This Pinoy is a rock star–believe it

Pineda has come a long way from Shakey’s Cubao and Cal-Jam Olongapo

This guy’s a rock star? Arnel Pineda, new lead singer of the famous American band Journey, says he still goes to Nepa Q-Mart to buy his favorite dalagang bukid.

He confesses that he is “living like a saint” at the moment, religiously following a regimen of exercise and healthy diet, and mostly just staying home with his family. This, before a daunting tour that starts in June.

Yes, he is a rock star, though stands a tad too short and, offstage, looks so unassuming, that he could blend with the neighborhood bums.

But Pineda, the country’s biggest music celebrity at the moment, doesn’t give a hoot.

At 40, he is no spring chicken, but life for him is just beginning. In two months he is bound to fully appreciate what it means to be Journey’s frontman, as the band goes on an intercontinental tour that kicks off in Spain, and proceeds to Germany, the Netherlands, the UK, Italy, Ireland, and the US. The tour’s Asian leg will have stops in Australia, Japan, Singapore, Hong Kong and the Philippines.

There are reportedly eight promoters bidding for the band’s Manila gig in November.

Plus, Journey has been invited to play on “Ellen” (Ellen DeGeneres’ show) on the strength of Pineda’s celebrated YouTube video that caught Journey founder/guitarist Neil Schon’s eye. Taping for “Ellen” is set May 22.

Huge following

Journey is not exactly the world’s hottest band right now. None of its albums figure prominently among critics’ favorites. But from 1979 to 1983, it gained a huge following after recording a string of albums (“Evolution,”

“Departure,” “Escape,” “Frontiers”) that helped define what a power ballad sounded like.

These days, it’s typical of karaoke clubs to have somebody at the mic belting out Journey hits like “Don’t Stop Believing” or “Open Arms”—often with difficulty.

Last year, Journey enjoyed newfound resurgence, via the US hit TV series “The Sopranos.” The last scene of the final season showed actor James Gandolfini (as Tony Soprano) scanning a jukebox and playing “Don’t Stop Believing” while waiting for his wife and kids at a diner. The song served as soundtrack for the scene.

The band has toured regularly in the past few years with former big names like Def Leppard, Cheap Trick and Heart. But probably not until it announced Pineda’s hiring did the idea of a top-draw American band with an Asian front man become very interesting, indeed.

Regular guys, but white

“The weird part is, performing with Journey feels just like playing with my old band Zoo,” says Pineda in an interview at the Inquirer office. “Kaya lang, major league ang Journey— big stage, big lights, big music.”

Having gone past the star-struck phase, Pineda has discovered that his new bandmates are regular guys who talk about simple things and have their own dreams. He felt right at home with them, “kahit puti sila.” (even if they are white).

Home for a break before the grueling tour (the US leg alone has 49 shows), Pineda talks about the curious little details that he is doing, or not doing, for the first time: “I don't eat pork and beef, just fruits, vegetables, fish and chicken. I take raw, wild honey because it’s good for the voice, it’s an antioxidant and anti-viral. I drink lots of alkaline water. And I talk only when really necessary.”

But he rehearses old and new Journey songs every day. The routine starts with exercises that he learned from vocal coaches who’ve trained the Eagles’ Don Henley and Journey’s former frontman, Steve Perry, acknowledged as the one who gave the band its distinctive voice.

That high tenor, Pineda admits, is like a “shadow” that he won’t be able to get away from easily.

Make or break

But the forthcoming release of a new Journey album offers a window of opportunity. The record, a special 3-disc (CD/DVD) package titled “Revelation,” features Pineda singing in 11 Journey classics, as well as 11 new songs.

“It's make or break,” he says. “‘If it becomes a hit, I can get get our from that shadow. But not totally, kasi andu’n yung greatest hits. But it’s a huge honor to sing those hits.”

A track from the album, “After All These Years,” is touted to be a potential hit.

Pineda describes it as a ballad “about a couple—after all the trials and heartaches, they are still together.”

The recording sessions, according to Pineda, were enough to debunk the notion of Journey as being inflated with rock-star egos. He says Schon has invited him to contribute songs for the next album. “Sabi niya, ‘Man, you have to get used to living in America because I want you to write songs with me.’” Pineda says he’s got a bunch of English lyrics written down through the years.

Apart from his bandmates’ graciousness, Pineda is grateful for having been introduced by his vocal coaches to the “science of singing.” He refers to techniques through which he learned how to breathe properly. Now he’s amazed that he’s able to again sing the songs he had long dropped because he couldn’t reach the high notes.
“When I was 15, maski three hours lang ang tulog ko, kinabukasan kakanta uli ako ng Chaka Khan (‘Through the Fire’) or Heart (‘What About Love’),” he recalls, cracking up the Inquirer Entertainment staff.

Tailored future

This rock star, by the way, used to sing just about anything.

