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Toonses88 · Joined: 25 Aug 2005 Posts: 5524

Picked this magazine up at Barnes & Noble (it is from England).

The cover read:

Total Guitar
Holy F*ck! It's The Guitar Gods!

TOTAL GUITAR
JOE PERRY
WORDS: CLAIRE DAVIES

The indomitable guitarist talks to TOTAL GUITAR about his new solo album, how his excessive, crazy days of yore have influenced his songwriting, and why he will never leave Aerosmith.

The blues had a baby and they called it rock 'n' roll. Rock 'n' roll had a baby and they called it Joe Perry."
-Steven Tyler Aerosmith

In 1970, the Jackson 5 scored a hit with ABC, Santana was singing about a Black Magic Woman, and Simon and Garfunkel had written their seminal hit song Bridge Over Troubled Water.

In Sunapee, New Hampshire, an ice cream parlour worker by the name of Joe Perry formed a power trio with bassist Tom Hamilton and drummer Steven Tyler. Not long after, they added a second guitarist, Ray Tabano, soon to be replaced by Brad Whitford. With the addition of Joey Kramer on drums, Tyler stepped out front and the first incarnation of Aerosmith was born.

With a career spanning 35 years, Aerosmith have moulded themselves into the quintessential rock band: their 1970s years were littered with gold and platinum discs; the early 1980s a wash- j out of drugs, drink and line-up changes. By the end of that decade they pulled it back with the legendary rap rock track Walk This Way, featuring Run-D.M.C.

For the last two decades, lead guitarist Joe Perry has been riding a rollercoaster of Aerosmith releases, owning his own label, Roman Records, and creating his own hot sauce, Boneyard Brew. During which time he's been assembling riffs, lyrics and sounds for his eponymously titled new solo album.

Honkin' On Bobo, Aerosmith's 2004 blues rock covers album, was recorded at Perry's Boneyard Studios. After completion of the album, Perry found himself fused with a creative spark and the need to lay down a legacy for his fans; something to document what he's been working on away from the public conscience for the past few years. "I just had a lot of songs lying around, and this album gave me the chance to use them and explore that part of myself. The whole idea was that, if I happen to die before my wife [Billie], she will have something to give fans who would want to hear some of the songs I've been working on that may otherwise have never been finished."

Pricked by his own sense of mortality, and the collective voice of Aerosmith calling for a year-long hiatus, Perry found himself in the favourable position of being able to release his first solo album in over 20 years.

"It was just the right time, I guess," muses Perry, as he walks around the grounds outside his home. "Aerosmith decided to take a year off, and I had about 70 per cent of the songs written anyway, so I thought it would be a good chance to finally do something."

Perry's first solo venture, as the Joe Perry Solo Project way back in 1980, bore the fruit of the album Let The Music Do The Talking (and, later on, the aptly tided I've Got The Rock 'n' Rolls Again, 1981, and Once A Rocket; Always A Rocker, 1984). Much to the chagrin of Perry, the album was woefully overlooked and some critics were less than gracious about the guitarist's fledgling efforts away from the machinations of a volatile Aerosmith. But, with the benefit of hindsight, Perry's opinion on those inaugural solo albums has changed, and he views his sanguine new album as a way to wipe the slate clean. "I hope this album will make up for some of the poorer solo records I've released in the past!"

As surprising as it may be for one of the world's most revered rock guitarist's to admonish his past solo achievements, it's an admirable character trait of Perry's to continuously grade his playing and work. "For every song I have on this album, there's five that didn't make the cut. But the hardest part was actually producing the album –being my own boss. Because it was so easy to be self-indulgent, I constantly had to ask myself, 'Is this song any good? Is this riff working here?"

Even when adopting a militaristic approach to the production process, Perry's not afraid to admit that sometimes you have to look elsewhere to tap into that all-important vein of inspiration. "I found it easier to take what I liked about my favourite songs and use them as a template; like a mirror to reflect the qualities I like about those songs onto my own songs."

Running the gauntlet of lead guitarist in a global rock band, fronted by an enigmatic lead singer with prolific songwriting capabilities, could lead to indifference in the best of guitarists when it comes to writing. But for Perry, it's just as essential as playing the guitar. "Just like a painter always paints, I will always write. I could never imagine not being able to write. It's quite easy to become complacent when Steven writes so many of the songs, but I love writing too much to give it up.

"Nearly everything I write is for Aerosmith, and we did try some of the songs from my album to see if they'd work for the band. For the most part, if I playa riff and it doesn't take anybody's interest, I'll shelf it until I can use it for something else. Like this album."

Despite the fact that Perry honed nearly an entire album's worth of tracks on his own, he believes this experience will make him more insouciant when it comes to any new Aerosmith material. "I think it’ll help me feel more relaxed when it comes to writing songs with Aerosmith, because I won't have loads of lyrics and riffs that I'll be desperate to get in. I've cleared my musical shelf with this album, so I won't be so pushy with the next Aerosmith record."

The artistic licence earned from releasing his own solo album has enabled Perry to further indulge the aspects of his playing style, favoured techniques and musical genres that have appeared on previous Aerosmith records. Perhaps most importantly, the blues. "Aerosmith is a blues based rock band. We've never lost sight of who we are, even though the choices we sometimes make differ from that premise. We like all kinds of music as a band, but we've tended to lean on the commercial side a lot more recently."

