May 2, 2023 • 10 mins
Gregg talks to Joe Perry about upcoming Aerosmith tour!
Mark as Played
Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
(00:00):
Thanks for being with us, ladiesand gentlemen. Joe Perry from Mary Smith,
one of the world's greatest guitar players, on this show this afternoon.
How are you, Joe, I'mgood. How are you? I'm great
man. I'm excited that you're stillmaking music. You've got Sweetzerland Manifesto MK
two coming out at the end ofthe month, on the twenty six actually
(00:20):
of May. And this is thefollow up to m K two, which
you did what back in twenty eighteen. Yeah, is it really that long?
Wow? Yeah, I guess you'vegot to add a couple of couple
of years because of COVID, rightright, Those those years don't count,
no, not at all. Yeah. So, uh yeah, this this
(00:41):
version, it's like we had somesome new tunes, uh Fortunate One and
Quake, and uh, you know, we wanted to put those out and
then there were some songs that wereleft off the first first version of Sweetzerland,
and uh so we thought maybe wecould get a whole album's worth.
(01:02):
And the whole idea was to putit out as a like a real record
like I remember, like Vinyl sowell. The whole idea was to you
know, keep the limit the amountof songs on there so that the vinyl
would sound as good as it couldsound and we could put out and the
(01:23):
whole, the whole focus was toput it out as as a record with
like vinyl record, like I rememberit from back in the Stone Age,
you know, like actually get artworkthat you could read. You know,
I was putting all the all thepictures in there of all the guys that
worked on it, um, youknow, all the stuff that I remember
(01:46):
that made an album such an event. And now it's kind of like songs
just kind of dribble out here andthere. It was in music is music,
and if if it's a good songand people like it, it's there.
But it's not the same as whenI remember people would get the vinyl
(02:07):
and they would have parties and listento the music and past the past the
album cover around to read who actuallywas playing on it and look at them,
and you know, I remember gettingthe first Zeppelin album and you know,
looking at it the pictures of theseEnglish guys, you know, making
these incredible sounds, and it wasan event. And that's kind of what
(02:29):
I remember, and I wanted torecreate that with sweetzerland Mark two. You
know, it's like your best friendgets the new Aerosmith record, everybody runs
over to his house and they listento it, have a couple of beers,
smoke a joint, and you're like, wow, I gotta go buy
that record, or can I tapethat? Will you let me borrow your
(02:51):
album so I can tape it?Remember those days? Oh yeah, And
I remember when the radio stations wouldsay, well, we're gonna play the
new the new UH Songs record UHat eight o'clock, so get your get
your cassettes ready and everybody you know, but it was like it was that's
(03:13):
that's what people did, you know, um, And it was it was
it was treated with with more Idon't know. I don't know if respect
is the right word. But itwas an event. There was an event,
a musical event. You couldn't waitfor your favorite artist new record exactly.
And that's kind of you know,And I just remember that and whether
(03:34):
or not you know, people peopledon't now it's all about the song.
That's never changed and it will alwaysbe about the song, you know.
It's just uh, it's just withthe rest of it is all part of
it, you know, the artworkall the thoughts about it. You look
at everything that was on that pieceof cardboard to see what what the thing
(03:58):
was about. You kind of gotan in junior mind about who these people
are that are making that music.You know, let's talk about the songs.
Your first single is Fortunate one thatfeatures Chris Robinson from The Black Crows.
M I wanted to talk to youabout how you, you know,
manifested all of this, How didyou get how did you decide who was
going to guest on your record?It was the long process, you know.
(04:21):
It started with Johnny, you know, saying, listen, you know
you haven't done like a proper instrumentalrecord yet, and you know, so
to speak, just just an instrumentalrecord, and said, why don't you
come up to the house. Igot a studio you can record, you
know, record it there on youknow, in California and you know,
(04:44):
in West Hollywood. Night said allright, let's do it. And I
was just finishing my book right aroundthe same time. So we started working
up there. But there were allthese different projects going through. I mean,
there was a movie, the soundtracksthat I ended up working on.
