“The Man Can Sing Anything.”

By: svergara, Jul 09, 2008

Tags: Immigrant Life, Music |

There are eleven million Filipinos working overseas, a million of which left the Philippines in 2007, and Arnel Pineda is one of them.

I’m sure you readers have already heard about Arnel Pineda, the new Philippine-born lead singer for the American band Journey: his hardscrabble life as a homeless twelve-year old with that burning talent; the videos of his cover band discovered on YouTube by Neal Schon, the Journey guitarist, looking for a new vocalist; maybe even the fantastic tale of how he got his visa. (If not, be edified: run off to YouTube and watch a CBS News Sunday Morning feature on the band from May.)

Now that you’re back — I hope you watched it all the way to the end, then went and called your mom — some thoughts. It’s a hell of a story, a tale for anyone who ever pretended to sing with a mic in the privacy of their bedrooms, its immigrant-American drama eminently marketable, and I’m sure his fellow band members in Journey recognized this. But it is clear that what Journey saw and heard, in that tiny YouTube window — what you also saw and heard — was that soaring, expressive voice of his (”the voice that has it all”, Schon calls it), an instrument that practically brooks no arguments. A quick look at the different tunes — power ballads and karaoke showstoppers all — that his band covers shows Pineda to be jaw-droppingly versatile, at least in the rock-belter tradition. “The man can sing anything,” Schon writes in the new album’s liner notes. Arnel Pineda is Robert Plant and Sting and Kenny Loggins all at the same time.

My friend Barb calls Pineda “the ultimate OFW” — that’s short for “Overseas Filipino Worker”, a bureaucratic term used by the Philippine government — and it’s an apt term, because it makes us think about the nature of Pineda’s labor, that he, in fact, is traveling overseas to work. (It should be pointed out that the very fact that there are 11 million Filipinos working overseas underscores the Philippine government’s parasitic dependence on the export of cheap labor to countries where workers’ rights are fraught with uncertainty.) Or maybe it’s just me, the cynic in myself that makes me think about these matters, as Pineda, like many other Filipinos, also hopped on the midnight train going anywhere.

And it makes me wonder: Do the guys hang out with him after work? What do they talk about — are they all friendly, or are the conversations sometimes awkward? Does he tell them stories about how he was a big Journey fan back in the day? Do the other band members reminisce about Steve, then remember he’s not there anymore? When they rehearse the old songs, does Pineda try to sing them like Steve? Does the band want him to sing it like Steve? Does he, like the other Filipino musicians I’ve interviewed, hole up in his hotel room with the old Journey CDs and sing the songs over and over until he gets them right?

Does he feel lonely? Does he get homesick? Does he think about his former bandmates, his family, his people, his homeland, thousands of miles away? Does he get to sneak out, away from the tour bus, and find the nearest Filipino restaurant? Does he get tired of the American food on tour, and long for tapsilog in the mornings?

[Next, answers to the rhetorical questions, kind of, in Part Three: It's Steve, and It's Not Steve.]

Comments

For a Filipina like me who grew up in Daly City and played her “Escape” album so many times it drove her family crazy; who slow-danced to “When the Lights Go Down In the City” with her 8th grade crush in the Benjamin Franklin Junior High Gym; and who begged her Kuya a thousand times over to take her to Oakland to watch Journey in concert (which he miraculously did!)…

…Arnel Pineda is like a personal gift from the pop culture universe. If there has been a better Cinderella story this year, I certainly haven’t heard about it.

But I must dispute your Kenny Loggins comparison, dude. I really must.

–Veronica on Jul 09, 2008
Indeed one has to wonder what goes on behind the scenes. Afterall what one sees in an interview or short video clip is in most cases not what it appears to be.

–RJP on Jul 09, 2008
You know, the ease with which Pineda got his Visa is so telling. Do other OFW’s get through Immigration so smoothly? Then again, I am pretty sure Journey has the means to hire whatever legal assistance they needed to in order to get him through the system smoothly.

I’ve been thinking about your questions too: do they hang out? What must that be like? I also wonder what the expectations are on Pineda to be a front man: does he get to be the one in concerts to connect with the crowd like all charismatic front men do.

