- I'm Lyndsey.
We're here with Steve Perry at Billboard.
We're gonna be talking about the incredible new album
Traces that came out on Friday.
- That's right. - How was release weekend?
- Really great, really great.
We had a good time.
- Nice.
So, this was 25 years since your last solo album.
- Yeah.
- When you realize that the work was done,
what was that moment like?
How did you feel?
- Well, it's never really done because,
(laughing)
as soon as the record was done, we went to mastering.
And after we went to mastering, we went to cutting vinyl.
And then we had to approve test pressings of vinyl.
So it was always sort of like a process.
And honestly, I think when we finally got to New York here,
a release day happened.
That's when we knew the record was done.
(laughing)
And I had an order of french fries which was the holdout.
Fries come when the record is done.
- Ah, that's the reward. - And that was the reward.
- Ketchup, no ketchup? - Oh yeah.
- Alright. - Tabasco and ketchup.
- Ooh, very nice. - Yeah, mixed together.
(laughing)
- How long is it gonna be 'til you get fries again?
(laughing)
- A week.
(laughing)
- So over the past several years, point of conversation
is how you sort of retreated from the spotlight.
But why was that important for you to do
and why was it almost necessary?
- Well, at the time, all I knew was, I was toast.
And I needed to stop
and it wasn't a popular thing at the time.
Everybody wanted you to rock 'til you drop, you know?
That was the sort of philosophy back then.
But, I don't know, there was something in my upbringing
that said I should probably stop.
And I did, and again, it wasn't popular.
Certainly upset and it was disappointing to all the fans
but it was something I had to do
because I had lost my passion for the music
that I love so much and I wasn't gonna just
keep going with some empty sort of connection.
I need a connection.
So, that's why I stopped and I didn't know if it was
gonna come back, to be honest with you.
So, I just kept going and years go by
and the further away I got from it,
the more I kind of thought I'll just keep going that way.
- Mmm hmm.
I like how you said it wasn't popular to do that at the time
because now you see really young pop stars and artists
being really open about the fact
that they do need to take a step back.
- I think self-care is part of the whole thing now.
At the time, as I said, it was rock 'til you drop
and a lot of people were doing that.
- Yeah.
Knowing that the industry might be a little more accepting
towards taking your own time to do things,
was that encouraging at all
when you thought about returning?
- I still think the industry is what I would call
a choke chain on a dog, you know?
(laughing)
It can still pull you along if you're not careful.
- Yeah.
- And you have to sort of take care of yourself
along the way and sort of fight for your right to do so.
Because there's music which I'm passionate again about
and I love very much.
Thank God I came back, by the way.
But there's also this business
and the business can be a very tight collar.
- Yeah, yeah, absolutely. - Yeah.
- One of the things that's really crucial to this album
is this epic love story that unfolded in your life.
So, for those who don't know or who haven't heard yet,
how did that experience put you down this new path?
- Well, I had not been writing music.
I had not been singing.
I purposefully walked away years ago and the easiest thing
for me to do was to not let my heart experience anything
remotely close to trying to touch that emotional side of me
so I kind of turned my heart kind of down to half.
'Cause I was afraid if I open that up again,
I might fall back in.
- Yeah.
- So I turned my heart down to half and I kept walking.
And then I ran into Kelly Nash and
my life changed.
When I met Kelly, she was already struggling
with her breast cancer but it didn't seem
to matter to us anything about that.
We were this other track running parallel to this track
that she was already struggling with.
And so, together we were doing that and we were together
for a year and a half and then I lost her to the disease
and after two years of
of grieving with professionals and stuff,
I found myself within not only just a broken heart
but an open heart.
And from that came rock and roll.
Came happy songs about reunions
and also some couple of loss songs.
- Yeah, absolutely.
They're all chronicled on here.
- Yeah.
- One of my favorite things that you said is
that sometimes the heart isn't complete
until it's truly broken.
I think that is so profound
and really relatable for a lot of people.
So how did returning to music maybe mend your heart at all?
Or do you think some people believe that it's important
for a heart to stay broken?
What do you think about the repair process
and piecing it together again?
- I think the broken heart is the good news.
I know people try to avoid that.
You know, I don't want my heart to get broken
so maybe I shouldn't do this.
And I did that myself too. - Yeah, it guards you.
- Yeah, you guard it.
Right, you know?
Enough already with that, you know?
And I think that's a natural reaction
to I just don't wanna feel the pain.
But the truth is, looks like life is full of that
and so I think push ourself into it and that's what I
ended up doing and it's sort of pushed me into it.
And I came out of it with an open heart and
it's because it was broken and more complete I think.
I guess it's what needed to happen.
I think everybody gets what they need whether
they like it or not at some point, you know?
- Yeah, and when you don't really expect it sometimes too.
- When you don't expect it,
it's probably the best time to get some.
(laughing)
- Yeah, you look the other way
and then something comes at you.
- I'm telling you, when you're looking the other way
is when it hits you from the side.
- Yeah. - Absolutely.
You said that you've always considered
your voice a work in progress.
- Yeah, it still is.
- Mmm hmm. - Yeah.
- What was it like to get reacquainted,
though, after so much time had past?
- It was different because when I was writing these songs,
I would start sketching ideas and I would start with,
people say do you warm up and all of that?
Mmm, no.
