A while back a distinguished group of gentlemen from Tokyo retained me as their A&R Director for a new label, Ride Records. I was chosen to help form and maintain the creative direction for the new label, based largely on my past work as a writer, producer, player, but mainly writer. I suggested Steve Lukather as the ideal debut artist to set the direction for the new venture for many reasons: he is totally original, non-derivative, he and I share the same philosophy about song-writing, strong melodies, credible and concise lyrics, and innovative, fresh arrangements and tracks.

After I had my first meeting with the Ride people, that I mentioned in the preceding answer, I called Steve. I reminded Luke that I have always considered him a stand-alone artist in his own right. Toto is a fundamentally original group in every aspect and apart from the group I have always thought that Luke had another whole story to tell, artistically.

Steve and I have been co-writers since long before Toto ever recorded any of my contributions like, I'll Be Over You, Anna, These Chains, etc. We have regularly written over the years, just because we like writing together. Regarding this album, several writers wrote with Steve. We wrote several songs, many of which were excellent songs, just not appropriate, some were. Luke ultimately made the songs choices. Also, when in the studio, good intentions aren't enough, in other words, songs, no matter who writes them, get recorded that just don't quite fit in the record.

Regarding my role in the writing process with Steve I would say that, as a general rule, my role is more lyrics than music, although it varies from song to song. Steve and I are both complete writers,that is to say that we write words and music. Some of my biggest hits I wrote entirely myself, You Needed Me, Bluer Than Blue, etc. The same could be said for Luke, I'm sure.

As I stated earlier I was retained as A&R Director for the label. One of my duties is also to Executive Produce projects, that is to make sure the overall direction is in keeping with the creative mission of the label. I would visit the project, in some cases participate, hear rough mixes and basically offer support or suggestions when needed. In the case of this record Luke and Steve MacMillan's instincts were great and just what I was hoping for and it was not in the least a need for me to exercise anything other than creative support.

The musicians, engineers, etc were all Steve's call. I'm very familiar with Luke's past work and his dedicated work ethic. He is a consummate, dedicated professional. He's also a musical magician and fun to work, and/or hang with.

I'm beyond satisfied.

The basic concept of Ride Records is to make music that will stand the test of time; strong artists, unforgettable music, uncompromising integrity. They want to fill the gap of quality that is missing in the music arena. Ride has cutting edge marketing tools to help promote their projects and expose them to as many people around the world as possible. The fact that they are based in Japan is a very positive one as they are completely able to service the innovative, diverse, and music hungry Asian market. They are fundamentally authoritative fans of the same music that I, and many of my colleagues are in the US and Europe, so while they are based primarily in Tokyo, they are operating as a worldwide company.

I have many wonderful memories about this project, many of which are illustrated in the video snippets I shot that Ride compiled and titled, "the making of ECT�. I think if you watch that video you'll see through my eyes what fun it was.