Uncle Joe Benson Interview with Steve Perry on Arrow 93 In Los Angeles 11/21/03!
UJB: 7:59 the time here on Steve Perry Friday. Steve is a big baseball fan,so you gonna be doin' sports?
SP: Yes.
UJB: Ok if he gets here in time, he may be doing sports.
SP: Yes.
UJB: Or maybe he'll just join us and sing in Portuguese.
SP: I can do that.
UJB: That's the other thing too, alright we have a lot to look forward to here at Arrow 93 thanks for joining us.
UJB: What a surprise on Steve Perry friday we would be joined by the former lead singer of Journey, Steve Perry.
SP: Good morning how you doin'?
UJB: Well, welcome to arrow 93.
SP: It's always a pleasure.
UJB: Does it feel like home now?
SP: Yes it does.
UJB: You've been doing a great job of living life below the radar.
SP: Yes I have
UJB: For awhile.
SP: Yes, I do that on purpose, so I can have a personal life, I think.
UJB: That's the first time actually.
SP: Yes, actually. In a long time.
UJB: And still for someone living below the radar, your the only guy I know, thats actually been quoted in the NewYork Times.
SP: What did I say in the New York Times (Steve laughing).
UJB: This past summer there was a whole article.
SP: Yeah, oh yeah, that guy.
UJB: That guy.
SP: Yes, I remember that.
UJB: Ok well, your going to be insulted if I say it.
SP: Go ahead burn me.
UJB: No, no, it was, it was fine. Your going to be doin a thing with Off The Record here, in a couple of weeks time. Talking about a project that you've surprised alot of people with. And that would be the Journey's Greatest Hits DVD 1978-1997.
SP: Yeah the years that I was in the group.
UJB: So, it's music that you were making with the band.
SP: Yeah.
UJB: And you wrote with the band.
SP: Yeah.
UJB: And you weren't just a little involved with this, you actually got talked into producing the DVD.
SP: Yeah, John Kalder from Sony gave me a call, and said you know, I was wondering if you would be interested in producing the DVD, with all the music videos and some live performances that we have sitting around. And I said yeah that would be great. And it was really a walk through time. I'll tell ya.
UJB: Not only the whatever politics that maybe were involved in the band, altho it sounds like it went pretty smooth.
SP: No it went smooth, he was always in contact with them and I was in contact with him, so it just went that way.
UJB: And outside of what you hear on arrow 93, Journey, you probably don't pop in a cd everyday just to refresh your memory, so........
SP: (Laughing)
UJB: I'm almost willing to guess. You going back and look at some of these performances.
SP: Ahhh man.
UJB: Cause they start in '78 when you had just joined the band.
SP: That's right, I joined the group in '78 and the configuration was with Gregg Rollie and Ansley Dunbar, Ross Valory and Neal Schon and so that group was together for a while and we made some music videos, with "Lights" and "Feeling That Way".
UJB: Which for people who don't remember in '78 there wasn't MTV
SP: Thats right.
UJB: And making videos.
SP: Was new.
UJB: And most intellegent part of everything that you were doing then, (Steve laughing) this was shot on film.
SP: Yes it was shot on film all of it.
UJB: So there was nothing to do with bad video, the quality.
SP: No, the quality, when we went back to look at the quality and capture it digitally to put it on the dvd, it was really beautiful quality and then I turn around and put the brand new, digitally mastered, versions of "Lights" and all those original songs.
UJB: The audio tracks.
SP: The audio tracks are flown underneath the old video so they not only look great but they kind of look like and sound like I wish they would have back then, to be honest with you. (Steve laughing) now they do.
UJB: The latter parts, the latter incarnation of the band was you and Steve Smith and Neal.
SP: Jonathan Cain.
UJB: Jonathan Cain replaced Gregg and Ross Valory was still with them. By that time Journey had been first in making vidoes, making films, but you were also one of the first band to use video live on stage.
SP: Yeah we used live switching which we had projectors pushing all sorts screens above the stage and we had live switching going on at live shows, so people in the back would get a good close look at the thing, too.
UJB: So there's some of the tracks on this, there's a number of, live ones on here?
