http://www.nctimes.com/articles/2004/06/09/entertainment/music/6_9_0411_52_15.tx\
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By: JIM DAIL - For the North County Times

At one point in time, Journey not only was one of the hottest live acts around,
had the top single in the country and a collection of best-selling albums, the
band even had an Atari 2600 game created around it.

Not too many bands would figure they are just as recognizable decades later, but
for Journey founder and lead guitarist Neal Schon, the band is once again at a
high point.

"This is the sixth year of this incarnation of Journey, and every year we get
more believers," he said. "It's starting to feel like the '80s."


The current version features Schon, keyboardist Jonathan Cain, bassist Ross
Valory, drummer Dean Castronovo and lead singer Steve Augeri.

The '80s were the decade in which Journey found tremendous success behind such
hits as "Don't Stop Believin,' " "Open Arms," "Who's Crying Now" and
"Faithfully." Of course, the 1970s weren't bad either, with such fan favorites
as "Wheel in the Sky," "Lights" and "Any Way You Want It."

However, for Schon, that doesn't mean the band has peaked.

"There's a DVD that just surfaced from shows we did at Budokan, and everyone
raved about the show, and I finally got a chance to get a copy and play it and I
thought, 'Wow, everyone thought that was good?' " he said. "We're better now."

Perhaps it's the perfectionist in Schon that has him so critical.

"I'm tough on everybody," he said. "When you expect a lot from yourself you
expect a lot from the people around you. I mean, when you feel passionate about
something you don't settle for second best."

Considering the collection of songs the band has put together and the reputation
Schon has as a guitarist, it's almost unbelievable to think that most of his
solos are one-take-and-done solos.

"We have a saying that goes 'If youíre thinking, youíre stinkin',' " he said.
"I'm best at one-take solos because that's what I'm feeling at the time and I
hear what I want in my head and it just comes out. If you start thinking too
much about it, it jams everything up."

Indeed, regarding one of his most famous solos, the outro solo to "Who's Crying
Now," Schon said he didn't even like the solo when he did it.

"I had been messing around with some synthesizers and was thinking about what to
do with the song when everyone said just play something simple," he said. "So I
just played some things I thought were stupid and everyone said 'That's
perfect.' I said, 'You've got to be kidding me.' But over the years, I can see
what's so likable about it. It's just a very simple melody and it really says
something in that song."

Of course, not every Schon solo has come out that way. One song in particular
that gave Schon trouble was "Daydream."

"Our producer, Roy Thomas Baker, told me to go work on the solo for the song and
I did it for two days and must have played it 50 or 100 times and couldn't get
it to come out the way I wanted," he said. "Finally it came out. I just had to
play it from the heart, because that's where the feeling comes from."

Many newer fans probably would not know "Daydream."

"The newer fans are younger and they know the greatest hits, but not some of the
other songs we've done over the years," Schon said. "We've sold almost 70
million records in the United States. Now, we're going back and looking at some
of those to put them into the set, but I don't know which ones yet."

That's one of the challenges with a huge catalog of songs.

"You have to be conscientious, because you don't want to lose that energy by
playing songs fans don't know, because that's when they get up and go get a hot
dog," he said.

Of course, probably the biggest challenge from a fan standpoint has been the
absence of singer Steve Perry, who left the band following the release of "Trial
by Fire." A reunion shouldn't be expected, Schon said.

"There's nothing there anymore," he said. "The bridge is too badly burned. I
haven't even heard him singing, so I don't know what's happening with him."

But the band hasn't missed a beat.

"Steve Augeri has a strong voice and he fits right in," he said. "The more
people hear him, the more people see the talent. And the fact that Jonathan Cain
and I were both thinking about him as a replacement made the transition easy."

There are also plans for more new music.

"I'm always writing new music, but with the music industry the way it is today
it's pretty hard," Schon said.

The industry is a sore subject with Schon.

"If we do a new album, how do we get it out there?" he asked. "It's not just the
recording companies not being able to afford to take you on, but now the record
stores want $5 a CD just to put it in the store."

That hasn't stopped Schon from working. He's part of a new band, Soul Sarkis,
which he calls "in the vein of older Motown soul.

He's also working on an album with Jan Hammer.

"That's really avant-garde, sort of rave jazz I call it," Schon said. "I've also
got another solo record coming out called 'Eye on You.'



regards,

RDB
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