Journey's new singer hopes fans will start believin' in him,
Posted: Mon Oct 10, 2011 1:10 pmJourney's new singer hopes fans will start believin' in him, too
By Mike Osegueda McClatchy Newspapers
First Posted: October 09, 2011 - 4:00 pm
http://www.therepublic.com/view/story/M ... Y_6254523/
FRESNO, Calif. — He knows. He’s heard the comments and criticism, and he knows there’s nothing he can do to change things.
Arnel Pineda will never be Steve Perry. And for that, some Journey fans will never accept him as the band’s lead singer.
“I just have to deal with it,” says Pineda, on the phone from a tour bus in Southern California. “It’s not going to stop. I understand their sentiment. I myself am a big fan of Perry’s voice.”
On Wednesday, Journey’s “Eclipse” tour rolls into Fresno, where the shadow of Perry looms ever larger — if that’s possible.
Pineda and the rest of Journey will hop on stage at the Save Mart Center and belt out arena rock hits like “Don’t Stop Believin’” and “Separate Ways,” not far from where Perry was born and raised.
Minutes after the Fresno date was announced, the debates began — the Perry diehards who decry the “fake Journey” vs. the Journey diehards who think Pineda is the real deal.
It’s not unlike what surrounds Van Halen: Sammy or Dave? You have to pick one.
The man at the center of the Journey debate is humble — even a bit sheepish when talking about it.
“I don’t have a plan to outdo what Perry did,” says Pineda, 44. “It can never be done. I’m just here to interpret what they’ve created. I’m just here to continue it.
“I’m one the biggest Journey fans. I would even step aside if he wanted to come back.”
He could just be coy, but in talking to him, it feels as if Pineda genuinely sees himself as a outsider in all that is Journey — a band whose signature hit, “Don’t Stop Believin’,” has enjoyed a huge resurrection thanks to TV shows such as “The Sopranos” and “Glee.”
It was after “The Sopranos” used the song in its final scene in 2007 that the Journey machine started to chug again. Problem was, the band didn’t have singer at the time.
Perry and the band parted ways after he injured his hip in 1996. Journey waited a year and a half for Perry to get surgery, but ultimately found a replacement and went on tour without him. The two sides never reconciled. Perry — who also had a successful solo career outside of Journey — now resides in Southern California.
It was guitar player Neal Schon who found Pineda. There was no audition. No casting call. Schon found him on YouTube covering Journey songs with his band in the Philippines.
Though Pineda barely spoke English, he had the pipes to channel Perry and Sting with his band The Zoo. That type of mimicry is the norm, he says, in his home country.
“For us Filipinos,” Pineda says. “We see these American and European artists as gods. We look up to them. We copy what they do. They inspire us to be like them.”
That’s why Pineda calls getting the gig with Journey his own “fairy tale.”
He’s a bit of a rock ‘n’ roll Cinderella — having once been homeless, before falling back on the singing he did as a child under the watchful eye of his mother.
His connection with Journey still baffles him some days.
“For me, it’s really weird, like am I really singing with these guys?” he says. “Sometimes I can’t get used to the fact that I’m singing with these guys.”
It was a big adjustment at first, going from being in a cover band to being on a major tour with Journey. The first year, he says, was grueling.
“At first, I was trying to figure out how to do it, how to survive,” Pineda says. “Now that I’ve survived it, I just have to figure out to prolong it.”
Most of that, he understands, falls back to the fans. If they don’t like him — most reviews seem to indicate they do — then maybe Journey is off to find another lead singer.
For now, though, Pineda is just trying to live the words he sings each night. You know, that don’t-stop-believing stuff.
And maybe, just maybe, he can turn some Perry die-hards into believers.
“I’m just trying to do my job night after night,” Pineda says. “I’m just trying my best. If my best is not good enough for the hard-core fans of Journey and Steve Perry, I don’t know what else to do.”
By Mike Osegueda McClatchy Newspapers
First Posted: October 09, 2011 - 4:00 pm
http://www.therepublic.com/view/story/M ... Y_6254523/
FRESNO, Calif. — He knows. He’s heard the comments and criticism, and he knows there’s nothing he can do to change things.
Arnel Pineda will never be Steve Perry. And for that, some Journey fans will never accept him as the band’s lead singer.
“I just have to deal with it,” says Pineda, on the phone from a tour bus in Southern California. “It’s not going to stop. I understand their sentiment. I myself am a big fan of Perry’s voice.”
On Wednesday, Journey’s “Eclipse” tour rolls into Fresno, where the shadow of Perry looms ever larger — if that’s possible.
Pineda and the rest of Journey will hop on stage at the Save Mart Center and belt out arena rock hits like “Don’t Stop Believin’” and “Separate Ways,” not far from where Perry was born and raised.
Minutes after the Fresno date was announced, the debates began — the Perry diehards who decry the “fake Journey” vs. the Journey diehards who think Pineda is the real deal.
It’s not unlike what surrounds Van Halen: Sammy or Dave? You have to pick one.
The man at the center of the Journey debate is humble — even a bit sheepish when talking about it.
“I don’t have a plan to outdo what Perry did,” says Pineda, 44. “It can never be done. I’m just here to interpret what they’ve created. I’m just here to continue it.
“I’m one the biggest Journey fans. I would even step aside if he wanted to come back.”
He could just be coy, but in talking to him, it feels as if Pineda genuinely sees himself as a outsider in all that is Journey — a band whose signature hit, “Don’t Stop Believin’,” has enjoyed a huge resurrection thanks to TV shows such as “The Sopranos” and “Glee.”
It was after “The Sopranos” used the song in its final scene in 2007 that the Journey machine started to chug again. Problem was, the band didn’t have singer at the time.
Perry and the band parted ways after he injured his hip in 1996. Journey waited a year and a half for Perry to get surgery, but ultimately found a replacement and went on tour without him. The two sides never reconciled. Perry — who also had a successful solo career outside of Journey — now resides in Southern California.
It was guitar player Neal Schon who found Pineda. There was no audition. No casting call. Schon found him on YouTube covering Journey songs with his band in the Philippines.
Though Pineda barely spoke English, he had the pipes to channel Perry and Sting with his band The Zoo. That type of mimicry is the norm, he says, in his home country.
“For us Filipinos,” Pineda says. “We see these American and European artists as gods. We look up to them. We copy what they do. They inspire us to be like them.”
That’s why Pineda calls getting the gig with Journey his own “fairy tale.”
He’s a bit of a rock ‘n’ roll Cinderella — having once been homeless, before falling back on the singing he did as a child under the watchful eye of his mother.
His connection with Journey still baffles him some days.
“For me, it’s really weird, like am I really singing with these guys?” he says. “Sometimes I can’t get used to the fact that I’m singing with these guys.”
It was a big adjustment at first, going from being in a cover band to being on a major tour with Journey. The first year, he says, was grueling.
“At first, I was trying to figure out how to do it, how to survive,” Pineda says. “Now that I’ve survived it, I just have to figure out to prolong it.”
Most of that, he understands, falls back to the fans. If they don’t like him — most reviews seem to indicate they do — then maybe Journey is off to find another lead singer.
For now, though, Pineda is just trying to live the words he sings each night. You know, that don’t-stop-believing stuff.
And maybe, just maybe, he can turn some Perry die-hards into believers.
“I’m just trying to do my job night after night,” Pineda says. “I’m just trying my best. If my best is not good enough for the hard-core fans of Journey and Steve Perry, I don’t know what else to do.”
