Planet Us update!

[YankeeRose]

I found a brand new Neal Schon interview! He talks about Planet Us in it. Here is what he had to say.........

Jeb: You are amid the rumor mill again with the news of a new band that you are putting together.

Neal: It is not a rumor, it’s true.

Jeb: I have heard it is called Planet Us.

Neal: That is the working title.

Jeb: See if this is correct: Neal Schon, Sammy Hagar, Deen Castronovo and Michael Anthony from Van Halen.

Neal: That is right.

Jeb: There were some rumors that Slash was going to be involved but then I heard that it faded off.

Neal: We wanted to record some stuff that I had written with Sam immediately and Slash couldn’t make the recording sessions. We recorded without him and now everyone is digging it. We don’t know what will happen in the future. We are not going to go on full steam with this until the fall. Sammy might or might not go out on tour this year but I am already committed to doing to a Journey tour. I am in the studio right now with Journey and we are writing some blistering new stuff. We are not signed to Sony any more and it is really kind of cool. Now we get to do what we want to. I am a free agent and I love being in that position. We (Journey) are going to go out this summer. We are going to come out with a mini EP. I want to come out with a teaser. I want to come out with the three hottest songs that we can add to our set immediately. We are going to sell them on a CD at our shows only. It is sort of the concept from the early days. You know, people would hear an EP from Van Halen before the record came out. It would be three songs and it would help get the buzz out about something new that you are doing. This stuff is rocking so hard and it sounds pretty good.

Jeb: I love to hear artists that are really into their music.

Neal: It was my idea. I went to the guys and I told them that it was not going to be about pop music. It was going to be about getting creative. I wanted to put on our musical hats and get creative. Let’s jump off the cliff and see if we can fly, that is sort of what we are going for. We’re not thinking about radio. I am thinking strictly about playing live and what I think the audience is going to dig.

Jeb: How did you get the wild hair up your ass to get with Sammy and Anthony?

Neal: Sam and I go back to the ‘70’s. We go back to the early days of Montrose. We have always gotten along really well like brothers. I have a lot of material that I have written through the years that is on the heavier side. It has not found a home. A lot of which were songs that were intended to be a Hardline II record, which never happened. I have taken a lot of my music from that and revived it. I have re-written it. Sammy knew exactly what to do with it immediately. Him and I are very, very quick in the studio-- that is another cool thing. When things are very inspired and start flowing very fast then it is usually happening for real. When you have to sit there and scratch your head and go, “I don’t like this” then it is not the same. We have a very inspired situation and we have gotten off to an ass kicking start with the two songs that we have done, “Vertigo” and “Peeping Through A Hole.” Michael Anthony: I just threw out some names. One of the names I threw out was Slash. I had played with Slash before and I knew that we were compatible as two guitar players. I threw out Michael Anthony’s name. Whatever I am doing, Deen will be part of it. I am used to him. He is a great talent. He is an amazing drummer and an amazing singer. Deen is lead singer material. He is amazing and he actually sounds a lot like Perry!

Jeb: No shit!

Neal: No shit. He has a full voice with an incredible range. When I get off tour then I will take a little vacation in Hawaii to kind of clear out my brain and get ready to work again and then I am going right back in the studio with Sam and the guys. We are going to finish this record out and then we are going to go out and play some dates. It is going to be very fun. We are going to play a couple of Van Halen tunes and we will probably play a couple of Journey songs and who knows, Deen might even be singing the Journey tunes.

Jeb: I am going to hit you up for another interview when this all comes about.

Neal: Yeah, when there is more to talk about. That is about all I can tell you because that is all that has gone on right now.

Jeb: I am just glad that it is happening. I think hard rock needs a kick in the ass and maybe this will get people listening again.

Neal: Believe me, this stuff is kicking hard. Everyone who hears it is just blown away. They are like, “This sounds like Zeppelin and the Beatles and Ozzy Osbourne.” Michael Anthony sings high like Deen and everybody goes, “This kind of sounds like Van Halen.” We have got a lot of cool stuff going on with the four of us. Michael Anthony is really awesome. I have always enjoyed his playing with Van Halen and I also enjoyed his voice. He brought a lot of sound to that band with his back up vocals. They are actually like lead vocals on the hook. When I sat in the room with Deen and him they sounded like a giant locomotive. He is also a very solid bass player.

www.classicrockrevisited.com

[ March 24, 2002 at 05:04 PM: Message edited by: YankeeRose ]</p>

[JMJ]

this is great for some people i guess. everyone is out there playing vh cept for vh, kinda sad on that front though

JMJ

[YankeeRose]

Yeah, but Neal said that they are going to play VH tunes when they tour, it will be nice to hear Sammy sing them with Mike Anthony's harmonies again.

[MikeL]

I hope they play Panama.

[JMJ]

be interesting to hear neal cover ed i think

JMJ

[Cabo Kid]

Like you said before, JMJ...

"everyone is out there playing vh cept for vh, kinda sad on that front though. "

True, too true. It will be cool to see these guys doing SOMETHING this summer! [img]graemlins/thumb.gif[/img]

[DLR'sCock]

Originally posted by MikeL:
I hope they play Panama.

funny... [img]graemlins/thumb.gif[/img]

[Dan Halen]

Awesome. [img]graemlins/thumb.gif[/img] I'm getting really excited about hearing what they've been recording.

[BREW CREW]

Originally posted by MikeL:
I hope they play Panama.

LMAO!!!!
It's great to hear Neil sounding excited....especially the part where they are compared to Ozzy and VH. Michael will add a LOT to the bands sound with the vocals and precision Bass guitarisms. Maybe Eddie's and Alex's eyes will widen when they hear a tune or two from Planet Us. HOPE for a call to DLR and Michael begging them back. and the saga continues!

[BREW CREW]

Originally posted by JMJ:
be interesting to hear neal cover ed i think

JMJ

Neil has said in the past that Eddie is one of his favorite guitarists....Neil's live guitar solo with Bad English was awesome (compared to the lame songs). This might be great for rock music...it might mean the end to lame shame Nirvana type fame. [img]graemlins/bounce.gif[/img]

[Wolfman]

Originally posted by Dan Halen:
Awesome. [img]graemlins/thumb.gif[/img] I'm getting really excited about hearing what they've been recording.

Me too, actually. I'm happy for Mike, getting to do something on the side that everyone will hear.

[JMJ]

i think i'm gonna like the music they do, i can already tell. the fact that mikey is in the band is a given for that

i like schon and deen is a mean drummer, saw him on tour. and sam....well we all know bout sam [img]smile.gif[/img]

bet this music of theirs will sound somewhat like the F.U.C.K. album

JMJ

[MikeL]

I betcha it sounds more like HSAS.

[JMJ]

Originally posted by MikeL:
I betcha it sounds more like HSAS.

betcha not [img]tongue.gif[/img]

JMJ

[MDoggie]

Bleh, I hope Neil doesn't write any of the lyrics in this band. Not that Sammy is a lyrical genius at times (I present "Best of Both Worlds" as evidence there), but he blows anything away Neil Schon ever wrote. Some people say Sammy wrote some cheesy things, just look at Neil's lyrical resume.
If they play any Van Halen stuff, it'll probably be the same VH tunes Sammy play's at his live shows, although I'm glad Mike is going to be there to provide backup vocals.
Basically it boils down to if they play any Journey songs live, it'll suck, but if Sammy tries to sing in that Steve Perry super high range, it'll REALLY suck