SP: Yeah, there's in fact from 1981 tour, which is that line up your talking about, live "Anyway You Want It", a live, "Don't Stop Believin'", a live, "Who's Crying Now", and a live, "Open Arms".
UJB: I think this is when you played the Rose bowl out here wasn't it.
SP: No actually this one is from the Houston Summit Arena show.
UJB: But that was the year you played that.
SP: Yeah.
UJB: Houston Summit nobodies ever seen those before.
SP: Nobodies ever seen those before.
UJB: Oh.
SP: And it's totally live, totally live theres not a fix on it. Which is kind of amazing to watch, personally..
UJB: And for you, having been away from the music a little bit and going back and seeing that what was you said my God..
SP: Ahhhh very emotional, very emotional.
UJB: Damn good band.
SP: Yeah.
UJB: It's 8:22 here or maybe 8:23 depending on which side of the street your standing on, arrow 93 I'm Joe Benson with Steve Perry formerly of Journey with us here. Journeys music has never been used in a movie and you've become involved with a movie. Lets talk about that when we come back. Hes going to be with us.
UJB: Welcome to Joe's world (Steve laughing) Been talking on Steve Perrys going to be on Off The Record in a couple of weeks here talking about the new Journey Greatest Hits dvd 1978-79 which hes produced
SP: Actually 1997.
UJB: 97.
SP: Yeah, yeah.
UJB: Oh well it was a year long.
SP: The Steve Perry years I think they called it.(Steve laughing)
UJB: So that dvd is in stores next tuesday, just in time for Christmas, but we were talking, speaking with Greg Allman a few weeks back and I said what was it like working with Tom Dowd, and he goes, Oh he knew some much about music I had to say you have to stop, I don't know anything you are talking about.
SP: Yeah I saw that special on television, he was brillant.
UJB: You worked with some producers.
SP: Yeah Roy Baker.
UJB: Roy Thomas Baker who worked with Queen and Foreigner and all that, so you learned some things along the way.
SP: Oh yeah I learned alot from Roy Baker we did our first Infinity record with Roy Baker and you know he taught me how to multitrackvoices, you know, stack them up eight voices on one note, eight voices on the next note, eight voices on the third and.....
UJB: That's 24 Steve Perry.
SP: That's 24 Steve Perry's doing When the lights, go down.
UJB: No wonder the guitar player had a headache (Steve laughs) now that you had lessons in time.
SP: I gave Neal headaches a lot, I got to tell you that.
UJB: When your the producer then you can tell people to do it over and over, isn't that how it is.
SP: Weeeeeeelll I wasn't producing then, but you think I was, I was kind of a yeah, yeah ok......
UJB: Journey music rarely used in movies and not for awhile at least.
SP: Yeah
UJB: And you were approached on a movie that's actually coming out now, tell us about that.
SP: What happened was I got a call from my, well, a call from my attorney, they got a letter from Charleze Theron, and it was addressed to me and it really had an honest request to use "Don't Stop Believin'," in a scene in this film she was working on called, "Monster", which is a story of Aileen Wurnos the first female serial killer in Florida that was executed a year ago this last October. And its based on a true story. And so I got the request for "Don't Stop Believin'". So I called them back, and she put me on to Patty Jenkins, who is the writer and director, who is a very serious visonary girl, I mean she can, she sees things done and then she just finishes them and thats what she did with this film and the next thing I knew I came down to LA and I saw it and I talked to the guys through chanels and they agreed to let it happen and um went to the dubbing stage and we put "Don't Stop Believin'" in this roller skating scene where Aileen who is Charleze and her girlfriend Selby who is played by Christina Ricci a have their first kiss and I got to tell you never have I seen a visual sort of match the street light people living just to findemotion hiding some where in the night.I mean it really is about the lyrics are strongly associated with this.
UJB: This is not a fluff movie, this is a serious piece of work here.
SP: This movie is not a fluff movie I mean if you want to go see some serious emotions, up and down and all sorts of sideways emotions in this film.about a project that you've surprised alot of people with. And that would be the Journey's Greatest Hits DVD 1978-1997.about a project that you've surprised alot of people with. And that would be the Journey's Greatest Hits DVD 1978-1997.about a project that you've surprised alot of people with. And that would be the Journey's Greatest Hits DVD 1978-1997.