Hearing Journey’s new stuff on the radio, I don’t think he’s being expected to be a Steve Perry replacement. I think the band are genuine when they communicate their being re-energized by him, that they can be future-looking now that they have found him. I do wonder if he’s expected to improvise, or to participate in the song-writing/generating of new material, and I wonder if to what extent he is able to. This may tell us how long he’ll last with them. I dig him and I do hope it’s a long time.

–BJR on Jul 10, 2008
Veronica: I, too, have an “Open Arms” / slow dance memory, except I have absolutely no idea who it was with. Oh well.

It’ll be extra-special when they play “Lights” this coming September — too bad Mountain View’s not exactly San Francisco.

And I think he does a good job with Kenny Loggins’ “Forever” on YouTube — but again, it’s a “yellin’ song” (a term used by my karaoke friends to refer to “Livin’ on a Prayer”, “Total Eclipse of the Heart”, etc.). Pineda may not be so great with vintage Loggins and Messina…

–Sunny Vergara on Jul 10, 2008
RJP: let’s just hope than when VH1 does the inevitable “Behind the Music” special on the band ten years from now, it’ll actually be all good. =)

I’m reminded as well that Pineda’s experiences obviously can’t be all negative (more of that in the third part), but the marketing of his rags-to-riches story obscures the very real labor (as an “OFW”) that he has to perform.

–Sunny Vergara on Jul 10, 2008
BJR: I’ll be addressing some of your comments in the third part, so stay tuned! But yeah, I dig him too, and I hope he won’t get kicked out soon. =)

Just opening the CD and seeing him front and center in the band’s photos is cool beyond belief.

–Sunny Vergara on Jul 10, 2008
The other thing I was thinking is that it’s so excellent that he’s 40 years old as opposed to, let’s say, a 22-year-old who was brought on board to attract a new generation of Journey fans…

BJ, I think he definitely looks like he’s connecting w/the audience like a classic front man, slapping hands, aerial jumping, and whatnot. I guess we’ll see for sure in September. My friend (also Filipina) is bringing her two sons who’ve spent the summer at “Rock Camp.” I don’t know if I’m more excited for them or me…

–Veronica on Jul 10, 2008
Great post and great questions. Nobody can know the answers but I can speculate a little and you can ponder how likely my speculation is.

First of all I have friends that are professional musicians. Most musicians respect musicianship. It makes for strange pairings that in other walks of life wouldn’t necessarily exist. I don’t think the band regards him as rent-a-singer.

I think Journey was looking for a lead singer that could sing the old standards at a very high level but that could also sing new material. They could have had a huge open audition like INXS did. I’m sure there are other singers in America that can do the old stuff as well as Arnel but they chose him for some reason.

Of course they aren’t going to be best friends right off the bat. I mean I’m sure it wasn’t that way when Perry first joined the band either. It’s over time that you develop those friendships. I started working at a new company a little over a year ago. I didn’t know anyone there but I can say now that I have good friends there. And being on the road I’m sure accelerates that.

To further emphasize that point, on the liner notes of the new Journey album the drummer Deen Castronovo acknowledges the last permanent singer Journey had, Steve Augeri, saying something like “Steve, you are my brother forever and I will miss you always.” That bond of brotherhood surely developed over time.

So it’s up to Arnel to be receptive to the guys in the band and the guys in the band to be receptive to Arnel.

–Henry Gomez on Jul 10, 2008
Great stuff, Sunny, but I just found the bit:

“its immigrant-American drama eminently marketable, and I’m sure his fellow band members in Journey recognized this”

- waaay too cynical. As if this would even be a factor in their choice of their new frontman! Sure, it’ll get you attention in blogs and on a few shows, just for the novelty of it all, but will that translate to audience growth and any sustained interest from the public? “Oh yeah, their singer’s got this rags-to-riches story, I’ll chk out their new album..” Don’t think so. There’s more reliable ways of getting public attention to get more sales.

But it’s great that they chose not to go the INXS route, which simply reeked of desperation. “Nobody loves us anymore, waah! I know, let’s get on TV so we can be popular again and oh boy everyone’s gonna buy our new record beause they see us on TV and they voted for that guy whatsisface.” How much did it buy them in the long run?

–EV on Jul 11, 2008
Thanks, Henry, for your comments! I do realize now that I’ve framed my rhetorical questions rather negatively, mostly because I was writing with that OFW reference in mind. Pineda isn’t just a singer, after all, but a songwriter as well, and surely his many different talents persuaded Journey to hire him pretty quickly. (I also like the fact, as Veronica points out above, that he’s old by current pop music standards.)

