| Rockin' News for August 17, 2009 |
Aerosmith "Is by no means breaking up," says Joe Perry
AEROSMITH guitarist Joe Perry was the in-studio guest on the Providence, Rhode Island radio
station WHJY earlier this afternoon (Thursday, August 27) where he spoke with Geoff Charles.
Regarding the rumors that AEROSMITH was breaking up following the cancellation of the group's U.
S. tour with ZZ TOP, Perry stated, "The band is on hiatus. I think that for the last couple of
tours, Steven's [Tyler, vocals] been through a bunch of different physical things. He's always
felt like we've gone out a little bit too early every time and that kind of thing... I really don't
know for sure. We just want him to get completely healthy — from head to toe, whatever ailment
it is — and then we'll talk about getting back together.
AEROSMITH guitarist Joe Perry was the in-studio guest on the Providence, Rhode Island radio
station WHJY earlier this afternoon (Thursday, August 27) where he spoke with Geoff Charles.
Regarding the rumors that AEROSMITH was breaking up following the cancellation of the group's U.
S. tour with ZZ TOP, Perry stated, "The band is on hiatus. I think that for the last couple of
tours, Steven's [Tyler, vocals] been through a bunch of different physical things. He's always
felt like we've gone out a little bit too early every time and that kind of thing... I really don't
know for sure. We just want him to get completely healthy — from head to toe, whatever ailment
it is — and then we'll talk about getting back together.
"So the band is by no means breaking up; we are just taking some time off. And we're gonna take a good bit of time off so that everybody
can re-evaluate our original mandate, which was to go out there and entertain the fans, put the fans [at] number one — which I always do,
and I constantly will, with the [JOE PERRY] PROJECT — but with AEROSMITH, we're all there on that. And make a great studio record and
go out and get on the road and tour until we're finished."
When asked to clarify his statement that for the last couple of tours Steven's "felt like [AEROSMITH has] gone out a little bit too early,"
Perry said, "It takes a lot of planning, and the thing is, you've gotta know that you wanna go out on the road three months, four months, five
months before you go out, 'cause it takes that long to build the tour — everything from finding the right guys and facilitating... structurally
building the whole thing... getting the right PA, getting the right monitors, getting the right guys... A lot of them are people that we've had
for a long time. There are new people that we'll bring in. And it just takes a long time to get it going.
"You look at the U2 thing; they were showing pictures of their stage a month ago. And that's when it's finally done, and you know they
started planning that six months before that. So it takes a while to get a tour up and running, and you've gotta know... And that's why you
can't put that off. It's one thing to take a little extra time on a release of a record, but you really can't mess around with that [tour]
opening date, 'cause you're selling tickets three months in advance, and then you're ready to go. And that's when it's... The show must go on.
"That little bit of entertainment bylaws have never changed; that's never changed. And that's why we ended up not getting the this last
studio record done. We were all set with Brendan [O'Brien, producer] to cut tracks, and we had the songs pretty much lined up, and Steven
got a throat thing and then it got to pneumonia and he was out of the picture for six weeks. And Brendan said, 'Look, we just don't have time
before the tour to finish this record, so we'll just do it after the tour is over.' And this was, obviously, before we had this whole business
about cancelling and all that stuff. So that's when I flipped the switch and went in and started cutting a solo record; I just had too much
music inside to let it sit there. I knew I was gonna do a solo record sometime again — another one — because I realized I could do solo things
parallel to AEROSMITH without it hurting either one. So I was ready to do it some day, but 'some day' happened a lot quicker than I
thought; I just wasn't gonna waste any time." (Courtesy of blabbermouth.net)
can re-evaluate our original mandate, which was to go out there and entertain the fans, put the fans [at] number one — which I always do,
and I constantly will, with the [JOE PERRY] PROJECT — but with AEROSMITH, we're all there on that. And make a great studio record and
go out and get on the road and tour until we're finished."