UJB: And it's called, "Monster"
SP: "Monster", with Charleze Theron, Christina Ricci and Bruce Durn. It comes out December 26.
UJB: In time for Academy?
SP: Academy consideration. I think it comes out San Fransisco, Los Angeles and New York and then in January it comes out in all the other theaters.about a project that you've surprised alot of people with. And that would be the Journey's Greatest Hits DVD 1978-1997.about a project that you've surprised alot of people with. And that would be the Journey's Greatest Hits DVD 1978-1997.
UJB: Ok, we're talking about "Monster" is the film and I've got Steve Perry with me here, formerly of Journey and arrow 93. When you and Jonathan Cain wrote, "Don't Stop Believin'", that's pretty much what you had in mind, wasn't it?
SP: Yeah, we were on tour a lot earlier and we were in Detroit.{:)} One time and looking out the hotel room I had looked down and I had seen all these people on the corners and they're hangin out like at 3 a.m in the morning and by the street lights and when Jonathan Cain and I got together we were talking about it and we just started talking about what goes on after dark, late at night with the street light people, living just to find emotions, hiding somewhere in the night, you know it's about that thing.
UJB: It's about capturing the gift you have.
SP: Yeah.
UJB: This is Journey's, "Don't Stop Believin'" (song plays) Arrow 93.1 the best classic rock and Journeys Don't Stop Believin. Joe Benson here with you we've been joined in the studio by Steve Perry, formerly of Journey. That hitting those notes so effortless.
SP: Oh yeah effortless.
UJB: What a gift.
SP: (Steve laughs) Who are you kidding.
UJB: Steve has just produced Journey Greatest Hits DVD 1978-1997. It doesn't say the Steve Perry years on there, but that's the way we are refering to it on here.
SP: That's what it is. Yeah.
UJB: It will be in stores next Tuesday. Well everybodies has some song they first hear, I always figure its a rock -n-roll record, but what did you first hear music that captured your imagination that made you say woooooooooooo, that made you want to do this? What was it?
SP: I was in a coastal town in the central San Juaquin the central coast and I heard Sam Cooke sing Cupid.
UJB: Cupid?
SP: Yeah, I was really young, I was in my mom's '56 thunderbird and I'm drivin around, I would just listen to music and that thing came on the radio and my world stopped. I got tunnel vision for a second.
UJB: What does, like a, I don't know anything about this, what would a guy with , did you know at that point that you had a voice?
SP: No, I was to young, I just I was zeroed in on the radio and heard every nuancs I could possibly hear I think.
UJB: And other vocalist that impressed you.
SP: As years went on I think Bobby Hatfield who just recently passed, from the Rightious Brothers, he was an amazing tenor, blue eyed soul they called it back then.
UJB: When did you realize that what you were doing, the music that you were writing and performing and putting together with Journey was touching people in that same way? Did that ever occur to you?
SP: The first time I remember, Neal and I had a night off and went to get a pizza, and we were sitting in this little tiny pizza parlor, somewhere in Massachusetts, and on the jukebox was "Wheel In The Sky," and I was just stunned that we were on a jukebox, so forgive me. I walked over I didn't tell telling Neal, and put a quarter in and played it, went back and sat down, didn't say nothin' and it came on and he turned aroundand looked at the jukebox and we looked at eachother and we had a moment like, my goodness I think this thing is starting to happen.
UJB: When you first joined the band Gregg Rollie at that point was doing the vocals.
SP: Yes.
UJB: And they certainly didn't have all the matterial worked out for the Infinity album. You Start performing with them, so what was it like, those of us listening "Feeling That Way," is the song that starts with him singing and you come in.
SP: Yes.
UJB: What was it like doing those first shows? What did you do?
SP: Well in the beginning, they had about 20 minutes of music that they would play from their earlier material, which had nothing to do with what we had written together, I wasn't in the group and it was fusion kind of oriented material and I would go out front cause we had just lost our sound mixer,cause he desided he wanted to become a recording engineer. I'd go out front.
UJB: Some people lose drummers, you guys lose your sound mixer.
