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Speaker 1: Hi, Brian, Hi Katie. You know, the past couple of

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Speaker 1: weeks we've been all about politics, but we thought it

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Speaker 1: would be nice to take a little break from it all,

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Speaker 1: which is kind of fitting because that's what today's guests

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Speaker 1: might be best known for, Brian, at least until recently,

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Speaker 1: taking a very long break. That's true. Our guest today

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Speaker 1: is Steve Perry. He was the frontman for the band

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Speaker 1: Journey in the nineteen eighties, and unless you're truly living

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Speaker 1: under a rock, you've heard Steve's lead vocals on the

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Speaker 1: most downloaded song of the twentieth century. St Just hearing

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Speaker 1: a few seconds of that transports me to another time

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Speaker 1: and place, specifically Atlanta, Georgia, when I was work keen

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Speaker 1: as an associate producer for CNN and this song came

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Speaker 1: on the radio and I loved it. Yeah, and I

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Speaker 1: would have loved it had I been born at the time.

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Speaker 1: But thanks, Brian, that is real. Welcol You're very welcome anyway.

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Speaker 1: Steve Perry always wanted to be a musician, but by

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Speaker 1: his late twenties he felt he'd run out his music

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Speaker 1: career playing for small time bands in dusty bars. He

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Speaker 1: left his musical dreams two men turkey coops on a

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Speaker 1: farm in California. But then one day he got a

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Speaker 1: call from a band manager named Herbie Herbert that would

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Speaker 1: change his life. That's an understatement, because Herbie asked Steve

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Speaker 1: if he'd be the lead singer in a band called Journey,

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Speaker 1: alongside guitarist Neil Seawn Now with Steve at the mic.

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Speaker 1: The band went on to record eight multi platinum albums

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Speaker 1: Toward the World, but the life of a mega star

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Speaker 1: grew kind of old for Steve. It was really hard

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Speaker 1: on him, so following his mom's death, he walked away.

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Speaker 1: The last time he performed live, which Journey, was in

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Speaker 1: n seven, more than thirty years ago, and Steve has

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Speaker 1: pretty much stayed out of the spotlight since then until

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Speaker 1: last month. That's right, after decades of keeping a very

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Speaker 1: low profile, Steve came out of retirement and recorded a

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Speaker 1: new album called Traces. He was motivated by a late

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Speaker 1: in life love who made him think twice about how

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Speaker 1: he was going to spend the next thirty years. So

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Speaker 1: we'll get to his music, his career, and why he

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Speaker 1: felt the need to walk away, or I should say, Katie,

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Speaker 1: you will get to all of that since I wasn't

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Speaker 1: able to join you for your conversation with Steve, we

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Speaker 1: missed you, Brian. I think you really would have liked him, Hi, Beat,

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Speaker 1: I would have, and honestly, I could have used some

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Speaker 1: backup vocals. You'll hear that a little bit later on.

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Speaker 1: But we talked about so many things. So let's get

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Speaker 1: right to my interview with Steve Perry. Are you having

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Speaker 1: fund Steve, where we talk about your life and what's

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Speaker 1: been going on and how you got to this moment

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Speaker 1: in time. Is it nice to be back. I'm having fun.

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Speaker 1: It's a lot of work and I haven't been working

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Speaker 1: for a long time, so I had a nice vacation.

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Speaker 1: I think that's probably you had a twenty year vacation.

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Speaker 1: Actually I left years ago. Yeah, I can't it. Wow,

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Speaker 1: And here we are February. I was home and that

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Speaker 1: was it. You just walked away from everything. And before

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Speaker 1: we talk about all that, I'm curious what your life

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Speaker 1: has been like since you left the band. You went

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Speaker 1: from such an intense, extreme grueling, high profile schedule right

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Speaker 1: and so many demands on you to being able to

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Speaker 1: kind of get up in the morning and say, what

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Speaker 1: am I going to do today? Was that a huge adjustment?

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Speaker 1: Did you love it? Tell me everything? It was? It

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Speaker 1: was very, very difficult just to go back to, uh,

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Speaker 1: the simplicities of life when as a child I reached

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Speaker 1: for so much more. I don't know why I needed more.

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Speaker 1: I think it was something that started when I watched

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Speaker 1: my father sing when I was about four or five

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Speaker 1: years old, and I saw him singing at the Hamperd

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Speaker 1: Civic Auditorium and my mother was performing in her big

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Speaker 1: can can dress in the same production. I can't remember

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Speaker 1: what it was, but I remember looking at my father

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Speaker 1: and he's singing, and I knew I had that inside

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Speaker 1: of me. I just knew I had it inside of

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Speaker 1: me because I said to myself, I can do that.

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Speaker 1: And so I would sing around the house. And then,

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Speaker 1: of course I discovered music. That was a big part

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Speaker 1: of my life. I started playing at an early age.

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Speaker 1: I guess it drove me. The discovery of music and

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Speaker 1: the songwriting, the recording, the sound of their voices, the

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Speaker 1: string parts, that it lifted me in such a way

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Speaker 1: emotionally that I wanted to get closer to it. I

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Speaker 1: was drawn to it. Now, you gotta know. Of course,

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Speaker 1: my dad was a musical guy. Did he play instruments?

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Speaker 1: You know? The only instrument I remember is he had

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Speaker 1: a forty nine Ford and he had this big steering

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Speaker 1: wheel and he literally had a ring on each finger.

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Speaker 1: And he was sitting there and you know, when some

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Speaker 1: swing song was on the radio, he'd be tapping away

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Speaker 1: like a drum pocket thing and um. And I would

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Speaker 1: just pay attention to certain things like that, simple things

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Speaker 1: at a very early age, like I'm I'm three or

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Speaker 1: four years old, like I said, you know, and everything

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Speaker 1: seemed musical to me at that point. You just had

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Speaker 1: that I guess I think I had a hyper connected

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Speaker 1: to you know, maybe it's an auditory auditory You're correct,

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Speaker 1: is auditory more than it is. I'm not trained. I

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Speaker 1: don't know how to really play in truments. I was

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Speaker 1: a drummer for years. That's my main instrument. Drummer, singer.

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Speaker 1: Do you play the piano a little bit? A little

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Speaker 1: enough to write, but I don't play. You were the

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Speaker 1: voice of Journey, so I mean it sounds like a

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Speaker 1: very difficult life. Your tour schedule was so relentless, the

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Speaker 1: demands on you as the voice were so But I

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Speaker 1: was a singer and the demands of the same. You're right, right,

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Speaker 1: but I mean I know you just performed, you went home,

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Speaker 1: and then you never went back. Let's talk about sort

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Speaker 1: of what led you to to make that decision and

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Speaker 1: what was it that brought you to that breaking point.

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Speaker 1: I would love to mind that a little bit. I guess, Well,

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Speaker 1: we weren't getting along very well. I mean, the band

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Speaker 1: is a band, and that happens to groups, right of course.

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Speaker 1: You know. Well, it's like you spend so much time together, right,

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Speaker 1: and and you have so many different opinions about the

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Speaker 1: direction you want things to go. H you disagree, and

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Speaker 1: you agree on so many levels. And um, as it's

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Speaker 1: moving forward and growing and becoming this other big thing

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Speaker 1: called success. Um, everybody digs in for their own I

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Speaker 1: think opinions, and it becomes a bit collidive. You collide

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Speaker 1: and I think that's a new word. I'm making up

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Speaker 1: words collidive, like collidive. I like it. And uh, um,

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Speaker 1: so we're writing songs here today, um, and that's what happens.

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Speaker 1: And uh we weren't talking much. We were just colliding

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Speaker 1: with each other a lot. And that was going on

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Speaker 1: for a while. And that's stressful and it was and

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Speaker 1: U and the touring schedule was intense, and I would

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Speaker 1: have liked to have slowed that all down a bit

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Speaker 1: and been a little bit more. How do I say? Um,

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Speaker 1: you know, if you go to a hardware store to

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Speaker 1: get a cart in the milk, you're probably in the

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Speaker 1: wrong place. It's not there. So you just felt like

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Speaker 1: your your visions weren't aligned. Yeah, I think I was

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Speaker 1: asking it to be something, is what I'm trying to say.

