Toad the Wet Sprocket fans looking for another reunion of the 1990s pop band probably won't see one anytime soon, but former Toad lead singer Glen Phillips [ tickets ] is plowing ahead with a burgeoning solo career.

"I was really optimistic [about a Toad reunion] a couple years ago; we tried playing shows," Phillips said before pausing.

"I've been, I don't know ... I've [since] been working in situations where everybody's happy to be there. Everybody's generous and grateful. In Toad, myself included, there's just a lot of old resentments that I don't know how to get past, and all the other typical problems that every other band has. Never say never, but I've been reserving my energies for stuff where everybody's really into it and giving more than they have to. In my last interview, I said I've been having these repeatedly peak experiences. That pleases me, and that's not what happens when it's with Toad."

Phillips, whose former band caused ripples in the music industry with songs such as "All I Want" and "Hold Her Down," is touring in support of his latest solo effort "Winter Pays for Summer," his first release for Lost Highway records.

liveDaily.com: How's the tour going so far?

Glen Phillips: The tour's been going great. We've only had, what, five shows so far. But it's been cool. We've been figuring it all out. It's my first time going out in this way, with a new band. It's been fun.

Previously, were you going out just as an acoustic act?

Constantly. That's how I make my living. I've been on the road that way since Toad.

You just released "Winter Pays for Summer." How long did it take you to record your album?

It was pretty quick. It was spread over a lot of time. We tracked 18 songs in five days and spent a month kind of on-and-off doing overdubs. That was a lot of driving back and forth. I live in Santa Barbara [CA] and the producer [John Fields] lives in L.A. We worked fast when we were working. We finished the record, and nine months later I got signed with Lost Highway and did a few more songs. John Fields works pretty quickly.

So you recorded your album before you were signed with Lost Highway?

Yes. I spent a lot of time trying to get a record deal [before making the album]. Then I realized I was wasting my time. If I've learned anything through this, it's not to wait for a record company. Let them catch up after the fact.

That must have been tough financially to record an album before being signed.

It's a financial crunch, but it was necessary. I had kind of a bizarre, backward career path. I was in a band that did well when I was young, then I went into eight years of renting a compact car and going out solo-acoustic and selling my own merch and doing what most people do on their way up. It was a good lesson in reality.

On your album, you co-wrote a few songs with Dan Wilson of Semisonic. What was it like to work with him?

He's wonderful. He's great. We wrote a few songs together and met up a lot. I flew out to his house and stayed with him.

Did you collaborate with many songwriters on the album?

A few, but it was mostly just me. It was strange after the band to try to learn how to write when I didn't have anyone to answer to. My tendency is to just hover around the house. If there's not a rehearsal where I actually have to show up and be accountable, it's hard for me to write.

Is it difficult to write with someone else?

It can be a bad thing. A lot of it depends on who you're writing with. If you get someone who's both extremely talented and knows what their strengths and their weaknesses are, it can be a good thing. I know where my strengths and weaknesses are, I hope. If I'm with a person that's not much of a lyric guy and he steps back and says, "Cool, you do the lyrics," that works. There's certain personalities that do well with self-motivation and some people who are better if they have an assignment. I did very well in school, so I do better with assignments. I like being told what to do.

How has your songwriting changed since you became a father?

It's different. I haven't written a ton of children's songs, but certainly there's a different perspective. It's a good way to become less selfish, you know? It just helps me look at life in a more sober way. I take things a little more seriously.

At your shows, are you playing any Toad the Wet Sprocket songs?

Yeah, I'm playing those songs. I get to play all the new songs. So I choose the Toad ones I like the best, and the ones I know the audience wants to hear.