you… You\u2019re getting popular and you\u2019re getting a lot of money thrown your way, you\u2019re getting a lot of girls and interest from fans \u2013 and it\u2019s a natural thing that can really start digging into your head and make you feel like you\u2019re something more special than you actually are. And for me, it\u2019s always been about keeping your head down and keeping focus on the music, because that\u2019s the only way you can truly make it in business… It\u2019s treating everybody fairly and just being a good person. And that\u2019s something I always strive for \u2013 from day one \u2013 and it\u2019s something I strive for now. Doesn\u2019t matter what level of success I\u2019ve had or felt or been able to experience… for me, the majority of why I do this is because I love music so much. And it has nothing to do with the rewards and all the glamour. That\u2019s all great, but that goes away. That can come and go. The music itself will always be there for you, regardless of whether people are buying it or their interest in you. And that for me has always been the biggest focus. Just to stay true to everything you\u2019re doing \u2013 always.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Hardrock Haven: Absolutely! So, in some of the songs on Complicated<\/em>, there are some slight references to the theme of the previous album Wide Awake (In My Dreamland)<\/em> \u2013 like in \u201cUntil I See You Again\u201d. Would you say that the new album is a continuation of a previous one not only in terms of people involved, but also ideas and inspirations?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Jeff Scott Soto: I absolutely feel that and I\u2019m glad when people actually see that or hear that and notice \u2013 because if it\u2019s an intention and they\u2019re not getting that, they\u2019re not getting what I\u2019m trying to go for overall… then it\u2019s difficult to keep doing things behind people\u2019s back and trying to surprise them if they\u2019re not catching on. So I\u2019m glad when people like yourself notice that \u2013 that this is a continuation and I wanted this album to be an extension [of the previous one]. I don\u2019t really necessarily need to experiment or try new things or reinvent myself, all that stuff… At this point of my career, my life and my age I don\u2019t think I necessarily need to do any of that anymore. I\u2019ve established who I am and what I wanna be, and now it\u2019s all about keeping that going and solidifying everything I\u2019ve done to this point.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Hardrock Haven: And do you think that when it comes to your solo work, your songwriting partnership with Alessandro [Del Vecchio] and the line-up behind the last two albums will continue further into the future?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Jeff Scott Soto: Yeah, and that\u2019s really a decision that I make with Frontiers [Music SRL] and that I make with any label. You know, we go over the demographics, we go over the numbers, we go over the interests \u2013 how many people are truly interested in this new sound and the new versions of what we\u2019re doing on current releases. If they agree and they feel it was successful in terms of sales, or even in terms of acceptance, that\u2019s something that continues naturally. And it\u2019s something I wouldn\u2019t change. It\u2019s the old clich\u00e9 \u2013 if it\u2019s not broken, don\u2019t fix it. And right now it seems like it\u2019s all fixed. It seems like it\u2019s a great thing we\u2019re doing, and I\u2019m not about to go in and change things if the label are happy and the fans are happy. And I absolutely love working with Alessandro \u2013 he gets me, he knows me, he knows what to get out of me… When I\u2019m putting that kind of trust in somebody to take over the writing of my albums and the production of my albums, it\u2019s important that I trust them the way I trust him.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Hardrock Haven: And speaking about continuation of successful collaborations, when it comes to the music videos you\u2019ve been working with a Brazilian director Thiago Kiss for quite a long time. What do you think is so striking and so convincing about his style and visuals that you continue to work with him on your next videos?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Jeff Scott Soto: Well, what I love about work with Thiago is that he\u2019s a filmmaker. He\u2019s not a video guy at all \u2013 not a music video guy. He\u2019s a filmmaker and he\u2019s also a film teacher, so he does courses and classes for up-and-coming filmmakers. He\u2019s very hands-on with technology and the latest cameras and all that stuff, but the most important part is, he\u2019s not getting rich from any of these videos \u2018cause my video budget is so tiny and it\u2019s so easy to spend the money in one place and make a kind of a really terrible video. And he\u2019s such a good friend… He sees it as an opportunity to not only grow as a filmmaker himself, but he\u2019s helping me out. And he also has students that he brings in for the shoots and for the editing, so it\u2019s kind of like he\u2019s letting them be the apprentices to what he\u2019s all about. It\u2019s kind of an all-around masterclass for everybody. He gets to work for me, because he\u2019s a dear friend, but he also gets to create things that he has visuals and visions of \u2013 that he wouldn\u2019t necessarily get to do unless he\u2019s putting it out on his own money. So it\u2019s a great win-win for everybody in terms of what I get out of it as well.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Hardrock Haven: I guess a lot of your fans would say that the videos to the singles off The Duet Collection<\/em>, Vol. 1<\/em> album released last year were particularly powerful visually, especially \u201cComing Home\u201d with Deen Castronovo. Do you think that it\u2019s unfortunately becoming even more accurate now with the war in Ukraine, and especially the situation of war refugees, all the grief and anticipating freedom at the end of the war? Do you think a music video can become a vehicle of an indirect social and political commentary?