Andrew...thanks for the Herbie Interview!

[strangegrey]

Andrew, I think this needs to be said publicly.

two words. Thank you!


First, let me say, I love your interviews. Some of them have been better than others. But as a whole, they've been informative, entertaining and enlightening.

Anyway, I realized something this morning, as I'm reading your Herbie interview...in that while sometimes you don't go for the jugular in an interview, you *always* strive to twist optimism out of the interview. In todays day and age, optimism is very, very hard to find. Your interviews strive to be informative, while at the same time you offer an opportunity for you to become a sort of ambassador for the interviewee. I'm sure you understand just how hard this is. I don't think that most people here can see the distinction. Most other journalists will attack their interviewee with hard questions and strive to glean a nugget of controversy from the interview, in an effort to attain leverage with the final product. Sometimes, this isn't necessary at all. It takes a damn good interviewer to recognize that and not scratch under the surface with serrated knives that'll leave a scar.


So I'm going to come right out and say, I think your interview with Herbie Herbert will go down as one of the best interviews you've ever done.

I'll expand on this in a minute.


When Herbie speaks, I usually listen. He's sorta like Simon Cowell. He's rarely wrong, despite the fact that sometimes you don't want to hear what he has to say. So to speak plainly... Rght or wrong, I tend to trust Herbie above all others. Let me say that while Herbie's interview was informative, more significantly, it has allowed me to open my eyes to some of the positive aspects surrounding Journey right now and for the first time in years, I'm looking at Journey in a different light.

In fact, right now, while writing this, I'm listening to Journey. Something I haven't done in, literally, years. (other than to reference a youtube here or there)


I'm a firm believer that the interviewer controls about 75% of the tone of the interview. If an interviewee has an axe to grind, you can't get around that fact. But if the interviewer is neutral, it's up to the interviewer to set the tone. In this particular case, Herbie said it himself, he has "no dog in this fight." So to come to the point, you had an opportunity to direct this interview in any direction you wanted. You could have taken Herbie to a place where he would have blasted Cain, Perry and Schon for all of their faults. And I firmly believe Herbie could have done that with ease. Instead you chose to take the interview in this positive direction. Sure there were times were Herbie didn't speak positively about Perry or Cain. But the interview wasn't dominated by such a flavor.


So to close, thanks for this interview. It's exactly what I needed right now to dust off the chaps and get back into the rodeo.

[larryfromnextdoor]

ive only read the interview once.. but it appears HH can be a "bucking bronco"* going all over the place..

Andrew is the king of redirection for sure.. I was also listening to the old tunes while reading it .. when he was speaking of Look into the Future , i put that on.. etc...

the funny thing about this interview to me is that sometimes HH acts like hes completly out of the picture,, then 2 questions down he will say something that puts him dead center of whats going on RIGHT NOW...



*keeing with the rodeo theme..

[(Crazy)Dulce Lady]

Andrew, I think this needs to be said publicly.

two words. Thank you!


First, let me say, I love your interviews. Some of them have been better than others. But as a whole, they've been informative, entertaining and enlightening.

Anyway, I realized something this morning, as I'm reading your Herbie interview...in that while sometimes you don't go for the jugular in an interview, you *always* strive to twist optimism out of the interview. In todays day and age, optimism is very, very hard to find. Your interviews strive to be informative, while at the same time you offer an opportunity for you to become a sort of ambassador for the interviewee. I'm sure you understand just how hard this is. I don't think that most people here can see the distinction. Most other journalists will attack their interviewee with hard questions and strive to glean a nugget of controversy from the interview, in an effort to attain leverage with the final product. Sometimes, this isn't necessary at all. It takes a damn good interviewer to recognize that and not scratch under the surface with serrated knives that'll leave a scar.


So I'm going to come right out and say, I think your interview with Herbie Herbert will go down as one of the best interviews you've ever done.

I'll expand on this in a minute.


