New interview with Steve Perry - Radio Station KOA (Denver)

[Lora]

This interview was recorded on Dec 29 and an edited version aired last night on radio station KOA. Here is the interview in it's entirety: Steve Perry Interview on KOA

[STORY_TELLER]

Thanks Lora!

This was a great interview. The best yet. He really goes into what makes him "tick", what drives him. Gotta say, when Perry speaks about what he's been writing recently, most musicians call them "demos", but he describes it as "sketching". He really went deep into his creative process here. Pure artist this guy, I love it. I'm really interested in seeing how life and his interests in other musicians works have influenced what he's working on now. Hopefully he opts to take it across the finish line.

Side note:
I've heard Steve discuss his origin story with Journey several times now, and it differs from another story I heard:

I'm summarizing of course, but what I heard was, the intro point for the Journey was the Alien Project tape, they rejected it, Herbie surprised the band by bringing Perry in on tour without their knowledge, introducing him as John Villanueva's Portuguese relative, having him hang out during their shows. Then one night, during a sound check, Herbie has Perry stand in for Robert Fleishman and they do Wheel in the Sky. Band is shocked, asks what's going on, Herbie says this is your new lead singer.

Broad strokes, does anyone know if this is an accurate story?

[tater1977]

Thanks Lora.. Terrific interview..

[annpea]

Wonderful interview, thank God he had enough insight to save his own life by jumping off the merry go round.

[journeygal77]

Fabulous interview!

[swataz]

This was a damn good one.

I like how he reveals, quite honestly, "I was a PRICK sometimes!"

Takes guts to do that! Nice job.

[Gideon]

Good interview. I feel vindicated.

[tbear1256]

Thanks Lora!

What a great interview this one was!

He really opened up and bore his heart & soul.

This girl can't help it, that is why I love the guy, he is so real!

I am so happy for him, he sounds like he is in a great place in his life right now.

Thanks again!

Peace.

TV : )

[slucero]

wow.. Perry's explanation of the lyrical context of Patiently is amazing...

[Memorex]

Thanks Lora!

This was a great interview. The best yet. He really goes into what makes him "tick", what drives him. Gotta say, when Perry speaks about what he's been writing recently, most musicians call them "demos", but he describes it as "sketching". He really went deep into his creative process here. Pure artist this guy, I love it. I'm really interested in seeing how life and his interests in other musicians works have influenced what he's working on now. Hopefully he opts to take it across the finish line.

Side note:
I've heard Steve discuss his origin story with Journey several times now, and it differs from another story I heard:

I'm summarizing of course, but what I heard was, the intro point for the Journey was the Alien Project tape, they rejected it, Herbie surprised the band by bringing Perry in on tour without their knowledge, introducing him as John Villanueva's Portuguese relative, having him hang out during their shows. Then one night, during a sound check, Herbie has Perry stand in for Robert Fleishman and they do Wheel in the Sky. Band is shocked, asks what's going on, Herbie says this is your new lead singer.

Broad strokes, does anyone know if this is an accurate story?

In that story, which I've heard, I was always under the impression that the relative thing was for Fleishman's sake, not the band's.

[Rick]

Just excellent stuff.

[escapefan]

Wow, what an interesting interview. He must really be in a good place now, he is opening up so much. Love all the respect he shows for his former band mates. He really does respect their talents...

[RedWingFan]

Anyone catch Perry's comment, "..the last Journey show was in Alaska....well the last real show." Amen brother!

[Rick]

Anyone catch Perry's comment, "..the last Journey show was in Alaska....well the last real show." Amen brother!

Explain your comment, or exuberance. One or the other.

[RedWingFan]

Anyone catch Perry's comment, "..the last Journey show was in Alaska....well the last real show." Amen brother!

Explain your comment, or exuberance. One or the other.

It's not my comment. It's Perry's comment from the interview. It dovetails perfectly with my feeling this past summer when I was in the stands, staring at the "Frontiers" logo on the screen behind Niel as he's playing "Separate Ways" and thinking to myself..."I wish I could have seen Journey live."

True story!

