Steve Perry - Creem November 1981

-and there's lots of things to consider when you're recording. How it's going to sound on the radio as far as the frequency responses go? Does it sound good, does it sound crisp, does it sound big, rock-hard, solid? Or does it just sound wimped out? We're concerned about that for several stages along the way where it can get ruined.
What sounds best to you on the radio right now?
    A friend of mine, Craig Krampf, is the drummer on the Kim Carnes album. He's an excellent drummer, he's been around for years-he's just finishing up the Alice Cooper album, and did Randy Meisner's latest. Anyway, I like that sound, [producer] Val Garay has a very good sound. I listen to certain things for certain reasons; sometimes I listen to a song because I like the way it was recorded, not particularly because of the music. I might like the drum sound, say, but not the singer.
How does the new album fit in with Journey's evolution as a band and the general scheme of things?
    I think we're getting more exploratory than ever as we go along. Escape is exactly what it means; we're escaping from a lot of places and going to new ones. The album's different from other things we've done, and we've intentionally done that. We knew it was coming-we had songs written for it that were supposed to be on Evolution but weren't finished. "Escape," the title cut, was written two years ago, but we never finished the lyrics. So that's what Jonathan and I did.
The way the band's been selling records, a lot of people might think you all have it fairly easy at this point�
    Fairly easy at this point? Come on-you never have it easy in this business�
But then you're all making lots of money and playing in front of thousands of people, aren't you?
    The band grosses a lot of money, sure, but it's a mistake to think we're walking home with all the paychecks. We're living comfortably, enjoying our music-but what we're doing is, I'd say, returning 85 to 90 percent of it back into the wheel to roll. If it isn't a new stage, it's new lighting. You've got to re-feed, recycle. It's just like the Sony corporation; every penny they get, they put it back into development and creation. They make a percent along the way, sure-but if they don't keep feeding the fire, the flame goes out.
So you guys don't sit around and think about how rich you are?
    Definitely not, we never have. We've only recently been afforded the luxury of having some time off, and it's an expensive luxury-we have a lot of people who work with us, and we've

got to keep their health plans up so that if they get sick, they'll be with us. This is not pretend rock, this is real rock.
Some people, though, say it's corporate rock.
    That's only because the government makes you incorporate, so you don't lose the money and can reinvest it. I mean, this is a business�
Taking it further, Journey, as heads of the corporation, are now responsible for lots of people's lives�
    That's it in a nutshell, man�
So what if one day you got sick of writing songs, or of singing? What if you wanted to take six months off or something? You wouldn't be able to do it, would you?
    No, but�well, we could do it if we really wanted to, but I don't think we'd really want to. I don't think we could afford such a luxury. In more ways than one, we want to keep out there. I mean, when the material keeps coming, what's the point of stopping? If we keep writing material, and keep coming up with albums like this, why should anybody start getting lazy? Why should we want to sit on our hindquarters? Sure, we're going to be able to take some time off and enjoy our lives a little bit more-but there's an inner drive in everybody to create, and you can't douse that flame. I think there's an infinite source of creativity that keeps haunting you, things that have to be moved. If they don't move, then they start to overflow, like a bad gland, and you start to go crazy.
What about the competition? What about new wave rock?
    I don't exactly know what "new wave" is. I do like some of the fresh music coming out today, the very modern stuff. I heard a couple of things the other day by the Split Enz that I thought were pretty cool; I really haven't heard too much more. When we go out on the road with our Walkmans is when we have some time to pick up cassettes.
    I'm really, really, really jazzed up, though, about REO Speedwagon. I've never met the guys, but after 10 years�their well-deserved "overnight" success makes me feel real good. I'm really glad-I'm just glad for them because I know, I've seen, those guys work really hard. In the same fashion that this band has; on the road working their asses off. They're going to reap a lot of well-deserved success.
Why do you think the press sometimes gives Journey a difficult time?
    Well�there are always people who are going to knock something that's happening. When you're an underdog, it's funny; when I first joined the band-no, I take that back, before I joined the band-I'd see articles about them that would say "diffused direction, lack of commerciality, lack of palatability, frenzied guitar playing, no cohesive direction, overall lacking direction"�Then, when I joined the band, the same columnist-who you'd think would at least feel we were playing the kind of music we weren't before-would say "high tenor vocalist, obvious longhaired commercialism, camp thins-and-that"�Ya know? I mean what do you do? After a certain point in time, you take it with a grain of salt. The size of a softball�
It's interesting that you still talk to the press.
    I'll tell you-I've almost wanted to assume a position of not talking to anybody.
But wouldn't that just complete the perfect picture of a band of fatcats just sitting back, ignoring the press and getting rich?

    I hope not; that wouldn't be the reasoning at all. The actual reasoning would be that there are too many shitheads. I mean, not the entire profession-I'm a musician, and there are so many flaky musicians, too. You don't know how many times musicians get branded as being flakes. And whores. It's so stereotyped�
    I just want the best, you know? The best for everyone that deserves it, for how long they're worked, that's all. Because I know-I know, I looked around me when I joined the band, and I knew how long they'd been around. I knew before the band was even born how long everybody'd been around, and I knew how long I'd been around. And I think everybody deserves the best.
    I think the people know what's happening.

in a lot of people's music lately, even Led Zeppelin. There's this one song we had called "Nickel And Dime," and on the last album they put out there was one tune that had exactly the same chord changes. Same thing with Rush-there's one song on their latest album that really resembles "Nickel And Dime" too. I was listening to it the other day and went "Aaah!" They just rearranged the melody a little bit.
Why do you think Journey suddenly became popular? Just because Steve came along?
    Well, rather than trying to be abstract, things just became a lot more song-oriented, with a lot more vocals. Our instrumental pieces and musical ideas sort of take a backseat to that; you don't have as much room to create when you're writing songs. If you want to play a real arty kind of music, it's hard to have vocals all over the place. It's like a painting, you've got to put lots of different colors on it�
If you think you could be more creative playing without vocals, why bother with them in the first place?
    Why? Because I think a majority of the people wouldn't understand it, anyway. There are only a certain few who'll definitely go for it and respect you for it. But I say: Why can't I do both?
What kind of music do you listen to?
    I listen to all kinds of music; a lot of classical-I love Bach-hard rock, I listen to Van Halen, AC/DC, I listen to the blues�
Do you consider AC/DC and Van Halen "the competition"?
    Yeah, I do. I consider them both in the same league. Eddie [Van Halen] may know a few more notes than Angus [Young] does, but Angus pushes as much fire with what he's got. Eddie's a good friend of mine.
Do you listen to new wave at all?
    I don't think there's a hell of a lot of good stuff, I don't know. Benatar's good�Actually, I listen to almost every record that comes out. I still do that, just to see what's happening. You have to do that, or you'll just get stagnant.
What have you heard lately that's really impressed you?
    Not a lot. Really. Not a lot. I don't know, the Police are one of the bands I like a lot, I think they're doing something different. What we're trying to do is, like, do both sides; we're trying to be diversified, have a soft melodic side and a real hard, wild side. And that's something I've never seen a band really do. Van Halen does one thing, AC/DC does one thing, but they don't turn around and do both.
    It's a really hard thing to do. It's easy to find out what your bag is, and then stick with it-but trying to diversify yourself and doing both styles is much harder, But that's what we're trying to do, anyway.
You seem to be selling more and more records each time out�
    I think we're making better and better music all the time, too. Which is like taking a natural progression; we're selling more and more because we're making better and better music.
So you're pretty satisfied with the way things are?
    Yeah, I really can't complain.