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Speaker 1: What did you want it to be? I wanted to

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Speaker 1: be more spaced out. I thought we would tour for

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Speaker 1: a while, stop for a while, have some life in

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Speaker 1: their tour for a while, stop for a while. And

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Speaker 1: when you would suggest that, suggest that what would be management?

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Speaker 1: And most of the members their lifestyles required more dare

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Speaker 1: I say? Cash flow? And and you know my upbringing

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Speaker 1: was Portuguese. My grandfather taught me when I was very young.

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Speaker 1: He said, it's not how much you make, it's how

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Speaker 1: much you save. And I went, what does that mean?

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Speaker 1: He says, if you make forty dollars, I want you

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Speaker 1: to put twenty in the bank, and I want you

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Speaker 1: to forget about it, and I want you to try

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Speaker 1: to make that work. Forget about the twenty I think, Dad,

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Speaker 1: I mean, really, it's such It's such wise stuff to

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Speaker 1: hear as kids. You know, I was raised that way,

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Speaker 1: so I was saving my money along the whole time.

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Speaker 1: So your lifestyle was clearly very different than a lot

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Speaker 1: of members, very different. Did you succumb to all the

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Speaker 1: sort of tropes that we associate with rock and rollers

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Speaker 1: and people you know on the road, like sex, drugs, alcohol,

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Speaker 1: lavish spending I had, I have had occasional for the

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Speaker 1: first three but lavish spending. It was not my game, right,

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Speaker 1: you know? Uh yeah, I thought that that was just crazy.

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Speaker 1: In fact, I kept my yellow Volkswagen that was so

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Speaker 1: beat up. I just thought it was fine. You know.

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Speaker 1: That was the way I was raised. When I came

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Speaker 1: off tour, I went home to my mom's house and

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Speaker 1: I remember coming down, going back in the back bedroom

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Speaker 1: and and crashing for a couple of days, and the

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Speaker 1: phone ring, and I swear this is the truth. I

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Speaker 1: ran down the hallway completely naked as a as a

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Speaker 1: as a jay bird, grabbing the phone, thinking I'm I'm

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Speaker 1: late for the bus because I was in deep sort

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Speaker 1: of like sleep. So that was how roadburn we used

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Speaker 1: to call it roadburn to where you're so burnt, because

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Speaker 1: this is what you do. You get a cycle. You know.

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Speaker 1: It seems to me from a business perspective if the

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Speaker 1: band heard your cries of help, that they would not,

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Speaker 1: as my dad would say, I want to kill the

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Speaker 1: goose that laid the golden egg. Right. Well, I think

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Speaker 1: at the time it was interpreted as just whining, you know,

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Speaker 1: you know, and maybe I was whining a bit because

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Speaker 1: it was hard work. Well, let's talk about the hard

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Speaker 1: work it was because when I mentioned that your voice

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Speaker 1: is your instrument, it required really an obsessive it sounds

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Speaker 1: to me amount of attention paid to it to keep

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Speaker 1: it Roger is the word. It's an erotic, obsessive feeling

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Speaker 1: that you just don't know what you have from one

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Speaker 1: night to the name. It sounds like it almost took

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Speaker 1: over your life. Steve, it does. It does take over

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Speaker 1: your life, because explain that to people who don't sing

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Speaker 1: for a living. Well, because if the instrument you have

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Speaker 1: is you, it's not just the vocal cords in your throat.

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Speaker 1: It's you and the vocal cords and their inflammation issues.

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Speaker 1: And if one vocal cord is slightly inflamed more than

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Speaker 1: the other. They don't line up. You've got trouble. If

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Speaker 1: you don't get enough sleep, if you don't drink enough water,

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Speaker 1: if you stay up too late, if you're just completely

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Speaker 1: burnt out and fatigue. That's enough on its own. And

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Speaker 1: if you if you ask anyone from striisand to anyone

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Speaker 1: about this, they will say, gosh, finally somebody's talking about it,

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Speaker 1: you know, because the truth is it is it is

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Speaker 1: an eurosis into itself. Do you think it is for

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Speaker 1: all singers or are more for you? Well, okay, I

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Speaker 1: guess I should speak for myself. I mean, I'm just curious.

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Speaker 1: You've probably talked to a lot of singers. Did you

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Speaker 1: find this commonality um most among nother heads to say?

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Speaker 1: Nobody gets it? Do they know? Nobody? Does? I understand?

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Speaker 1: That's so interesting. I wonder why don't people talk about

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Speaker 1: how much care and attention and neurosis often a company.

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Speaker 1: I think I think the word fear. The fear is this, Katie.

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Speaker 1: People have been waiting for a long time for you

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Speaker 1: to sing the songs that they have decided to embrace

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Speaker 1: and bring into their lives and make part of something

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Speaker 1: that enriches their emotional part of their lives. And you're

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Speaker 1: coming to town and you pull in the day of

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Speaker 1: the gig, and you go to the sound check and

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Speaker 1: you open your throat, you feel crumby and grumby, as

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Speaker 1: I call it our crusty. It can be really scary

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Speaker 1: to think that you're going to fall short of what

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Speaker 1: these people have been waiting so much for you to

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Speaker 1: give them. It's it's not fair to them, and at

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Speaker 1: some point then it is not fair to you to

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Speaker 1: put yourself in that position all the time. That's a

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Speaker 1: lot of pressure. Now, now I want to make clear

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Speaker 1: I'm not complaining. I'm not whining. Please anybody listening out there,

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Speaker 1: I'd like to talk about things that people don't talk about,

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Speaker 1: and this is certainly one of them. Have you ever

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Speaker 1: been performing and felt that you disappointed the crowd and

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Speaker 1: I'm curious what was their reaction and how did you

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Speaker 1: feel I did. Now that's a whole nether landscape of neurosis,

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Speaker 1: because sometimes what do you get? By the way, no, no,

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Speaker 1: only once I think I was in I was in

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Speaker 1: Toledo and I said Cleveland because I was so tired.

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Speaker 1: So from that point on, between the two bass drums

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Speaker 1: with a little led like the city would have to

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Speaker 1: be written on a piece of paper, because I didn't

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Speaker 1: want to make that mistake again. That's how tired I was.

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Speaker 1: That's what I got. The only time I got booed.

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Speaker 1: The only other time I could recall was I was

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Speaker 1: so fatigued that all I could remember it was the

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Speaker 1: first verse of Oll Sherry. I couldn't remember the second verse.

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Speaker 1: So I did the first verse twice, and I looked

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Speaker 1: at the answer and put my palms in me here,

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Speaker 1: like I don't know what to tell you. So you

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Speaker 1: were pretty much just completely burnt out, Steve, and you said,

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Speaker 1: I can't do this anymore. So so for all those years,

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Speaker 1: and obviously you had a a solo career after that,

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Speaker 1: but for for much of that time, you were just

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Speaker 1: living in California doing your thing. So what would you

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Speaker 1: do all day? Well, first I went to my hometown

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Speaker 1: and I hung out with friends, and I went to

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Speaker 1: the old ice cream parlor and went out to a cemetery,

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Speaker 1: and I would spend solitude moments when my departed parents

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Speaker 1: and grandparents and uh um. And then I had a

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Speaker 1: step grandmother, and I had my father's sister, my aunt Betty,

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Speaker 1: and I really I went back and took care of them,

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Speaker 1: to be honest with you, but that's that. That probably

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Speaker 1: wasn't your entire day. I mean, did you did you

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Speaker 1: still make music? Did you still think about songs? Did

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Speaker 1: you mean? I know you spent some time at the

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Speaker 1: carnival when it came at the fair. Well, the fair

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Speaker 1: would come to town in June in my hometown, and

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Speaker 1: I always dreamt of running away with that with the circus,

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Speaker 1: so to speak, because it would show up and it

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Speaker 1: would be so amazing and it looked like the island

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Speaker 1: on Pinocchio, you know, the Sperris wheels and the lights

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Speaker 1: and everything, and I thought it was so amazing, and

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Speaker 1: next thing I know, they're gone. So I thought, gosh,

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Speaker 1: some day I'd like to, you know, run away with

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Speaker 1: the circus. And being in a rocket roll band is

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Speaker 1: a circus life, you know, you do run away with

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Speaker 1: the circus, so to speak, and you do travel just

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Speaker 1: like that. When you were off and it turned like

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Speaker 1: the clock struck eight pm wherever you were, did you

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Speaker 1: ever think, wow, I you know, in my old life

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Speaker 1: I'd be stepping onto a stage right now. I mean,

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Speaker 1: did you miss the rush the adrenaline of course, of

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Speaker 1: kind of just being in that moment. To me, that

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Speaker 1: would be I wish I could could sing. And the

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Speaker 1: idea of just being able to sing something a song

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Speaker 1: you love and that people really respond to it, that

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Speaker 1: just must There must be nothing like it. Yeah, to

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Speaker 1: be able to write music that you believe in and

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Speaker 1: have someone else love it as you initially sort of

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Speaker 1: feel like it's worth being loved. Nothing like it, nothing

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Speaker 1: like it, and then and then to record it and

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Speaker 1: they embrace it, and then to go out and perform it.