[Memorex]

Anyone catch Perry's comment, "..the last Journey show was in Alaska....well the last real show." Amen brother!

Explain your comment, or exuberance. One or the other.

It's not my comment. It's Perry's comment from the interview. It dovetails perfectly with my feeling this past summer when I was in the stands, staring at the "Frontiers" logo on the screen behind Niel as he's playing "Separate Ways" and thinking to myself..."I wish I could have seen Journey live."

True story!

I think he meant the last one outside of the Bill Graham tribute. His last one with the band. I didn't hear it at all as a comment about the current line-up.

[sp old ldy]

Thanks so much Lora for bringing Steve to us once again. Absolutely loved this one. Please tell Steve to keep em' coming, we can't get enough of him!!

[annie89509]

Thanks Lora!

This was a great interview. The best yet. He really goes into what makes him "tick", what drives him. Gotta say, when Perry speaks about what he's been writing recently, most musicians call them "demos", but he describes it as "sketching". He really went deep into his creative process here. Pure artist this guy, I love it. I'm really interested in seeing how life and his interests in other musicians works have influenced what he's working on now. Hopefully he opts to take it across the finish line.

Side note:
I've heard Steve discuss his origin story with Journey several times now, and it differs from another story I heard:

I'm summarizing of course, but what I heard was, the intro point for the Journey was the Alien Project tape, they rejected it, Herbie surprised the band by bringing Perry in on tour without their knowledge, introducing him as John Villanueva's Portuguese relative, having him hang out during their shows. Then one night, during a sound check, Herbie has Perry stand in for Robert Fleishman and they do Wheel in the Sky. Band is shocked, asks what's going on, Herbie says this is your new lead singer.

Broad strokes, does anyone know if this is an accurate story?

ST...the "another story" is from an HH interview. Steve has been pretty consistent over the years talking about how he got hired on. I believe “both stories" are essentially accurate (with Steve’s at the very beginning, and Herbie’s weeks or months later).

The band first met Steve in Denver, which Neal has corroborated about the 2 of them sitting in his hotel room with his acoustic guitar and wrote Patiently like immediately. Herbie’s story picks up when the band came back to perform somewhere in California…with him “sneaking” Steve in ahead of the unsuspecting RF.

Robert must not have been with the band in the Denver gig, as he may just be a temporary member at the time. The band definitely had a rapport with RF and wasn’t sure about SP until they heard him sing at soundcheck for the 1st time.

And the rest is history .

[annie89509]

And, WOW, what a great interview!
Gotta save all these nuggets to add to my collection!
Let's hope eventually we'll get one of him promoting his NEW album!

[onmyjrny]

Anyone catch Perry's comment, "..the last Journey show was in Alaska....well the last real show." Amen brother!

Explain your comment, or exuberance. One or the other.

It's not my comment. It's Perry's comment from the interview. It dovetails perfectly with my feeling this past summer when I was in the stands, staring at the "Frontiers" logo on the screen behind Niel as he's playing "Separate Ways" and thinking to myself..."I wish I could have seen Journey live."

True story!

I think he meant the last one outside of the Bill Graham tribute. His last one with the band. I didn't hear it at all as a comment about the current line-up.

I took it to mean the Bill Graham tribute too. But I have always wished I had seen the "real" Journey too. I just found their music a couple of years too late!

Awesome interview! I could listen all day to him talk about how the different songs came about and the dynamics of the band. He knows how to tell a story and stay diplomatic. Really interesting stuff!

[swataz]

One can only hope that these somewhat "cathartic" interviews are giving him the resolve to move forward with his "as yet unreleased" music.

C'mon Steve! Your fans want to hear your voice!

[Art Vandelay]

Fantastic interview. Each interview has gotten better and better. My only request (and I know I'm being nit-picky), is that I'd like to hear more about the TBF era – his working relationship with the band members, if they brought any magic out of him that he felt his previous solo record and tour couldn't, and what the REAL expectations were of that reunion (a tour, one-and-done and back to going solo?).