We did some vampire sessions, therewere a bunch of different things, so,
(05:09):
you know, but I worked onthe solo stuff as it went along.
And then Jack Douglas was living downthe street and he was sticking his
head in the door every once ina while, and he was listening to
the tunes and he said, man, that's what do you think about David
Johansson coming in and singing on this, you know from the Dolls, and
(05:30):
you know, we're all friends.And bottom line is, you know,
everybody that played on the record wereguys that I'd meet and from friends from
you know, he'd run into backstageand go, wow, sometimes someday we've
got to do this, We've gotto get in the studio and you know,
and all around, and someday happened. I was in la and it
(05:55):
was like, well, let's callup, call up Robert Dulia, you
know, and his brother, orMatt sorm Or or Zack Starkey. I
mean all I mean, anybody thatwas coming through or lives there. It
was like, you know, allmy other solo records I did up in
(06:15):
in Boston and I you know,great players up there. But it was
great to be in that environment,to have that access to these people pretty
much who was like, it wasgreat. That's why when we did that
one show at the Roxy and everybodythat was on the record came and it
was I mean, at one pointwe had like five guitar players on the
(06:39):
stage, you know, being theRio and Slash and Johnny Depth, and
it was like it was amazing.I mean I turned around at one point,
I didn't know what to do next, so I smashed my guitars as
a sacrifice to the guards of RockingHome. I mean, I couldn't do
(07:01):
more. I mean I was like, anyway, it was an amazing show.
We taped it, we videotaped it, and it will come out at
some point. But it was anamazing evening. Neil gig that I did
that promoted the record. So Joe, your sons, your sons helped you
out on a couple of tunes onthis record too, right, How cool
(07:23):
is that making music with your kids? Well, you know, um,
it's uh, it's it's funny.We started one of the tunes, Quake.
We started it at my son Roman'sstudio in la and then the other
one with Tony, my other anotherone of my sons. Uh. I
(07:45):
have four boys, um, andthey and then I had some time time
off when we were in London onAerosmith tour, so I booked some time
in the studio and brought them outand we finished the music Too Fortunate One
and to Quake. So when wewent back to the States, I was
(08:05):
talking with my manager and he kindof suggested sending the Sending the songs to
one of them sounded like it wasa natural for Chris and Bang it like
right out of the box. Henailed it. And the same thing with
Quake. You know, Gary Sharoneis an incredible singer. Yeah, I
(08:28):
got it back and it was likeI didn't I didn't have to do anything
to it. I basically took thethe demo that he sang on and we
pressed it and put it on thealbum. Now he's going to be with
you when you do this little minitour with the Joe Berry Project. Correct,
Yeah, exactly. I mean Iwould have liked to have done more,
but um, you know, donemore gigs. But with the Internet
(08:52):
now and with YouTube, you know, people the fans will will put stuff
online and it's not the same asit used to be. You didn't have
to play every city to let peopleknow you've got a new record out,
you know. I mean, youcan do a few shows in like like
say Boston or New York and Chicago, and you know, people will know
(09:13):
that the records out right. Yougot that live performance out there on the
internet that's being shared, right,So that's that's the I wish it was
we had more gigs. I wouldlove to play and do a proper tour.
But within like five days when we'redone with this, we're doing a
live Aerosmith Howard Stern show and that'sI don't know if that's been announced yet,
(09:39):
that's happening. Hey, let's talkabout Aerosmith real quick. Joe Um,
it's the fiftieth anniversary of your debutrecord with Aerosmith. Is there something
special besides the Howard Stern performance that'sgoing to happen this year? That's basically
going to be the announcement for theAerosmith tour for the next year. Is
Joey going to be a part ofum? Unfortunately, at this point,
(10:03):
I don't think he's going to beplaying with the band. I mean,
he's officially still part of the band, but physically he's he's given everything he's
got. I mean, he's beaten, beating himself up. You know,
listen, playing the drums is anathletic event, and you know there's a
(10:26):
point where your body just can't takeit anymore. And he's his heart is
in it, and who knows,you know, he might come back,
but right now, um, youknow he's he's healthy and happy. Oh
wow, I guess that's it.Thanks Joe,
Thanks for being with us, ladiesand gentlemen. Joe Perry from Mary Smith,
one of the world's greatest guitar players, on this show this afternoon.
