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THE JOURNEY ZONE
http://www.journey-zone.com
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THE INTERVIEWS
September, 2003 |
Richmond Times-Dispatch Interview with Neal Schon
San Bernardino County Sun Interview with Jonathan Cain
Richmond Times-Dispatch Interview with Neal Schon
Interviewer: MELISSA RUGGIERI, TIMES-DISPATCH STAFF WRITER
Date of Publication: September 26, 2003
Date of Re-publication at The Journey Zone: October 4, 2003
As far as Neal Schon is concerned, the current musical landscape is a wasteland of flavors of the week.
Radio is "programmed down to every last inch, so there's no freedom for people to play what they want to play," and record companies are interested only in artists they can "put out there, make their money back and then move on."
Schon has witnessed the transformation of the industry with the eyes of a veteran. In 1970, he joined Santana at the tender age of 17, then formed Journey in 1973, leading the band's early prog-rock days with his winding guitar work.
After racking up 18 Top 40 hits and more than 50 million albums sold with Journey, Schon has earned the right to comment on just about anything music-related - and he does.
For starters, he isn't much impressed with any of today's chart toppers - with a few exceptions.
"John Mayer is exceptional," Schon said this week from Michigan. "I love the fact that the guy is so talented. He's a great lyricist, a great musician. I think Jason Mraz, the kid with the hat, he's another one who's good. I just listened to the new Jane's Addiction album because I liked the single so much, and the album reminded me of 'Tommy' from The Who. It's great. Anything that goes back to a place that was a bit more musical is fine by me."
Schon's oldest son, 15-year-old Miles, is already taking after Dad with the ax and is burying himself in the recordings of Led Zeppelin and Cream. Schon happily reports that as Miles walks the hallways of high school, "he just doesn't see what people are getting from 50 Cent . . . and neither do I."
Journey fans might have been surprised to hear that the band is coming to Innsbrook tonight, considering it recently wrapped a summer excursion with Styx and REO Speedwagon. Though many promoters feared they'd lose money on the triple bill of classic rockers, Schon and his peers felt more than vindicated when the tour grosses arrived.
According to concert industry trade magazine Pollstar, the outing averaged about $380,000 per show, more than tours with a similar number of dates by Peter Gabriel, Matchbox Twenty, The Allman Brothers Band and Brooks & Dunn, to name a few.
So why not head back home to California and take a break now?
"I guess we didn't have enough!" Schon said with a laugh. "Now we have a chance to stretch out a bit, do our own thing."
Indeed, on this two-week Journey-only tour, the band is performing about 2½ hours per night, allowing Schon and the gang the opportunity to pull out oldies such as "Mother, Father" (with drummer Deen Castronovo on lead vocals) and "Precious Time" (with keyboardist Jonathan Cain on harmonica).
Schon also plans to revisit his Santana days with a rendering of "Black Magic Woman/Gypsy Queen" and says the band will play tunes from every album except the first three.
Rounding out the Journey lineup are original bassist Ross Valory and singer Steve Augeri, who joined the band in 1998 after a final falling-out with original crooner Steve Perry.
Though Augeri looks and sounds the part of Perry to a frightening extent, Schon realizes that not every stalwart Journey lover has willingly accepted Perry's replacement.
"There are some die-hard fans who will follow us anywhere. Then there are the other fans who only want to know about the '80s Journey. Then we have brand-new fans. It's amazing to look into the crowd and see these 14- and 15-year-olds coming to see the band for the first time and being blown away by the musicianship," he said.
Schon says he's been trying to get in touch with Perry to discuss business - such as the possible release of a bootleg DVD from 1983. So far, he hasn't received a response.
More currently, this incarnation of Journey recently released the EP "Red 13," and the band is ready to begin work on a concept record, an idea the group has discussed for a couple of years.
On the Journey Web site, www.journeymusic.com, fans can download the instrumental track "Showdown," a song Schon wrote before the war in Iraq, when "I had this ugly picture in my head about what was going to happen." Proceeds go to the San Francisco Veterans Affairs Medical Center, which benefits veterans from all wars.
Those who head out to Innsbrook tonight can expect a fury-packed evening. At least that is what Schon is promising.
