MelodicRock.com
teamed up with original Journey vocalist Steve Perry for an interview.
Read excerpts below:
The
legendary voice of Journey - Steve
Perry has
been atop my "want list" for interviews since I first
started this site in late 1996. I've been fortunate to talk to all
other members along the way, but still no Steve. The elusive Steve
Perry interview remained a dream. Until this week. I hope you enjoy
the read and if you take one thing from this interview - Steve talked
and sounded like he was in a very good place. It was a great pleasure
and a thrill to talk to him and have him open up about some tough
subjects. Not only is he a rock icon and a personal favourite of an
army of fans, but he's also one of my personal favourite singers of
all time. And dare I say, one of (if not the) very best melodic rock
vocalist ever.
I'm
very thankful to Steve for extending out interview time and to Sony
Music and Lora @ FanAsylum for setting this interview up for
me...after years of nagging!
Some
Interview Highlights:
Steve
on first joining Journey:
"When
it started for me it was around 1978 when I joined the band. That's
when I got my first break to get into the music business and I got
signed to Columbia Records. And it was a dream come true back in
those days to get a record deal. It was the sweetest thing you could
ever have, is to be signed…next to the most horrific day of your
life which would be to get dropped. So many of my friends did get
dropped because they didn't sell records. I looked at it as if every
time I had the opportunity to make a record – which the first was
Infinity, with Journey – was this magical blessing that, I finally
am in the record business and I get to make a record. But, I did not
believe in my heart there would be a second one. I knew I had to love
doing it, and if I could make any money I should save some money
because I didn't trust there to be a second one."
And
on the rest of the band adjusting to him:
"They
have to deal with this stepson that is something that they like but
they wish they could have done it their way, and why wouldn't they?
Why wouldn't they have wished that they could be successful without
having a lead singer? Well then the label says “We want you to have
a singer” and then they went, “Well, I don't know, I don't know.”
So, all of the sudden, here comes me, and I think it was a real
challenge for all of us to find out what that really meant. They had
to let go of doing it their way. I was bringing in ideas; they were
growing. But, I will tell you this…being the singer in that
environment with them as we were growing together on the Infinity
record brought a certain kind of vocal strength out of me that the
band required it have. Otherwise, I do not know if I would have ever
found that anywhere else. And I think that at some level I did the
same thing for them."
Steve
on that brutal tour schedule:
"I
was like a pitbull. I still have tons of energy. My girlfriend tells
me all the time, “You're the most energetic person I've ever met.”
But when I was younger, I was on fire. And, so I think that back in
the day when the voice was fresh and young and I had that much
energy, I kept up with that scheduled pretty good. Though it was
difficult at times, I was able to keep up with it. You betcha.
Everybody went through the same commitment because we were all
together far away from everything together, out there. But we loved
it! Don't you understand that?"
Steve
on Columbia dealing with his solo record:
"They
were scared to death. They thought that I was going to spend a lot of
money and they weren't sure what I was going to do. But you know, I
ended up doing it relatively inexpensively and quickly because I had
great musicians. There were no computers back then. Everything you're
hearing on the Street Talk record is absolutely performed in the
studio and captured on a piece of tape. I mean if you threw
hamburgers in the studio, you would get hamburgers on tape you know?
So, there was not a computer to be found, no auto tuner existed.
Nothing of today's era existed during '84-'85. So, that is real
musicians like Larry Londin on drums, Bobby Glaub on bass, Craig
Kramph on drums, Michael Landau on guitar…"
And
on disappearing from the public eye:
"I
went away. I did. I've been gone. I just went away and tried to
figure out how to live life on life's terms and just come off the
ride. Just put my feet on the ground. I think that has been the
challenge and also to allow myself, Andrew, to start dreaming again,
because the dreaming is where the music is. But the trick of the
dreamer is keeping yourself from the blues..."
On
Journey moving on without him:
"At
the time, I fuckin hated it! I hated them for doing it; I hated them
for giving me an ultimatum. But now I can look back with clear eyes,
you know. I can't blame them; they just wanted to get going. I was
going to go to surgery, and I did. But not on their timetable. So I
did that. I had my hip replacement and the rest is history. They've
gone on and I'm where I'm at. Life had showed up and there was a fork
in the road between us. So, we went separate ways dare I say, not
making a joke. And that's okay. Now, I look back at it as the most
painful time of my life. But you know what? They need to love their
lives. They love performing out there all the time. The fans love the
songs we wrote."
All
that and more in the new Feature Interview: Steve
Perry: A Legend Finds Peace
