The Musical Adventures Of Lukas Rossi: Past, Present & Future

I'm music magazine, lukas rossi, canada, ben moody, evanescence, jon moyer, disturbed, dave buckner, rock star supernova, creep, radiohead, motley crue , tommy lee, gilby clarke,, guns n roses, jason newsted, metallica, mr. sad, adele, hello, dave buckner, papa roach, darryl mcdaniels, run dmc, summeri

In 2006, a young Canadian recording artist by the name of Lukas Rossi, with a power 7+ octave voice, auditions for a reality based program called Rock Star Supernova. He, along with 14 other contestants, make the cut and then start competing weekly to become lead vocalist of a band featuring Motley Crue drummer Tommy Lee, ex-Metallica bassist Jason Newsted and ex-Guns N Roses guitarist Gilby Clarke. The show ran for 22 episodes and Rossi won the contest. The band recorded an album that went platinum, toured the world in 2007 and then they were no more. There was no drama, no fighting, they just ceased to exist. Instead of waiting to see what they were going to do, the situation fueled Rossi to get out there and prove that he wasn’t a product of the show. In 2007 he recorded an acoustic and set out to prove to people that he was the real deal. Fast forward to 2024 where Rossi has made 15 albums, dropped countless singles with some amazing videos and just released a kick-ass one called “Mr. Sad.” He sits on the threshold of dropping a new album that just may take his career to places he’s never seen before. Rossi somehow found some free time in his hectic and busy schedule to sit down and talk to me about so many topics including that upcoming album, his childhood entrance into music and of course that show where he won that competition.

The first time that I saw you on Rock Star Supernova, I could tell that you had the “it” factor that you hear people talk about. Then, you ended up winning the whole damn thing!

Lukas Rossi: Yeah man, that was a fucking great time and an amazing experience.

I want to jump in the way back machine for a moment. I want to know what Lukas the kid was like. Were you the class clown or were you the shy, introvert type?

I guess I was kind of the clown because school, for me, was just a segue. When Algebra came up I was like oh hell no. I’m having a hard enough time with the number part and now you’re adding fucking letters and shit.

I feel you on that one dude! You said you knew what you wanted to do. When was it that it hit you and you knew?

My first band Cleavage and I grew up in this culdesac right down the road from each other. We were really young at the time, like 1 4 or 15, and my guitar player at the time Grant met this guy. There was this school across the road and this guy plugged up his guitar into this little amp on the wall of the school on the playground and started playing it. Grant went over and asked the guy if he could buy it and the guy said yeah. So, Grant went home and got $30 from his mom and now it was his. He came up to us and was like ‘yo, look at this thing.’ He started playing it and it was like when the sun comes out from the clouds after it’s been raining and it’s like ‘ahhhhh.’ You know what I mean? I grabbed it and of course it’s right handed and I’m left handed so I handed it back to him. If we’re going to do this then you’re going to be the guitar player and we’ll get the rest of it figured out. Then, the rest is history bro.

Rock Star Supernova: Jason Newsted, Lukas Rossi, Tommy Lee, Gilby Clarke

I think everyone grabs a hairbrush in their bedroom and looks in the mirror trying to emulate someone. What about you bro? Who were those singers that you were trying to emulate?

I don’t know if I did that dude. My grandfather took me to church and it was an Italian service and I didn’t understand a lot of it. The whole church would sing hymns and that organ would come on and I was like whoa. There was something about the acoustics in there and it was like opera; it wasn’t like rock and roll. There was something very soothing about it and then the church doors would open. Then, it was back to rock and roll and shit, screaming and cars. I used to joke with my drummer when we were like 16 and first discovered pot. We would be smoking a joint and he’d say ‘do that operatic shit.’ When you do it for your friends it’s for chuckles but it’s different when you do it for somebody you trust and grew up with. He took a shine to that stuff and told me that not a lot of people could do that. So now you had me singing and Grant on his new guitar. Jon (Jameson) told us that his dad was a drummer and had a kit in the basement and his bro could play bass so we had a band dude. After a lot of shitty songs later, then you become who you are.

I didn’t know the church aspect of it and that shines a whole new light on your voice. I kind of feel like I understand better how you can do some of the stuff that you do with your voice. Jon was right because not too many people can do that shit bro. You have a range of what? Something like seven octaves?

Yeah dude.

What an amazing gift bro. That’s something somewhere in the Freddie Mercury range dude.

Thanks bro. I didn’t know until I was on the show and our warm up coach would work with us. She would always challenge us to see how high and low we could go. That always stuck with me because when I left I thought I guess that sounds reasonably cool.

Can you believe it’s been almost 20 years since Rock Star Supernova happened?

