Following up his interview with ex-JOURNEY vocalist Steve Perry, Alex Pappademas recently spoke with guitarist Neal Schon for GQ to hear his side of the split between Perry and the band. Following is an excerpt from the interview:

Q: You went on to make a string of hit records with Steve. You became one of the biggest bands in the world. And then you went on hiatus. What was the deal with that? Did you get burned out?

Schon: "Well, of course, everybody gets burned, but I was like a machine out there. I loved touring. So I was ready to go, go, go, and I think pretty much everybody else in the band was. [After the Raised on Radio tour] Steve Perry just came up and said, 'Look, I'm burnt, I'm toast, I need to take a rest.' And so in the middle of a tour, he just pulled out. I believe we were in Hawaii. We hadn't finished the second leg of the tour. And so everybody packed their stuff, went home, and I'm hearing that we're gonna be off for maybe a couple months, three months, six months, whatever—but it turned out to be close to eight to ten years."

Q: Did you feel like Journey had run its course?

Schon: "No—I didn't think Journey was done. We actually never even quit. It wasn't like we called each other and went, 'Okay, this is history, nice knowin' ya.' It was just sort of left at a hiatus. And it was all based around Steve giving us a call and saying 'Okay, I'm fine now, I'm ready to go.' And it just didn't happen."

Q: Was that frustrating for you, that he sort of pulled out like that?

Schon: "Well, yeah. You work on something for so many years, and you attain what you attain, which was an amazing feat, and then it's sort of like the rug is pulled out from under you."

Q: You and Steve don't talk, right? Is it safe to say that there's not communication between you anymore?

Schon: "I have tried to talk to him, numerous times. And he will not allow me to have his number. Everything has to go through lawyers and management. And that is sort of a drag. You'd think that after a while, everybody would grow up and be able to talk, one on one. But it just hasn't happened. So, because of his wishes, that's the way things go down."

Go to this location for the complete interview, which follows the in-depth discussion with Perry.