When Herbie speaks, I usually listen. He's sorta like Simon Cowell. He's rarely wrong, despite the fact that sometimes you don't want to hear what he has to say. So to speak plainly... Rght or wrong, I tend to trust Herbie above all others. Let me say that while Herbie's interview was informative, more significantly, it has allowed me to open my eyes to some of the positive aspects surrounding Journey right now and for the first time in years, I'm looking at Journey in a different light.

In fact, right now, while writing this, I'm listening to Journey. Something I haven't done in, literally, years. (other than to reference a youtube here or there)


I'm a firm believer that the interviewer controls about 75% of the tone of the interview. If an interviewee has an axe to grind, you can't get around that fact. But if the interviewer is neutral, it's up to the interviewer to set the tone. In this particular case, Herbie said it himself, he has "no dog in this fight." So to come to the point, you had an opportunity to direct this interview in any direction you wanted. You could have taken Herbie to a place where he would have blasted Cain, Perry and Schon for all of their faults. And I firmly believe Herbie could have done that with ease. Instead you chose to take the interview in this positive direction. Sure there were times were Herbie didn't speak positively about Perry or Cain. But the interview wasn't dominated by such a flavor.


So to close, thanks for this interview. It's exactly what I needed right now to dust off the chaps and get back into the rodeo.

sg, when you are right, you are right. I have a whole new perspective too. Neal is the ROCK DAWG, still reigning supreme after all these years. nothing that happens anywhere, anytime, anyhow can change that.

Andrew, I loved how you always were able to bring the conversation back to the point and keep it on the upside. fantastic. thanks.

[Michigan Girl]

Andrew, I think this needs to be said publicly.

two words. Thank you!

I'm a firm believer that the interviewer controls about 75% of the tone of the interview. If an interviewee has an axe to grind, you can't get around that fact. But if the interviewer is neutral, it's up to the interviewer to set the tone. In this particular case, Herbie said it himself, he has "no dog in this fight." So to come to the point, you had an opportunity to direct this interview in any direction you wanted. You could have taken Herbie to a place where he would have blasted Cain, Perry and Schon for all of their faults. And I firmly believe Herbie could have done that with ease. Instead you chose to take the interview in this positive direction. Sure there were times were Herbie didn't speak positively about Perry or Cain. But the interview wasn't dominated by such a flavor.

Here, here!!!

[Marabelle]

HH is bombastic, crude and usually says what he feels without censor cause he feels he has earned that right. There are usually few if any buffers. He says what is on his mind. He was knee deep in the mix with the band for all those years and moved them kicking and screaming from a band playing for small audiences to filling out arenas. HH was excellent doing that. Simon is a judge on a reality series; sure he has history in the business and is successful but he's wearing a different kind of hat when he wipes the floor with one of the singers on the show. HH knew these people personally for years; liked some and despised others. I always felt HH didn't care what others thought cause of his single minded nature and I think that served him well and made the band lots of money. But saying that also makes me consider that perhaps he and Steve Perry were similiar creatures--single minded, obstinate, stubborn, self absorbed and control freaks; cept HH has a different kind of controlling nature; he's funny and can laugh at himself and you can almost laugh with him and understand why he's throwing someone under the bus. Not being there I believe he did what he thought collectively was good for the band. I mean with HH I read what he has to say and kind of learn how he dances methodically through life and carries a big stick. He has a heavy deep rhythm and it serves him right. He knows how to make money for himself and others. He appears so confident I almost believe the man can sing (not awfully well) and I haven't heard him sing one note. He's more than a force of nature. He's just that kind of guy you'd rather have as a friend than foe. I think after all is said and done he's probably all right with the world and believes he's done the best he could have done. On the flip side, I think there are some who believe they did not ever get to that place where they felt those things they did were quite right or could have been done better. If you don't believe in yourself after all is said and done; raging against the machine with various forms of protest only serve to re confirm your mistakes. And that's one place I don't think HH will ever be.

[Marabelle]

Oh yeah, much kudos and applause Andrew! Great interview!