How are you, Joe, I'mgood. How are you? I'm great
man. I'm excited that you're stillmaking music. You've got Sweetzerland Manifesto MK
two coming out at the end ofthe month, on the twenty six actually
(00:20):
of May. And this is thefollow up to m K two, which
you did what back in twenty eighteen. Yeah, is it really that long?
Wow? Yeah, I guess you'vegot to add a couple of couple
of years because of COVID, rightright, Those those years don't count,
no, not at all. Yeah. So, uh yeah, this this
(00:41):
version, it's like we had somesome new tunes, uh Fortunate One and
Quake, and uh, you know, we wanted to put those out and
then there were some songs that wereleft off the first first version of Sweetzerland,
and uh so we thought maybe wecould get a whole album's worth.
(01:02):
And the whole idea was to putit out as a like a real record
like I remember, like Vinyl sowell. The whole idea was to you
know, keep the limit the amountof songs on there so that the vinyl
would sound as good as it couldsound and we could put out and the
(01:23):
whole, the whole focus was toput it out as as a record with
like vinyl record, like I rememberit from back in the Stone Age,
you know, like actually get artworkthat you could read. You know,
I was putting all the all thepictures in there of all the guys that
worked on it, um, youknow, all the stuff that I remember
(01:46):
that made an album such an event. And now it's kind of like songs
just kind of dribble out here andthere. It was in music is music,
and if if it's a good songand people like it, it's there.
But it's not the same as whenI remember people would get the vinyl
(02:07):
and they would have parties and listento the music and past the past the
album cover around to read who actuallywas playing on it and look at them,
and you know, I remember gettingthe first Zeppelin album and you know,
looking at it the pictures of theseEnglish guys, you know, making
these incredible sounds, and it wasan event. And that's kind of what
(02:29):
I remember, and I wanted torecreate that with sweetzerland Mark two. You
know, it's like your best friendgets the new Aerosmith record, everybody runs
over to his house and they listento it, have a couple of beers,
smoke a joint, and you're like, wow, I gotta go buy
that record, or can I tapethat? Will you let me borrow your
(02:51):
album so I can tape it?Remember those days? Oh yeah, And
I remember when the radio stations wouldsay, well, we're gonna play the
new the new UH Songs record UHat eight o'clock, so get your get
your cassettes ready and everybody you know, but it was like it was that's
(03:13):
that's what people did, you know, um, And it was it was
it was treated with with more Idon't know. I don't know if respect
is the right word. But itwas an event. There was an event,
a musical event. You couldn't waitfor your favorite artist new record exactly.
And that's kind of you know,And I just remember that and whether
(03:34):
or not you know, people peopledon't now it's all about the song.
That's never changed and it will alwaysbe about the song, you know.
It's just uh, it's just withthe rest of it is all part of
it, you know, the artworkall the thoughts about it. You look
at everything that was on that pieceof cardboard to see what what the thing
(03:58):
was about. You kind of gotan in junior mind about who these people
are that are making that music.You know, let's talk about the songs.
Your first single is Fortunate one thatfeatures Chris Robinson from The Black Crows.
M I wanted to talk to youabout how you, you know,
manifested all of this, How didyou get how did you decide who was
going to guest on your record?It was the long process, you know.
