Music and literary journalist Michael Cavacini recently caught up with Journey keyboardist and solo artist Jonathan Cain for an in-depth career-spanning interview. An excerpt is available below:

Q: Revelation was your first studio album with Arnel Pineda as the lead singer of Journey and it was a huge success. His energetic presence rejuvenated the band both on and off the stage. How did it feel to perform with him live the first time?

Cain: "It was great. We needed it. We needed somebody like that. We didn’t want the obvious, we wanted to go for…what isn’t obvious? An Asian Filipino singing for ya, that’s what’s not obvious. All of a sudden we become a global band, instead of just an American band. We could have gotten a number of guys…tribute guys or someone else, an older dude, to try to be Steve Perry. But we already had a Steve Perry, so we wanted something new. And he adds a lot of fire up there. He really adds a lot to the mix for us, and he’s got a great heart. He makes us a better band."

Q: Recently Steve Perry returned to the stage for the first time in nearly 20 years. Some people have said that he doesn’t sound like he did in the ’70s or ’80s but, frankly, what singer does? I think Steve Perry still sounds amazing. What are your thoughts on his return to music?

Cain: "I think it’s great that he broke the ice and went out with the Eels and performed. I think it needed to happen. You get a monkey off your back. You get out in front of the people and feel what that feels like. I’m very happy for him that he has embraced this concept of, 'This is who I am today and I don’t sing like I used to sing.' I think he’ll enjoy it and embrace it. He deserves to be out there on stage. I think it’s wonderful. I could never understand why he seemed to be in recluse mode, hiding away somewhere. When you’re Steve Perry, one of the greatest voices of all time, you should be on a stage where you belong. So, good for him. I’m happy he’s out there flexing his chops."

Go to this location for the complete interview.

Former Journey frontman Steve Perry surprised the audience at rock band Eels' May 25th show in Saint Paul, Minnesota, joining the band to perform the Journey classics "Open Arms" and "Lovin', Touchin', Squeezin'". It was Perry's first time on stage in 20 years. Fan-filmed footage from the show can be seen below:

As the news of Perry's performance began to circulate, current Journey frontman Arnel Pineda posted two messages on Twitter (here and here) celebrating Perry's return to the spotlight:

"He should come back. His voice is still there. Missed that voice."
"He can take over, too. It's his righteous (rightful) place anyway. Wanna see them happy together."

According to a report from Classic Rock, Perry says "People have been putting two and two together – but this wasn't about a reunion with Journey. There is no reunion. I was just having fun. "In a world where it's hard to keep a secret, it felt so much fun to walk out there to an unsuspecting crowd."

E, real name Mark Oliver Everett, introduced him by explaining he'd walked away from Journey because "it didn't feel right." Perry says: "I couldn't have put it better – that's exactly what happened. It had run its course."

He says of his moment in the spotlight: "When E announced me I thought I’d take the piss and hang back a while. But finally I’m out there; the audience saw me, and I hadn’t experienced that kind of emotion in quite a while. It was beyond exhilarating. I was so grateful that they were so loving and happy to see me. I was just as happy to see them. I had forgotten how much I’d missed it.”

Asked if he was happy with his performance, he replies: "Well, I hadn’t sung in 20 years – I sounded more like Otis Redding than I did in Journey; and I love Otis, so that’s not a bad thing. But after twenty years, wherever you hit that golf ball is where it lands. I just wanted to go out there and hit the ball. I was pretty pleased with what I pulled off.

"I’m not the person I was thirty years ago; that person is gone."