Asian Journal- The Filipino-American Community Newspaper

NEW YORK - Arnel Pineda is in the limelight once more but this time, it is not about his journey to fame but how this experience had made him a sad man, according to a recent article published by Rolling Stone.

In its October 2, 2008 issue, the magazine featured an article titled Sad ‘Journey’ for New Singer and painted Pineda as someone who was not enjoying his stint with the band, and to make matters worse, mentioned that “the Filipino frontman finds Journey tour “a curse.”

In an interview with CBS5 News, Pineda set the record straight, saying that he tried his best to answer the questions honestly.

“As far as I am concerned, I am having a blast onstage, but I can’t deny it. I miss home, I’m homesick, but I got the best gig in the world,” Pineda told CBS, “How can I be so miserable?”

For his bandmate Neal Schon, it was a typical case.

“They took a segment of what he said in the interview and erased all the good stuff he said in between. It has happened to me a million times in my career,” Schon said as he defended Pineda.

He said that the band has offered to get Pineda’s girlfriend and son. “He’s definitely being taken care of,” he added.

The problem with the Rolling Stone article, Schon observed, is that it was so misleading. “Because they take a portion of what you say, you can’t say ‘I didn’t say that’ but what they don’t tell you is the rest of what you did say,” he said.

“It’s his first tour. None of us knew what it would be like. We didn’t know what kind of strength he had in a long duration like he’s been. We’ve been out here for a solid four months with no breaks in between,” Schon added.