For those who prefer the dirty, Zeppelin-esque riffin' of Toys In The Attic-circa Aerosmith to the chart-friendly Just Push Play offerings, Joe Perry will be a welcome addition. "This solo album is a reflection of my musical tastes. I didn't have any hidden agendas with this album. I didn't produce it thinking, 'This is my chance to branch out on my own for good.' It was just a couple of pages in my musical diary. I want to bring out another solo album in the next three years, and I've already got enough songs to do that."

While Joe Perry will undoubtedly satisfy fans' desires for more obvious rock 'n' a roll, Perry maintains there's little chance of Aerosmith making any radical changes to their musical direction and branching out into other genres, such as punk or death metal! "We never set out to do any one thing in particular when working on, a new album. If a band is gonna release a covers album, they should do it quickly. Honkin' On Hobo should've taken us a lot less time than it did. It was sitting on the shelf, as an idea, for way too long," he confides. "When it came to recording and producing, it took five months when it should have taken one. We haven't got time for such musical diversions or to change genres. I mean, we're not 28 anymore. Time is not on our side."

Joe Perry taught himself how to play guitar when he was six-years-old, and the Mass-born guitarist has come a long way since those tentative childhood days. "For one thing, I've finally figured out how to play! Especially what I need and don't need to play in a song."

As you'd expect from a Perry solo album, the guitar playing takes precedence first and foremost. "I indulged everything I wanted to on this record. On songs like Shakin' My Cage, I could have extended it to 16 or 24 bars but that would have been interesting to only a few people. If you look at my On The Go playlist, you'll see loads of different stuff - ballads, blues, rock, metal. I don't think people care about what music I'm into, but they do care about having a good rock record to buy."

Even so, it's not hard to guess which of the bands on Perry's iPod influenced his choice of cover song for the album. "I'm a fan of Robby Krieger and of The Doors. I covered Crystal Ship years ago I to find out what I would sound like singing it. When we went through the album to see which songs should stay, everyone seemed to like the way I sounded on that song."

But it's not just an impressive array of instruments that gets Perry's writing mojo working. After all, this is the man who made up one half of Aerosmith's notorious 'Toxic Twins:' fed on a diet of booze and pills, trashing hotel rooms like they were dolls houses and seasoned with enough tales of excess to span a double album. "In a way, Pray For Me is about our past. We went through a lot of stuff back then, and there isn't a day goes by when I don't wake up and feel regret for something I've done in my past. Somedays it's a small amount of regret, somedays it's bigger than me. Everybody needs a prayer in their life, and that's what this song is about.

"The guys [Aerosmith] are fine with the album. Steven really likes the songs. He even came out to one of my shows in Boston and sang on Push Comes 10 Shove.

For Aerosmith fans hoping for a repeat performance, it's best not to set up camp outside your local box office just yet. "We're not touring it as such. We've done a few shows, but I'd like to do more because I don't feel we've reached our potential as a live band with this album, though the guys are great, musicians. So we may plan more dates."

Even if Perry expands his tour dates, he knows exactly what bands on the current scene he'll be keeping an eye out for. "I really like The White Stripes, Kings Of Leon and The Hives. There's a whole batch of good guitar bands coming along." Though Perry is unsure as to whether any of those bands could claim to be natural successors to the Aerosmith crown. "There isn't any band at the moment, but you never know who will come round the corner. Aerosmith didn't come into its own until the 1980s, so we've got a lot left in us." He reasons. "Just look at Green Day. They have a strong following and, after being away for years, have come back with a strong punk album. They're the perfect example of a band sticking close to its roots and still being successful."

But there's still only one guitarist who really does it for Perry. "Jimi Hendrix was the whole package entertainer, songwriter, philosopher, guru and spokesman for our generation. He was the high priest of the thinking and movement we were all living through. I'm influenced by Jimi in every way."

Many people would argue that a solo album signifies a splinter in a band's collective psyche; a chink in their
armour; a symptom of malaise deep within that threatens to split the band for good. But, much to the reassurance of Aerosmith fans, Perry has no intention of leaving the band that has become his extended family for the past 35 years.

"I will never leave Aerosmith. It's my main thing. As far as I'm concerned my solo album is a success because I've written it, released it, and people like it. If it came down to it and the album did sell a whole bunch -great. But it still wouldn't make me leave Aerosmith and become a solo artist. The only way I'll ever leave is if we all sit down together as a band and someone says, 'Look, it's just . not working anymore. Let's just leave it go.' Until that happens, we're gonna keep on going. We're not done yet."

Joe Perry is out now on Sony/BMG

Toonses88 · Joined: 25 Aug 2005 Posts: 5524

This was a little 'extra' piece opn the side of the above article:

I WANT THAT SOUND!

THE GEAR BEHIND PERRY'S SOUND...

Perry has become almost as famous for his mammoth collection of guitars as he is for penning some of the raunchiest licks committed to tape. "My favourite guitar at the moment is a Gibson 335, and I have some Alessandro and Marshall amps. I use the occasional Fender, too, and some preamp pedals and a Memory Man delay. I've also found this cool delay pedal called the Holy Grail. I don't want to mention anymore because the price of them will go up!"