SP: Lose our sound mixer, Yeah, so I walk out front during the show in my levis and t-shirt and long hair and I'm getting the mix up and I tell the sound man to just unmute my mic, and I run back and change my clothes. Stand off stage and in the middle of Feeling That Way when I go (Steve sings) When the summers gone, you know that section, I walk on, he unmute my mic, and all of a sudden now we do the rest of the stuff we had just written. Nobody really knows that, but then I'd be white now, you know.
UJB: What an entrance. Steve Perry former lead singer of Journey with us here at 8:39 and arrow 93. When we come back I gotta ask you about what song blew you away most on the Journey dvd we've just been talking about. We're talkin to Steve Perry, formerly of Journey, with us here. The greatest hits dvd thats coming out next tuesday, it was for you reliving music, from when you first joined the band until somewhere somewhere near the end and that. Was there a song in there that just reached out and grabbed you, both for the performance and the.
SP: Well they have a, their like children to me, they really are, I love them all for different reasons. But, "Faithfully" was one of the songs that Jon Cain had brought into rehersal, so he had written it personally about his wife, what they were going through with him being on the road and her not there. And it also resanated very deeply with my mom, who was ill at the time and I was still touring and my step dad would say everytime the song would come on the video would come on, which is on this dvd, every time it would come on she would start to cry, because she knew I was out there workin and she was home. And she was so happy for me, she truely was happy that I was finally doing what she knew I just wanted so much to do my whole life, and the song in her mind, inbodied the whole thing and it would make her cry.
UJB: Faithfully is the song with use here at arrow 93.1 the best classic rock.
(Faithfully plays)
UJB: Arrow 93.1 nothing but the best classic rock you count on us for that.
SP: Nice!
UJB: It's Steve Perry friday, is that a shameless plug.
SP: Shameless.
UJB: Steve Perry with us here, rare appearance in the daylight.
SP: It's been two and a half years, I was told since I was here last with you.
UJB: Well.
SP: Well why don't you call more often??
UJB: Was it something I said, Is that what it is??
SP: What did I do??
UJB: Well we're always looking for someone to help us out.
SP: I need the work I'm unemployed.
UJB: I understand that. I gotta ask ya the dvd is Journeys Greatest Hits dvd. It comes out next tuesday, you produced this?
SP: Yeah.
UJB: And put together the videos and lined up the digital sound and the videos.
SP: Yeah.
UJB: I'll say this because it was eariler on, these were shot on film, so it isn't grainy old video kind of stuff. Did you run into any fashion tragedies that kind of staired you back in the face?
SP: OOOhhhhh no you.
UJB: Oh come on.
SP: Ohhhh Uncle Joe your rough.
UJB: Were there any you want to admit to??
SP: "Wheel In The Sky," you know the black spandex with the red dyaphynous shirt?
UJB: Dyaphynous?
SP: Dyaphynous, yes I think it's called dyaphynous, with long the hair down to the waist, ah so sexy, so hot.
UJB: Yes yes, did you have any idea what you were trying.
SP: Doing at the time, is that what your trying to say (Steve laughing)Joe.
UJB: And your buddy in the band at that point?
SP: Oh Neal Schon had an afro way out to his shoulders.
UJB: And that was real.
SP: And a blue cape with white pants. The cape is down to his ankles!
UJB: A cape?
SP: A cape yes. Wonderful.
UJB: Oh the 70's were a special time.
SP: Oh it was a wonderful time.
UJB: Do you have any of those outfits anymore?
SP: No. Do you want to try one on, I could make something happen, Joe(Steve laughing).
UJB: No, no,no We can go some place very uncomfortable with that.
SP: Yes, ok.
UJB: Ok, dvd is out next tuesday.
SP: Yes.
UJB: Hang on just a second here.
SP: Ok I'm not moving.
UJB: Classic rock Steve Perry formerly of Journey with us right here. In 1968 when I started out in radio you were singing in bar bands at that point?
SP: Yeah I was in bar bands I was a drummer/singer back then.
UJB: Drummer/singer. Was it an R&B band or a rock-n-roll band?
SP: It was an R&B band cause we were playing dance music for clubs people wanted to come drink and dance.