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Speaker 1: It's just the whip cream on the cheesecake, you know,

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Speaker 1: it really is. It's just it's just something I can't explain.

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Speaker 1: And yes, to answer your question, I really did miss

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Speaker 1: it terribly, but it came with too much. I think

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Speaker 1: returned to our baggage together. I think that you know,

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Speaker 1: look were tired of me, and I was kind of

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Speaker 1: tired of them, you know, and I think we needed

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Speaker 1: just to go our ways. That's all. Well, you did

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Speaker 1: then go onto your solo career, right, and was that

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Speaker 1: more satisfying for you? You did? I really didn't go

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Speaker 1: into a solo career at that point. I did the

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Speaker 1: solo career because Neil Sean had done two solo albums

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Speaker 1: while I was in the band. I told the manager,

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Speaker 1: why is Neil doing a solo album? Well, I can't

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Speaker 1: stop him. He said, he wants to record it, you know.

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Speaker 1: So we did a song and a whole record with

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Speaker 1: John Hammer. Then we do another journey. I'm another tour,

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Speaker 1: and then I told the manager, look, I'm gonna do one,

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Speaker 1: and you shouldn't keep doing this because you know it's

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Speaker 1: gonna I think you could damage the band at some level.

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Speaker 1: Next thing, I know he's doing a second one beyond Hammer.

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Speaker 1: So I turned the manager and I said, Okay, I

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Speaker 1: told you I'm going to do one. So that's when

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Speaker 1: I went to l A and did street Talk and

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Speaker 1: wrote O's Sherry and full Shart with Randy Goodram and

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Speaker 1: strung out with with Craig Cramp and a bunch of

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Speaker 1: friends and and and Nicole Bolos as the engineer. We

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Speaker 1: recorded that record so fast at this little studio in

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Speaker 1: the valley, and we had a great time and the

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Speaker 1: record came out and it was just a great moment.

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Speaker 1: Then I asked my mother what should I do? Because

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Speaker 1: she was already sick at that point. She was very sick,

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Speaker 1: and I asked her what I should do. Should I

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Speaker 1: go back to Journey, should continue my solo career? Just

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Speaker 1: to think about it? Please Mom? Because she was so

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Speaker 1: instrumental in my early years of of being in bands

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Speaker 1: in high school and everything. I just wanted her opinion,

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Speaker 1: And honestly, she couldn't talk very well because her speech

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Speaker 1: was severely impaired. The next day she said, you and

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Speaker 1: I want, are you sure, Mom? Because that means I

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Speaker 1: won't be able to hang out with you. If I

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Speaker 1: do the solo stuff, I can. I can do it

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Speaker 1: at my own pace, she said, YOUNI just like that.

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Speaker 1: So I went back and did the record. Uh, and

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Speaker 1: you look at that record. It says this one's for

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Speaker 1: you Mom. After you left Journey, why wouldn't you just

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Speaker 1: do a solo career? Because that's not why I left

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Speaker 1: the band. I left the band for all kinds of reasons. Okay.

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Speaker 1: I didn't leave the band to hurt anybody or run

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Speaker 1: away from him. I left the band to go back

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Speaker 1: to my life, I think, and reconnect with some foundational

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Speaker 1: things um that I felt. I think we're slipping away.

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Speaker 1: I think we're slipping away. Thank you. I think we're

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Speaker 1: slipping away. Like I just I think that it was

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Speaker 1: such an amazing ride that I was on. There was

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Speaker 1: no room for anything else in my life. So I

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Speaker 1: think I had to leave it all to open up

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Speaker 1: and have some room for something else. And so that

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Speaker 1: meant to go back and find out what that is.

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Speaker 1: Any regrets that you that you left, or any regrets

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Speaker 1: the way your life unfolded? Mmmmm, I don't. It was

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Speaker 1: like tempering steel, to be honest with you. You know,

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Speaker 1: steel's kind of often to heat it up. I had

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Speaker 1: to get heated up and then putting the cold water

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Speaker 1: and heat it up, putting the cold water, and it

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Speaker 1: kind of tempered me at this point in my age.

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Speaker 1: Right now, I don't have any regrets. I can tell

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Speaker 1: you that, though others may not agree with me, I

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Speaker 1: think it was the best thing for everybody. I really do. Um.

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Speaker 1: But before we get a break, Um, at what moment

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Speaker 1: did you think, Wow, I have a good voice. Probably

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Speaker 1: singing into the into the well out the ranch. It

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Speaker 1: was so beautiful to hear that echo. I just loved

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Speaker 1: the way it sounded. And then also I used to

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Speaker 1: sing when I couldn't get to the ranch, I would

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Speaker 1: unplug mom's hose from the vacuum cleaner and put one

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Speaker 1: in my left ear and singing the other end. And

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Speaker 1: I love the way that sounded. What would you sing? Um?

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Speaker 1: I would just make things up. I don't know, I

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Speaker 1: would just I love the way it sounded. Those are

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Speaker 1: the young I do remember, though, um ah angels listending,

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Speaker 1: listen me crying. You know, I remember those guys. I

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Speaker 1: think it was the Crests. You know. I think it

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Speaker 1: was the crest You must have been singing some Sam

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Speaker 1: cooked too back in the day, and I worshiped him

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Speaker 1: because that was what was your favorite Sam Cooke song?

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Speaker 1: The first one would be, Um, Cupid came on the

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Speaker 1: radio and my mom's shifty six Thunderbird, and oh man, uh,

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Speaker 1: the whole world got so small, it got so tunnel vision.

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Speaker 1: I'll never forget it. And I was just captivated by

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Speaker 1: the emotion coming out of that speaker and how it

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Speaker 1: was landing. And so I think that's what got me

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Speaker 1: reaching for music from the very beginning, was why does

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Speaker 1: this make me feel this way? Why is what is

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Speaker 1: happening here? You know it connected with me. You know,

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Speaker 1: do you sink? Can you sing? Cupid? I know that

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Speaker 1: all the word Cupid, drawback your boat and let your

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Speaker 1: aero flow straight to my love is hot for me,

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Speaker 1: nobody even me. Now, I can't sing now, I'm criticizing

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Speaker 1: that just to show you. I just criticized for phrases

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Speaker 1: that I just sang at the same time I was

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Speaker 1: singing them, okay, And I really got to tell you

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Speaker 1: without echo, I'm singing dry in this room. I don't

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Speaker 1: sing dry. Well, thank you for singing dry for us

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Speaker 1: quick pro quo no no no, no, no no no.

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Speaker 1: But my favorite Sam Cook is I don't know much

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Speaker 1: about his story, don't know much blogy, I don't know

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Speaker 1: much about the French I took. I don't know much

390
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Speaker 1: about But I don't know that I love you right

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Speaker 1: and know that if you love me too, want a

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Speaker 1: wonderful world, this would be harmony. I'll never forget when

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Speaker 1: that was in the movie Witness and Harrison Ford and

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Speaker 1: Kelly McGinnis were dancing. It was so sexy, And isn't

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Speaker 1: that what it's about? It? It really is about the

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00:23:22,840 --> 00:23:26,840
Speaker 1: intimacy of music is so personal. Well, I'm excited to

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Speaker 1: talk to you more about this new album and the

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Speaker 1: genesis of this album. We'll talk about that right after this.

