Journey drummer pleads guilty to domestic violence

[perryswoman]

I am remembering the same. Sad really. I'm sure Deen's feelings are hurt but only had positive things to say about the band members. That's the kind of person he is.

Once you've left Journey, you are off their radar immediately. No matter how long you were there, they seem to forget you, and move on without looking back. Must be very hard for all those once in the band.

Yep very sad for sure.

[tater1977]

On Andrew's front page ...

http://www.melodicrock.com/latest-news


... I personally approached both Neal Schon and Journey management for any comment, but there will be no official comment. I was told that the guys do love Deen and "there will be a time to announce his replacement, but that is not now".

[tater1977]

Deen Castronovo on His Arrest, Getting Sober & Being Fired From Journey: 'It Had to Be Done'

By Michele Amabile Angermiller | November 05, 2015

http://www.billboard.com/articles/news/ ... -interview

"Journey has an impeccable legacy, and I’ve tarnished that legacy," the band's former drummer tells Billboard.




Former Journey drummer Deen Castronovo has had a turbulent 2015, and now he's facing the music.

On June 14, the musician was arrested and charged with physically abusing and harassing his now-ex-fiancee, Deidra. Two weeks later, a rape charge was added in his indictment. The charges led to his dismissal from the band in August, and on Oct. 12, he accepted a plea deal and was sentenced to four years of supervised probation, pleading guilty to two counts of fourth-degree assault, two counts of menacing, one count of coercion and one count of unlawful use of a weapon.

“I want to make it perfectly clear: My name cannot be cleared,” he tells Billboard. “What I have done to the band and my fiancee, there is no excuse for it. It is really inexcusable. The only way that my reputation will be brought back is to live this -- walk it and work on my recovery like it’s a full-time job.

“I’ve hurt the whole band, and management as well, and Live Nation and so many other organizations,” he continues. “They have kept in quiet touch, texts here and there, but I think with what has happened, they had to cut ties, and I truly do not blame them. I harbor no resentments. Those guys love me to death. I know that beyond a shadow of a doubt.”

Now, Castronovo is stepping away from music to focus on his recovery. He is in a voluntary 18-month program that requires breathalyzer testing and random urinalysis. In addition, he is enrolled in a 12-step program and is in the midst of a nine-month domestic violence counseling program.

He is speaking publicly now in an effort to make amends and possibly help prevent someone else from making the same mistakes. “What I did was horrible, and I don’t want to see teenagers or young kids -- people in their 20s and 30s -- end up 51 years old like me in their fifth rehab treatment losing everything that they have worked so hard for,” he says. “If you can stop it now, stop it. You don’t want to end up like this.”

The Oregon native says he has been “on and off the wagon for 22 years,” but what happened this past spring was “building over time.”

“The thing with the disease of addiction is it’s chronic. It’s fatal and it’s progressive,” he says. “I think at this point, when this went down, I hit bottom. As horrible as it was, I am grateful that it happened. I am not minimizing it. I am not grateful for what I did to my fiancee, by any stretch. She was a very strong supporter in trying to get me clean, and this last incident brought me to my knees. As horrible as it’s been, the end justifies the means.”

The pair met when they were very young: Castronovo was 19 and Deidra was just 14. He waited until she was 18 to ask her parents for permission to date. The two dated for eight months but then went their separate ways. “I gave my life to Christ and I went in a different direction, and she went in her direction. We reunited in 2008 on Christmas Eve, and it was beautiful,” he recalls. “It was a beautiful relationship that was real good, but my drinking got worse and worse. And then drinking and using spiraled into what happened now.”

What didn’t help, he says, was an addiction to prescription pills after back surgery in 2012 and a subsequent hip replacement. “I had the back surgery and two weeks later played the CMT Music Awards with Rascal Flatts. I had a huge brace on my back, and it was something that had to be done. I had to work,” he says. “Then, the year after that, I was in Australia, in Sydney, and having issues with my hip. It kept getting progressively worse. I did the last shows in 2013 and then went out to Santa Monica [California] to have full hip-replacement surgery.”

After the doctors cut him off from his prescription medication, he turned to other ways to manage the pain by getting pills “on the black market.” “Typical addict behaviors,” he says. “Then this last May, I finished the tour and a not so good friend of mine now had methamphetamine, and I went on a 24-day run on that stuff and destroyed everything amazing in my life. Everything.”

Of that dark day in June, Castronovo says: “It was horrible. What was transpiring was horrendous.” Fifteen days in jail “scared me straight.”

“That was it for me. I knew that this got more than out of hand. My fiancee has gone through hell for the past six and a half years, and it was very rough on her,” he says. “Then going into jail woke me right up. I went from jail right to Hazelden Betty Ford.”