Tell me about it man; I look around and I think there’s some sort of Benjamin Buttons shit happening (laughs).

You won it, you guys did an album, toured the world and then………….dude, what happened?

Everyone wasn’t as hungry; those other guys have been doing this 30 plus years. I wanted to get out there and prove to people that it wasn’t just a tv show. I was just getting started and I guess I didn’t want to beat a dead horse. I wanted to write my own stuff. I wanted to go out with an acoustic guitar and prove that I was real. Everyone has their own journey so I made the right choice dude.

I totally understand where you’re coming from. You guys toured in 2007 and then you released your own acoustic EP in 2007 and took off doing your own thing. I commend you for doing that instead of sitting and waiting.

Thanks dude; I play every instrument, mix and master them and I’ve put out 15 records since then. Knowing the history of these other fucking bands, it takes a year or more just to put together 13 songs. By that time there’s some other fucker out there trying to take the crown. If you can’t keep up, the bus is leaving man.

You’ve had a lot of bands and projects where you may release one album or EP and then you’re off to something new. Is that kind of a similar vibe where you’re ready to keep going but not everyone else?

I don’t like to pigeonhole myself. I’ve worked with some amazing talent like Ben Moody of Evanescence, Jon Moyer of Disturbed, Mario Curiel of P.O.D. and Dave Buckner of Papa Roach. We worked together and moved on but we left behind something awesome that the people can always go back and listen to.

It’s like a Who’s Who when you look at who you’ve worked with. I knew about Halo Method and Ben Moody, which is one of my favorites, and then I started digging into your recording past. You’re like a sponge soaking up all of that knowledge.

Yeah man and some of these artists sought me out as well. I’m super humble and I like doing all of this shit by myself. These great artists thought that I had something to add to what they were doing. It’s not meant to be a long term relationship. I guess you could call me the swinger of the music industry (laughs).

In life, every situation teaches you something about yourself whether it’s something positive or negative. What did you learn about yourself from Rock Star Supernova?

You can’t be a rock star forever and that goes with everybody’s life no matter what you do. When you get massive fame like that thrown your way you can lose yourself. You don’t even realize that you dropped it, you know? One thing I did learn is that it’s not about the stage but rather the people watching the stage. They don’t go there just to get their ears blown out; they go there because they’re fans of music. Ever since back in the day, the fans have always been there for me like a rock. I read online how much my music means to them and how it’s saved them. This has been happening for 20 years and there’s no way that I could stop because I would feel like I’m letting them down. They rely on me and vice versa. If there was nobody moved or feeling anything in my music then I’d be writing about different stuff.

Where did the idea to cover Adele come from? That’s pretty amazing dude and I still get moved every time I go back and listen to it.

Thanks dude, her single was on the radio and I thought it had great chords and great melodies, but the production was just kind of drawn out and boring to me. It didn’t evoke the feelings of her lyrics which is probably why there are eight or nine songwriters on that song that is unbelievable and I just don’t get that. I wanted to record a heavier version of that song. I was doing that before it became the cool thing to do. Oh, let’s get a YouTube channel and record Disney songs but metal versions. I wanted to do her song and make it more like me and less like her.

To me, it’s more powerful with more feeling and emotion and almost a bit of aggression to it. Watching you sing it is another thing because you are totally committed to that song. On a totally different question, how many pairs of sunglasses do you have? Every time I see you, you have on a different pair, a different style, and a different color.

I have a fuck-ton of them dude! I have one of those plastic tubs that you store stuff in full of them. As they in case of a rainy day but with mine it’s a sunny day (laughs).

Let’s talk about your new single “Mr. Sad.” Great song, great production, great video and it has a flavor to it that a little bit different. I can’t quite put my finger on it. Maybe it’s the keyboards? That’s a bad-ass tune dude!

Thank you man! My wife is in that video. We filmed that and the one before it, “Alien is Me,” and edited it in a day and put it out. I love this new record that I’m doing. Wait until you hear this other stuff; it is very different and a great departure for me. I experiment with rap and stuff; I grew up with that stuff you know like Run DMC. I wrote a song for Run DMC. He (Darryl McDaniels) was in my “Summertime” video. I hit a wall one day dude. I was like fuck this rock shit; how many records do I have to write? I want to try rapping and it just came out. I guess it was just sew into me when I was younger and it was very enjoyable. It’s a different instrument; it’s like using your voice as a drum and putting words to it. It’s a different feeling that you get from singing specific words and harmonies. I can see why rap is attractive to people including myself. You also deliver the lyrics differently than if you were singing them.

Are you free to talk more about this new album?