–Sunny Vergara on Jul 11, 2008
In one interview I saw on Filipino channel, Arnel mentioned he hangs with the guys and joke around but he specifically mentioned Jon and Neal are the more serious type, which I’m not surprised.

–Henry on Jul 12, 2008
for all you know, after all the concerts every other nights, ARNEL PINEDA goes back to his hotel room lonely and depressed….

–Jhee on Jul 13, 2008
i think it’s him leaving the band soon than expected…more than him being kicked out…when that happens i will not be surprised.

–Jhee on Jul 13, 2008
EV: Ahh, I guess you’re right about me being a grumpy cynic. But really — it’s great publicity, and it’s brought them to the attention of people out there who probably didn’t even know the band was still producing albums long after 1984.

–Sunny Vergara on Jul 15, 2008
Does he feel lonely? Does he get homesick? Does he think about his former bandmates, his family, his people, his homeland, thousands of miles away? Does he get to sneak out, away from the tour bus, and find the nearest Filipino restaurant? Does he get tired of the American food on tour, and long for tapsilog in the mornings?

Asking these questions, I guess you know not what an OFW is and for that matter a human being.

Does any breathing individual feel nothing? I guess not.

If you are not a Filipino, you won’t know how we adapt and how we learn in early life the word “pakikisama” and the real meaning of it.

BTW, if you have time, watch the downloaded video of Journey’s concerts at youtube especially the one in the U.S.. If you hear Arnel say “Kababayan”, I guess this will answer some of your questions.

And please note, musicians have a high regards for their own kind. I know that, my son is a pianist, a young pianist but much respect has been given to him even if he is yet to be famous.

–myepinoy on Jul 18, 2008
myepinoy: I must confess being confused about your comments. I posed those (rhetorical) questions — and some readers have pointed out that they seemed overly cynical — because it was a reminder that Pineda, the star that he is, is still basically an OFW.

–Sunny Vergara on Jul 21, 2008
And it makes me wonder: Do the guys hang out with him after work?

Probably not. Each one of them have their own families and lives apart from their musical profession. To be honest, I do not think it really matters. Everyone has their own freedom to create and accept bonds and friendships on their own.

What do they talk about — are they all friendly, or are the conversations sometimes awkward? Does he tell them stories about how he was a big Journey fan back in the day?

As a former DJ, my guess is they talk about music! Every musician/DJ or anyone associated with music always love to talk about their craft.

Do the other band members reminisce about Steve, then remember he’s not there anymore? When they rehearse the old songs, does Pineda try to sing them like Steve? Does the band want him to sing it like Steve? Does he, like the other Filipino musicians I’ve interviewed, hole up in his hotel room with the old Journey CDs and sing the songs over and over until he gets them right?

Yes. Now having said that, nobody is stopping Arnel to sing it the way he would like to sing it Steve like or otherwise.

–Max Chico on Jul 23, 2008
I believe Arnel is bringing a mission in this world..that is universal Love, because music is universal, and I believe that after each concert and being alone, he has a smile in his face for crystallizing the world because of being just himself and what has become of him ,and the effects of his life’story to music lovers. Steve P has some sense of sexuality in him,but Arnel has a lot of pure sensuality that that evokes poetry,dreams,romance,hopes, moonlight, and love….

–nenet on Jul 26, 2008
in response to Sunny Vergara….Arnel is a super Rockstar and it is not a job per se , but a play and a passion,he is a dynamo here, interacting with human beings,the fans.You have an entirely different frame of reference with regards the whole essence of OFW, like a Caregiver job,long hours,small pay, and far from your family. The very outcome of such rockers lives could be drugs, but Arnel is a family man and a Christian, I will pray that he will take his life and his family with utmost care

–nenet on Jul 26, 2008
Thanks, Max Chico and nenet for your comments! nenet, you’re quite right that I have “an entirely different frame of reference” regarding OFWs — Pineda is certainly no caregiver or domestic helper, and he obviously gets lots more pay. (Though I’m sure he keeps very long hours.) But his career trajectory prior to Journey mirrored that of an OFW — after all, he was a musician playing in Hong Kong before that. (Yes, it seems fatuous to imagine, say, Lea Salonga as an OFW, but her career is extremely different from Pineda’s.)

–Sunny Vergara on Aug 07, 2008

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