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Speaker 1: Now back to my interview with Steve Perry. So, Steve,

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Speaker 1: you're back after all these years, after all still crazy

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Speaker 1: after a Yeah, I know, it's been a long time

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00:23:53,800 --> 00:23:57,240
Speaker 1: coming since I saw your face. I know. So let's

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Speaker 1: talk about this new album, Traces, and it comes from

404
00:24:00,800 --> 00:24:05,040
Speaker 1: a deeply, deeply personal place. You fell in love with

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Speaker 1: someone who unfortunately was diagnosed with breast cancer, was in

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Speaker 1: remission when you first learned about her, and then when

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00:24:16,400 --> 00:24:19,920
Speaker 1: you met her it had come spread and come back,

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Speaker 1: and uh, you decided to jump into the relationship anyway.

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Speaker 1: What was it about that relationship that just almost had

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Speaker 1: the same attraction for you as music? It was it

411
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Speaker 1: was just almost terrifyingly wonderful because I could not stay

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Speaker 1: away from her and I knew she was sick. It

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Speaker 1: was like it was like what am I doing? There

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Speaker 1: was times I would talk to a therapist that what

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Speaker 1: am I dooling? I was going to say. I wonder

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Speaker 1: if there was something about the potentially ephemeral nature of

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Speaker 1: that relationship that somehow attracted you not to be fleeting,

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Speaker 1: you know, not not permanent. Wow, I don't know. All

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Speaker 1: I know is that the connection was so strong and

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Speaker 1: it was very, very difficult to not run. At the

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Speaker 1: same time, there was this incredible connection that said, you

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Speaker 1: have nowhere to run, there's nowhere else you want to

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Speaker 1: be like. I talked to Nico Bollis, the front of

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Speaker 1: Mine Engineer, and one day I was watching him work

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Speaker 1: when I just started seeing Kelly, and he said, what

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Speaker 1: are you doing here? I said, well, I'm I'm hanging out,

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00:25:35,600 --> 00:25:37,400
Speaker 1: but you're watching you mix a little bit on this

428
00:25:37,560 --> 00:25:39,600
Speaker 1: this cool band. He said, Man, you should be with

429
00:25:39,600 --> 00:25:42,760
Speaker 1: your girl. I said, well, we went on a few times.

430
00:25:42,760 --> 00:25:44,760
Speaker 1: Because I'm not sure what to do about that. I'm

431
00:25:44,800 --> 00:25:47,920
Speaker 1: just very confused about it because it's scary because she's

432
00:25:47,960 --> 00:25:50,040
Speaker 1: not well. I don't want to fall in love and

433
00:25:50,080 --> 00:25:52,600
Speaker 1: lose again. I don't I just don't want to. I

434
00:25:52,600 --> 00:25:55,040
Speaker 1: don't know what to do, you know. He said, Dude,

435
00:25:55,440 --> 00:25:58,639
Speaker 1: I've never seen you like this before. He says, I

436
00:25:58,680 --> 00:26:02,439
Speaker 1: have never see you're so happy with anyone. There's something

437
00:26:02,480 --> 00:26:04,959
Speaker 1: else going on for you and her. He said, men,

438
00:26:05,000 --> 00:26:07,040
Speaker 1: you should be with your girl. Man, that's your girl.

439
00:26:07,359 --> 00:26:10,679
Speaker 1: I could tell that, and so I left called her

440
00:26:10,720 --> 00:26:14,639
Speaker 1: when at luncheon that kept continued. How long were you together?

441
00:26:14,800 --> 00:26:17,879
Speaker 1: A year and a half. How long was she sick?

442
00:26:18,200 --> 00:26:22,439
Speaker 1: Really sick during that period of time, often on the

443
00:26:22,480 --> 00:26:27,119
Speaker 1: whole time, but not as bad as God. Of course

444
00:26:27,160 --> 00:26:30,719
Speaker 1: the last um I would say, the last six months,

445
00:26:30,920 --> 00:26:33,320
Speaker 1: especially for the last three months. Of course, we're the worst.

446
00:26:33,920 --> 00:26:36,640
Speaker 1: But there was a time here in New York where

447
00:26:36,680 --> 00:26:39,560
Speaker 1: she was on this incredible clinical trial treatment that didn't

448
00:26:39,600 --> 00:26:42,639
Speaker 1: make her sick, that was invented by this guy, and

449
00:26:42,720 --> 00:26:47,320
Speaker 1: it was doing amazing things for her. And she had

450
00:26:47,320 --> 00:26:50,560
Speaker 1: tumors in her lungs and she had um some in

451
00:26:50,640 --> 00:26:55,240
Speaker 1: her bone marrow. And we would do the scans and

452
00:26:55,280 --> 00:26:57,879
Speaker 1: the tumors would have scar tissue where the m r

453
00:26:57,960 --> 00:27:00,239
Speaker 1: I would show there's, well there was scar tissue there,

454
00:27:00,280 --> 00:27:02,560
Speaker 1: but I don't see the tumors anymore, they would say.

455
00:27:02,640 --> 00:27:04,520
Speaker 1: And we look at each other, said what what do

456
00:27:04,600 --> 00:27:07,760
Speaker 1: you say? What do you say? You know? And we

457
00:27:07,840 --> 00:27:10,760
Speaker 1: would go from not being able to ride bicycles in

458
00:27:10,800 --> 00:27:14,359
Speaker 1: New York to riding bicycles in the park and just thinking,

459
00:27:14,359 --> 00:27:16,359
Speaker 1: oh my god, this is insane, this is so great,

460
00:27:16,520 --> 00:27:20,840
Speaker 1: you know, And then come around September of that year

461
00:27:21,040 --> 00:27:23,520
Speaker 1: as when she said, you know, honey, something's not right.

462
00:27:23,600 --> 00:27:25,000
Speaker 1: I don't know what it is. I know my body,

463
00:27:25,160 --> 00:27:27,720
Speaker 1: believe me. I. So it's not right to just scan

464
00:27:27,880 --> 00:27:32,480
Speaker 1: and and come back, you know. So cancer is so cruel,

465
00:27:32,640 --> 00:27:36,160
Speaker 1: you know. And well, you know, let's talk about the

466
00:27:36,200 --> 00:27:39,560
Speaker 1: promise you made to Kelly Steve. You said that you

467
00:27:39,600 --> 00:27:44,000
Speaker 1: would not go back into isolation, that you would put

468
00:27:44,040 --> 00:27:47,840
Speaker 1: out some of the music that you were writing and

469
00:27:47,880 --> 00:27:53,280
Speaker 1: thinking about. Tell me about the promise you made to her. Well,

470
00:27:54,240 --> 00:27:58,040
Speaker 1: my favorite time we would spend together was, you know,

471
00:27:58,040 --> 00:28:00,359
Speaker 1: at the end of the day, we would kind of

472
00:28:00,480 --> 00:28:02,800
Speaker 1: lights down and give each other a smooch and I'd

473
00:28:02,800 --> 00:28:04,840
Speaker 1: either talk her to sleep or she talked me to sleep.

474
00:28:05,000 --> 00:28:10,120
Speaker 1: And one night she said, I, I need to ask

475
00:28:10,160 --> 00:28:13,960
Speaker 1: you to make me a promise and I and I said, well,

476
00:28:14,000 --> 00:28:16,840
Speaker 1: what's up. I want you to promise that if something

477
00:28:16,840 --> 00:28:19,040
Speaker 1: ever happened to me, that you would not go back

478
00:28:19,040 --> 00:28:22,680
Speaker 1: into isolation, for I think it would make this all

479
00:28:22,760 --> 00:28:31,200
Speaker 1: for not. So I was never given such an amazing

480
00:28:31,320 --> 00:28:37,200
Speaker 1: long sentence, was so in encompassing value of my whole

481
00:28:37,960 --> 00:28:42,000
Speaker 1: everything like that. But remember she was a PhD psychologist,

482
00:28:42,120 --> 00:28:45,800
Speaker 1: so she she was very good assembling her words and

483
00:28:45,800 --> 00:28:49,520
Speaker 1: and very clear when she had something to say or feel,

484
00:28:50,560 --> 00:28:52,960
Speaker 1: You're gonna hear pretty much to the to the bone

485
00:28:53,040 --> 00:28:55,040
Speaker 1: what it is, and this was one of those moments.

486
00:28:55,880 --> 00:28:57,720
Speaker 1: So I said, of course, I promise I won't go

487
00:28:57,760 --> 00:29:02,000
Speaker 1: back into isolation. But look, it wasn't like we weren't

488
00:29:02,320 --> 00:29:05,160
Speaker 1: hanging out or going on trips or having dinner with friends.

