Augeri interview explains how Journey took a toll on his VOX

[kbo]

This is a good interview. Not sure when it transpired.

http://www.thevoiceconnection.com/steveaugeri.html

[brywool]

It's from early in 2006 actually. POSSIBLY late 2005, but I don't think so.
The interview explains how difficult the job was and what he did to take care of his voice on the road, but it doesn't explain why had problems, etc.

It IS a good read though if you're a vocalist.

[larryfromnextdoor]

love the mythbusters plug... dig that show..

[The_Noble_Cause]

This was posted once before.
I'm glad you brought it up.
There is actually a line in this interview where Augeri thanks the fans for sticking with him through good nights and bad during the '05 tour. One of the few cases where the band can be witnessed actually covering up their fraud.

Knowing perfectly well it was the IDENTICAL pre-recorded vocal track being pumped out to the speakers nightly, Augeri went on to shamelessly say...

" listen this has been the craziest year we’ve done, and by the end of the tour which is December 12th I believe, we’ll have done 80 shows and this is just ludicrous. So, I have had my share of good nights and bad nights, and I thank the fans for sitting through, you know, sweating the bad nights out with me as well as the good nights."

Ross also mentioned that Augeri was doing a great job on the catalog during the taped Generations tour.
Neal, on the other hand, was smart enough to backpedal in his interviews.
Going so far as to say at one point "no, he isn't Steve Perry" in an interview leading up to the UK tour.

[Abitaman]

so it comes down to the band knowing then, what was happening-ERIC

[Jeremey]

This was posted once before.
I'm glad you brought it up.
There is actually a line in this interview where Augeri thanks the fans for sticking with him through good nights and bad during the '05 tour. One of the few cases where the band can be witnessed actually covering up their fraud.

Knowing perfectly well it was the IDENTICAL pre-recorded vocal track being pumped out to the speakers nightly, Augeri went on to shamelessly say...

" listen this has been the craziest year we’ve done, and by the end of the tour which is December 12th I believe, we’ll have done 80 shows and this is just ludicrous. So, I have had my share of good nights and bad nights, and I thank the fans for sitting through, you know, sweating the bad nights out with me as well as the good nights."

Ross also mentioned that Augeri was doing a great job on the catalog during the taped Generations tour.
Neal, on the other hand, was smart enough to backpedal in his interviews.
Going so far as to say at one point "no, he isn't Steve Perry" in an interview leading up to the UK tour.

You know, I really do wonder if Augeri and the rest of the band knew how much of the tapes were being used in the front of house mix. I am positive he stripped his voice out singing along with the track in his ear monitor, but honestly, he didn't have a foot switch or fader on his microphone determining the amount sent to the FOH mix...I believe Elson would be the only one who really knew on any consistent basis what was live and what was memorex...

[The_Noble_Cause]

The one redeeming aspect of the interview, is it highlights Augeri's quality of being always approachable to fans.
This interviewer goes on forever and tends to ramble - I think Neal or Jon would've cut it off, but Augeri goes right along with it.

Is Augeri sincerely a nice person, or just a Coney Island fast-talking huckster?
No one will really ever know, but one can't argue that he always left his fans feeling good.

[brywool]

Yeah, unfortunately, Jaime tends to blow his own horn way too much, but he's a great guy and ready to help anybody. He's one of the good ones. Very genuine guy. I think Augeri is a similar cat. He's always been really humble about everything. I have yet to hear him be arrogant in an interview or with a fan. I've talked to him in the past via email about voice stuff and he was always really cool. MY EXPERIENCE.

Jeremy brings up a great point about the in ears. Unless Augeri said "just use all of it" then he most likely wouldn't know when it's being used or not. The thing I don't get is WHY would he sing at all? Better to shut up and just talk between songs than to try and sing, causing more damage to his chords. Not sticking up for the action. I like Augeri and I could see how what happened has. But it begs the question of if he knew he was trashing his voice, possibly permanently, why did he not just NOT sing at all?

