Jonathan Cain on Journey’s Social Media Feud
So what really went on with Journey this summer?
While the group was doing sell-out business on the road, its behind-the-scenes life was opened to the public by a series of tweets by guitarist Neal Schon castigating his bandmates, particularly keyboardist Jonathan Cain, about everything from creative differences to ownership of the Journey name and also a visit to the White House by Cain, frontman Arnel Pineda and bassist Ross Valory.
Cain tells us that he was upset by the cyber fracus but also tried to walk the high road:
“You’d have to talk to him (Schon) about it. I stayed neutral on it all. I woke up one morning and there was a storm, and I just didn’t get it…He decided to share it with the fans instead of talking to me, which is, well, you know, what he chose to do…Something like that wasn’t the first time we’ve come at odds with each others. It’s been 36 years, you know. Do husband and wife get in fights when they’ve been married for 36 years? Plenty of times…I have really not much comment about anything else, but we played great, we were selling out every night. I just chose to take the high road and play. Whatever differences, whatever opinions, just let that be in the background, whatever.”
Journey has not yet announced plans for next year, but Cain adds that he’s confident we haven’t seen the last of the band:
“The music is bigger than all of it. The music is so good. It really is. It’s bigger than any kind of squabble, any kind of whatever you’ve got…We just have our differences. We’ll get through them. I know God will see us through this. I have no malice towards anybody. I just feel sorry for the fans who had to go through it. They can rest assured that we’re gonna be alright.”
Cain will be releasing a new holiday album, Unsung Noel, on Friday (October 13) and is working on a memoir for publication next year.
Gary Graff is an award-winning music journalist who not only covers music but has written books on Bob Seger, Neil Young and Bruce Springsteen.