489
00:29:05,160 --> 00:29:08,360
Speaker 1: We were living our lives. But she knew that I

490
00:29:08,400 --> 00:29:12,120
Speaker 1: was isolating from music. She knew I was isolating from singing.

491
00:29:12,120 --> 00:29:15,680
Speaker 1: I never really sang much, So that's what she was

492
00:29:15,720 --> 00:29:20,800
Speaker 1: talking about. Your new album, Traces is full of ballad

493
00:29:21,040 --> 00:29:24,320
Speaker 1: summer sad. Others are nostalgic, and I think people listening

494
00:29:24,360 --> 00:29:28,080
Speaker 1: to this one song called No More Crying would assume

495
00:29:28,400 --> 00:29:32,360
Speaker 1: it's about losing Kelly. Let's listen to a little bit

496
00:29:32,480 --> 00:29:42,480
Speaker 1: and you can tell us how that song came about. Good,

497
00:30:04,000 --> 00:30:09,600
Speaker 1: let's talk about that song. Well, actually that song is

498
00:30:09,800 --> 00:30:13,720
Speaker 1: more of a of a of a of a different

499
00:30:13,800 --> 00:30:18,600
Speaker 1: sort of dyslexic version of what you're saying. That meaning

500
00:30:19,200 --> 00:30:22,280
Speaker 1: he's trying to convince himself the answer to not crying

501
00:30:22,360 --> 00:30:25,280
Speaker 1: is to just not love again and basically to shut

502
00:30:25,280 --> 00:30:27,880
Speaker 1: down his heart. Now, there is that component in there.

503
00:30:28,080 --> 00:30:30,640
Speaker 1: It is a relationship song. But if you listen to

504
00:30:30,680 --> 00:30:34,200
Speaker 1: the second verse, I'm so free. I need nobody, no

505
00:30:34,240 --> 00:30:40,560
Speaker 1: more lies, no surprises, no confrontations. It's a peaceful life

506
00:30:40,960 --> 00:30:43,960
Speaker 1: behind closed doors. But in the dark of the night,

507
00:30:44,480 --> 00:30:47,840
Speaker 1: I start to remember. Okay. So that whole arc of

508
00:30:47,920 --> 00:30:52,080
Speaker 1: all those lyrics right there is about isolation and how

509
00:30:53,280 --> 00:30:55,120
Speaker 1: just pull away from it all and you won't have

510
00:30:55,160 --> 00:30:58,480
Speaker 1: to deal with lies and and by the way, there's

511
00:30:58,520 --> 00:31:01,480
Speaker 1: a bit of my past past and there. Okay, but

512
00:31:01,680 --> 00:31:06,280
Speaker 1: lies and confrontations and you know, surprises. I mean there

513
00:31:06,360 --> 00:31:09,200
Speaker 1: was a lot of surprises that when you're in a band,

514
00:31:09,400 --> 00:31:12,120
Speaker 1: you're being told to do and go and perform and

515
00:31:12,200 --> 00:31:14,120
Speaker 1: do places that you just don't want to do. But

516
00:31:14,200 --> 00:31:17,520
Speaker 1: guess what, it's been booked in your stock. So there

517
00:31:17,560 --> 00:31:19,720
Speaker 1: was always this stuff I didn't like too much either.

518
00:31:20,280 --> 00:31:22,520
Speaker 1: So there's a bit of my past in all this.

519
00:31:23,280 --> 00:31:25,360
Speaker 1: But let me tell you the song I think you're

520
00:31:25,400 --> 00:31:29,400
Speaker 1: really looking for is most of All Now. If they

521
00:31:29,400 --> 00:31:31,800
Speaker 1: have most of All here, if you were to hear

522
00:31:31,880 --> 00:31:35,360
Speaker 1: the opening line of most of All, he says, promises

523
00:31:35,520 --> 00:31:43,800
Speaker 1: that won't fade away. Um, it's about reflecting all those memories. Uh,

524
00:31:43,880 --> 00:31:45,840
Speaker 1: it's about the whole thing. To the ones who have

525
00:31:45,960 --> 00:31:49,760
Speaker 1: lost their most of all many years won't heal when

526
00:31:49,880 --> 00:31:54,600
Speaker 1: tears still call their most of all, you know that

527
00:31:54,680 --> 00:31:56,920
Speaker 1: song I worked with any good Room before I met

528
00:31:57,000 --> 00:31:59,760
Speaker 1: Kelly and turned out it ended up becoming a song

529
00:31:59,800 --> 00:32:08,000
Speaker 1: of Let's listen to it for a second. From that

530
00:32:08,360 --> 00:32:25,680
Speaker 1: wall facely golden members read that will lave raise all

531
00:32:25,800 --> 00:32:40,400
Speaker 1: the plants and treads so hard to replace. From another

532
00:32:40,680 --> 00:33:07,600
Speaker 1: place to another town, still drifting to the minds fathers plenty,

533
00:33:10,040 --> 00:33:16,520
Speaker 1: still where you surprised Steve that a song that you

534
00:33:16,600 --> 00:33:20,640
Speaker 1: had already written before you met Kelly seemed to look

535
00:33:20,680 --> 00:33:25,680
Speaker 1: I have goose bumps on my arms. I can't. I

536
00:33:25,800 --> 00:33:30,720
Speaker 1: can't make that happen. It's something that happens to me.

537
00:33:31,520 --> 00:33:35,480
Speaker 1: Where that comes from is life sustaining, and He's the

538
00:33:35,560 --> 00:33:37,920
Speaker 1: most important thing of my life right now, Katie. I

539
00:33:38,000 --> 00:33:41,800
Speaker 1: mean to connect with music like that, and even if

540
00:33:41,840 --> 00:33:45,240
Speaker 1: it's my own music, it means so much to me

541
00:33:46,040 --> 00:33:50,440
Speaker 1: at this time in my life. I'm not a spring chicken, honey, okay,

542
00:33:50,880 --> 00:33:54,160
Speaker 1: you know, and I need this so more than I've

543
00:33:54,200 --> 00:33:57,400
Speaker 1: ever needed it in my whole life. This connect, this

544
00:33:57,600 --> 00:34:02,280
Speaker 1: connection with emotion in music and songwriting, nothing means more

545
00:34:02,400 --> 00:34:06,680
Speaker 1: to me than reconnecting like a song like that. Uh,

546
00:34:06,960 --> 00:34:09,640
Speaker 1: the lyrics of that. I'm so proud of him because

547
00:34:09,840 --> 00:34:13,640
Speaker 1: he's just being honest about the memories and everything is

548
00:34:13,680 --> 00:34:16,279
Speaker 1: going on. And then he says, from another place to

549
00:34:16,360 --> 00:34:19,880
Speaker 1: another town, still drifting, That's what I did when I

550
00:34:20,000 --> 00:34:23,560
Speaker 1: was home. He just shifts, He goes he's being memorable.

551
00:34:23,800 --> 00:34:27,240
Speaker 1: Then he shifts to like just drifting around again. Lost.

552
00:34:27,880 --> 00:34:29,759
Speaker 1: But to the ones you've lost their most of all

553
00:34:30,080 --> 00:34:34,359
Speaker 1: many years, won't heal when tears still call their most

554
00:34:34,440 --> 00:34:37,480
Speaker 1: of all? That means so much to me. I need

555
00:34:37,600 --> 00:34:39,920
Speaker 1: that out there for me, And I just hope it

556
00:34:40,000 --> 00:34:42,440
Speaker 1: touches somebody, but for me, I mean I need it.