We've seen the photos with the guy sitting next to Deen with the digital recorder, so everybody knew what was happening.
That's another weird question- WHY would the guy be doing that in plain view? Weird. Maybe it was so Augeri could signal to him directly "hey, I'm having problems here, roll Open Arms" or whatever.

The most compelling piece I read on all of this was the original Google group post by the guy on the crew (that used to be here too). Really damning. I still think it's a shame.

[Scarab Pilot]

The most compelling piece I read on all of this was the original Google group post by the guy on the crew (that used to be here too). Really damning. I still think it's a shame.

Is this still available to view?

[brywool]

If you do a google groups search on "Journey weirdness" I think that was the title...

[Scarab Pilot]

http://groups.google.co.uk/group/alt.au ... 937b5d1ac7

The title was Journey weirdness

[JohnH]

Here it is:

http://www.thegearpage.net/board/archiv ... 49470.html

I can vouch for Svante he's from the Deep Purple fan world and I've always found him very credible, the guy isn't some wierdo making stuff like this up. I've read his posts for years and corresponded with him

[AlienC]

This was posted once before.
I'm glad you brought it up.
There is actually a line in this interview where Augeri thanks the fans for sticking with him through good nights and bad during the '05 tour. One of the few cases where the band can be witnessed actually covering up their fraud.

Knowing perfectly well it was the IDENTICAL pre-recorded vocal track being pumped out to the speakers nightly, Augeri went on to shamelessly say...

" listen this has been the craziest year we’ve done, and by the end of the tour which is December 12th I believe, we’ll have done 80 shows and this is just ludicrous. So, I have had my share of good nights and bad nights, and I thank the fans for sitting through, you know, sweating the bad nights out with me as well as the good nights."

Ross also mentioned that Augeri was doing a great job on the catalog during the taped Generations tour.
Neal, on the other hand, was smart enough to backpedal in his interviews.
Going so far as to say at one point "no, he isn't Steve Perry" in an interview leading up to the UK tour.

You know, I really do wonder if Augeri and the rest of the band knew how much of the tapes were being used in the front of house mix. I am positive he stripped his voice out singing along with the track in his ear monitor, but honestly, he didn't have a foot switch or fader on his microphone determining the amount sent to the FOH mix...I believe Elson would be the only one who really knew on any consistent basis what was live and what was memorex...

EXACTLY! PLEASE, No more calls, we have a winner.....

I have always felt he (SA) over-sang to the extreme, and that his best performances were often left in the warm up room. I know it frustrated Neal, hearing him sing great for a couple of hours warming up, only to crack during the show.

[AlienC]

Yeah, unfortunately, Jaime tends to blow his own horn way too much, but he's a great guy and ready to help anybody. He's one of the good ones. Very genuine guy. I think Augeri is a similar cat. He's always been really humble about everything. I have yet to hear him be arrogant in an interview or with a fan. I've talked to him in the past via email about voice stuff and he was always really cool. MY EXPERIENCE.

Jeremy brings up a great point about the in ears. Unless Augeri said "just use all of it" then he most likely wouldn't know when it's being used or not. The thing I don't get is WHY would he sing at all? Better to shut up and just talk between songs than to try and sing, causing more damage to his chords. Not sticking up for the action. I like Augeri and I could see how what happened has. But it begs the question of if he knew he was trashing his voice, possibly permanently, why did he not just NOT sing at all?

Because Steve Augeri is a stand up guy.

With enough heart, conviction and cajones to know if the course the group takes is not up to him, better he go down in flames, singing his cords out, than to wimp out and lip along quietly, like someoNe'S BITCH. At least that's what the guy from Brooklyn I know would do.
YMMV

We've seen the photos with the guy sitting next to Deen with the digital recorder, so everybody knew what was happening.
That's another weird question- WHY would the guy be doing that in plain view? Weird. Maybe it was so Augeri could signal to him directly "hey, I'm having problems here, roll Open Arms" or whatever.

The most compelling piece I read on all of this was the original Google group post by the guy on the crew (that used to be here too). Really damning. I still think it's a shame.