[lights1961]

great read andrew, being at work iam reading a little a time... hard to take it all in at once though. SCHON is amazing guitar player of recent history, that will not be appreciated until its
too late, actually the whole band has never appreciated currently and in the past. I think thats also what bugs herbie so much and US AS FANS; there is never any appreciation given
to JOURNEY, ever. MHO.

[Eric]

You did an amazing job directing the interview. Thanks so much! Donation on its way!

[roycap]

Andrew - thanks for the interview. I hope you publish a few more in the next few months: Augeri and JSS. I know JSS will touch base with you, but I am not sure he is ready to be candid in his comments about his Journey adventure. I'd also like to know his thoughts on the Herbie comments.

[belar]

Have to agree with Frank here. Very well done, Andrew. Thanks for allowing us to peek into the insiders' world of music.

[Panther]

Yes, Andrew... Everything Frank said and MORE!

I'll have to read this a few more times to digest the technical aspects. lol I did appreciate you taking him down the road of the here and now of the "industry" or should I say lack thereof? It was interesting to read his take on how he would handle getting his band out there with the net craze. And I'm quite sure he would become KING of that avenue also.

Thanks again... I've already sent the link around to several friends.

[TRAGChick]

Than you a million times over, Andrew....MUCH appreciated!

[Andrew]

So to close, thanks for this interview. It's exactly what I needed right now to dust off the chaps and get back into the rodeo.

Frank - I really appreciate these comments. I am glad you have pointed out your thoughts as I am a positive guy...I do try and get the best from those I interview and as a whole I look on the positive side of things (keeping the negative to myself...which at times is hard to do, as they are plenty!)

I said in my interview intro that I thought it was a good place to mark ground and move forward and the response from the interview has been very positive.

Thanks to everyone that has e-mailed and posted here. It was my pleasure.

Such feeback makes the long hours worthwhile.

[Triple S]

I printed the interview this morning so I could read it at work this afternoon (made it easier to hide what I was doing )

Like a good book - couldn't put it down. Great job Andrew, very interesting stuff. Thank you!

(Just one note - it's fellatio, not fallacio )

[perrylover52]

A big Thank You Andrew. The interview, from what I have read so far, has been informative. You set the tone from the start and it is way different from Burning Castles interview. You were able to keep Herbie on track and had him telling the truth without getting down in the dirt. We all know there is no love lost between Steve & Herbie. So just to "hear" Herbie tell the beginings of Journey was great to read. Maybe someday we'll hear Steve's side of the story. Thanks for keeping the negative to a bare mimum. So far it's been a joy to read.

[cyndy!]

thanks andrew! very interesting interview. it brought back a lot of memories.

[mistiejourney]

Andrew, I think this needs to be said publicly.

two words. Thank you!


First, let me say, I love your interviews. Some of them have been better than others. But as a whole, they've been informative, entertaining and enlightening.

Anyway, I realized something this morning, as I'm reading your Herbie interview...in that while sometimes you don't go for the jugular in an interview, you *always* strive to twist optimism out of the interview. In todays day and age, optimism is very, very hard to find. Your interviews strive to be informative, while at the same time you offer an opportunity for you to become a sort of ambassador for the interviewee. I'm sure you understand just how hard this is. I don't think that most people here can see the distinction. Most other journalists will attack their interviewee with hard questions and strive to glean a nugget of controversy from the interview, in an effort to attain leverage with the final product. Sometimes, this isn't necessary at all. It takes a damn good interviewer to recognize that and not scratch under the surface with serrated knives that'll leave a scar.


So I'm going to come right out and say, I think your interview with Herbie Herbert will go down as one of the best interviews you've ever done.

I'll expand on this in a minute.


When Herbie speaks, I usually listen. He's sorta like Simon Cowell. He's rarely wrong, despite the fact that sometimes you don't want to hear what he has to say. So to speak plainly... Rght or wrong, I tend to trust Herbie above all others. Let me say that while Herbie's interview was informative, more significantly, it has allowed me to open my eyes to some of the positive aspects surrounding Journey right now and for the first time in years, I'm looking at Journey in a different light.

