UK Classic Rock Interview - Neal & Ross interview.

[SusieP]

Scanner's just bust, so I typed out the relevant bits word for word.

CR - "And what do you have to say about the accusation that on some occasions in Europe Augeri was lip-synching?"
Neal - "[sighs deeply] That's all they were - just rumours. I play live every night and don't even listen to the vocals. I've heard them a zillion times. The way I'm set up on stage I don't need to hear vocals. If stuff went on I'd have had no clue. It's just bullshit."

CR - "In which case why did it take so long to issue a denial?"
Neal - If we'd flown right back and said that it was horseshit, people would have accused us of lying. It's a double-edged sword. At the end of the day, we knew we were innocent."


CR - "What's your response to the rumours that Steve Augeri mimed at times in Europe? Neal denied them, but not as emphatically as might have been expected."
Ross - "Well, that's kinda surprising. But the whole thing was ridiculous. Some fans have such strong opinions about band members past and present. They have access to a computer but they just don't have a life."

CR - "Nevertheless, the deletion of all those posts at the Journey web forum made it look like you had something to hide."
Ross - "I completely disagree. To us the whole thing was so disrespectful. To put it in perspective, those few individuals represent a tiny proportion of our fans. Why should we allow them to say such idiotic things?"

CR - "So, for the sake of clarity, did Steve Augeri lip-synch on stage during the last tour, or not?"
Ross - No. He did not. It was one big lie."

[Clasicrockldy]

SusieP, Please, can you type out the part where Neal said that he talked with Augeri? I would like to see that part, since I have read that some Augeri fans think Augeri is recovered. thank you !

[SusieP]

It doesn't say that Neal spoke to him, but it says,

CR "What was so wrong with Steve Augeri that prompted replacing him mid-tour?"
Neal "He came back from Europe and had pretty much blown himself out:his voice didn't seem to be coming back. We walked on stage each night and he just wasn't where he'd been for the past seven and a half years. Jeff [Scott Soto] is such a chameleon and a talented singer. He and I mesh, writing-wise and on stage."

CR "Deen Castronovo's vocal contributions helped to fuel the rumours.."
Neal " Deen helped Steve tremendously for the last four years. Steve had some rough times. We told Deen to sing along to every song [with Augeri] and if they had to make a switch out front [through the PA] then that's what was done."

Can't see anything about Neal actually speaking to Steve Augeri, sorry, CLR.

[SusieP]

And as a close it says,

" NEXT STEP FOR JOURNEY"

"After they complete their European dates, Journey head straight for the studio. As well as recording a follow-up to the Generations album, they also plan to re-record some classic songs from their catalogue, this time with Jeff Scott Soto, who has replaced Steve Augeri on vocals.

"We'll be cutting all our hits live and also revising some album tracks," Neal Schon explains.
"The band is playing better than ever, and Jeff gives the songs an edgy treatment. It still sounds like Journey, just updated."

For the all original album, Soto is expected to join the songwriting team of Schon and Cain.
"We've been figuring out a direction, and it'll be a little like Soul Sirkus," Schon predicts, "It'll be hooky and you'll hear some crunchy lead guitar, but it won't be heavy metal."

[Clasicrockldy]

Thank you, SusieP. I guess the interviewer who posted over at BT just thru something in the post about Neal talking to Augeri and Augeri tellin Neal that he is 50% back vocally. Too bad it didn't show up in the final version.

[jrnyjetster]

they also plan to re-record some classic songs from their catalogue....
"We'll be cutting all our hits live and also revising some album tracks," Neal Schon explains.
"The band is playing better than ever, and Jeff gives the songs an edgy treatment. It still sounds like Journey, just updated."

And ya think Steve Perry will allow this??

[SusieP]

Thank you, SusieP. I guess the interviewer who posted over at BT just thru something in the post about Neal talking to Augeri and Augeri tellin Neal that he is 50% back vocally. Too bad it didn't show up in the final version.

Yeah, I thought they would have put someting in about how he's doing, but they didn't.
Never mind.

[ArnelRox]

Thank you, SusieP. I guess the interviewer who posted over at BT just thru something in the post about Neal talking to Augeri and Augeri tellin Neal that he is 50% back vocally. Too bad it didn't show up in the final version.

I think that referred to a different interview than the CR one. Something some guy did that will be up on some UK website on 3/9 (Friday)

[ArnelRox]

[/b]CR - "So, for the sake of clarity, did Steve Augeri lip-synch on stage during the last tour, or not?"
Ross - No. He did not. It was one big lie."

Anyone know of good deals on hearing aids? It seems me & a few other people will need them.

Oh wait, which tour is Ross talking about exactly? If it's the last US tour then no, Augeri didn't lip. He croaked.