The thing about playing with a track is the performer has little, if any, control of anything, save their own performance. The tempo, arrangement, everything is predetermined. Tracks can be OFF as well as ON and they don't all have to be for the audience's benefit aka "in the mix". Some performers will have "click tracks" be MUCH more than a simple CLICK. Think congas, other percussion tracks, often played loudly through stage monitors for effect.

When I mixed this sort of thing, the performer rarely knew when I mixed track vocal over theirs as a repair unless they were in a position to hear the mains. Since everyone on the crew and band were on "In Ear" Monitors, there is no way that was likely to happen. Then you would have guys like Paul Anka "talking " to Sammy Davis Jr. , down front and center, gesturing to the video screen as if this were some sort of "other world" portal, and Sammy was checkin' in with his old buddy Paul.... wierd.... oh yeah.... it's called SHOW BUSINESS !!!!!!!!
This isn't Steroids in Professional Sports . or is it ?????
That "fellow from the crew" (Svante) is a fixture at the Sweden Rock Festival. I believe I may have met those guys when I was there with Y&T in 2003.
That there was no feed to the truck is a screw up in Production Manager territory. The buck has to stop somewhere, and that's part of the PRODUCTION at that point, just like the mirror ball. If the band's crew wasn't on the job enough to make sure The Wizard's curtain isn't pulled back, they have only themselves to blame. getting a Post Fader Return back up the audio snake is no big deal. In most concert rigs, there will be at least one, ( the mic the mixer uses to communicate onstage with ) and often there will be eight or more.

Shame? Only if you didn't give it your all.
Blame ? Enough for all if you spread it out thin enough.

I say it's nothing but a Shit Sandwich........ If you get enough BREAD, The $hit doesn't $eem $o bad.

[stevew2]

http://groups.google.co.uk/group/alt.audio.pro.live-sound/browse_thread/thread/9431c4152805faf0/f2663e937b5d1ac7#f2663e937b5d1ac7

The title was Journey weirdness

Thanks for posting. This shows the bullshit the fans heard. It would have been cool to set that little blue tent on fire,and fry that board,along with Kevin It was wrong,and I am glad the truth is out.I sure hope it dont happen again

[larryfromnextdoor]

I say it's nothing but a Shit Sandwich........ If you get enough BREAD, The $hit doesn't $eem $o bad.

man, that post was an amazing read.. this quote was poetry.. im gonna go read this again.. very insightful..

[JohnH]

One of the worst interviews I've ever read on the net. It's all about the interviewer shouting..."ME ME ME ME ME". Just fricking godawful. I want to hear what Steve says, not this idiot going off topic on every question blabbing about himself, pimping his book, his kid, and other bands, people that have nothing to do with Journey or Steve. Jesus!

JH

[larryfromnextdoor]

One of the worst interviews I've ever read on the net. It's all about the interviewer shouting..."ME ME ME ME ME". Just fricking godawful. I want to hear what Steve says, not this idiot going off topic on every question blabbing about himself, pimping his book, and other bands that have nothing to do with Journey or Steve. Jesus!

JH

i thought that was strange as well, who is this steve guy?

[The_Noble_Cause]

EXACTLY! PLEASE, No more calls, we have a winner.....

No, actually we don't.

I have alot of respect for you, Allen.
I actually contacted Andrew and told him to get in touch with you as soon as TapeGate broke - because from BT I knew you could be counted on to dish us the truth (whether we wanted to hear it or not).
However, lately though, your posts sound more and more like the ramblings of a disgruntled ex-employee with an axe to grind. And now, I'm beggining to think you're trying to exonerate a fellow dismissed NOMOTA colleague - culpable or not.

Augeri had to know what was being sent out to the speakers.
And no, I'm not saying this to stomp on the guy while he's down.
I'm saying this because MANY of the tapes used in '05 (BGTY, ATL, FITH, TPIYH etc) had key segments where the tapes cease and Augeri's feed actually went out to the crowd. In those fleeting *live* moments (some of them ocurring mid-song), Augeri purposely deviated from the song. Usually improvising in his remaining low range with extemporaneous lyrics, or addressing the fans. If he didn't know when he was being heard over the speakers (as you posit), there is absolutely no way he could've risked doing that. This whole charade rested on his mouth articulations remaining in sync with the lyrics being heard over the speaker. He couldn't risk straying from the song for even a second UNLESS he knew the precise moments when the taped-vox paused.