557
00:34:43,080 --> 00:34:46,200
Speaker 1: I think that also there's some very up tempo songs,

558
00:34:46,280 --> 00:34:49,480
Speaker 1: kind of of course rock songs, like like Noah Racin,

559
00:34:49,600 --> 00:34:52,440
Speaker 1: which is about a high school reunion. Let's listen to

560
00:34:52,520 --> 00:35:09,479
Speaker 1: that song for a second. Sorry, offend together you'll call

561
00:35:12,600 --> 00:35:14,719
Speaker 1: what is it about high school that keeps drawing you

562
00:35:14,920 --> 00:35:18,359
Speaker 1: back there? Steve? I think we're all in high school still,

563
00:35:18,880 --> 00:35:22,640
Speaker 1: I think emotionally, if we look honestly within ourselves, some

564
00:35:22,800 --> 00:35:26,200
Speaker 1: of our teenage years, the foundation of our hearts and

565
00:35:26,320 --> 00:35:31,600
Speaker 1: soul were completely fed by all the fantasies. These teenage

566
00:35:31,640 --> 00:35:34,520
Speaker 1: fantasies of our youth. I read that you don't like

567
00:35:34,719 --> 00:35:38,319
Speaker 1: to dissect songs because you say, if you talk too

568
00:35:38,440 --> 00:35:42,040
Speaker 1: much about what they mean, it takes away the ability

569
00:35:42,160 --> 00:35:46,120
Speaker 1: for everyone to interpret it for themselves and for have

570
00:35:46,280 --> 00:35:51,279
Speaker 1: it to make it meaningful for them experience their own experience. Yeah,

571
00:35:51,360 --> 00:35:54,160
Speaker 1: that's right. Having said that, I love the story behind,

572
00:35:54,239 --> 00:35:56,680
Speaker 1: don't stop believe it. So you have to tell us

573
00:35:56,680 --> 00:36:00,839
Speaker 1: a little bit about the circumstances. You're in a hotel. Yeah, okay,

574
00:36:00,880 --> 00:36:03,240
Speaker 1: I'm in a hotel in Detroit, and we just finished

575
00:36:03,239 --> 00:36:06,680
Speaker 1: a show at the Cobo Hall and uh, I think

576
00:36:06,719 --> 00:36:09,000
Speaker 1: it was the Poncha train. Somebody brought it to my attention.

577
00:36:09,120 --> 00:36:12,080
Speaker 1: Hotel and I'm at the top floor looking down and

578
00:36:12,360 --> 00:36:14,920
Speaker 1: I'm not sleepy. It's like three in the morning. I'm

579
00:36:14,960 --> 00:36:19,320
Speaker 1: seeing the street lights glowing the entire streets from the

580
00:36:19,480 --> 00:36:23,800
Speaker 1: top down and they're sort of a of a rust

581
00:36:23,880 --> 00:36:27,080
Speaker 1: colored amber color, and I just could not believe it.

582
00:36:27,280 --> 00:36:31,560
Speaker 1: Everybody's still milling around, you know. Uh, I thought these

583
00:36:31,560 --> 00:36:34,319
Speaker 1: are like street light people. They're like people living under

584
00:36:34,400 --> 00:36:36,840
Speaker 1: these street lights. And it's three in the morning, so

585
00:36:36,920 --> 00:36:40,360
Speaker 1: I remember that street light people. And then down the

586
00:36:40,400 --> 00:36:43,759
Speaker 1: boulevard up and down the boulevard. That's right. And then uh,

587
00:36:43,960 --> 00:36:47,120
Speaker 1: and then I remembered, Um, there was this place in

588
00:36:47,280 --> 00:36:52,719
Speaker 1: my hometown called the l Rancho Hotel that had a bar,

589
00:36:53,320 --> 00:36:56,480
Speaker 1: a terrible bar and club with a little stage in

590
00:36:56,560 --> 00:36:59,320
Speaker 1: the corner. That's where I used to play all my

591
00:36:59,680 --> 00:37:01,759
Speaker 1: cover band music with the band I wasn't at the time.

592
00:37:02,320 --> 00:37:05,719
Speaker 1: And you'd walk into this place and it had a

593
00:37:05,840 --> 00:37:08,719
Speaker 1: red carpet that was just stained with all sorts of

594
00:37:08,840 --> 00:37:12,480
Speaker 1: alcohol and wine spilling and everything, and they never washed it.

595
00:37:12,960 --> 00:37:15,520
Speaker 1: And they're the smell of wine and cheap perfume. Women

596
00:37:15,560 --> 00:37:19,239
Speaker 1: would wear the cheapest perfume, okay, and to show up,

597
00:37:19,320 --> 00:37:21,520
Speaker 1: you know, to try to have a smile and share

598
00:37:21,520 --> 00:37:25,520
Speaker 1: of a night, right. So that came from it came

599
00:37:25,600 --> 00:37:28,200
Speaker 1: from there, you know. And that was just sort of

600
00:37:28,360 --> 00:37:31,359
Speaker 1: reflections of a bunch of different places in your life.

601
00:37:31,560 --> 00:37:35,359
Speaker 1: That's right. And this city motel or hotel, that's right.

602
00:37:35,680 --> 00:37:38,839
Speaker 1: And and and ultimately though it's a love story, isn't it. Well,

603
00:37:38,920 --> 00:37:41,600
Speaker 1: it's it's about not giving up. It's really about you know,

604
00:37:41,640 --> 00:37:44,719
Speaker 1: you've got to keep believing. It's about a city boy

605
00:37:44,760 --> 00:37:48,719
Speaker 1: and a city girl and and just taking the world. Well, yeah,

606
00:37:48,719 --> 00:37:50,800
Speaker 1: I'm making a midnight taking the midnight train to anywhere.

607
00:37:50,840 --> 00:37:53,880
Speaker 1: It's about throwing yourself to the wind and and just

608
00:37:54,160 --> 00:37:57,520
Speaker 1: living your life. You know. I think that is what

609
00:37:57,760 --> 00:38:02,400
Speaker 1: resonates with the youth of today because the song really

610
00:38:03,120 --> 00:38:06,160
Speaker 1: is about it's okay where you're at right now. You're

611
00:38:06,239 --> 00:38:08,399
Speaker 1: doing what you're supposed to be doing. You're throwing your

612
00:38:08,440 --> 00:38:11,440
Speaker 1: life to the wind and just follow the wind. You know,

613
00:38:12,280 --> 00:38:14,279
Speaker 1: it must be fun for you to see a whole

614
00:38:14,320 --> 00:38:19,279
Speaker 1: new generation fall in love with Journey. I think we

615
00:38:19,400 --> 00:38:22,560
Speaker 1: can give a little credit possibly to the cast of Glee,

616
00:38:23,280 --> 00:38:27,800
Speaker 1: which covered Don't Stop Believing. So let's listen for a second.

617
00:38:30,560 --> 00:38:46,560
Speaker 1: Stop hold on to that. When you saw that on Glee, Steve,

618
00:38:46,680 --> 00:38:48,200
Speaker 1: did you get such a kick out of it? Because

619
00:38:48,200 --> 00:38:51,680
Speaker 1: I remember my daughter we were super you know, glee freaks.

620
00:38:51,719 --> 00:38:53,880
Speaker 1: I guess they call them gleeks. We used to watch it,

621
00:38:54,120 --> 00:38:55,640
Speaker 1: you know, it was there a thing we did together,

622
00:38:55,760 --> 00:38:58,800
Speaker 1: and Kara used to record herself and put herself on YouTube.

623
00:38:58,880 --> 00:39:03,800
Speaker 1: She since taking it down, uh singing don't Stop Believing?

624
00:39:04,080 --> 00:39:06,960
Speaker 1: And I mean it really did you get a kick

625
00:39:07,000 --> 00:39:09,120
Speaker 1: out of that? Did I did? Because it was a

626
00:39:09,160 --> 00:39:12,879
Speaker 1: whole new generation and again a high school generation. You see,

627
00:39:13,280 --> 00:39:15,600
Speaker 1: it's that, it's that it's that period that I'm talking

628
00:39:15,640 --> 00:39:20,279
Speaker 1: about that is an important period in any evolution of

629
00:39:20,320 --> 00:39:23,799
Speaker 1: a human being. It just is a magical time our

630
00:39:23,880 --> 00:39:27,399
Speaker 1: teen years and and to see that song become part

631
00:39:27,600 --> 00:39:32,640
Speaker 1: of the joys of that generation really really warmed my heart.

632
00:39:32,719 --> 00:39:35,759
Speaker 1: And then it continued by the way, you know, I

633
00:39:35,840 --> 00:39:38,120
Speaker 1: mean it continued all sorts of places, sporting events and

634
00:39:38,239 --> 00:39:40,840
Speaker 1: ended up with sopranos of course, well, of course, and

635
00:39:41,080 --> 00:39:43,040
Speaker 1: and and that was a thrill for you. I know

636
00:39:43,320 --> 00:39:46,279
Speaker 1: that they reached out that you knew before the rest

637
00:39:46,360 --> 00:39:47,920
Speaker 1: of the country. I didn't know that it was going

638
00:39:48,000 --> 00:39:50,480
Speaker 1: to happen at the end of the Sopranos because I

639
00:39:50,600 --> 00:39:52,239
Speaker 1: held out. I was the only one who held out.

