Exclusive Interview With Keyboardist Jonathan Cain
In 2013, Journey will celebrate their 40th anniversary. But for now, the band has embarked on a massive tour in support of its 15th studio effort, Eclipse, which is also the second album to feature Arnel Pineda, their Filipino vocalist discovered by guitarist Neal Schon on YouTube. While Revelation (2008) was in the great tradition of AOR/melodic rock, Eclipse is a heavier record, with a progressive vibe and a spiritual concept.
We caught up with keyboardist/songwriter Jonathan Cain, right before the band’s performance at Paris’ Palais des Sports on July 7th. A Chicago native, Cain has been writing and co-writing many of the band’s hits, since he joined the Californian rockers 30 years ago to replace founding member Greg Rollie. He told us about the spiritual concept behind Eclipse, the privilege of making new music and his musical influences.
The European Tour with Foreigner is coming to an end. How did it go?
Really good! We’ve been successful in many places like the UK or Germany, which is a new place for us relatively speaking. We also played for 50 000 people in Sweden at the Peace and Love Festival. Bob Dylan was there too. Lots of kids have been coming, so we saw a lot of younger fans. All in all, It’s been a very good tour. It’s great playing with Foreigner. Ten years later, we’re still friends and we really like their music. We both have our new singers, so it’s good energy.
You also have connections with Styx who opened for you in the UK…
Yeah we’re very tight with the guys from Styx as well. Ricky Phillips and I were in The Babys and Bad English together. Tommy Shaw is a good friend of mine and so is JY (James Young), and Todd (Sucherman)… they’re all our buddies. So, it’s a lot of fun to be on the road with our brothers.
Do you see a big difference between the American audiences and the European ones?
The Europeans are maybe better listeners. I think they go more for the details and they certainly like the new music. They’ve been receptive to the new songs. A lot of time in The States, we can’t play so much new music, but here we can let it go and it’s pretty cool. They all listen to it and enjoy it…
Eclipse is definitely a rock record, heavier, a lot more guitar-oriented than the bands’ previous albums…
Yes, that was the purpose from the beginning. Neal and I wanted to go this road and try it. It’s also the album Neal had always wanted to make. Journey’s kind of always had a rock side and a pop side. This is our rock side.
This is also a conceptual album with a strong spiritual vibe. Could you tell us more about it?
I have studied Tantra for several years and it changed my life. The message for the Journey fans is “Turn down the noise and plug into the power and the true God [which is] the perfection that we live in”. Our original sin is to question this perfection. I felt that that all along. We’re not preaching this, we’re just saying: “Think about it. Nature is perfect and God is everywhere”.
I thought it was time to come with this idea. And it’s pretty rock’n’roll, because it’s central, spiritual and physical. It goes on all plans of living. We’ll all become sick as a society if we don’t maybe try some of these things, especially nowadays… We just get sucked into the Internet and the new streaming media, Facebook…and forget to connect to the other things in nature and life like our friends, our loved ones, our hearts… It’s up to us to go out unplugged, to see a beautiful field of flowers and enjoy the day, to have peace for an afternoon. This is really a big powerful thing that exists and the Hindus knew a long time ago about it.
We started with “City Of Hope”, which is about connecting where you live. When we were in Manila, we saw Arnel with his (charity) foundation. He’s giving back to the hungry kids starving in the streets. He’s connecting to where he lives. He is providing more light in dark places, spreading his energy, trying to make things better. That’s where the whole concept begins and why Arnel’s personality is really plugged into this record. Meeting him, he’s a Buddhist, and meeting his friends was a great source of inspiration.
We’re where we’re supposed to be. We’re touring new places. We have all this new music.
Since more and more people download songs instead of buying new albums, how is it important for you to still make a studio album that one can listen from start to finish?
It is very important. Neal and I don’t want to be a ‘catalogue band’. We could play different sets of songs every night if we wanted to. We have 14 albums now. Eclipse is our 15th one. To create new music is a privilege because of the success of Revelation. But we can’t fool ourselves. We have to say: “Hey, we’re as good as in our last CD and if we have enough people believing in us, we look forward to continuing. When it stops, then it’ll stop”. But we like doing it, for our fans and for our heads… and our hearts.
Would you say he arrival of Arnel and the “Don’t Stop believing” phenomenon have given the band a new lease of life?
Yes definitely, I think it’s given us another ten years. We didn’t plan it that way. It was given to us. It’s a gift from the Gods! (Laugh). We’re fortunate and grateful to be blessed like this. It’s pretty cool.
Is there a musician you would love to play with?
