"I hope that it will get noticed by a bigger crowd eventually but I have no expectations. "It makes me happy," he says of his solo career. Pineda has released two solo albums, a self-titled effort in 1999 and "AP" in 2016. You know, as you age, it’s easier for you to lose it." "I like to keep my voice going," he says. He'll also perform the occasional solo gig, like his upcoming concert in Phoenix. With Journey taking next year off, Pineda says he plans to do a lot of songwriting and spend time with his family. I mean, oh my God, the legacy that they have built together." I mean, how would you feel when your hero is watching you singing his legacy?" Journey hiatus, solo work, 'AP'Īsked how things are in the Journey camp these days, Pineda says, "It’s started to go back to where they really started, where they came from, which is really like brothers in music. It should be them playing together and singing together. "And then it was so gracious for Steve Perry that he doesn’t want to sing and said that it should be me that should be singing with the band," Pineda says. I was really adamant about not being there"īut Journey's manager John Baruck talked him into it. Steve Perry so much and I think that Rock and Roll Hall of Fame induction, that’s for them, you know? It’s for the band and not for me. Pineda did not get inducted with his bandmates, but he did get up and join them at the Hall of Fame induction ceremony, singing "Don't Stop Believin'" and "Lights."Īs Pineda recalls, "For the record, I never really wanted to be there because I respect Mr. “We were just talking about the gig – How is it? How do I feel? And he joked to me saying ‘Are the boys treating you nice? If not, I’m gonna call them and straighten them out,’ you know?” “Oh, just some random things, you know,” he says. What did he and Perry talk about that day? It’s like meeting the pope, you know? He’s one of my heroes when it comes to music – one of the few singers that I have adored all these years, along with Robert Plant and Ann Wilson.” “And of course, it was one of the most momentous days of my life. “Like I claim on my IG post, I waited 35 years for that,” Pineda says. To say he was thrilled to meet Perry last year at the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame induction ceremony would be something of an understatement. It’s a miracle.” Steve Perry at Hall of Fame induction And it won’t happen anytime soon that I will be Steve Perry. I’m still so amazed that they have embraced me like this because, I mean, it’s pretty clear that I’m not Steve Perry. “I was not expecting that at all,” he says. He’s especially thankful, he says, that the fans were so quick to embrace him when he stepped into that daunting role as Journey’s lead singer. Six or seven years ago, it was like ‘Oh my god, how do I do this?’ I was always terrified and pinching myself, like 'My God, is this really happening?'” And the way I present myself for the crowd now. It’s like they gave me that, that confidence. “I’m more confident with my songwriting now. "My self-esteem is just way up there,” he says. Singing with Journey has helped him become a more confident frontman and conquer his fears. That’s how it is these days.” Journey fans are good for self-esteem “It’s like we just go out there, hit the crowd, play the legacy and have fun with each other, have fun with the crowd. “We don’t have to look at each other and wonder ‘What the hell are we doing?’” says the Philippines-born singer with a laugh. They’ve been “gelling good,” he says, for six or seven years now. You have become a part of the band already.” You don’t have to worry all the time over what are you gonna do and how are you gonna face a crowd. “But as soon as you started to sync in with the band and get accustomed with their lifestyle and the way they tour, it’s still not easy but it’s more of getting in the groove with them, the rhythm. This discovery led to an email from Schon, then a phone call, a two-day audition and eventually his first gig – a Chilean music festival, in which they opened the set with a song he'd covered many times, "Separate Ways (Worlds Apart)."Īs Pineda recalls with a laugh, it was "nerve-wracking," as were his first several years in the band. He'd been recruited by Journey guitarist Neal Schon, who was duly impressed by the young singer's eerily Perry-esque vocals on classic-rock staples by Journey, Survivor and more at the helm of the Zoo in a series of YouTube clips. It’s been a decade since Arnel Pineda stepped into a spotlight once held by his hero, Steve Perry.
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