It is my belief that those *live* moments were strageically worked out between Steve & Elson beforehand. They had to be. Only by knowing when he was live and when he was not, could Steve afford to take the risk to cease moving his mouth in sync to tapes.

You obviously know alot more about the inner working of the business than many of us.
If you can disabuse me of my beliefs above, please do.

[stevew2]

EXACTLY! PLEASE, No more calls, we have a winner.....

No, actually we don't.

I have alot of respect for you, Allen.
I actually contacted Andrew and told him to get in touch with you as soon as TapeGate broke - because from BT I knew you could be counted on to dish us the truth (whether we wanted to hear it or not).
However, lately though, your posts sound more and more like the ramblings of a disgruntled ex-employee with an axe to grind. And now, I'm beggining to think you're trying to exonerate a fellow dismissed NOMOTA colleague - culpable or not.

Augeri had to know what was being sent out to the speakers.
And no, I'm not saying this to stomp on the guy while he's down.
I'm saying this because MANY of the tapes used in '05 (BGTY, ATL, FITH, TPIYH etc) had key segments where the tapes cease and Augeri's feed actually went out to the crowd. In those fleeting *live* moments (some of them ocurring mid-song), Augeri purposely deviated from the song. Usually improvising in his remaining low range with extemporaneous lyrics, or addressing the fans. If he didn't know when he was being heard over the speakers (as you posit), there is absolutely no way he could've risked doing that. This whole charade rested on his mouth articulations remaining in sync with the lyrics being heard over the speaker. He couldn't risk straying from the song for even a second UNLESS he knew the precise moments when the taped-vox paused.

It is my belief that those *live* moments were strageically worked out between Steve & Elson beforehand. They had to be. Only by knowing when he was live and when he was not, could Steve afford to take the risk to cease moving his mouth in sync to tapes.

You obviously know alot more about the inner working of the business than many of us.
If you can disabuse me of my beliefs above, please do.

I agree with you on this one. They all knew, they had to,It was planned out rather cleverly, They screwed up when they played outside with a bunch of other bands and sound techs. The cat was let out of the bag

[Red13JoePa]

Yes and the finger can't be put on Elson, Augeri, or any one person alone.

[Jeremey]

No, actually we don't.

I have alot of respect for you, Allen.
I actually contacted Andrew and told him to get in touch with you as soon as TapeGate broke - because from BT I knew you could be counted on to dish us the truth (whether we wanted to hear it or not).
However, lately though, your posts sound more and more like the ramblings of a disgruntled ex-employee with an axe to grind. And now, I'm beggining to think you're trying to exonerate a fellow dismissed NOMOTA colleague - culpable or not.

Augeri had to know what was being sent out to the speakers.
And no, I'm not saying this to stomp on the guy while he's down.
I'm saying this because MANY of the tapes used in '05 (BGTY, ATL, FITH, TPIYH etc) had key segments where the tapes cease and Augeri's feed actually went out to the crowd. In those fleeting *live* moments (some of them ocurring mid-song), Augeri purposely deviated from the song. Usually improvising in his remaining low range with extemporaneous lyrics, or addressing the fans. If he didn't know when he was being heard over the speakers (as you posit), there is absolutely no way he could've risked doing that. This whole charade rested on his mouth articulations remaining in sync with the lyrics being heard over the speaker. He couldn't risk straying from the song for even a second UNLESS he knew the precise moments when the taped-vox paused.

It is my belief that those *live* moments were strageically worked out between Steve & Elson beforehand. They had to be. Only by knowing when he was live and when he was not, could Steve afford to take the risk to cease moving his mouth in sync to tapes.

You obviously know alot more about the inner working of the business than many of us.
If you can disabuse me of my beliefs above, please do.