There’s a drummer that play with John Mayer… Keith Carlock. He’s fantastic. He played with Sting too. He lives in my hometown so there’s a possibility! I’m building a studio in Nashville now, and I’m hoping to get the guy over to jam with me! (laugh)
Are you influenced by the music over there?
A little bit you know, in the writing. I don’t try to pretend I’m a “country western guy”, but I can write a little bit of that. And I’m helping my daughter with her career, she’s a singer/songwriter, her name is Alison. She’s very good. I co-wrote and produced a lot of her demos. I’m also writing for some people there, they like my style. I play around town for charity events. It’s a nice community. I really like it. There’s a lot of music there… very good stuff, like The Kings Of Leon. Jimmy Stafford from Train moved there as well as Bob Ezrin the famous producer for Alice Cooper… So I think rock’n’roll is really about to bust a move in Nashville. And I really hope my studio is going to be part of this!
If you had to choose your three favourite albums, all kinds of music taken together, what would it be?
Probably The Dark Side Of The Moon, The Who Live At Leeds and… oh yeah I like this crazy, Steely Dan the Aja album. Oh my God it’s a great album! Those three are part of my favourites, but I can keep going on and on: Elton John Honky Château, Supertramp Crime Of The Century, Led Zeppelin…
The Beatles?
Yeah, of course. Sergent Pepper’s is pretty amazing. And the White Album…Whoa! We played it the other night. “Helter Skelter”, what a fantastic song!
My son is quite a retro guy. He’s only 15, but he’s found out about Blind Faith, he’s a big Zeppelin fan, he likes Hendrix, Cream, I showed him Ginger Baker… He’s checking out all this old stuff, but he also listens to Slipknot. So, he’s quite a diverse music listener and he’s a good drummer too.
I probably don’t listen to as much music as I used to cause I wanna keep my brain clear for new things. I like a lot of silence because I’m writing a lot now. I’m working on a book, I’m trying to. And I do a lot of photography too. I have my own Flickr page. I take impressions of places I go. It’s fun.
Journey in 2008 with… Damn! Who’s that guy again?
Do you remember the first record you ever bought?
I think it was a Beach Boys single… Probably “I Get Around”. (Singing) “Get Around round round… I get around”. I was a big Beach Boys fan. I liked the singing and the harmonies, Brian Wilson, the way he was… “Good Vibrations”, oh My God! I grew up with that. And there was The Beatles of course. I think Meet The Beatles was the first album that I bought. I was also very much into jazz in the sixties… I liked Miles Davis, Jimmy Smith, Buddy Rich, all those guys. I liked the Big Bands, Wes Montgomery, Oscar Peterson, Ahmad Jamal, Sergio Mendez/Brazil 66, “The Girl From Ipanema”, all that stuff.
When did you know you wanted to be a professional musician?
When I was 15 I guess. I was playing a lot around town and I was making pretty good living. I started playing in bands in my high school. We had what we called “Battle of the Bands” and I won a few of those. I went to College to learn more about music theory, the harmonies, the orchestrations… then I left. I just went out as a “professional gypsy” in a van, playing all kind of crazy music. I did everything from the polkas to the show tunes to the rock. I wanted to play it all. It was fun. And I got here (Journey) because of The Babys with John Waite.
Journey sometime around 1981 with the iconic Steve ‘The Voice’ Perry (second from left)
At which moment did you realize you had song writing skills?
Well… I was at the Dick Clark Show in 1976, the American Bandstand. I wrote a song called ‘Till It’s Time To Say Good Bye”. I guess that’s when I knew. It was Top 40. I wrote about myself and I thought: “Ok, they must like it. I could do better, but I’m happy for my success”. It encouraged me to continue. But it takes a while to learn how to write a song. You have to live your life, find your place… find your voice. I think that co-writing has helped me a lot you know, writing with all these different people. It’s good for you.
Do you turn the volume up or down when you hear Journey’s music on the radio? I know it’s a stupid question! (Laugh)
No, I let it play. I like it. I’m honoured. It’s always flattering to hear yourself.
So you guys are back in Paris, two years after your concert at Le Bataclan. What can we expect from tonight’s show?
A shorter set. We can’t play as long because there are three bands, but I think it’s a good mix of old and new material. We’ll play some songs from Eclipse and the energy is good right now in the band. It’s pretty strong.
Do you have a message for Journey fans in France?
“Bonsoir les Français. Nous sommes heureux d’être ici ce soir!” It’s almost that! (Laugh)
Interview released by Alan & Defnael for Ondes de Rock on July 7, 2011.
A big thank you to Jonathan Cain for his precious time!
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