640
00:39:52,320 --> 00:39:55,200
Speaker 1: You know, there's three writers and everybody said yes, but me.

641
00:39:55,280 --> 00:39:57,640
Speaker 1: And the only reason I held out was because I

642
00:39:57,719 --> 00:39:59,480
Speaker 1: want to make sure if that David Chase wasn't gonna

643
00:39:59,520 --> 00:40:02,279
Speaker 1: whack the family with the song playing, you know, because

644
00:40:02,360 --> 00:40:05,000
Speaker 1: Scorsese would do that. You know. Going to the Rock

645
00:40:05,080 --> 00:40:07,800
Speaker 1: and Roll Hall of Fame, was it great senior bandmates

646
00:40:07,920 --> 00:40:10,680
Speaker 1: or did you? Were you conflicted? I was conflicted, and

647
00:40:11,040 --> 00:40:14,200
Speaker 1: I and I almost didn't go because I was so conflicted.

648
00:40:14,719 --> 00:40:17,440
Speaker 1: But what happened was I started going online and I

649
00:40:17,840 --> 00:40:21,320
Speaker 1: remembered the times I had spent away in my hometown

650
00:40:21,360 --> 00:40:24,800
Speaker 1: and we spoke of earlier and all my heroes that

651
00:40:24,880 --> 00:40:27,160
Speaker 1: I grew up with on those forty fives were inducted,

652
00:40:27,400 --> 00:40:29,839
Speaker 1: and I thought, oh my god, this is where I'm going.

653
00:40:30,520 --> 00:40:33,080
Speaker 1: This is this. I'm gonna goose bumps again, stee my

654
00:40:33,200 --> 00:40:35,680
Speaker 1: arms because I really felt like, oh my god, this

655
00:40:35,840 --> 00:40:39,120
Speaker 1: is real. I'm really going to be inducted with my heroes,

656
00:40:39,400 --> 00:40:42,239
Speaker 1: the ones that I looked up to. So I felt

657
00:40:42,280 --> 00:40:45,400
Speaker 1: a sense of purpose and insistence within myself that I

658
00:40:45,520 --> 00:40:48,960
Speaker 1: must be there because at that point, no matter what

659
00:40:49,719 --> 00:40:52,879
Speaker 1: we did or didn't do, or you know, you could

660
00:40:52,880 --> 00:40:54,719
Speaker 1: still love somebody and not hang out with him, by

661
00:40:54,760 --> 00:40:56,759
Speaker 1: the way, you know, I really think that needs to

662
00:40:56,840 --> 00:40:59,680
Speaker 1: be said, all right, And so the point is that

663
00:40:59,760 --> 00:41:03,520
Speaker 1: I still have feelings because we were in the trenches

664
00:41:03,600 --> 00:41:06,600
Speaker 1: together as a group, trying to accomplish a mission that

665
00:41:07,000 --> 00:41:09,200
Speaker 1: you know, the concept of a band is when you

666
00:41:09,520 --> 00:41:13,080
Speaker 1: band together to do collectively what you can't do by yourself.

667
00:41:13,160 --> 00:41:15,480
Speaker 1: It would have been so epic if you had just

668
00:41:15,640 --> 00:41:20,560
Speaker 1: done one song. But I didn't understand that. But but

669
00:41:20,719 --> 00:41:26,279
Speaker 1: instead I wanted to pay tribute to everyone who had

670
00:41:26,360 --> 00:41:30,200
Speaker 1: done so much for giving this kid, a San Joaquin

671
00:41:30,400 --> 00:41:34,319
Speaker 1: Valley kid from the Hanford, California a chance to live

672
00:41:34,400 --> 00:41:37,360
Speaker 1: his dream and chase after it. That meant more to me.

673
00:41:37,440 --> 00:41:39,759
Speaker 1: I think Greg Rowley, I think Neil Sean, I think

674
00:41:39,800 --> 00:41:42,000
Speaker 1: the manager for believing me. And then I had to

675
00:41:42,080 --> 00:41:45,359
Speaker 1: thank Arnell for for pouring his heart out every night

676
00:41:45,440 --> 00:41:48,680
Speaker 1: for ten years. You're the guy who, I can't say

677
00:41:48,719 --> 00:41:51,319
Speaker 1: your replacement, but the guy who became the lead singer.

678
00:41:51,400 --> 00:41:53,560
Speaker 1: But he but he's so good. He's a good kid.

679
00:41:53,680 --> 00:41:56,880
Speaker 1: He's he really has been pouring his heart out in

680
00:41:57,040 --> 00:42:00,239
Speaker 1: that band for ten years and generous about it. Look

681
00:42:00,360 --> 00:42:02,600
Speaker 1: why not? I mean, I mean that's the way I

682
00:42:02,680 --> 00:42:04,560
Speaker 1: see it. If you you know, you had some good

683
00:42:04,640 --> 00:42:07,520
Speaker 1: times with these band members, obviously didn't see eye to eye,

684
00:42:07,640 --> 00:42:10,280
Speaker 1: obviously got on each other's nerves, and you were happy

685
00:42:10,360 --> 00:42:12,719
Speaker 1: to walk away. But you know, a lot of this

686
00:42:12,840 --> 00:42:15,920
Speaker 1: is about friendship, and I don't know I have friends

687
00:42:15,960 --> 00:42:20,160
Speaker 1: that I have I'm no longer friends with me. Why well,

688
00:42:20,320 --> 00:42:26,800
Speaker 1: it's no, no, I mean, it's too complicated. But in

689
00:42:26,920 --> 00:42:29,279
Speaker 1: my heart, well it leaves a hole in your heart,

690
00:42:29,560 --> 00:42:32,600
Speaker 1: but it is too complicated. Why why can't you go

691
00:42:32,719 --> 00:42:36,400
Speaker 1: back to your friends because it's complicated. I should. I

692
00:42:36,480 --> 00:42:38,920
Speaker 1: want to and hope it will, but it's but it's

693
00:42:39,040 --> 00:42:42,280
Speaker 1: very to you. But it's very complicated, very difficult. I should.

694
00:42:42,520 --> 00:42:45,120
Speaker 1: I hope to and one day I will, and you,

695
00:42:45,920 --> 00:42:51,000
Speaker 1: I don't know if I can. Why not? It's too complicated.

696
00:42:51,760 --> 00:42:54,279
Speaker 1: I just can't. Can't go back. No, I don't think

697
00:42:54,360 --> 00:42:56,719
Speaker 1: people can go back. I think that's one of the

698
00:42:56,800 --> 00:42:59,799
Speaker 1: things I learned when I was away that if I'm

699
00:43:00,040 --> 00:43:04,040
Speaker 1: to push through life, I like the adventure of always

700
00:43:04,080 --> 00:43:07,680
Speaker 1: going somewhere I've never been and growing with that. And

701
00:43:07,800 --> 00:43:11,040
Speaker 1: the biggest thing, Katie, the biggest thing is a second ago.

702
00:43:11,080 --> 00:43:14,480
Speaker 1: I just played most of all for you, and I

703
00:43:14,560 --> 00:43:17,239
Speaker 1: got goose bumps on my arm. I have not had

704
00:43:17,320 --> 00:43:20,000
Speaker 1: that connection with something I lost when I left the

705
00:43:20,040 --> 00:43:24,200
Speaker 1: group in years, remember thirty one years I left. Then

706
00:43:24,239 --> 00:43:26,480
Speaker 1: somewhere in the middle, I came back to them again, tried.

707
00:43:27,080 --> 00:43:30,279
Speaker 1: I tried to go back. It didn't work a second time.

708
00:43:30,560 --> 00:43:32,920
Speaker 1: Why should I try a third time if it didn't work.