[ohsherrie]

they also plan to re-record some classic songs from their catalogue....
"We'll be cutting all our hits live and also revising some album tracks," Neal Schon explains.
"The band is playing better than ever, and Jeff gives the songs an edgy treatment. It still sounds like Journey, just updated."

And ya think Steve Perry will allow this??

I hope not. Not because I'm a loon, but because I just think it's a really bad idea. They should be looking to the future, not the past.

[journeyinto2001]

Scanner's just bust, so I typed out the relevant bits word for word.

CR - "And what do you have to say about the accusation that on some occasions in Europe Augeri was lip-synching?"
Neal - "[sighs deeply] That's all they were - just rumours. I play live every night and don't even listen to the vocals. I've heard them a zillion times. The way I'm set up on stage I don't need to hear vocals. If stuff went on I'd have had no clue. It's just bullshit."

CR - "In which case why did it take so long to issue a denial?"
Neal - If we'd flown right back and said that it was horseshit, people would have accused us of lying. It's a double-edged sword. At the end of the day, we knew we were innocent."


CR - "What's your response to the rumours that Steve Augeri mimed at times in Europe? Neal denied them, but not as emphatically as might have been expected."
Ross - "Well, that's kinda surprising. But the whole thing was ridiculous. Some fans have such strong opinions about band members past and present. They have access to a computer but they just don't have a life."

CR - "Nevertheless, the deletion of all those posts at the Journey web forum made it look like you had something to hide."
Ross - "I completely disagree. To us the whole thing was so disrespectful. To put it in perspective, those few individuals represent a tiny proportion of our fans. [b]Why should we allow them to say such idiotic things?"
CR - "So, for the sake of clarity, did Steve Augeri lip-synch on stage during the last tour, or not?"
Ross - No. He did not. It was one big lie."

[/b]

FINALLY the truth about this from the band. After hearing all the BULLSHIT RUMORS created and sustained on this site on this site and carried over to other sites like YouTube, the truth is VERY refreshing. One big fucking lie promoted by a few here and bought into by others who are very naive. Lip-synching simply DID NOT happen. For those who promoted LIES, shame on you.

[Red13JoePa]

they also plan to re-record some classic songs from their catalogue....
"We'll be cutting all our hits live and also revising some album tracks," Neal Schon explains.
"The band is playing better than ever, and Jeff gives the songs an edgy treatment. It still sounds like Journey, just updated."

And ya think Steve Perry will allow this??

Who knows?
Given what we all think we know about that shit, it wouls seem an obvious question, SO much so that I almost think Neal wouldn't've brought it up if something wasn't in the works agreement-wise.

I'll reiterate my interest in buying that record. I'm prolly one of the FEW who likes BJ's This Left Feels Right, especially the live versions on their AC Borgata dvd. This seems a similar concept.

[Lula]

FINALLY the truth about this from the band. After hearing all the BULLSHIT RUMORS created and sustained on this site on this site and carried over to other sites like YouTube, the truth is VERY refreshing. One big fucking lie promoted by a few here and bought into by others who are very naive. Lip-synching simply DID NOT happen. For those who promoted LIES, shame on you.

Gee, ya think??? Thanks for the chuckle.

[larryfromnextdoor]

how would neal know that Soto gives the band and edgy sound if he doesnt have the vocals dialed in,, that neal is so funny

[larryfromnextdoor]

FINALLY the truth about this from the band. After hearing all the BULLSHIT RUMORS created and sustained on this site on this site and carried over to other sites like YouTube, the truth is VERY refreshing. One big fucking lie promoted by a few here and bought into by others who are very naive. Lip-synching simply DID NOT happen. For those who promoted LIES, shame on you.

Gee, ya think??? Thanks for the chuckle.

she lives under a rock , and not the kind that rolls!!

[NealIsGod]

They are not lying. Augeri did not "mime". He sang into a dead mic. He SANG. It's just that no one could hear him.

[ohsherrie]

They are not lying. Augeri did not "mime". He sang into a dead mic. He SANG. It's just that no one could hear him.

You just beat me to that NIG. I was going to say that they were technically right because he wasn't actually lip synching or miming. He was singing(or something that might be called singing) live but no one was hearing him live.

This comment by Neal:

"CR "Deen Castronovo's vocal contributions helped to fuel the rumours.."
Neal " Deen helped Steve tremendously for the last four years. Steve had some rough times. We told Deen to sing along to every song [with Augeri] and if they had to make a switch out front [through the PA] then that's what was done." "

Is a sort of clever(well, clever for Neal ) way of covering for the fact that there was an additional vocal track that someone may have picked up on.

[Matthew]

Neal "He came back from Europe and had pretty much blown himself out:his voice didn't seem to be coming back. We walked on stage each night and he just wasn't where he'd been for the past seven and a half years. .

Has Neal forgotten the statement issued last year about the "chronic throat infection"?

