Rundgren often goes solo on recordings

The singer-songwriter has pioneered the use of technology with his music.
SCRIPPS HOWARD
In the history of rock music, there's seldom been an artist as idiosyncratic as Todd Rundgren.
A singer and songwriter of considerable abilities, he's been pushing the envelope, defying his critics and beguiling his fans for more than 30 years.
Rundgren was one of the first pop musicians to play all the instruments and provide all the voices on his records.
"I determined after my second solo album that I wanted to do some things that were not clearly defined in musical terms," says Rundgren, 55.
"And in order for me to have the latitude to do that, I couldn't be under the gun. I had to have an environment that completely adapted itself to my ideas. So I built a recording studio, and that gave me the ability to do that kind of thing."
His best-known songs -- "I Saw the Light," "Hello It's Me," "Can We Still Be Friends" and "Bang the Drum All Day" -- were recorded solo.
"I discovered after a while that making the records by myself does present obvious challenges," he says.
"I couldn't play bass and drums together myself and work out an ideal groove that way. ... But the records attain a certain quality, because unlike the normal group of musicians, I know exactly what the bass player's thinking. And exactly what the piano player's thinking. Because they're all me!"
Still, Rundgren likes to record with other musicians too. His '70s and '80s project, Utopia, released a half-dozen albums in between "all-Todd" solo projects.
'Magic thing'
"There is something there that no amount of technology will ever supplant," he says, "and that's the sort of magic thing where a whole bunch of people somehow get synched up and locked into a single idea. And perform it all together."
For Rundgren, being an artist has always meant whatever he felt like, whenever he felt like it.
This has included the pioneering use of technology; he calls it "defying conventional musical wisdom."
Rundgren's newest (all-solo) album, "Liars," is performed almost exclusively on synthesizers.
"I have as long a history with technology as I have with music," he says. "I never had the intention of becoming a professional musician until the Beatles demonstrated what kind of success you could have. At the same time, I was interested in new technologies such as computers -- such as they were at the time -- and how they worked, and what was involved in computer-based problem solving," he says.
His attitude
"The use of sequencers and synthesizers has always been, 'Is there a project for which this is apropos?' as opposed to trying to make every project somehow adapt to the technology."
Rundgren is acutely aware that his enigmatic nature and quirky methodology have cast him in the role of rock 'n' roll's veteran weirdo. Although he writes exquisite pop songs, he also turns out electronic freak-outs and experimental music.
"I have a career, which is more than a lot of musicians can say," he says. "A lot of people have gone through the music business, but their careers aren't in music anymore. And I intend to be a musician for the rest of my natural life."