UJB: Course in '68 that was different then dance music would have been any time after that.
SP: Yeah, yeah.
UJB: Yeah I've worked with bands a little bit, too but singing thing you know there weren't to many bass lead singers.
SP: There weren't, no.
UJB: Probably with good reason, but I don't want to go there (Steve laughing). The dvd is Journeys Greatest Hits dvd, produced by Steve Perry. How many live tracks on this?
SP: Seven live tracks, four of them have never been , you know ,heard before or seen before.
UJB: And one of them was screened once? Or Two at Moutain View wasn't that seen on T.V. once.
SP: Yeah it was Moutain Aire Festival it was "Girl Can't Help It," and "Be Good To Yourself", they're both live from the Moutain Aire Festival in 1986 in Colovares County. I think maybe it screened for maybe a half hour CBS specail back the but never ever came out.
UJB: Journey always just incredible playing band, seeing these things again for the first time your putting this together, one of the key members of the band that you worked with which was kind of a but not a surprise cause you were a drummer/singer kind of guy, who did you key off of that you saw on the video?
SP: Well you know Steve Smith when he joined the group he was the type of a drummer that was willing to let me lean on him and push on him, sometimes we would have our moments where he wished I wouldn't push so hard.
UJB: You?
SP: But I would turn around to him sometimes and I would just bite my wrist, my fist which means I want it to lean a little bit more so I could sit vocally behind it a driving pocket. And you know he would do that and give me the opportunity to sing in a certain kind of way that otherwise I couldn't do it. We would do certain hits together were he would play certain fills and I would sing off his fills, so he was kind of the orchestra, you know, the conductor. I would say of the band, if you think about it.
UJB: Now you've been and I know you have to get going here, you've been flying under the radar.
SP: Yes.
UJB: Real well for a few years.
SP: Yes.
UJB: Enjoying life.
SP: Yes, Its nice down in San Diego, I just hang by the beach and you know.
UJB: Unless theres smoke in the air.
SP: Yeah that's the only bad part, it's ok now.
UJB: So I know you come alive when your around things like the dvd when your around the music or I've talked to you, seen you around the movie Monster when you were involved with those people because its like a band.
SP: It was like a band It was.
UJB: Ever miss being on stage, I mean you have been I mean at one point in your career were one of the biggest rock stars in the world, every night the crowd is going nuts, I've seen you I have been in a winners circle with you at a Winston Cup race with thousands of photagraphers around you and you were completly at home you and Jeff Gordon.
SP: Yeah.
UJB: In this zen like stance.
SP: I don't need it anymore like I did. There was a time when I had to have that and my whole life I was pushing it for everyone to know who I was and to be famous and recognize me and ok so thats happened I'm on the other side of that ark at this point and just the other night at the permier for Monster I sat back and was walking with Patty Jenkins grandmother was escorting her as Patty was walking way in front and they're taking pictures of Patty and I just sat quietly and let her have her moments and I didn't need it like I did. You Know, every now and then I must tell you I get a hunger, I do get a hunger it's not gone believe me.
UJB: You play guitar or piano everyday??
SP: Not really, I can fiddle on the piano. I play bass. I was a drummer but what I do is whenever I'm working with people and they play certain things like Neal used to play cords now and then and he would think they were no big deal and I would get moved by those cords and tell him to repeat them till I came up with a melodie that I thought that was complementry, so thats what I would do.
UJB: Would you do us all a favor I mean besides, someone said earlier, just tell him to sing baby sing. You know If that urge comes across don't, don't, don't squash it.
SP: Ok ok.
UJB: It's a gift, you have a gift.
SP: I need a little echo you know.
UJB: You don't need that you still have the voice. (Steve laughing) Steve Perry thank you very much for stopping by.
SP: My pleasure it's always a pleasure with you Joe.
UJB: And the dvd Journey greatest Hits is out next tuesday.
SP: The Steve Perry years, ah yes. (Steve laughing) A shameless moment.
UJB: And off the record on Dec 14 a few weeks here, Steve be careful.
Special thanks goes to Noreen for taping the interview, and to Leeza for transcribing it.
If you wish to take this interview from Perryville, all we ask is a link back to the site where it came from. Thank You!