[StyxCollector]

CR - "And what do you have to say about the accusation that on some occasions in Europe Augeri was lip-synching?"
Neal - "[sighs deeply] That's all they were - just rumours. I play live every night and don't even listen to the vocals. I've heard them a zillion times. The way I'm set up on stage I don't need to hear vocals. If stuff went on I'd have had no clue. It's just bullshit."

Here's Neal's plausible deniability. If he's not listening to the lyrics in his monitors, he can always say he didn't know. Notice he says he plays live every night - very true.

Look, I agree with Deano's post from the other day. It does Journey no good to admit to lipping at this point.

[lbeau12]

Let's live in the present and look forward to the future. I am excited about what is happening in the band right now. They are playing songs other than the dirty dozen and from what I hear they sound like they are being done justice.

[stevew2]

Them guys are to funny, they should have been comedians

[EightyRock]

For God's sake, the last thing they need to be doing is RE-RECORDING any classics with Soto singing them. Just when I start to think they might move forward, they try to reinvent the friggin' wheel. Leave perfection alone and move on to something new. If they do this, I think they have lost their collective minds. I don't know who had the idea, but it screams desperation in a MAJOR way.
Did I mention it's a bad idea?

[stevew2]

I agree with you, Put out some new stuff.I think a live cd would be okay.I doubt Mr P would approve though

[mystichealer]

Well i'm not interested anymore about the lippy stuff. It happened, and they aint gonna ever admit to it. What concerns me though is the comment ''it'll be a little like Soul Sirkus''. Well if it is then i'm afraid this band will go absolutely fucking nowhere very fast. No fucking melody, zero fucking hooks, and a complete sack of shit just as Soul SirkUS were. And whats Cain gonna do with a sound like that. This is Journey for fucks sake. You know the band with melodies and hooks to die for. Ohh fuck it anyway.

[SusieP]

Well i'm not interested anymore about the lippy stuff. .

Damn I wish I'd known that before I typed the bloody thing out!!!!

[jrnyman28]

,

CR - "And what do you have to say about the accusation that on some occasions in Europe Augeri was lip-synching?"
Neal - "[sighs deeply] That's all they were - just rumours. I play live every night and don't even listen to the vocals. I've heard them a zillion times. The way I'm set up on stage I don't need to hear vocals. If stuff went on I'd have had no clue. It's just bullshit."


CR - "What was so wrong with Steve Augeri that prompted replacing him mid-tour?"
Neal - "He came back from Europe and had pretty much blown himself out:his voice didn't seem to be coming back. We walked on stage each night and he just wasn't where he'd been for the past seven and a half years.

Do these two statements seem contradictory or is it just me?

'I don't listen to the vocals but I knew Steve just wasn't where he had been the past 7 1/2 years'.......

[Matthew]

[/b]Ross " Some fans have such strong opinions about band members past and present. They have access to a computer but they just don't have a life.

To us the whole thing was so disrespectful. To put it in perspective, those few individuals represent a tiny proportion of our fans. Why should we allow them to say such idiotic things?....It was one big lie."

Hey AR and Deano...was Ross talking like this when he came to the MR party hosted by "those few individuals" last year?

[joybringer1]

[/b]Ross " Some fans have such strong opinions about band members past and present. They have access to a computer but they just don't have a life.

To us the whole thing was so disrespectful. To put it in perspective, those few individuals represent a tiny proportion of our fans. Why should we allow them to say such idiotic things?....It was one big lie."

Hey AR and Deano...was Ross talking like this when he came to the MR party hosted by "those few individuals" last year?

Exactly, Matthew, that's what I don't get with Ross, and this was mild compared to the "obsessive fan with too much time on his hands" he talked about in the other recent interview. How on earth can he socialise and be friendly with the "obsessive fan" and then put him down in that way? It stinks. Ross Vallory is a two-faced bastard as far as I'm concerned.

[ohsherrie]

Exactly, Matthew, that's what I don't get with Ross, and this was mild compared to the "obsessive fan with too much time on his hands" he talked about in the other recent interview. How on earth can he socialise and be friendly with the "obsessive fan" and then put him down in that way? It stinks. Ross Vallory is a two-faced bastard as far as I'm concerned.

Maybe Ross is counting on the "obsessive fan" still having the best interest of Journey in mind and understanding the situation they're in on this subject.

[NealIsGod]

Exactly, Matthew, that's what I don't get with Ross, and this was mild compared to the "obsessive fan with too much time on his hands" he talked about in the other recent interview. How on earth can he socialise and be friendly with the "obsessive fan" and then put him down in that way? It stinks. Ross Vallory is a two-faced bastard as far as I'm concerned.

Maybe Ross is counting on the "obsessive fan" still having the best interest of Journey in mind and understanding the situation they're in on this subject.

Well said. Ross is just towing the company line.

Let's face it, we ALL have too much time on our hands.