If you look up the word ‘Workaholic’ in the dictionary, there should really be a picture of Jeff Scott Soto next to it. With a vast amount of recordings under his belt (check out his website) he suddenly gave up doing most of the project work he was being offered and decided to work harder on all the things that he has major input in – his solo career, Talisman, and his new band Soul SirkUS. If he’s not recording with one of these, he’ll be out touring everywhere and anywhere with his band (Howie Simon – guitar, Gary Schutt – bass, and Dave Dzialak – drums), doing either his solo set or his Queen tribute act. Having just released his new album ‘Lost In The Translation’ and about to tour the UK for the second time this year, this time via Australia, Brazil, and mainland Europe, it was time for an update from the man himself.

‘Lost In The Translation’ is his third solo album in a sequence that has in effect seen him cover pop, funk, & soul, then AOR/melodic rock, and now out and out hard rock, which judging by the reviews is just what his fans wanted. "Absolutely," he agrees, "this one is for the many who thought I’d gone soft! As most know by now, ‘Love Parade’ was more of an experimental endeavour to help raise me above my ‘metal’ stereotype, ‘Prism’ was the album all the Eyes/Takara fans love about my voice, and ‘Lost In The Translation’ is part three of the trilogy. I guess next is a polka album!"

Part of the reason for the heavier sound is that the recording process was different from what usually happens with his solo albums. "Well for one, I didn’t do the rhythm guitars on this as I did on ‘Prism’," he explains, "I used a real guitarist, Howie, on the majority of it all. As well, the songs were all written with the keyboards in the ‘off’ position so that in itself was the reason it’s heavier. Overall, it has a very live vibe for the simple reason we pretty much bashed it out in record time." Also on this album, like he occasionally does on stage he chose to play the bass himself. "I love the foundation of the ‘groove’, the feeling behind the bass and drums pumping, since I can’t play drums, I wanted to again be part of the drive behind the tunes instead of showing someone else what and how I wanted it."

As it turns out, ‘Lost In The Translation’ seems to contain the best parts of his most popular albums, a consolidation of the styles of Talisman, Eyes, and his ‘Prism’ album. "I guess so," he shrugs, "everyone will see it their own way, I don’t really know being an integral part of those groups, I just do what I do without thinking too much about it. I’m sure everything I do has a smidgeon of all those influences at one point of another, probably as well they were my early offerings where people were introduced to my style early on."

One of the main features of the new album is the multi-part backing vocals but despite them sounding as huge and layered as ever, Jeff says he doesn’t spend as much time on them these days. "I’ve always been big on backing vocals," he states, "but these days they’re kept quite simple. Back in the day, I used to layer about ten unisons per harmony, they were rather Queen-esque. These days, I only double track my harmonies, six notes for a three part harmony, but it sometimes sounds as if I’m doing the multi layering thing…which is quite strange!" His band is not short when it comes to vocalists though. "Luckily I have the talent of the guys in the band to pull it off, even my new drummer, Dave Dzialak, sings live, which is an added plus!" he says.

On an album of many aggressive rock songs, there are still the two Prism-style power ballads, I ask Jeff if he was maybe compromising to appease his label, Frontiers? "Embarrassingly, yes," he says candidly. "Honestly, there are a few songs I wouldn’t have chosen the direction to add on ‘Lost In The Translation’ had I not worried the label would find the album incomplete without. Not to say I compromised my integrity in any way, I would never at this point in my life do something I was ashamed of, but some of the songs’ directions were intentional for the label at times, where the majority was for me. There are some songs on here I thought they would hate, but I got away with them because I knew there were some they would absolutely love…it’s Record Label Psychology 101 if you will" he laughs. "They still felt the album was too ‘heavy’, especially the running order I chose. I thought I was giving them the gem they expected so instead of arguing about it or going back and writing more tracks, I let them have full authority on the sequencing. They’re more than happy with the results of the album now, both direction and songs. It was a spontaneous run of ideas based on recording a hard rock album. Thanks to contributions from Howie, Gary and Neal Schon, we succeeded in doing it".

Jeff’s gruelling tour schedule has seen him travelling further afield this year, in particular trips to Australia and Brazil, not only new territories for him, but also when playing to people who’ve never seen him play before he gets the chance to swap the set around. "It was killer," he says enthusiastically, "I was happy as anything to break some new ground, especially as a solo artist. The show I do is exactly the kind of show that keeps me going, I never get bored and if I feel something doesn’t quite work, I swap it about without reservation". Then quoting from the classic Mel Brooks film ‘History Of The World, he adds, "It’s good to be the king!"

Having had the same live band for a couple of years it was a bit of a surprise when it was announced that drummer Alex Papa had left the band. His replacement is a friend of Howie’s from Buffalo, Dave Dzialak, and Jeff couldn’t be happier with the way things have turned out. "Dave is a much more competent drummer," says Jeff, "not that Alex was bad in any way. Alex had many strengths but Dave is overall what I need to drive this band and the show. His humour & friendship have also been a great asset, more sarcasm for my dollar! He’s loving the whole experience, before this he never really played outside his local environment, now he’s touring the world…who wouldn’t be amped?"

I ask Jeff if the amount of touring he does is beginning to pay off in relation to his album sales. "Hell yes!," he says emphatically. "For starters, it’s the main source of income on my tours, don’t be fooled into thinking we actually make money from the door on these tours!" he laughs. "And wherever the local distributors of Frontiers are lagging are a plus for me as I make it easily accessible to attain my entire solo catalogue. But there has been an increase on orders due to the interest, based on my road endeavours, I love busting my ass for the cause, someday all of this will pay off in dividends beyond monetary".

As well as his solo career and great solo band, Jeff is also in Soul SirkUS with Journey guitarist and drummer Neal Schon and Deen Castronovo, and current Whitesnake bassist Marco Mendoza. They have an album already recorded, but with all four of them currently on their own tours it’s not proving easy to get the album out and get out on the road to support it. "We’re trying to work it all out now," he sighs. "Neal and I started Soul SirkUS at a time when it seemed Journey was becoming a mere ‘greatest hits’ touring act, but now they’re becoming active again. We’ll manage to squeeze it all in somehow, this is a real band, not just a fly by night project. We’re all workaholics, thankfully, so we’ll make it happen!" With the musicians coming from slightly different places, musically, the sound of Soul SirkUS isn’t, in Jeff’s opinion, that similar to any of their main bands. "To me, it’s really a combination of it all in many ways," he says. "A lot of it is also reflective of our individual influences growing up, so we’re really drawing from our styles and those who helped mould them".

I, like many others, are wondering where all this activity leaves his longstanding relationship with Marcel Jacob and the other Talisman guys. Jeff puts my mind at rest, "I’m sure we will do something somewhere down the road, maybe when Journey is on tour again, who knows? I’ve said it quite a bit recently, Talisman for Marcel and I is like KISS is to Gene and Paul. We’ll always come home to it". One thing’s for sure though, Jeff certainly isn’t going back to being just a voice for hire. "Absolutely not," he states flatly, "I’m the happiest I’ve been in my entire life! I’m having the time of my life doing exactly what I wanna do. It’s all very exciting for me now, I would hope after twenty years in the business, I could finally start reaping the benefits. When asked if I would ever do another Yngwie or Axel album, I think of that as the furthest from my desires". He just wants the world to know that "Chapter 1 of the JSS book closed 2003, chapter 2 began 2004!"