I believe he had the ad lib parts worked out well in advance - In that it's pretty tough to come up with new exciting ad lib parts year after year - And so it was common knowledge that there was no tapes being run through over those segments among the production people. But in the overall scheme of things, I still think Elson had the absolute final call down to the millisecond as what was going through front of house or not. I'm not making excuses for Augeri - Trust me - but the ad libs don't discount the fact that the Journey production team had final say over what made it out front and what didn't.

[roknroseville]

Sorry BUT Who cares??
They did what they did to put on a show...
Don't put it all on Augeri ( I'm sure he wasn't proud of it )
But The management kept adding shows...
Give the guy a break... He had to sing night after night for 8 years without much time off...
It's kinda like a knife in the back to Steve Augeri...
Maybe if Journey n management would of gave him some time off Things would of been better.
Let's see what happens if JSS starts having vocal problems.

[Abitaman]

Hopefully he won't have vocal problems. And hopefully mgmt and the band has learned something out of this.-ERIC

[roknroseville]

One more thing..
Augeri even mentions that the upcoming summer tour was over 60 shows & says it's ludicris....
He knew that it was gonna be tough to make it thru.... did journey n management care?
There was no way they were gonna lose out on the money n exposure.
Did Augeri make a case on his vocal issues who knows? But i would think so.. he's has them for a while.
But come hell or high water they were gonna journey on no matter what the cost...

[Red13JoePa]

I'm uncomfortable with the idea of Elson as the biggest culprit.
He would have to have less say over it than the LEAST member of the band (though some reports suggest there really was no least member even though Neal and Ross were in the band some 23 years before Augeri and Castronovo).


I'm figuring that as the sound guy he did what he was told with the carte blanche to use his expert ear to know when to turn Steve down and the tape up.

By the way, they are still working w/ KevCat as the main man at the board, right?

[Jeremey]

I'm figuring that as the sound guy he did what he was told with the carte blanche to use his expert ear to know when to turn Steve down and the tape up.

That's the exact point I'm making - Not putting blame on Kevin, only saying that he was likely the only one who knew just how much was live and how much was tape feed.

[Carlitto H@kk]

Ok, I have been trying to weed thru all these comments,
and there are some really good ones aside from RokenBlowsville's rants,
and I am left with one burning question in regards to the
different mixes the band used and who 'really' knew how many
'canned tracks' were being used.

I truly believe the TG stuff and could really care less who is to blame.
I am just happy the band decided to finally part ways with
a singer whose touring endurance has been in question for years
and whose writing talents were medicore.
I apologize in advance if this is long but bear with me...

Some people have alluded to the idea that the rest of the
band wasn't aware of how much was "live" and how much
were the "canned tracks".
My question is in regards to the Band's Ear Monitors.
If the "canned tracks" were being used a majority of the time
then what was the rest of the band getting in their ear monitors?

1. They were all getting the same vocal feed that the PA's were pumping and
"honestly" thought that Augeri was nailing it night after night.

2. They were getting Augeri's actual "live" feed and somehow managed
to get thru each show with a straight face and were content to, in their beliefs,
allow their audiences to sit thru those horrendous performances.

3. They actually didn't have ANY lead vocals in their Ear Monitors and just
heard what they could from the PA's

Was it any of those 3 scenarios or was it something I hadn't thought of???

If it was the first then, sure, they all knew what was going on. There's no way
that they believed Augeri was sounding that good.
If it were the second scenario then these guys got some big balls being
content to give their fans that rubbish. And if it were the third, again,
I have to believe that they all knew what was up. Especially Deen...
You don't think that he was wondering who the new guy was sitting behind
him all night long???

Again, I could care less who knew. It was a bad call by a band that probably thought
they had no other alternative and knows that touring is their bread & butter.
Not to mention that, after all these yers, I'm sure they couldn't fathom
starting over at the time.

I'd be willing to wager that, if this all would've stayed hush-hush, this past summer's
tour with DL would've been Journey's last pending Perry and Smitty giving it
one more go-around.

Thank God Jeff stepped in when he did and lit a new fire under the Band and Management's
collective asses! You KNOW we have some killer material to look forward to when fuckin' Friga
is fired up and looking forward to getting back to the studio!