It was there when he discovered through Journey manager John Baruck that he had been terminated from the band. (The band declined comment for this article.)

“They had finished their Canadian tour. They had to replace me due to what had happened. I called to see what my status was, and I was told I would be terminated. As heartbreaking as it was and devastating, I completely understood,” he says. “Journey has an impeccable legacy, and I’ve tarnished that legacy. They loved me and cared about me as a man -- not just as a drummer and singer -- to release me to get me the help I needed. This isn’t a quick fix. They knew I couldn’t be going back and forth going on the road and coming home. This needed to be something that is a full-time job, staying clean and sober. I love them to death. They are my brothers. They will be for the rest of my life. As sad as it is -- and it breaks my heart, because I can’t play with my brothers anymore -- it had to be done.”

He says he especially disappointed guitarist Neal Schon, who discovered the young musician and gave him a chance to play with Bad English. “I owe him my career, and I’ve really hurt him,” he says. “I’ve really disappointed him.”

There is, however, hope: He is over 120 days clean. Castronovo has a strong family support system and speaks lovingly of his two sons -- Kyle, a 24-year-old drummer currently touring Europe, and Roman, 10 -- and he says both are his “light.”

Just before Castronovo spoke to Billboard, he was meeting with JD Henderson, senior pastor of the Life Christian Center in Portland, Ore. “Knowing Deen as long as I have, being his pastor and a part of his support, I've never seen him make this much progress and be this committed to changing his life,” Henderson tells Billboard.

“My spiritual life is back, and that is what gets you through,” says Castronovo, who is looking for a nonprofit group close to home so he can speak openly about addiction. “I”ll talk to anyone free of charge. It’s time to give back and be of service. They say in AA that the only way to keep what you have is to give it away. It’s time. If I can help one kid, it’s a beautiful thing.”

Although he is not permitted to have any contact with Deidra, he hopes to one day repair that relationship.

“I really believe that Deidra is proud of me because I have been working my tail off,” he says. “I am grateful that I have family and friends and people in my life. And the fans on Twitter that are supporting me and saying, ‘You can do this.’ A lot of addicts are tweeting, ‘You can do this. One day at a time. Stay focused.’ And to see your boys look you in the eyes and I’m there and present, and they say, ‘Dad, I am so proud of you’ -- are you kidding? That’s all the adrenaline shot that I need to keep on moving forward because I finally get it."

[tater1977]

Deen Castronovo: ‘Drugs, alcohol are no excuse’

In his first TV interview since his arrest, the ex-Journey drummer talks about his domestic violence conviction

http://koin.com/2015/11/06/deen-castron ... no-excuse/

Amy Frazier and KOIN 6 News Staff
Published: November 6, 2015

[FamilyMan]

Deen Castronovo: ‘Drugs, alcohol are no excuse’

In his first TV interview since his arrest, the ex-Journey drummer talks about his domestic violence conviction

http://koin.com/2015/11/06/deen-castron ... no-excuse/

Amy Frazier and KOIN 6 News Staff
Published: November 6, 2015

Definitely a different Dean than we're used to seeing. Gone is that hyper-activity and the high-pitch, laughing-gas mannerism. Definitely sounds like a man climbing the basement steps approaching the main floor. Continuing to pray for him and his family.

[tater1977]

Drummer Deen Castronovo: On a New Journey after Losing Everything

Stephanie Stephens
November 16, 2015

http://parade.com/436256/stephaniesteph ... verything/

For former Journey drummer and singer Deen Castronovo, that was then and this is now.

Without rehashing what is now old and certainly unpleasant news, this past summer Deen faced a series of charges that included physical abuse and harassment of his ex-fiancée. He was in jail for 15 days and spent his fifth tenure in rehab, this time for 75 days at the Hazelden Betty Ford Springbrook facility in Beaverton, Oregon.

He was let go from Journey in August. Then in October he received a four-year sentence of supervised probation with a promise of prison time if he breeches that commitment.

Deen doesn’t intend to. And he doesn’t want to dwell on the past. He knows it’s now part of his history and he’s on a mission to move mountains to write a happier future. Those close to him say he’s truly walking his walk to sustain the monumental changes he had to make to save his life.

I will never forget seeing him perform with Journey at the Hollywood Bowl in May 2014, from my seat in the third row. I remember looking at the size of his massive drum kit and thinking it deserved a stage of its own. He rocked a phenomenal drum solo, and he far exceeded expectations on a lead vocal that showcased his extensive range.

Since I was a radio personality in the ’80s, playing copious amounts of Journey, I’ve been an unwavering fan. Still am. Here’s what Deen, age 51, had to say about life during the past six months, where he’s been and where he’s going. And he is going…

Let’s start with where you are now. You were in rehab and you’re continuing drug abuse and domestic violence counseling. How do you feel about yourself now?

