Journey's Arnel Pineda
Arnel Pineda went from singing six nights a week at The Cavern in Lan Kwai Fong to being lead vocalist of Journey, one of the biggest bands in rock history. On their recent visit to Macau, he told John Robertson why local aspiring superstars shouldn’t stop believing.
I got into music at age five back in the Philippines. I would mimic Michael Jackson as soon as he came on the radio. My mother encouraged me; she knew I was going to be a singer.
I was 20 when I first heard the Journey album “Escape.” I was absolutely mesmerized. I remember listening to “Don’t Stop Believing” and thinking, if only I could get on stage with this band.
I came over to Hong Kong in 1991, when a restaurant in Tsim Sha Tsui called Grammy’s badly needed a house band. I performed there and much later performed at The Cavern. Hong Kong is still my second home, I have so many friends here.
I ended up in Journey by accident. Two years ago my friend put videos on YouTube of me and my band doing covers of their songs. Neal Schon saw them and got in touch with me. He asked me to fly to San Francisco to audition.
I applied for a visa at the US Embassy in Manila. They didn’t believe my reason for applying. One guy teased me, asking if I knew how to sing “Wheel in the Sky.” I started belting it out and they were all shocked.
I was so nervous at the audition, but I told myself this was my one shot and it was never going to happen again. I passed with flying colors.
There was more pressure when I performed at my first concert with Journey. All the old fans came out to see if I would succeed or fail.