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It appears that Canada has a supply of singers and comedians to give to the yawning corporate belly of the U.S.
A perfect situation, it seems. Fresh, untarnished, and enthusiastic talent to feed the flashy glut of American mainstream.
The latest on this list in Lukas Rossi, lately of Toronto – from the same province as his Rock Star predecessor, J.D. Fortune. Fortune, now lead vocalist of the revived INXS, has had the same rise-to-stardom situation as Rossi.
After 15 years of struggling to make it in the music biz, Lukas Rossi is finally a household name – at least in Canada. But for the rest of us, Lukas (a Toronto native) was the winner of Rock Star: Supernova, a CBS reality show in which hopeful rockers vied to become the lead singer of a new “supergroup.” Also called Supernova, the band consists of guitarist Gilby Clarke (formerly of Guns N’ Roses), Metallica’s Jason Newsted on bass, and drummer Tommy Lee, best known for his work with both Mötley Crüe and Pamela Anderson.
Canadian singer Lukas Rossi is the winner of the reality TV show contest Rock Star: Supernova. Lukas joined Tommy Lee (Mötley Crüe), Jason Newsted (ex-Metallica) and Gilby Clarke (ex-Guns N' Roses) as the lead singer of the supergroup on September 13, 2006. Lukas speaks with Steve Anthony in an exclusive video interview.
Interview with Lukas and a performance of Headspin. Lukas also greets his fans in the studio.
Lukas talks about his past music history, living in Toronto and performs his song Headspin.
As far as the music goes, our reaction to Rock Star Supernova went thusly:
The opening song, It's On, caught our ear from the opening few bars. It's very catchy, with a nice pitter-patter beat, and it really should be selected as a single at some point.
The hand-clap rhythm of the second song, Leave The Lights On, had us clapping along, too (figuratively, of course -- our hands were on the wheel!). The song also has some amusing lyrics, given Lee's video-sex history with Canada's own Pamela Anderson: "Come on and leave the lights on, if that's your thing; it's better for the cameras, if you know what I mean."
Accompanied by his guitarmates Dominic Cifarelli and Jason Cianfrini, a snarling, pirouetting and bowing Rossi filled the stage with dangerous charisma that kept the fans squealing for more.
Opening with It's All Love, Rossi and company cranked things up with an hour-long set featuring songs from the just-released new Supernova album including Be Yourself, Disaster Jam and Lonely One before going solo on Buckley, Living On a Prayer and Empty City.
Rossi closed the short show with It's On and Headspin.
Backed by a guitarist and a bassist, Rossi confidently began his “stripped-down” performance just before 5:30 p.m. His set included hits from the show such as Headspin and Be Yourself (and 5 Other Clichés), some new material and a few cover tunes, as well.
Rossi also insists that his Rockstar Supernova gig isn't a one-album, one-tour deal.
"I already have material for the next record. When we get on the road, it's going to be me and Tommy on one bus, and there's a studio in the back of Tommy's bus, so we're just going to write for the next record."
"We always knew it was between Lukas and Dilana from day one," Clarke said. "They were the two that showed us something that was different. That's what we always said: 'We want a singer that's gonna take us places. We want someone who's different, someone we haven't seen before, something unusual,' and they both showed that."
"We really wanted him to be a part of it," Clarke said. "We didn't wanna just say 'Insert singer here.' And we also [recorded] one of his [original] songs, in the end. There was a tune [titled 'Headspin'] that he did on the show that really blew us away."
The world's most famous new rockstar has always been a rockstar in our books. Lukas Rossi and his band "Cleavage" had been working with lawyer, Chris Taylor since 1999. Cleavage won numerous awards and performed at numerous showcases for record labels in New York, LA and Toronto but never secured that elusive record deal. With the breakup of Cleavage in 2003, Lukas entered into a publishing agreement with EMI Music Publishing. EMI provided creative and financial support to develop Lukas' writing talent further. Ultimately it was Barbara Sedun at EMI that convinced Lukas to fly to Rockstar auditions in Vancouver (after he had refused to attend tryouts in Toronto weeks earlier). Months later he was crowned the lead singer of "Rockstar Supernova" and the rest, as they say, will be history.
Congrats Lukas! Yeahah!!!!!
TORONTO (CP) - The skunk-haired Canadian rocker who wowed veteran rockers Tommy Lee, Gilby Clarke and Jason Newsted says there's no mistaking who's boss in the newly formed reality-show band Rock Star Supernova.
Lukas Rossi, of course. "I'm their leader and there's just like a mutual respect," Rossi said in a recent interview.
"There are obviously no egos, they're all amazing guys and it was really quick and easy and painless," he said of the recording experience for their self-titled debut album, due in stores Tuesday.