Thanks for your patience and I hope someone can answer for me

[stevew2]

I'm figuring that as the sound guy he did what he was told with the carte blanche to use his expert ear to know when to turn Steve down and the tape up.

That's the exact point I'm making - Not putting blame on Kevin, only saying that he was likely the only one who knew just how much was live and how much was tape feed.

You do have a good point if anyone could help pull it off,it would be Kevin,he was with Journey,a long time ago. I hope he is not running the board on the next tour. I wouldnt trust him anymore{as a fan}

[AlienC]

EXACTLY! PLEASE, No more calls, we have a winner.....

No, actually we don't.

I have alot of respect for you, Allen.
I actually contacted Andrew and told him to get in touch with you as soon as TapeGate broke - because from BT I knew you could be counted on to dish us the truth (whether we wanted to hear it or not).
However, lately though, your posts sound more and more like the ramblings of a disgruntled ex-employee with an axe to grind. And now, I'm beggining to think you're trying to exonerate a fellow dismissed NOMOTA colleague - culpable or not.

Augeri had to know what was being sent out to the speakers.
And no, I'm not saying this to stomp on the guy while he's down.
I'm saying this because MANY of the tapes used in '05 (BGTY, ATL, FITH, TPIYH etc) had key segments where the tapes cease and Augeri's feed actually went out to the crowd. In those fleeting *live* moments (some of them ocurring mid-song), Augeri purposely deviated from the song. Usually improvising in his remaining low range with extemporaneous lyrics, or addressing the fans. If he didn't know when he was being heard over the speakers (as you posit), there is absolutely no way he could've risked doing that. This whole charade rested on his mouth articulations remaining in sync with the lyrics being heard over the speaker. He couldn't risk straying from the song for even a second UNLESS he knew the precise moments when the taped-vox paused.

It is my belief that those *live* moments were strageically worked out between Steve & Elson beforehand. They had to be. Only by knowing when he was live and when he was not, could Steve afford to take the risk to cease moving his mouth in sync to tapes.

You obviously know alot more about the inner working of the business than many of us.
If you can disabuse me of my beliefs above, please do.

Given that you've taken the whole comment out of context, I couldn't care less what you choose to misconstrue.
Of course there would be some "working it out" , since there were more than one member of crew operating the damn things, I fail to see the significance in any of this. Hell, In Paul Anka's show, god help you if the film was running slow and Paul was out of synch with the damn things. wouldn't be his fault. That it took you all as long to figure it out is a testament to the notion that it really is a disconnect with reality that allows this sort of thing to occur in front of your face.
I bolded the point that I was responding to, and I stand by it. I NEVER said it was anyone ONLY and to jump to such a conclusion is on you.
You're splitting hairs in a head chopping contest.

Secondly, and this goes for the rest of you ( with only a couple of exceptions ) upon whose foot this might fit ....
I don't know your REAL name, can't put a face to your name , nor do I have any a priori knowledge of you or your personal life.

And may I add, all you know of me and mine is what you've read or have been told by someone other than the active participant (me) .
So, if you've been waiting to drop that"disgruntled ex-employee " bomb, I hope you've gotten it off your chest.

It shows that is the filter that you read my words through. Further it reveals that you have prejudiced yourself against me through that simple shift in perception based on your own bias.

One man's "disgruntled ex-employee" is another man's "Whistleblowing Crusader". Depends on which side of the divide one is on. I was blissfully unaware of anything Journey when I received an email from another disgruntled ex-employee (they've got a lot of them, btw, I'm in good company) about Tapegate.

And more to the point.....The condition of my "gruntel" is none of your business.

Further discussion of it will result in a revocation of your MAN Card for 72 hours...... on a Friday...... Next 3 day weekend......

edit: I'm sticking up for SA because it's the right thing to do when he's getting rat-packed. Sure, it wasn't kosher, but hey, I'll be willing to bet it's yesterdays news to 99.5% of the rest of the world.
In the grand scheme of things, meh, no biggie.