I Found The Sun Again

Journey Through

FØPA is the creative project of Darwin, Australia born Steven Lees an artist who thrives on blurring the lines between genres. His catalog reflects both club energy and meditative depth: the bass-heavy punch of “Purple Ghost Cat,” the house pulse of “Keep On Dancing” and “Crocodile House,” and the atmospheric resonance of “ÆTHERIA,” and Techno favourite “Stop.”Each release is crafted with intention, designed to move both body and mind, whether on the dancefloor or in deep listening spaces.

This project is the culmination of over 17 years in music and culture: from his beginnings as a radio host and founder of Shamzine Magazine amplifying Northern Territory artists, to producing large-scale festivals like the Nightcliff Seabreeze Festival and Mindil Beach Sunset Markets. His work with NT DAW’s further showcased his passion for building producer communities, while co-founding L.A.B. Music Management sharpened his skills in mentoring artists, managing tours, and securing Triple J airplay. FØPA emerges from this blend of production craft, community-building, and industry experience — a project that translates years of shaping music culture into a singular, forward-looking sound.

Older works: Dante, Melbourne Australia 
https://on.soundcloud.com/X52nwVagL6THRfrXL4

MGMT: L.A.B Music Management 
https://www.facebook.com/share/19kJi6BqnF/?mibextid=wwXIfr

Record Label: Croc Records
https://www.instagram.com/croc_records?igsh=MXV2MHVnZXQ1ajV1bA==

Production:
https://open.spotify.com/playlist/5188I98sW00ERzcvPy2frN?si=3C3si3IZQQS2Knxd4MRgEw&pi=gwsfcdgdQz2TK

Steve Lukather’s new album Transition on Mascot Records strikes a perfect balance of style, power and imagination as he takes risks and challenges himself in ways most other players can’t even approach.

That’s been standard operating procedure for this high-wire artist of the six-string for nearly four decades, as his career has gone from the studios of Los Angeles to the world’s biggest concert halls to the helm of the multi-platinum selling group Toto and, recently, to ground-breaking tours with Ringo Starr, guitar geniuses Joe Satriani and Steve Vai, and the reunited Toto, who have scheduled a follow-up 35th anniversary tour for 2013.

“I’ve got a lot to be thankful for, and now is a perfect time for me to take stock of that, which is part of what Transition is about,” Lukather says. 

Over the previous decade a series of trials including divorce, the death of his mother and business hassles had dampened his joy in music making — a passion that drove Lukather to excel since seeing the Beatles on the Ed Sullivan as a seven-year-old growing up in San Fernando Valley. But today the guitar guru is happy, healthy and strongly reconnected to his muse, and the lushly expressive Transition, his second Mascot album, finds him at a creative pinnacle.

“I equate recordings to paintings,” he explains, “ and I wanted to make Transition a big, beautiful album with lots of fine details and shadings and colors. That’s what I do and what my favorite albums — Sgt. Pepper’s, Dark Side of the Moon, Electric Ladyland, Goodbye Yellow Brick Road — are all about. So if it’s a sin to make massive sounding records with huge production values, then I’m going to Hell.”

Fat chance, because Transition’s heavenly sonic architecture — erected with the help of such A-list musical friends as Def Leppard’s Phil Collen, superstar bassists Lee Sklar, Nathan East, John Pierce, and Tal Wilkenfeld, live band members Steve Weingart, Renee Jones, and Eric Valentine, along with mega-drummers Gregg Bissonette, Chad Smith of the Red Hot Chili Peppers, Tos Panos, and Lukather’s longtime keyboard foil and co-writer / co-producer C.J. Vanston — actually weaves a tale of redemption. 

“‘Transition’ is a turning point for the album and a turning point for me,” Lukather explains. “As we were writing the songs, I was thinking about everything I’ve seen — all the people I’ve lost in my life, the great and the difficult experiences I’ve had, and how ultimately it was time to get it together and embrace things for what they are, because we’ve only got one life to live and we’ve got to make the most of it.”

Despite the album’s harmonic depth and sonic surprises, Lukather explains that he kept his guitar sound organic. “These days I like it simple and direct,” he says. “I plugged my new Music Man L-3 signature model guitar straight into a Bogner amp and miked it with an SM-57. Any effects were added at the mixing desk. I used a Kemper Profiling Amp for some of the weird sounds, and that was it. Live these days it’s just my guitar and amp and a couple stomp boxes — and I just go for it.”

“I’ve been working really hard on my vocals,” Lukather attests. “For me, these days it’s all about the song and the performance. I’m not interested in being the fastest gun in the West. I want to make beautiful music that means something.”

Lukather, Weingart and Vanston’s closing instrumental rendition of the Charlie Chaplin classic “Smile” has a very deep connection for the guitarist. “That was my mother’s favorite song,” he relates. “We’ve been playing it as an encore live, and it seemed like the perfect way to close the album, too.”

After seven solo albums, Lukather reflects: “I’d like to say this is the best album I’ve ever made, but that’s a cliché. But I do think I’ve realized my goal of moving forward, so let me say that Transition is possibly the best reflection of who I am in 2012.”