709
00:43:33,120 --> 00:43:35,520
Speaker 1: And I'm not even talking about music, I'm talking about

710
00:43:35,560 --> 00:43:39,920
Speaker 1: a relationship. I guess Steve, Look, if relationships were possible

711
00:43:40,360 --> 00:43:43,719
Speaker 1: like that, I just don't know if people can separate

712
00:43:44,440 --> 00:43:49,279
Speaker 1: there their motives from their relationships, if you know what

713
00:43:49,360 --> 00:43:52,480
Speaker 1: I mean, I think I know what you mean. Yeah, really,

714
00:43:52,640 --> 00:43:57,080
Speaker 1: I mean it's it's friendships are private and intimate and

715
00:43:57,800 --> 00:44:02,400
Speaker 1: protective to themselves. When they get spilled into motives, it

716
00:44:02,520 --> 00:44:05,120
Speaker 1: doesn't feel like a friendship. It seems like you're afraid

717
00:44:05,560 --> 00:44:09,960
Speaker 1: to rekindle a relationship for fear it will be exploited

718
00:44:10,040 --> 00:44:15,160
Speaker 1: for something else. Pretty much, if it's going to be

719
00:44:15,239 --> 00:44:19,280
Speaker 1: a friendship, exploitation of a friendship is just not a friendship.

720
00:44:19,840 --> 00:44:22,799
Speaker 1: I don't know. Time. Time tells everything. You know. Life

721
00:44:22,880 --> 00:44:27,480
Speaker 1: is a very strange place. And I think that the Eels,

722
00:44:27,560 --> 00:44:30,440
Speaker 1: that the lead singer of the Eels set, Yeah, he said,

723
00:44:30,960 --> 00:44:35,960
Speaker 1: Steve Perry moves in mysterious ways. Do you think you're

724
00:44:36,000 --> 00:44:38,440
Speaker 1: going to do another album? I mean, is this is this,

725
00:44:39,400 --> 00:44:43,200
Speaker 1: is this reconnection with music going to last? Or do

726
00:44:43,280 --> 00:44:45,839
Speaker 1: you think that this is a new chapter and we'll

727
00:44:45,840 --> 00:44:47,960
Speaker 1: be hearing a lot more from you? How much stuff

728
00:44:48,000 --> 00:44:50,080
Speaker 1: I want to do? I've got songs started, I've got

729
00:44:50,160 --> 00:44:54,400
Speaker 1: songs already recorded that are sketched. I've got more material.

730
00:44:54,600 --> 00:44:57,320
Speaker 1: I have more material than I need, and maybe that

731
00:44:57,440 --> 00:44:59,560
Speaker 1: I have time left in my life to finish. To

732
00:44:59,600 --> 00:45:03,560
Speaker 1: be honest, it's a commitment to continue to make music

733
00:45:03,960 --> 00:45:07,239
Speaker 1: for the time I have left. I tell you from

734
00:45:07,280 --> 00:45:09,680
Speaker 1: the bottom of my heart, this is life sustaining to me.

735
00:45:10,239 --> 00:45:12,960
Speaker 1: And I need that right now because Katie, have lost

736
00:45:13,040 --> 00:45:15,200
Speaker 1: my mother and my dad, my grandparents who raised me.

737
00:45:15,440 --> 00:45:19,640
Speaker 1: I'm an only child. I need this. Why didn't you

738
00:45:19,680 --> 00:45:25,800
Speaker 1: ever get married, Steve? Scared? Scared, And I'll tell you

739
00:45:25,920 --> 00:45:30,600
Speaker 1: With Kelly, I was really close, so close. I just

740
00:45:30,960 --> 00:45:34,839
Speaker 1: didn't like what happened and what I saw growing up,

741
00:45:34,960 --> 00:45:38,120
Speaker 1: and I just don't think it was for me. And

742
00:45:38,200 --> 00:45:40,880
Speaker 1: then I wasn't deposed, and so many divorces with the

743
00:45:40,920 --> 00:45:44,800
Speaker 1: band members, one after another, and the next time I

744
00:45:44,880 --> 00:45:46,719
Speaker 1: turned around, this guy is marrying a new one. And

745
00:45:46,840 --> 00:45:49,799
Speaker 1: now I've been across at least three wives with one

746
00:45:49,840 --> 00:45:53,160
Speaker 1: guy while I was in the band, and a couple

747
00:45:53,280 --> 00:45:56,400
Speaker 1: with others, and and deposed because you're in a partnership together.

748
00:45:56,520 --> 00:46:01,160
Speaker 1: So I watched them lose half of every thing every time,

749
00:46:01,239 --> 00:46:03,799
Speaker 1: and I'm thinking, it's not how much you make, it's

750
00:46:03,800 --> 00:46:06,960
Speaker 1: how much you save. So maybe I should stay single.

751
00:46:08,239 --> 00:46:11,120
Speaker 1: Or have a good prenup, Steve, Well, I hear they're

752
00:46:11,160 --> 00:46:14,920
Speaker 1: not so great, and I know the album is doing great.

753
00:46:16,000 --> 00:46:20,200
Speaker 1: I'm so happy, so happy. Nothing makes me happier right

754
00:46:20,239 --> 00:46:22,839
Speaker 1: now than the people here this music and hopefully love

755
00:46:22,920 --> 00:46:24,799
Speaker 1: it and feel it. That's all I want, that's all.

756
00:46:25,239 --> 00:46:27,080
Speaker 1: I don't care if they stream it. I don't even care.

757
00:46:28,680 --> 00:46:31,799
Speaker 1: I'm so happy for this new chapter in your life,

758
00:46:31,880 --> 00:46:34,360
Speaker 1: and I wish you a lot of happiness, but I

759
00:46:34,400 --> 00:46:42,000
Speaker 1: also wish you a lot of peace, Steve Perry. On

760
00:46:42,200 --> 00:46:45,120
Speaker 1: that note, that wraps up my interview with Steve Perry,

761
00:46:45,280 --> 00:46:47,680
Speaker 1: such a treat to talk with him and to sing

762
00:46:47,760 --> 00:46:49,920
Speaker 1: with him too. Well, Katie, we've gotten a lot of

763
00:46:50,040 --> 00:46:53,000
Speaker 1: listener emails asking for more singing from you, not from me.

764
00:46:53,320 --> 00:46:55,320
Speaker 1: I have to get the people what they want, then, Brian,

765
00:46:55,560 --> 00:46:57,920
Speaker 1: you do you do? Before we go, I want to

766
00:46:57,960 --> 00:47:01,160
Speaker 1: thank the team that produces this pot cast Producer Emma

767
00:47:01,280 --> 00:47:05,640
Speaker 1: morgen Stern, associate producer Noura, Richie Jared O'Connell, our engineer,

768
00:47:05,719 --> 00:47:09,000
Speaker 1: and special thanks to my good friend Matt Lombardi who

769
00:47:09,040 --> 00:47:13,000
Speaker 1: really helped me so much with this episode. Matt reunited

770
00:47:13,160 --> 00:47:16,640
Speaker 1: and it feels so good. Also, thank you, Gianna Palmer

771
00:47:16,760 --> 00:47:19,560
Speaker 1: for your help, and Casey Holford for putting up with

772
00:47:19,640 --> 00:47:22,800
Speaker 1: Steve and me on a Saturday morning in the studio.

773
00:47:23,160 --> 00:47:26,680
Speaker 1: Thanks to everyone at Katie currk Media Beta. Mas is

774
00:47:26,760 --> 00:47:29,960
Speaker 1: Katie's assistant and a fabulous one at that, and Julia

775
00:47:30,040 --> 00:47:34,000
Speaker 1: Lewis is the social media whiz. Jared Arnold composed our

776
00:47:34,080 --> 00:47:37,239
Speaker 1: theme music. You can find Brian on Twitter under Goldsmith

777
00:47:37,320 --> 00:47:41,799
Speaker 1: b and I am everywhere Twitter, Instagram, Facebook, all as

778
00:47:41,880 --> 00:47:44,680
Speaker 1: Katie CURRC. If you've thoughts about the show, or questions

779
00:47:44,719 --> 00:47:47,960
Speaker 1: for Katie or me, or guest suggestions, or really anything,

780
00:47:48,280 --> 00:47:52,120
Speaker 1: please reach out our email addresses comments at currect podcast

781
00:47:52,200 --> 00:47:54,880
Speaker 1: dot com, or you can leave us a voicemail by

782
00:47:54,960 --> 00:47:58,920
Speaker 1: calling nine to nine two to four, four six three seven.

783
00:47:59,400 --> 00:48:12,200
Speaker 1: We'll talk you next week. M