When asked to clarify his statement that for the last couple of tours Steven's "felt like [AEROSMITH has] gone out a little bit too early,"
Perry said, "It takes a lot of planning, and the thing is, you've gotta know that you wanna go out on the road three months, four months, five
months before you go out, 'cause it takes that long to build the tour — everything from finding the right guys and facilitating... structurally
building the whole thing... getting the right PA, getting the right monitors, getting the right guys... A lot of them are people that we've had
for a long time. There are new people that we'll bring in. And it just takes a long time to get it going.
"You look at the U2 thing; they were showing pictures of their stage a month ago. And that's when it's finally done, and you know they
started planning that six months before that. So it takes a while to get a tour up and running, and you've gotta know... And that's why you
can't put that off. It's one thing to take a little extra time on a release of a record, but you really can't mess around with that [tour]
opening date, 'cause you're selling tickets three months in advance, and then you're ready to go. And that's when it's... The show must go on.
"That little bit of entertainment bylaws have never changed; that's never changed. And that's why we ended up not getting the this last
studio record done. We were all set with Brendan [O'Brien, producer] to cut tracks, and we had the songs pretty much lined up, and Steven
got a throat thing and then it got to pneumonia and he was out of the picture for six weeks. And Brendan said, 'Look, we just don't have time
before the tour to finish this record, so we'll just do it after the tour is over.' And this was, obviously, before we had this whole business
about cancelling and all that stuff. So that's when I flipped the switch and went in and started cutting a solo record; I just had too much
music inside to let it sit there. I knew I was gonna do a solo record sometime again — another one — because I realized I could do solo things
parallel to AEROSMITH without it hurting either one. So I was ready to do it some day, but 'some day' happened a lot quicker than I
thought; I just wasn't gonna waste any time." (Courtesy of blabbermouth.net)
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Ace Frehley talks digital recording, (old) hangovers and struggles within the Kiss camp
Ultimate-Guitar.com: [Your new solo] album ["Anomaly" has a] release date of September 15
[which] also coincides with the third anniversary of you being sober. It must certainly make a
huge difference to how you now feel personally and professionally?
Frehley: Yeah, the mornings are really nice now without the hangovers. When I was younger, I
always thought I needed that junk in order to perform and to be creative, but now when I look
back, I realize I am a lot more creative and more focus without it. That is one of the
fallacies that a lot of musicians feel that they need something to depend on like a crutch. But
once you get past that, and realize it mentally, you are much better off without it.
Ultimate-Guitar.com: Did the drinking problem first come about as a result of the pressures
you felt from being in such a successful rock group as KISS?
Frehley: The touring schedule with KISS was really so hectic back then and so I needed
something to help take the edge off the day. Well, at least I thought I did. When I toured
[which] also coincides with the third anniversary of you being sober. It must certainly make a
huge difference to how you now feel personally and professionally?
Frehley: Yeah, the mornings are really nice now without the hangovers. When I was younger, I
always thought I needed that junk in order to perform and to be creative, but now when I look
back, I realize I am a lot more creative and more focus without it. That is one of the
fallacies that a lot of musicians feel that they need something to depend on like a crutch. But
once you get past that, and realize it mentally, you are much better off without it.
Ultimate-Guitar.com: Did the drinking problem first come about as a result of the pressures
you felt from being in such a successful rock group as KISS?
Frehley: The touring schedule with KISS was really so hectic back then and so I needed
something to help take the edge off the day. Well, at least I thought I did. When I toured
last year I was completely sober, and it was a joy. When you start drinking young and you depend on it, your brain tells you, you need it to
relax, you need it to do this or that, you need it to perform, yet it's really just your brain telling you this fallacy. But it is still your life.
Ultimate-Guitar.com: How did the approach you used making this record compare to the way you made your previous recordings?
Frehley: This is the first album that I made totally digitally. And I really had to get a crash course in Pro Tools in order to keep up with
everybody who worked with me on it. So I took some lessons from some Pro Tools teachers and some good engineers and I also picked up a lot
of stuff over the last two years. And I'm at the point now where I can do whatever I need to do with Pro Tools when I'm by myself in my
studio. But I don't want to do that really because, like I said, I like having an objective ear and somebody to bounce ideas off.
Ultimate-Guitar.com: Because Pro Tools gives you so much at your disposal, do you find it less satisfying than when you worked with analog
technology?