In fact, right now, while writing this, I'm listening to Journey. Something I haven't done in, literally, years. (other than to reference a youtube here or there)


I'm a firm believer that the interviewer controls about 75% of the tone of the interview. If an interviewee has an axe to grind, you can't get around that fact. But if the interviewer is neutral, it's up to the interviewer to set the tone. In this particular case, Herbie said it himself, he has "no dog in this fight." So to come to the point, you had an opportunity to direct this interview in any direction you wanted. You could have taken Herbie to a place where he would have blasted Cain, Perry and Schon for all of their faults. And I firmly believe Herbie could have done that with ease. Instead you chose to take the interview in this positive direction. Sure there were times were Herbie didn't speak positively about Perry or Cain. But the interview wasn't dominated by such a flavor.


So to close, thanks for this interview. It's exactly what I needed right now to dust off the chaps and get back into the rodeo.

Beautiful post!!! I'm not up for the rodeo anymore (who knows what the future brings, though), but you are so right about Andrew and the interview!

[dcvader]

Andrew, Great job with the interview.

[rayzke]

Great interview! All of your hard work is appreciated!

[stevew2]

Great interview, I dont know how he remembered all that shit.He is a genius

[annie89509]

The only thing I would question Andrew about is his apparent affirmation with Herbie that SA did more performances than SP. How could this be true? Our own SJ, before he turned a total about-face, condemned HH as a slave-driver "ruining" SP's voice with relentless touring. He posted Journey's touring schedule from Infinity-Frontiers to boost his claim. There were hardly any gaps on the calendar. Infinity tour went all year. Short break to record Evolution-back on the road. Same with Departure. Escape spanned 2 years. Frontiers record came out in 1983 = tour from March to October.

Sure, SA toured every year he was with the band, but none much longer than 6 months. Please, someone correct me if I'm wrong. And I think they even skipped 1 year to make a record.

And this thing about SA being frontman for Journey longer than SP? SA = 2-1/2 records. SP = 8 studio albums (counting DreamAfterDream); live album with 2 new songs; countless personal appearances and videos (almost all of which one can find posted on YouTube for posterity).

If all this makes me sound like a loon, so be it.

[stevew2]

The only thing I would question Andrew about is his apparent affirmation with Herbie that SA did more performances than SP. How could this be true? Our own SJ, before he turned a total about-face, condemned HH as a slave-driver "ruining" SP's voice with relentless touring. He posted Journey's touring schedule from Infinity-Frontiers to boost his claim. There were hardly any gaps on the calendar. Infinity tour went all year. Short break to record Evolution-back on the road. Same with Departure. Escape spanned 2 years. Frontiers record came out in 1983 = tour from March to October.

Sure, SA toured every year he was with the band, but none much longer than 6 months. Please, someone correct me if I'm wrong. And I think they even skipped 1 year to make a record.

And this thing about SA being frontman for Journey longer than SP? SA = 2-1/2 records. SP = 8 studio albums (counting DreamAfterDream); live album with 2 new songs; countless personal appearances and videos (almost all of which one can find posted on YouTube for posterity).

If all this makes me sound like a loon, so be it.

Im not the expert,but it was 8 years for Steve A,and they added extra tours at the end of The Main Event,and other tours they did to bringin that extra $$

[FinnFreak]

Thanks, Andrew - a well conducted, interesting interview indeed.


John -

[lbeau12]

Thank you very much.

[lbeau12]

Thank you very much.
Sorry double post but double Thanks
It was taking so long to post I hit submit again.

[strangegrey]

The only thing I would question Andrew about is his apparent affirmation with Herbie that SA did more performances than SP. How could this be true? Our own SJ, before he turned a total about-face, condemned HH as a slave-driver "ruining" SP's voice with relentless touring. He posted Journey's touring schedule from Infinity-Frontiers to boost his claim. There were hardly any gaps on the calendar. Infinity tour went all year. Short break to record Evolution-back on the road. Same with Departure. Escape spanned 2 years. Frontiers record came out in 1983 = tour from March to October.