I usually sing the verse stuff first
and then the verse stuff can warm me up
to where I get to the chorus.
Then I start to try to do some warmup stuff with the chorus
and more demanding choruses are.
But verses, the first time you throw
a paintbrush across a canvas, there's something great
about the first stroke across that blank canvas.
And I think singing a verse, for instance, not warmed up
is very similar and you can get things said in a way
that you'd never say again.
Like, I know it's been a long time coming.
It's the opening line to No Erasin'.
That was just off the cuff.
And it became the line and I didn't touch it.
I left it there and it set the tone
for the rest of the song so. - Totally.
That's kind of the importance of just sort of stroking
the brush against the blank canvas.
- And it seems conversational too.
It feels like you're opening up
this entire dialogue with that line.
- Right, right, right.
It launches you into a place for sure.
- Oh yeah.
- From a songwriting standpoint, it definitely launches
a certain amount of direction and now requirement
to where is this going?
- Mmm hmm. - You know.
- Exactly. - Yeah.
- After you recorded that line,
did you know where the album was going?
- (laughing) It looks awhile.
It took awhile to get the record,
you know, launched and moving forward.
It was really originally gonna be 10 songs
but more songs kept coming.
And so there's five bonus tracks.
A totally of 15 which are available
at steveperry.com and also Target.
But those extra five songs
actually belong on the record too.
But since I cut vinyl, there are time limitations on vinyl.
- Yeah, of course.
- So we have five and five on the vinyl, you know.
- Yeah.
- But there's actually double vinyl with 15.
- There you go.
So you put it all in. - I put it all in.
I squeezed it all in eventually.
- Throughout the entire recording process,
did you ever get nervous or have a moment
of questioning what you really wanted to do?
- I did, I did. - Yeah.
- I built my own studio and got my own engineer, Tom,
and just started to record on these sketches
that I had built and I had that hard drive
that everything was on and I had no management.
Had no record label and I was paying for everything myself
including my engineer and my studio.
So, the reason I did that is 'cause I wanted the creative
freedom that if I don't like what happens
or if I don't believe what's happening coming out of me,
'cause I was a little trepidatious
about where's this gonna go.
And I'm hard on myself so if I don't believe
what I'm singing, I'm not gonna let you hear it.
- Yeah. - I won't.
So I knew I had the power at that point
to delete everything on the drive
if I wanted to and believe it or not,
I kinda had that exercise in my mind possible
had I not liked what I got.
And then I started liking what I was getting
and I started believing what I was getting.
And what happens is for me, there's certain things
that'll happen and I'll start to go,
whoa, that's kinda cool.
Well, maybe if I, and then I could, you know?
- Mmm hmm. - It goes like that.
And so, one idea starts to open up
another idea and another idea.
That's when I get goosebumps
on my arm and I'm kinda excited.
- There's something comforting about knowing you have
the complete control and power
to not put it out if you don't want to.
- It's important to me personally.
- Absolutely.
Yeah, I think it probably helps the creative process too.
- I think it does. - There's nothing--
- Especially after all these years.
- Yeah, exactly.
- Stay away, go away. - It definitely paid off.
(laughing)
- If you don't love it, leave it alone.
But I love it.
I do love it.
- Well, that's great to hear. - Yeah.
- So I know you never really cared for what the critics
would say about Journey's music.
- Never gave a rat's--
(laughing)
- Do you have the same mindset about your own solo music
specifically with this album?
- Don't give a (whispers) rat's ass.
- Perfect.
He just doesn't care.
(laughing)
- I don't care!
Because I'm the one who has to sing it, let it go.
Believe me, I have more critics in my head
than you can fill The Beacon Theater with, okay?
Alright, so we don't need anymore.
(laughing)
- Enough people have waited already.
- I mean, you know, I've got plenty
of criticism in my own process.
- Yeah.
So now that the album is out, what is up next for you?
What are you looking to do?
- (laughs) Vacation.
- Nice. - Get a week off, you know?
Then, I think we're gonna start talking about
perhaps the idea of doing some shows.
We haven't really gotten into too much of the details
or what that could or couldn't be.
Uncle Steve hasn't toured in awhile as you know.
- Right.
- So we're gonna talk about that next.
- In this moment, how do you feel about
the prospect of returning to the stage?
- Oh my goodness.
Well, when I did it with The Eels,
I think it was 2014 at The Fitzpatrick Theater.
E. had asked me to come out there and do some songs with him
and I loved his song.
It's a MOFO.
I'll say MOFO because I don't know if this is okay.
I love that song and so I wanted to sing that song
and then we did a few Journey songs.
It was a thrill to be on stage again.
It really was. - Yeah.
- And I had forgotten what that felt like
'cause it'd been 25 years since I was on a stage.
And so that was a real thrill for me personally.
And to see the people and try to go get that voice
that they want me to bring them.
I can't get by myself unless I'm in front of them.
- Yeah, it's something that comes out of
the live performance.
- It's a relationship.
It's a relationship that they're pulling out of me.
I can't get that unless I'm in front of them.
It's kind of the way it is. - Yeah.
Steve needs you guys.
(laughing)
- I think that's the case.
(laughing)
- Alright, well, that about does it.
Again, congratulations-- - Thank you!
- On the new album. - Thank you so much.
- And thank you so much.
- Thank you very much. - Alright.