Interview date: August 19, 2006
The interview with two top-notch musicians and Toto members Greg Philinganes (vocals, keyboards) and drummer Simon Phillips was done right before Toto’s show in Graz on August 20, 2006, right before the closing concert of Toto’s summer 2006 European tour. As I sat down at the table, I was already thinking about how I’d hit guitarist Steve Lukather or singer Bobby Kimball with my questions, but to my huge surprise, the first person to sit down across from me was Greg Philinganes.
Aleš: “Hi Greg, how are you?”
Greg: “Hi, I’m doing great, thanks.”
Aleš: “How does it feel to be the new member of Toto?”
Greg: “It feels amazing!”
Aleš: “What’s it like playing in a band like Toto, given that you’ve worked with plenty of big-name stars before, backing them on concert stages throughout your rich career? Like E. Clapton, B. Streisand, M. Jackson, G. Harrison…”
Greg: “It’s a new and special situation for me personally, a completely different dynamic! Basically, I’m now playing in a band that’s the star as a whole team, whereas before I played in bands that backed a star. Now I’m in a band that is the star itself!”
Aleš: “Was the transition and fitting into Toto difficult for you?”
Greg: “No, no! Not at all! I’ve had quite a few situations like this in my career and I’m used to them, but I never dreamed in a million years that I’d end up with Toto of all bands. Being in a band like Toto feels downright huge.”
Aleš: “How did the recording of the new album “Falling In Between” go?”
Greg: “It took us 10 months to record the album! On the first day in the studio we started with just one single sketch, one motif, that we then developed. Everybody contributed their own ideas. The writing was done together. We’re all authors of the material that grew while we were recording in the studio. For me this is a new approach, because before I was used to working with writers who already had the material ready and I just did what they asked. I’d come into the studio and they’d just state their wishes and demands, like, play this like so and so… Here, though, the whole material was put together by the band, or rather by all of its members.”
Meanwhile, the band’s drummer Simon Phillips joined us too…
Aleš: “How happy are you with the new label?”
Simon: “We made some decisions that surely wouldn’t have gone down well with our previous label. In fact, we were without a contract when we decided to record new material, and also while the album itself was being recorded. We didn’t stress about it at all. One option we’d have gone with was releasing the album ourselves, self-published, and covering all the release costs out of our own pockets. We wanted to put out an album totally free of the demands the labels dictate today, all aimed at squeezing as much profit as possible out of the artists. Frontiers Records actually showed huge interest in our new album themselves, and we liked their terms, so a fruitful collaboration came about. They basically grabbed our album with both hands!”
Greg: we were actually in a completely different headspace. The basic goal was to make an album that would be the fruit of close collaboration between individuals. The basic goal was to offer quality that would be the truest expression of us as musicians. And we didn’t stress about earnings and profit. Just enough to make sure you can live a decent life.”
Aleš: “Some songs have new arrangements that you’re playing on the current tour. Why did you make that move? Rosanna, for example, has a totally new and interesting jazzy intro?”
Simon: “You know, at concerts we have to play lots of older songs that were hits and that people actually demand at our shows. Over the years, though, you kind of get sick of always playing them the same way. So we added special inserts, intros and outros to many of them, which are a new kind of challenge for us to perform, while also meeting our fans’ demands. That’s made our material even more attractive and more fun to play. At the same time, I think that in the new arrangements these Toto songs are more Toto than ever. A true reflection of the band today.”
Greg: “Rosanna and its new arrangement came about because one day I was just messing around in the studio. The version came out spontaneously and I really liked it. I showed it to the other guys, who were instantly thrilled with it, and so we decided to rework the basic version of Rosanna for the live shows into the form you hear at our current concerts.”
Aleš: “And how is the crowd reacting at the shows on this tour to the makeover of the band’s classics?”
Simon: “People are taking the novelty enthusiastically. The surprise factor is actually one of the aims too, and it gets people up on their feet even more at the shows. Either way, our concerts today surge even more in their dynamics and energy. Simply because of all this varied choice of motifs and different arrangements we offer during the shows.”
Aleš: “This year is the band’s 30th anniversary. Do you have any special plans for marking it?”
Simon: “Right now we have no plans for the anniversary, but we’re thinking about it.
Greg: “We’ll probably make the decisions in the break between this tour and the next. Most likely by this fall things will be a lot clearer.”
Aleš: “I hear you’re using a new digital concert-production technology on stage?”
Simon: “Yes, that’s new. But on this tour, where we play exclusively outdoors, at open-air festivals, we’re not using it yet. When we come back to Europe for the spring tour next year, this new gear will be with us in the halls too. You have to come to an indoor show to see it. It’s a totally new technology based on a digital P.I. system, a whole new way of doing film projection during concerts. The digitization also let us develop a special control board that’s conveniently small, and so a big gain, also in that it’s much more practical and, for transport, much more responsive.”
Aleš: “What do you make of the fact that critics increasingly see you as a “live” band, whereas you used to be a real hit factory? Are you focusing more on expressing yourselves as musicians these days, and not necessarily on writing new hits?”
Greg: “We’re still a hit factory!”
Simon: “The music industry has changed a lot. We have to take care of two things at once, which complement each other and depend on each other. One is the process of recording a new album, the other is promoting the tour. One doesn’t work without the other, even though they’re separate processes, and the result only achieves the desired success and goal when they work hand in hand. Even if it seems to some that we’re becoming more and more of a “live” band, our focal point is always aimed at recording new studio material. Even today.”
Aleš: “Today is Toto’s last show on the summer European tour? How are you feeling?”
Simon: “Mostly tired. We played 68 concerts in total. I’m very glad the tour is over, so we can get back to our families and finally get some rest.
Greg: “Yeah, it’s true. I’m happy too that it’s coming to an end.”
Aleš: “I saw you in Belgrade five days ago. Will tonight’s concert be any different, since it’s, at least for a while, your last?”
Simon: “No, no. The repertoire is exactly the same for tonight’s show.”
Aleš: “What happened to Steve Lukather at the Belgrade show, that he suddenly bolted off the stage mid-concert? Did he feel sick?”
Greg: “He had to run to the bathroom.”
Aleš: “To close, I’d like to thank you both for your valuable time and wish you a successful show and finish to your tour tonight, here in Graz. Thanks!”
Simon: “Thanks!”
Greg: “Thanks, we hope you’ll enjoy our concert!”
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