[perryswoman]

This is excellent. Steve is so brutally honest this year. Say what u want but I think he's in a great place because of his NEW love. Love is a powerful thing and I do think we will hear new music in the next year or so.

[Rick]

Fantastic interview. Each interview has gotten better and better. My only request (and I know I'm being nit-picky), is that I'd like to hear more about the TBF era – his working relationship with the band members, if they brought any magic out of him that he felt his previous solo record and tour couldn't, and what the REAL expectations were of that reunion (a tour, one-and-done and back to going solo?).

I've been listening to TBF a lot lately. I was never a big fan of it before, but I'm really getting into that record now. Great stuff.

[Lora]

Fantastic interview. Each interview has gotten better and better. My only request (and I know I'm being nit-picky), is that I'd like to hear more about the TBF era – his working relationship with the band members, if they brought any magic out of him that he felt his previous solo record and tour couldn't, and what the REAL expectations were of that reunion (a tour, one-and-done and back to going solo?).

I've been listening to TBF a lot lately. I was never a big fan of it before, but I'm really getting into that record now. Great stuff.

My favorite Journey album. Loved the songwriting and the vocals on that album just slay me.

[Rick]

Fantastic interview. Each interview has gotten better and better. My only request (and I know I'm being nit-picky), is that I'd like to hear more about the TBF era – his working relationship with the band members, if they brought any magic out of him that he felt his previous solo record and tour couldn't, and what the REAL expectations were of that reunion (a tour, one-and-done and back to going solo?).

I've been listening to TBF a lot lately. I was never a big fan of it before, but I'm really getting into that record now. Great stuff.

My favorite Journey album. Loved the songwriting and the vocals on that album just slay me.

I bought it the day it came out and liked a few songs on it, but I guess I just wasn't ready for how mature the album was. It's not like anything else they've done.

[annie89509]

Fantastic interview. Each interview has gotten better and better. My only request (and I know I'm being nit-picky), is that I'd like to hear more about the TBF era – his working relationship with the band members, if they brought any magic out of him that he felt his previous solo record and tour couldn't, and what the REAL expectations were of that reunion (a tour, one-and-done and back to going solo?).

I've been listening to TBF a lot lately. I was never a big fan of it before, but I'm really getting into that record now. Great stuff.

My favorite Journey album. Loved the songwriting and the vocals on that album just slay me.

I bought it the day it came out and liked a few songs on it, but I guess I just wasn't ready for how mature the album was. It's not like anything else they've done.

Rick...I jumped on the Journey fan-wagon around 2005. TBF was like the first (other than the compilations) of theirs that I listened to beginning to end….bought it from ebay for 99cents . Loved it immediately…which made me go backwards in acquiring their entire catalog. All things considered, TBF is my favorite album, but I can understand others’ (the hardcores) criticism of it…not everyone’s cup of tea.

[Memorex]

Fantastic interview. Each interview has gotten better and better. My only request (and I know I'm being nit-picky), is that I'd like to hear more about the TBF era – his working relationship with the band members, if they brought any magic out of him that he felt his previous solo record and tour couldn't, and what the REAL expectations were of that reunion (a tour, one-and-done and back to going solo?).

I've been listening to TBF a lot lately. I was never a big fan of it before, but I'm really getting into that record now. Great stuff.

My favorite Journey album. Loved the songwriting and the vocals on that album just slay me.

My Fave too. By far.

[perryswoman]

Fantastic interview. Each interview has gotten better and better. My only request (and I know I'm being nit-picky), is that I'd like to hear more about the TBF era – his working relationship with the band members, if they brought any magic out of him that he felt his previous solo record and tour couldn't, and what the REAL expectations were of that reunion (a tour, one-and-done and back to going solo?).

I've been listening to TBF a lot lately. I was never a big fan of it before, but I'm really getting into that record now. Great stuff.

My favorite Journey album. Loved the songwriting and the vocals on that album just slay me.

Me too! Never understood those who didn't care for it. I was hooked immediately!

[onmyjrny]

I honestly believe TBF was some of their best work...high quality stuff. I bought it the day it came out and it was instantly a favorite.