Steve Lukather – HuffPost 3.23.12

Mike Ragogna: Steve…what advice might you have for new artists?

Steve Lukather: Take it seriously. People have this tendency to want instant gratification without putting in the time and dues to really learn their instrument. I spent two hours this morning practicing. I still really care, and I’ve been doing this since I was 7, 8 years old. Learning your craft is really important. Anybody can have a pretty face and plug into a computer and sound decent and have a hit record…it’s all marketing, image. But if you really want to be a real musician, learn your craft. I’m not saying you have to learn how to read music–it doesn’t hurt, just like learning a foreign language doesn’t hurt. But just learn. Play. Try to get good at it. It takes a long time, it takes decades and decades to be a good musician, but moments to be a rock star. What would you rather be?