Sure, SA toured every year he was with the band, but none much longer than 6 months. Please, someone correct me if I'm wrong. And I think they even skipped 1 year to make a record.

And this thing about SA being frontman for Journey longer than SP? SA = 2-1/2 records. SP = 8 studio albums (counting DreamAfterDream); live album with 2 new songs; countless personal appearances and videos (almost all of which one can find posted on YouTube for posterity).

If all this makes me sound like a loon, so be it.

Im not the expert,but it was 8 years for Steve A,and they added extra tours at the end of The Main Event,and other tours they did to bringin that extra $$

Yeah, I would submit that Journey, between 2002-2007 seemingly toured every friggin summer. Dont forget Vacations over tours in 98-99. That simply didn't happen with Journey w/ Perry. I wouldn't know the exact number of journey shows with Perry or the exact number of journey shows with Augeri...someone else would have to troop in with those numbers, probably Monker, but consider this, in loose terms:

Infinity-Departure were probably long tours with many dates - 3 years on par with an average Augeri fronted journey summer.
Escape-Frontiers - 2 years of touring....slightly less grueling, huge venues though.
ROR tour - this tour was cut short. It wasn't many nights anyway...it was designed to be a short stadium tour.

So really, we're talking 5 1/2 years of actual touring with Perry. Contrast that with Augeri, who toured 2 long summers with Journey prior to the release of Arrival, then the arrival tour, the dead 13 tour, the thousands of fucking pig auctions and tractor pulls they played between 2002 and 2004, the styx tours, the def leppard tours, etc, etc.

Needless to say, it doesn't sound outlandish to suggest that Augeri put more work in than Perry.

Let's also recognize the fact that when Assoff said "fuck your voice, tour!", Augeri croaked "do we have to....?" Assoff replies "check your contract, motherfucker!" ...augeri replies "ugh, alright!"

Contrast that with when Herbie said "tour!", Perry said "fuck you!"

[maverick218]

Andrew,
I'd just like to echo the kudos to your HH interview. I've read the Carty interview several times over the past few years, and I'm sure that I will do that with yours as well. Thanks for the hard work and for making MR.com such a great web site.
Good on ya, mate!

[Moon Beam]

Great job you did on the interview Wombat.
I was pleased to read that HH wasn't as harsh this time around.
Loved his moon walking on water words.

So tell us Sir, is there an interview high you get after you do these?
You know like a concert high?, if so....how long does it last?

[Scotticus83]

Just read the new Double H interview.......all I can say is: Andrew and Double H...FTW!!!! Historic success. I really enjoyed Herb's "new" perspective on some things, and appreciate his old views as well, which haven't changed much since Castles Burning, no surprise. I really wish I could be a fly on the wall at some of these points in history where the Herbie-Perry-Journey fabric started to unravel.....just to know who really is to blame.....sadly, I think everyone who ever had anything to do with it is to blame.....James Dean syndrome; too much, too fast, too young. You can't take people like Neal and Steve and build them up like greek Gods without paying a pennance at some point. Faggot Friga doesn't apply here, as he comes complete with his own egomaniacal agenda, that if Herbie were to write about, or better yet, expound further upon his "Airport Pickup" story about Fagga from the CB interview, this forum would most certainly be closed for all other business. Once you take guys like this in a pressure cooker situation, throw in the "rockstar accessories" and you'll surely be cooking a recipe for disaster. You would think that a guy who was tacking together turkey coops and trying to pay off $30K in debt (a shit ton for 1977) he would be very humble and not let his ego get out of check.....you give an inch, they take a mile. Just my two Lincoln heads.

[marco17]

[quote="Let's also recognize the fact that when Assoff said "fuck your voice, tour!", Augeri croaked "do we have to....?" Assoff replies "check your contract, motherfucker!" ...augeri replies "ugh, alright!"

Contrast that with when Herbie said "tour!", Perry said "fuck you!"[/quote]

Great comments, for some reason it's making me laugh my ass off. And, 100% true I would assume.