He remembers that his parents, both tailors, used to prop him up, as young as 6 years old, to join amateur singing contests. “‘Pag fiesta, kinakabahan na ko, bobolahin na ’ko ng father ko, susukatan na ko ng damit, kunwari may magpapatahi, pero ako na pala ’yung gagawan ng damit. Pinapalista na nila ko sa barangay. Ayoko, umiiyak ako, pag kumakanta ako sa stage, nanginginig ako sa nerbiyos.” (I get the jitters every fiesta season. My father would make me a nice costume, then he would enter my name in the village singing contest. I used to cry. I had sever stage fright.)

It is his late mother that he considers his earliest musical influence.

“Tatawagin niya ako habang nananahi siya para kantahin namin ’yung Carpenters … ‘You’ve got to love me for what I am…’ Saka ‘yung ‘Evergreen’ ni Barbra Streisand.” (We used to sing songs by the Carpenters. And Evergreen by Barbra Streisand.)

In hindsight, his mother’s death, which left the family in financial trouble, gave him the impetus to try doing what he never thought he would be good at—singing for a living.

Pineda has come a long way from Shakey’s Cubao, Cal-Jam Olongapo and Cavern Club in Hong Kong, singing the classic hits of his idols, from Aerosmith to Led Zeppelin. He’s some sort of a legend in the cover-band circuit for his high-pitched vocals that could tackle any rock ballad that one could think of.

Even so, he says nothing prepared him for the daunting task of singing with Journey for the first time at the Viña del Mar International Song Festival in Chile last February. Backstage, he was scared as hell, certain that the gig was an acid test and that the audience had turned up only to judge whether he deserved to be there.

It turned out they were indeed rabid Perry fans, a fact that Schon only told him after the show. So I won't get the jitters,” Pineda laughs.

Another show was in Santiago, known for one of the most vicious audiences in the world. “I was told they would boo you until you lose focus,” Pineda relates. “The good news is, it did not happen.”

He says the fear of committing a mistake benefited him, as he became more careful, not overly confident, “pero kung maririnig ng matatalas ang tenga ’yung performance ko, marami akong sabit, mga flats, kasi I was being very careful na ’wag akong sumobra.” (but I always listen to myself, I don't want to go overboard.)

Voice in protest

He has enough reason to be extra careful now.

During a small gig in Pebble Beach, Monterey County, California, his voice collapsed
after eight songs. “Bigla na lang siyang bumaba, hindi ko maabot ’yung right key,” he recounts. “Unti-unti ko lang siyang naibalik after four more songs pero kung baga, pilay na ako. Dinaan ko sa showmanship. Nagustuhan pa rin ng tao. Ang nanood sa ’min mga 300 people lang, pero top dealers of Chevrolet cars. It was a corporate show.” (I faltered once. I was able to recover with lots of showmanship. The people liked it.)

He says he’s psychologically prepared, in case it happens again. “Kailangan alam mo kung pa’no i-turn around. Gamitin mo siya to your advantage.” (One must realize when to turn-around and use that to advantage.)

He’s noticeably wearing braces to correct a dysfunction. He says his left jawbone is deteriorating and the right one is starting to show the same symptoms. “But it’s curable through therapy. Nakuha ko ’to from stress and too much talking … also because I grind my teeth while asleep.”

The pain of those dysfunctional jawbones, alongside another affliction called acid reflux in the stomach, made him quit singing in Hong Kong in 2006. He describes acid reflux as being akin to ulcer, something akin to having intense heartburn. At this point, the normally jovial Pineda turns morbid: “‘Pag pinabayaan, it can lead to cancer.” (It might just develop into cancer.)

Three-year contract

But these ailments are the least of his worries right now, since he has a dependable manager in Bert de Leon, otherwise known as a TV director (“Eat Bulaga,” “Todas”), but whose love of music and knowledge of the business (he was a former executive at the defunct Blackgold label of Vicor Records) serves Pineda in good stead. De Leon makes sure he gets sufficient medical attention.

“We’ve been ‘married’ for the past two years,” Pineda says of his relationship with de Leon.

It’s something that Pineda holds dearly, since de Leon was instrumental in getting him gigs and a record deal with the band Zoo when he decided to return from Hong Kong, where he said he was one of the highest paid performers in the famous Lan Kwai Fung entertainment district.

De Leon, who was present at the interview, says Pineda’s contract with Journey is for three years, with mutual renewal options. The time frame was based on the three-year working visa that the US Immigration and Naturalization Service gave Pineda.

Friends say he should seize the chance to have a green card, but he’s nonchalant about the idea. For now he’s just happy to be home in Kamuning, Quezon City, to play with his 2-year-old son, Cherub, and look brightly to the future with his “wife-to-be” Cherry. (He has two other sons, Matthew Anthony, 19, and Angelo Neil, 13, from previous relationships.)

He says Cherry is overwhelmed. “Life has changed, all too sudden. That’s why Direk Bert is not only a manager now, but also a big brother and adviser. He tells us: ‘Take things one day at a time. Otherwise, mapi-freak out ka.’” By Pocholo Concepcion = Philippine Daily Inquirer