Frehley: The possibilities it gives you in editing is unbelievable. And it is really a godsend because I remember the days when we used to do
guitar solos and we had to cut the tape to edit. While Marti [Frederiksen] and Anthony [Focx] were mixing the songs, I was in my hotel room
cutting and pasting sound bites on "Outer Space" and "Genghis Khan". The flexibility of cut-and-paste and moving things around is so easy in
Pro Tools, it is, like, effortless.
Ultimate-Guitar.com: Gene [Simmons] has stated in numerous interviews over the years that you didn't actually play on some KISS tracks and
that the band actually brought in studio players at times to play and record some of your guitar parts?
Frehley: I'm sure it happened because I remember as early back as the "Destroyer" album, I had come in and done a solo for "Sweet Pain"
but when I later listened back to the final mix of the album, there was somebody else [Dick Wagner] playing the solo on the song. It was
stuff like that where they would switch my solos without telling me, which probably led me to eventually leave the group.
Ultimate-Guitar.com: Another album that proved to be an unsatisfying affair for you was "Psycho Circus".
Frehley: I had to really struggle just to get one song on that record. Even half way through that album, they had accepted the song but then
it was rejected and I had to fight tooth and nail just to get that one song on there. And I had submitted three songs. But there was always
a lot of competition between Gene and Paul [Stanley], him and myself and Peter [Criss].
Ultimate-Guitar.com: Are you still good friends with any of the KISS guys?
Frehley: I'm friends with all of them. I don't have any animosity … personally. We had some great times together years ago and they decided
to take a different path and I decided to take a different path, so let bygones be bygones.
(Courtesy of www.ultimate-guitar.com, interview by Joe Matera)
relax, you need it to do this or that, you need it to perform, yet it's really just your brain telling you this fallacy. But it is still your life.
Ultimate-Guitar.com: How did the approach you used making this record compare to the way you made your previous recordings?
Frehley: This is the first album that I made totally digitally. And I really had to get a crash course in Pro Tools in order to keep up with
everybody who worked with me on it. So I took some lessons from some Pro Tools teachers and some good engineers and I also picked up a lot
of stuff over the last two years. And I'm at the point now where I can do whatever I need to do with Pro Tools when I'm by myself in my
studio. But I don't want to do that really because, like I said, I like having an objective ear and somebody to bounce ideas off.
Ultimate-Guitar.com: Because Pro Tools gives you so much at your disposal, do you find it less satisfying than when you worked with analog
technology?
Frehley: The possibilities it gives you in editing is unbelievable. And it is really a godsend because I remember the days when we used to do
guitar solos and we had to cut the tape to edit. While Marti [Frederiksen] and Anthony [Focx] were mixing the songs, I was in my hotel room
cutting and pasting sound bites on "Outer Space" and "Genghis Khan". The flexibility of cut-and-paste and moving things around is so easy in
Pro Tools, it is, like, effortless.
Ultimate-Guitar.com: Gene [Simmons] has stated in numerous interviews over the years that you didn't actually play on some KISS tracks and
that the band actually brought in studio players at times to play and record some of your guitar parts?
Frehley: I'm sure it happened because I remember as early back as the "Destroyer" album, I had come in and done a solo for "Sweet Pain"
but when I later listened back to the final mix of the album, there was somebody else [Dick Wagner] playing the solo on the song. It was
stuff like that where they would switch my solos without telling me, which probably led me to eventually leave the group.
Ultimate-Guitar.com: Another album that proved to be an unsatisfying affair for you was "Psycho Circus".
Frehley: I had to really struggle just to get one song on that record. Even half way through that album, they had accepted the song but then
it was rejected and I had to fight tooth and nail just to get that one song on there. And I had submitted three songs. But there was always
a lot of competition between Gene and Paul [Stanley], him and myself and Peter [Criss].
Ultimate-Guitar.com: Are you still good friends with any of the KISS guys?
Frehley: I'm friends with all of them. I don't have any animosity … personally. We had some great times together years ago and they decided
to take a different path and I decided to take a different path, so let bygones be bygones.
(Courtesy of www.ultimate-guitar.com, interview by Joe Matera)