The great thing is that for first time I actually love who I am. I have never liked who I am. I immersed myself so much in being a drummer and singer. Journey was my identity for so many years. I’m finally coming to grips and realizing that I’m more than enough regardless of whether I’m in a band or will never play again. I don’t have to numb myself, and hide guilt and shame like I did for so many years.

And how do you feel about life now? What are your current goals?

I was terminated from Journey in August. As hard as it was, I accepted it. My short-term goal is to learn as much as I can about domestic violence. Being a victim is one thing. That’s a horrible thing. But being the perpetrator, the batterer—I was emotionally abusive, verbally, mentally and physically—for me to experience that now has made my goal to learn as much as I can and grow as a man. I just want to be a great father and someday be a great husband.

Those are some heavy charges. Was that really you or someone else?

I’ve never been an abusive man, never been in a fist fight. Drugs and alcohol fueled whatever anger I did have—magnified it. I did learn in class that domestic violence is a choice. It’s really hard to see that somebody I deeply love was hurt so badly—never fists and stuff, but verbally can be just as bad.

What was your relationship with alcohol?

It wasn’t my drug of choice. I can’t really stand the taste but I would get drunk to get wasted. Then that wasn’t enough, so then came cocaine, and pain medications. One of my sponsors told me once, “You’ll always want something more.” I’m clean and I know I’ll never be able to use again. I know: Never say “never.” But I was in jail for 15 days, scared straight. I’m not afraid of my disease, but I have a very healthy respect for it. It’s real life or death.

How do you think you got to where you were when it all came undone? This sort of thing doesn’t happen overnight…

I wouldn’t change a thing about my life. It took a lot to knock me on my butt, receive these consequences and have a really strong reality check including getting back to being humble again.

And the band…This all has to be riveting for you. How are you managing?

I’ve learned to accept the things I cannot change. I can’t change that they feel the way they feel.

I tarnished an amazing legacy they worked so hard to make happen. I do have to thank them. They cared enough to fire me to get me the help I needed. They knew I couldn’t get help and get life back on track if I was on tour. They helped me grow. Those guys love me to death and I love them too. I need a good two to three years before I go back out to play with anyone.

Your life has been up-ended. As you reflect, what matters most now, Deen?

My priority is God, sobriety and my family—my kids. I come from a place of gratitude and know what’s important. I lost everything the world thinks is important, good and cool. I’ve got my family and I’m alive. Having millions of dollars, cars, homes—that really doesn’t matter.

I’d rather have my kids look up to me and say, “Dad, I’m proud of you.” Many Journey fans have been very supportive, and that gives me hope and strength. I’m doing what I need to and I’m here for me, not for people’s acceptance.

What makes you happy now? Anything you can tell us that maybe we wouldn’t expect?

I have a new kitty, a doll-faced Persian, black and gray with green eyes. Her name is Pebbles, and she’s 14 weeks old. Every morning we have this routine: She sits on my lap and falls asleep.

What do you want to do today?

I want to walk in love, respect and honesty with everybody I come in contact with. No, it’s not a PR effort, and yes, it’s hard to be authentic and speak your truth without people criticizing you. I only want to be true to God, myself and my kids.

Drumming or singing, singing or drumming? You have a long and impressive resume in the business, amassed with many notable artists.

I love playing drums. That’s my authentic me, not being anybody else. When singing, I am pretty much “Perry-esque” [as in Steve Perry, Journey’s former lead singer]. He had a huge influence on me as a vocalist. If God opens the door to play drums again, I don’t want to be part of a band, but maybe be a side man. I don’t want to be in that part of the public spotlight ever again.

I’ve seen your power and strength on stage with that massive drum set-up. WOW. What about your workouts and physical activity?

Once I got into Hazelden, I made friends with another man there who was really health-conscious. We worked out an hour a day there. When I went into treatment, I was emaciated and sick. I do get a huge workout on the road when I’m playing and I used to lose weight because of it. Add to that, I’m hyper. I’m working on meditating, shutting things off and breathing.

About your diet: What do you eat now? It can be tough on the road to stay a nutritional course.

It’s about low carbs. We Sicilians tend to gain weight. In the morning, I might make a spinach omelet with Egg Beaters in olive oil, or a protein shake. Lunch might be chicken breast or a salad. I’m hyper-vigilant and watch everything I eat, and I make sure I work out—emotionally, spiritually and physically.

Thank you for your candor. It can’t be easy to talk about this. You’re brave and you’re determined. I personally look forward to more of your musical accomplishments. Happy holidays, Deen.