Levara, featuring Trev Lukather, Josh Devine (formerly of One Direction), and French vocalist Jules Galli, returns with Underneath It All, their first new single in five years. The release marks a long-awaited return, after early momentum was derailed by the pandemic. The new single opens a new chapter for the band as the debut release from Lukather’s newly launched label, What IF Records.
Like many, COVID derailed the plans for Levara. Underneath It All does not dwell on the past, but is a statement of resilience and a foundation for what comes next.
Eventually released in May 2021 via Mascot Records, the band had broken up by this point, which Trev Lukather told MetalTalk was heartbreaking.
The seeds of Levara go back to when Trev met Steve Perry. “He is like the second mentor of my life,” Trev said. “I met him very randomly in a studio. I was at a Journey kick at the time. I knew Neal Schon, but I always looked at Steve Perry as this unicorn. Such a legend. He walked into the studio one day I was in, and he was so cool.”
Trev was working with Tommy Henrikson on a Geffen project at the time and asked if he could play a track for Steve Perry. “It was Journey/Toto influenced,” Trev says. “He loved it. We exchanged numbers and the next day he called me. He came to the studio and sang backing vocals to three of the songs on Levara’s debut album.
“To this day, he has been a great mentor to me. He gave me one of the greatest pieces of advice as a guitar player. It’s difficult to say that because of my dad, but sometimes it’s good to get advice outside of your family.
“When he came to a rehearsal one day, and I was shredding, he stopped me and said, ‘What are you doing? Let me ask you: Who do you want in the front row, guys or girls?’ Girls, I said. He said, ‘Stop doing that. Sing with your guitar. If you are doing a solo, make it count, make it as hooky as the chorus. They call it the front row lick’.
“I am so grateful for that advice. You see on the internet now, 9-year-olds who outshred everyone on Planet Earth. There are so many shredders out there. There are very few guitar players out there who sing with their guitars, like David Gilmour, for example.”
Levara would master their debut album in February 2020 and were then booked for the Foreigner arena tour in Europe and Hellfest in France. “We signed with legendary agent Steve Strange, who sadly passed away in September 2021,” Trev says. “We had a record deal and were all set up for success, and then COVID happened.”
At this point, Levara had been working hard as a band for three years. “Different people were in each of our ears separately and separating us,” Trev says. “We weren’t strong enough mentally to communicate with each other and say ‘we are not each other’s enemies’. Some people working with us at the time caused some division.
“So it fell apart, the record came out, and we were done. It was a heartbreaking experience, and only now we understand, looking back, how brutal it was. We worked so hard, and then it’s over. You start again.
“We are still very proud of the album. We had such a great collaborative connection, and it took five years of life and growth to see that.”
It took a call “out of the blue” from vocalist Jules Galli to reignite the fire.
“I was in contact with Josh Devine, the drummer, but not Jules,” Trev says. “I lived with Josh for several years, prior to getting Jules as the singer, when we were looking for a singer. Originally it should have been Brooklyn Allman, Gregg Allman’s daughter, but she didn’t show up to the session one day.
“I saw a video of Jules on Instagram jamming, doing this high Axl Rose, Steven Tyler thing, and I thought, wow, good-looking guy, young, and he’s got these pipes. Let’s send him some tracks and see what he does. He just sang them perfectly.”
Levara have announced a European tour, with hopes for UK dates to follow soon. “We really want to come to the UK,” Trev says. “We are dipping our toes and showing that we are still active and bringing an album out in 2027. We will announce in January when that will be, and we will release a single every month or two until then.
“We are showing that we are active and what we can do. We are working with some amazing promoters overseas. The UK was very good to us on our first record and really accepted us and played Automatic. That really means so much to us.
“When I toured the UK and Europe with another band of mine, The Effect, we played the Isle of Wight Festival. When we played Paris, we did a press day the next day. All these outlets were talking about Levara. They liked the album and had three singles in the top 20/30 in the rock charts.”
We will have much more in Part Two of this interview, but for now, enjoy Underneath It All. “When we made the video, it was the first time in five years that all three of us were in the same room,” Trev says. “We did remote sessions with Josh, but Jules and I were in the studio together.
“But when we were all physically together again, we looked at each other, and it felt so good being together again. The energy felt right.”
The tour begins in November in Weert, the Netherlands, and concludes two weeks later in Pinarella di Cervia, Italy. Tickets are available now at Bandcamp. Underneath It All is available now on all platforms. For more details, visit vyd.co/434942.
Levara – European Dates
November 7th – Weert, Netherlands – De Bosuil
November 8th – Dortmund, Germany – Musiktheater Piano
November 10th – Ittre, Belgium – Zik-Zak
November 11th – Paris, France – Nouveau Casino
November 14th – Cologne, Germany – Garagen Club Köln
November 15th – Hamburg, Germany – Nochtspeicher
November 16th – Aschaffenburg, Germany – Colos-Saal
November 19th – Langenthal, Switzerland – OldCapitol
November 20th – Milan, Italy – Casa di Alex
November 21st – Pinarella di Cervia, Italy – Rock Planetofficial
