JOURNEY's Arnel Pineda - "It's A Fantastic Job, But At The Same Time It's A Curse"
September 22, 2008, 15 years ago
Rolling Stone spoke to Arnel Pineda about what seems like the dream gig of a lifetime: going on tour with JOURNY after being plucked from obscurity when the band caught him singing 'Faithfully' on YouTube.
The following is an excerpt from the conversation with the 41-year-old Filipino vocalist, as he opens up about the hardships of the road and how he learned about landing the job.
Q: And how's the tour been so far? Are you more comfortable onstage now?
A: "I am quite comfortable with the stage now, but, for me, it's still a very grueling tour. I haven't done this before. I may have done an every-night gig in Hong Kong because I was there for almost 16 years, and in Manila, Philippines, I did gigs there. After the gig, you get to go home to the same place and same house, but here, it's like ... you know? You get to experience disrupted sleep ... You get to sleep a couple of hours in the bus and then they wake you up and then you need to try to sleep back in the hotel, and then they wake you up ... two o'clock in the afternoon to do sound check, and then you have to wait there until nine o'clock.
So it's very hectic. It's very stressful. It's a very, very challenging job. It's a fantastic job, but at the same time it's a curse. Trying to fill up very, very big shoes."
Read the full interview at Rolling Stone.