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Jeff Scott Soto: Well, at this point it\u2019s so difficult to say anything anymore. Especially artists nowadays \u2013 you know, if you try to be vocal just as a human being, everybody starts… they start attacking you and going, \u201cOh, you\u2019re a singer. Stick to this. Don\u2019t talk about politics. Don\u2019t talk about world events.\u201d It\u2019s kind of strange to be put in that category just because we do what we do for a living \u2013 that we\u2019re also not supposed to have a voice and that we\u2019re just supposed to record our music, sing our songs, and not have a mind and not have an opinion on anything. And it\u2019s turned into more and more of that \u2013 that every time I say, or anybody I see say something, we get attacked for our views. It\u2019s gotten out of hand and I truly feel like the world needs a reset button, because we have to stop all this idealism of… Just because we have a voice, just the same as a regular Joe or anybody out there, let\u2019s talk about anything. Especially when you do your research, it\u2019s ridiculous that we\u2019re told we have to now shut up about it or we start losing fans. And so I\u2019m trying to offer my own personal thoughts and opinions without biasing them or pissing somebody off and make them say, \u201cAhh, I\u2019ll burn all your records now, because I don\u2019t agree with your political views.\u201d I think that\u2019s silly. I don\u2019t have to agree with my fans\u2019 political views but it doesn\u2019t mean I don\u2019t want them as fans. So, in general I\u2019m trying my best to stay away from saying too much about how I feel or my personal opinion on things, because for the most part, if someone doesn\u2019t agree with them, all they would do is attack you, saying, \u201cI don\u2019t even care about your political beliefs and decisions,\u201d whereas somebody who does agree with them will say, \u201cRight on, Jeff! Go get them!\u201d and it\u2019s no winner in the situation, to be honest [laughs].<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Hardrock Haven: Right… And what do you think in general about cancel culture, which has a lot to do with what you\u2019re speaking about, and especially cancel culture in relation to artists?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Jeff Scott Soto: Yeah, I think in general cancel culture is that for some things, it should exist. I mean, because clearly there\u2019ve been a lot of things in history that people have gotten away with, from the whole #MeToo movement to a lot of racial injustice, et cetera. But in the past few years, it\u2019s gotten to the point where they\u2019re equating almost everything to all of these general things that have been going on lately. Every single thing is linked to the same concepts and the same ideals, and that\u2019s just like… Come on, if you cancel everything, there\u2019s no history left. You have to keep things intact \u2013 otherwise you have nothing to learn from. If you cancel it, then you don\u2019t have anything in the future to actually remember why it was so bad or why it was so good. You have to find your own decisions and move on in life based on things that have already existed in [it]. But to cancel it completely, it\u2019s like erasing history. You can\u2019t erase history. It happened, and you learn from it and you move on from it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Hardrock Haven: Definitely. So speaking about that, you\u2019re an artist who collaborated with a lot of artists of different origin, including Russian musicians in RTFact. You also performed both in Russia and Ukraine not so long ago. With the war going on right now, what do you think about people cancelling Russian culture and erasing it from history because of the evils of war? Do you think it\u2019s what should be done, or maybe art and music and culture should unite people even more now?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Jeff Scott Soto: I\u2019m all about uniting and I\u2019m never about dividing. So, with everything that\u2019s said in the second part of your question is exactly how I feel. I\u2019m all about [it], especially when there\u2019s a conflict and especially when there\u2019s division or [people] not getting along and not agreeing. To me, music is and has always been a kind of an equalizer. Music is the one that brings people together and it keeps people together. And hopefully, music will play a stronger part now when it\u2019s really necessary \u2013 especially once this conflict is over. And I\u2019m hoping and praying that it\u2019s over soon, because we can\u2019t continue seeing this. It really just affects everyone and it affects everyone around the world, because everyone\u2019s connected to somebody on that side somehow, whether it\u2019s friends, or family, or friends of family et cetera. And obviously, we\u2019re all concerned \u2013 we\u2019re also concerned for the neighboring countries… All across the board, everyone is affected. So clearly, I wanna see this [done] over with and I\u2019d love to see this with a positive outcome and as you said, music can be the bonding thing, the glue that kind of gets us back together \u2013 not divided anymore and not separating anymore but actually coming together as one.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Hardrock Haven: Hopefully. And yet about all these collaborations and different cultures you\u2019ve been adding to your arsenal throughout the years\u2026  The last time we talked, you\u2019ve cited your tenure as Yngwie Malmsteen\u2019s singer as particularly eye-opening. But do you think the biographical fact of you moving all the way from Brooklyn, NY to Los Angeles when you were just a kid also made some kind of impact on your future life as an artist?