Although he’s been officially absent from the recording studio and concert stages for a number of years now, former Journey vocalist Steve Perry maintains an active connection with his fanbase, occasionally answering a series of questions via his official fan site to shed light on both his career and current activities.

With the imminent release of a new hits package from Journey, titled ‘Greatest Hits Vol. 2,’ Perry took some time to catch fans up with his latest happenings.

He responded to Neal Schon’s recent comments that Perry has an “open door” to come out and jam with the group anytime by calling it a “kind invitation” but one that he says he will “respectfully decline.” (Editor's note: the tour bus is probably pretty crowded anyway nowadays.)

Elaborating on the comment, Perry gave praise to his former musical comrades and termed their past work together as “a magical moment in time,” giving individual kudos to each of the players for their role in helping to create Journey’s now-legendary body of work.

He put further emphasis on his point, saying “I will NEVER stop believing in all the original and amazing music we created together!”

When asked what he misses about performing live, he recalls how much he enjoyed “the interaction between myself and the crowd” and the ability to “sing in front of that audience and run around…pain free.”

Perry doesn’t rule out a return to recording, which has been heavily rumored to be doing in the recent past. He says that he’s “itching to get back into the studio soon” and that only some “personal setbacks” have kept him from doing that recently.

Indicating that there has been some activity prior to his current break from the studio, Perry said that he’s still using his signature M49 microphone “a lot lately for all of my demos.”

And in case you were wondering, those outrageously flamboyant tuxedo coats that he famously wore on stage with Journey? He still has each and every one of them in storage and calls them “magic coats that I have a special bond with…FOREVER.”

But what about that equally famous mustache? Was that preserved?

Journey’s ‘Greatest Hits Vol. 2’ will be in stores on November 1.

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