"I'm playing like a demon now, because we've been playing so long," he said. "I always figured we'd have our heyday and go away. But we definitely made our own etch in stone. And it's pretty freakin' cool, man"
San Bernardino County Sun Interview with Jonathan Cain
Interviewer: Michelle J. Mills, Staff Writer
Date of Publication: October 3, 2003
Date of Re-publication at The Journey Zone: October 4, 2003
It's been 30 years of records and roads for rockers Journey, who will join Yes and Foreigner with Lou Gramm at Arrowfest 2003 Saturday in Irvine. Although the band disbanded and regrouped and has gone through several lineup changes, its signature sound has remained true.
Keyboardist Jonathan Cain credits Journey's staying power to this sound, which he calls "soulful music with a conscience and a heart," as well as the fact that the group works hard to make their efforts seem easy.
"We make records that sound effortless," Cain said. "Because there" s no struggle there on the records, they still go down like chocolate milk to me. They still sound good because they had a pretty neat sound to them. The other thing is that Journey always worked a lot and they were good to their fans.
"And also, we have songs that were pieces of their lives and memories that have been imbedded in those songs."
Journey's current lineup includes vocalist Steve Augeri, guitarist Neal Schon, bassist Ross Valory, drummer Dean Castronovo and Cain.
Cain grew up in Chicago. He was playing accordion at age 8, piano at 12 and was in several rock bands in high school. He attended the Conservatory of Music at Roosevelt University, using his talent at playing everything from polka to rock to pay his way through school. At 18, Cain landed his first record deal, which led to a minor hit and a spot on the "Dick Clark Show."
Carving out a life as an artist and songwriter can be discouraging, even with early successes. Cain also tried his hand in other occupations.
"I had day jobs. I got kind of sick of the music business for a while and I went and I sold stereos and I worked as a warehouseman, a forklift operator, and that kind of stuff. I came back to music through songwriting, back into the band things and then the Babys auditioned some people in " 77," Cain said.
In 1979 the Babys joined Journey for their "Departure" tour.
"Neil and I hit it off, we actually were pretty good buds in the end, we would go out and jam in the local clubs together and Neil and I especially would play a lot out and about. I got a call that summer saying that Greg Rolie, the former keyboard player, was going to retire and that I had the job. That was that," Cain said.
Cain has found that he has two different voices when writing for Journey and himself.
"You write for the Journey fan and you write for the Journey sound, so you" re looking for Neil and the background vocals and the high keys and more of the signature things," Cain said. "You" ve got to design them with that in mind and also the lyric has to be a Journey lyric, something with some positive, hopeful message.
"When I write for myself, I write about my kids, about my family, about my heart, it" s a different thing. But 'Faithfully' was one example of a song I wrote for myself and ended up on a Journey record. I actually wrote it about being on the road with Journey, so it was kind of cool that it got accepted as a Journey song because it's probably the biggest song that I wrote by myself that was the most successful."
Another Journey hit, "Open Arms," began as Cain's song for his first wife during their wedding. He played it with just the choruses and the music, later Journey members helped add the verses and other touches that made it a fan favorite.
Cain has a studio at his home in California and self-releases smooth jazz records. He also writes and directs the Christmas pageant at his children's school in Novado each year which raises money for the school district.
"We do all kinds of international Christmas songs with the kids; we teach them Hawaiian, Kwanzaa and all that sort of stuff. They learn songs that I write and then we record them and we put the CDs out and sell them to their parents and then we sell CDs on my Web site too," Cain said.
Cain and his present wife, Liz, have three children, 7-year-old twins, Weston and Liza, and a 10-year-old daughter, Madison. Weston plays drums, Madison sings and plays piano and Liza sings and dances.
Even if he's out on the road, Cain finds time to pursue his hobbies -- skiing, snorkeling, scuba diving, tennis and golf.
After three decades of making music, Journey still is looking to the future. In December, the band will release a compilation video of all the Journey videos ever made.
"The videos are pretty funny, they" re hysterical -- the really bad hair; Beavis and Butthead poking fun at Journey videos. They're really funny, but there's good stuff in there," Cain said.
The group is also considering trying something new when they return to the studio, such as a concept album, a rock opera or returning to their soul roots. But they still have their fans ever-present in their minds.
"It" s always great to play Orange County, we have tremendous support there. It's almost like coming home. The fans are great and we can't thank them enough. Rock and roll is alive and well in Orange County. We're going to bring them one hell of a show," Cain said.
Last Updated 02 July, 2007 (DHG)
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