You learn at a certain point that you have to focus on the business side of music. After getting ripped off a couple of times, you figure out that you need to get a grip on it.
World Play is very '70s arena rock, very raw and in your face, and that's what we wanted. We recorded it in a very off-the-cuff manner and didn't really plan out how we were going to play. My solos are first takes.
We are taking close to $10 a CD the way we are doing it, and I think that is a fair amount to split up between five guys. Each of us makes like two bucks a record.
We are doing what Prince did. Everyone that comes to a show billed as An Evening with Journey will get our new CD. We figured that is our best store because they are our biggest fans.
I'm not a guy to go in the studio and spend months, let alone years, like some people do. I cannot even be in the studio for a month, it will drive me nuts.
During the 1970s and 1980s Gibson did use my likeness, but we never signed anything. This new Signature model is the first time we struck a formal written deal for a guitar with my name on it.
There has been the biggest black cloud following me around. People believe it's all my fault that Steve is not here. He has always had an open door, and he doesn't choose to do this any more.