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Jeff Scott Soto: I think it would have taken a different course if I remained in New York and grew up there. But obviously, living in LA I was so influenced by so many things in LA, and especially the musicians \u2013 the circles of people that I hung out with, the bands that I got to see as they were coming out of the [Sunset] Strip and the LA circuit… It\u2019s funny, because being from New York, I still feel more that I\u2019m from LA \u2013 especially with the music scene. When I think of the [East Coast] bands… you know, everything from Dream Theater to Anthrax and Twisted Sister and all those bands… these are the artists I never got to actually be close to, as I was establishing myself and getting older. There truly was a separation between New York and LA and the East Coast\/West Coast thing, and almost a competition between the East and West in terms of how they looked and how they played, and the ideas of image versus music and attitude… There was such a different mentality overall. LA was more about the visuals, more about the image, and New York was more about the attitude… and I think there was more realism in the New York presentation of metal music, especially early on. So I didn\u2019t have any connection to that, and it\u2019s funny now that thirty some-odd years later \u2013 almost forty years later \u2013 I\u2019m finally kind of brothers in arms with my New York or my East Coast side of things [laughs]. Even Saigon Kick was from the East Coast and I\u2019m doing so many shows now with my buddy Jason Bieler but he was brought up in such a different way and [had a] different mentality of playing in bands that it\u2019s funny to actually share that difference and those differences now. And now that I\u2019m actually able to look into everything that I was able to do and everything that influenced me, now I can add what influenced them and I guess that\u2019s just one extra arsenal in my whole career and my whole being as an artist.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

And also, the majority of my career has been abroad in terms of people that I\u2019ve worked with and the sounds and even the music that I was able to create \u2013 especially early on. I was very influenced by the whole European culture in terms of music and how they approached music, compared to the US. And maybe that\u2019s partially why I do have a stronger hold of my career and a stronger fanbase abroad than I do in my own backyard, here in the US. There was a certain embracing that came about, starting my career with someone like Yngwie Malmsteen, and truly tapping into the way Europeans approach music and metal especially, and everything that they were doing \u2013 compared to the way that I was trying to approach it after I was no longer with Yngwie. I realized just how influential and how important that European reference and influence was for me when I was moving forward and moving on with my own career and life. So from that, I think it was a valuable tool that I needed in moving forward, because I kind of got a different perspective of things than I normally would have gotten, had I made it with an American band from the early stages of my career.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Hardrock Haven: So, looking forward, what does the future hold in store for Jeff Scott Soto right now, once the new album is out?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Jeff Scott Soto: Taking it day by day, one day at a time \u2013 there\u2019s no hurry to do anything in particular. The one thing I\u2019m absolutely cutting down on is touring itself. I\u2019m not really interested in going out and touring for six weeks or two months at a time anymore, unless it\u2019s a big demand and unless it makes sense, both financially and for the amount of people that wanna see it and will attend. Then, I would actually go for a tour. But now, I\u2019m more about appearances and quick rounds and you-go-in-and-you-go-out kind of situation, because I\u2019m just not built for six weeks on the road, sleeping in really terrible conditions and my voice not getting a proper rest and be strong enough and willing to work [laughs] as I want it too. At this point, I really wanna focus more on quality than quantity.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Hardrock Haven: And is there anything you\u2019d like to add in the end?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Jeff Scott Soto: Well, the one thing I wanna add is how I love a lot of questions \u2013 a lot of your inquiries. I love when I get to do something like this with somebody who\u2019s got the kind of questions that you\u2019re asking because I think it\u2019s a little more interesting than just talking about \u201cme, me, me…\u201d and \u201cI, I, I…,\u201d you know… [laughs] So I thank you for taking the time to research on what you\u2019re gonna ask and finding more interesting things that kind of break up the monotony of talking about the obvious things… about what this song means or who would be my dream artist to work with. I mean, it seems clich\u00e9 at this point, but this is the majority of what I\u2019m dealing with when I\u2019m doing interviews…<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Hardrock Haven: You\u2019re just too kind! Thank you so much!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Jeff Scott Soto: You\u2019re very welcome. Thank you!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Photo credits: Lexie Boezeman Cataldo<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Visit Jeff Scott Soto online: Official Site<\/a> | Facebook<\/a> | Twitter<\/a> | Instagram<\/a> | YouTube<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Check out new singles off JSS’ upcoming album Complicated:<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

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\u201cLove is the Revolution\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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