Of course dude; we’re mastering the record right and I’ve been waiting for the right time to release this new music. We probably have three records ready to go but this one is going to be the banger dude. This one will catch people by surprise. I think music out there is just fucking shit. Every rock band sounds the same, with the same production, the same chords, the same producers and the same mixes. It’s disappointing because I don’t know where the creativity went. People are just afraid to take a leap and they’re comfortable in their boringness. More power to them if they just want to be like a mannequin the rest of their lives and not branch out and test the waters. I don’t call that musicianship; it’s just kind of boring. It’s the same with urban music and country too.

There’s a formula to it that many of them want to play into.

It’s a formula that works for the record companies but I’m not sure it does for the fans. You see bands out there and they release a new single and it has 40 billion plays. Are there even 40 billion people in the world? You can pay for views these days bro. Now AI is just this fuckeroo! That really concerns me dude because I saw this shit online where you can just type in rock song about an ex-girlfriend crashing your car. Then, it will write the drums, the chords, and a melody where you can pick a guy or a girl to sing it and it will make the whole song for you. All you have to do is go back and put your vocals on it. You know what’s even more disgusting? Royalty free; you don’t have to know how to do anything anymore. The only thing you need to know how to do is lie.

When is the new album coming out? I know you probably don’t want to commit to a date because if give a date and don’t stick to it, then people give you shit about it.

I’m going to be releasing music videos for every single song on the album. There will probably be a video every single month.

Wow dude, that’s something really cool to look forward to! We had the fans send us some questions if have time to do them.

Let’s do it bro!

Alaizabel on Facebook wanted to know what were your favorite songs that you performed on Rock Star Supernova.

“Creep,” “Headspin,” and “Hero;” they’re just fun and different to do.

Here’s one to counter that one. Kickeylocks on Twitter/X asks were there any songs that you never got to sing on show?

No, I just took whatever song was left. Everybody else was just arguing like little bitches. I was just over here finishing my beer or something.

They also asked, besides Dilana, Magna and Tobey, who was your biggest competition?

Nobody; I didn’t come to compete; I went there to win bro.

Lidia Barresi on Facebook asks have you ever thought about releasing any of your RSSN songs?

If they mean recording some of the covers, then yes. Everyone keeps saying they love my cover of “Creep” so I think I’ll be blasting that one off in the studio.

Lauren Talley asks who or what influenced your stage craft?

I’d have to say Scott Weiland. He said in Rolling Stone that the only person who could replace him in STP was me. I could have died that day and been like peace, I’m good. That was humbling and awesome dude.

Melissa “Missy” Hecht Realtor asks about the song “Headspin.” Is your mom bi-polar or suffers from mental illness? The song reminds her of her mom, who has passed, but suffered from mental illness.

I think all moms have a slight mental illness (laughs). I think we’ve all been disgruntled at our parents every now and then. I think she had her own issues, just like everybody does. I’m not a doctor so I wouldn’t go so far as to embellish on that. I had shit go on with my parents and I had to write about it.

Tracey Tomassetti Kinsella asks where do you get your glasses from?

Everywhere man! Everywhere I see some tasty shades, I grab them.

Charlene Boutot asks if you had the option, is there anything you’d do different after the tv show ended?

I would have become a police officer also I probably wouldn’t have gotten married. It is what it is; that’s a thing of the past, praise the Lord.

Kristy McLellan asks do you still hang out with your bandmates from Cleavage? Will they ever play together again? Will they ever record again?

I speak to Jon because he’s my best friend. No, we won’t be playing again or recording.

Robin Hatcher asks what was the happiest day of your life? Besides doing this interview with me today which we won’t count.

(Laughs) I think every day is the happiest day of my life because I get to suck air again. If we’re always focused on that happiest day of our life then we’re never going to achieve that day again. I don’t want to go through the rest of my life chasing Bigfoot.

Well dude, we’re about to wrap this up. We end all of our talks with some fun questions called 3 For The Road. First off, do you remember who your first celebrity crush was?

Alyssa Milano.

What was the first album that you bought with your own money that you had to save up or earn?

Siamese Dream by The Smashing Pumpkins.

If you could have literally anyone, actor, cartoon character, whoever, be the sound of your inner voice, who would it be?

Dave Chappelle.

Oh man, that would be so great! I love Dave Chappelle!

(Laughs) He’s the greatest! ‘What bitch?’

Well, I guess my time is up. This has been awesome dude! Thanks so much for taking time out of your busy schedule to talk to me. I really do appreciate it dude.

I appreciate it as well. Thank you for giving a shit and for being such a cool dude. I’m glad you’re enjoying the music and the journey bro. Stay in touch.