Jeff Scott Soto thinks artists’ mystique is completely gone now since you know everything right away

Jeff Scott Soto thinks artists’ mystique is completely gone now since you know everything right away

W.E.T. and Sons of Apollo frontman Jeff Scott Soto was recently interviewed by senior columnist Alexandra Mrozowska for Hard Rock Haven. Soto was promoting W.E.T.’s upcoming new studio album Retransmission, which will be released via Frontiers Music Srl on January 22, 2021.

Mrozowska noted that in the past, artists seemed like distance figures but now they have a lot of direct contact with fans through social media, chats, etc. Soto opined: “Yeah, it’s a necessary evil, unfortunately. I do enjoy certain parts of the direct contact and social media and things, but then there’s [the fact] that I grew up in the world when there still was mystique. When we did interviews such as this, they would be done on a phone and they wouldn’t come up for two or three months later because by the time they’re transcribed, by the time they go to print with everything being done on magazines… you know. So there was a mystique with the audience that’s completely gone now. You know everything right away. An interview you do today comes out maybe an hour or two hours later. And there was a certain level of trying to guess more about the artist, what they do and how they do it, and I miss that. You can’t have that anymore, because everything’s so immediate now. But on the other hand, there’s other parts to that which are great, because if you have something you wanna say, you know you can get it out there immediately and it’s not old news by the time people hear and see it.”

In terms of what makes Soto and the rest of the guys come back to W.E.T. over and over, the singer indicated: “Well, I have a serious answer and a funny answer (laughs). The funny answer is that we have a contract with Frontiers Records, so that’s what keeps us coming back (laughs). But the serious answer is that if we didn’t enjoy doing what we’re doing together and if we didn’t enjoy making this music together, of course there would be no interest in doing it any further. And every time it is time to do a new W.E.T. album, it’s just a natural process on how we create the music and how everything comes together. The biggest component for W.E.T. is Erik Mårtensson. He’s become such an incredible engineer and producer that a lot of what you’re hearing is because of him in terms of how the album sounds, in terms of how the overall production comes together… Erik is a huge component – major component – in this. As far as I’m concerned, I’m just a singer for W.E.T. I’m not necessarily a creative force as much as Erik is. And then we – Robert [Säll] and I – add our contributions, but overall it’s Erik in everything. The recordings, the mixes, the performances… everything. So, again, as long as Erik is interested in doing this, we love making music together and we love working together, so this is why we continue doing these records.”

You can read the rest of the interview with Jeff Scott Soto at Hard Rock Haven‘s website.