(04:21):
It started with Johnny, you know, saying, listen, you know
you haven't done like a proper instrumentalrecord yet, and you know, so
to speak, just just an instrumentalrecord, and said, why don't you
come up to the house. Igot a studio you can record, you
know, record it there on youknow, in California and you know,
(04:44):
in West Hollywood. Night said allright, let's do it. And I
was just finishing my book right aroundthe same time. So we started working
up there. But there were allthese different projects going through. I mean,
there was a movie, the soundtracksthat I ended up working on.
We did some vampire sessions, therewere a bunch of different things, so,
(05:09):
you know, but I worked onthe solo stuff as it went along.
And then Jack Douglas was living downthe street and he was sticking his
head in the door every once ina while, and he was listening to
the tunes and he said, man, that's what do you think about David
Johansson coming in and singing on this, you know from the Dolls, and
(05:30):
you know, we're all friends.And bottom line is, you know,
everybody that played on the record wereguys that I'd meet and from friends from
you know, he'd run into backstageand go, wow, sometimes someday we've
got to do this, We've gotto get in the studio and you know,
and all around, and someday happened. I was in la and it
(05:55):
was like, well, let's callup, call up Robert Dulia, you
know, and his brother, orMatt sorm Or or Zack Starkey. I
mean all I mean, anybody thatwas coming through or lives there. It
was like, you know, allmy other solo records I did up in
(06:15):
in Boston and I you know,great players up there. But it was
great to be in that environment,to have that access to these people pretty
much who was like, it wasgreat. That's why when we did that
one show at the Roxy and everybodythat was on the record came and it
was I mean, at one pointwe had like five guitar players on the
(06:39):
stage, you know, being theRio and Slash and Johnny Depth, and
it was like it was amazing.I mean I turned around at one point,
I didn't know what to do next, so I smashed my guitars as
a sacrifice to the guards of RockingHome. I mean, I couldn't do
(07:01):
more. I mean I was like, anyway, it was an amazing show.
We taped it, we videotaped it, and it will come out at
some point. But it was anamazing evening. Neil gig that I did
that promoted the record. So Joe, your sons, your sons helped you
out on a couple of tunes onthis record too, right, How cool
(07:23):
is that making music with your kids? Well, you know, um,
it's uh, it's it's funny.We started one of the tunes, Quake.
We started it at my son Roman'sstudio in la and then the other
one with Tony, my other anotherone of my sons. Uh. I
(07:45):
have four boys, um, andthey and then I had some time time
off when we were in London onAerosmith tour, so I booked some time
in the studio and brought them outand we finished the music Too Fortunate One
and to Quake. So when wewent back to the States, I was
(08:05):
talking with my manager and he kindof suggested sending the Sending the songs to
one of them sounded like it wasa natural for Chris and Bang it like
right out of the box. Henailed it. And the same thing with
Quake. You know, Gary Sharoneis an incredible singer. Yeah, I
(08:28):
got it back and it was likeI didn't I didn't have to do anything
to it. I basically took thethe demo that he sang on and we
pressed it and put it on thealbum. Now he's going to be with
you when you do this little minitour with the Joe Berry Project. Correct,
Yeah, exactly. I mean Iwould have liked to have done more,
but um, you know, donemore gigs. But with the Internet
(08:52):
now and with YouTube, you know, people the fans will will put stuff
online and it's not the same asit used to be. You didn't have
to play every city to let peopleknow you've got a new record out,
you know. I mean, youcan do a few shows in like like
say Boston or New York and Chicago, and you know, people will know
(09:13):
that the records out right. Yougot that live performance out there on the
internet that's being shared, right,So that's that's the I wish it was
we had more gigs. I wouldlove to play and do a proper tour.
But within like five days when we'redone with this, we're doing a
live Aerosmith Howard Stern show and that'sI don't know if that's been announced yet,
(09:39):
that's happening. Hey, let's talkabout Aerosmith real quick. Joe Um,
it's the fiftieth anniversary of your debutrecord with Aerosmith. Is there something
special besides the Howard Stern performance that'sgoing to happen this year? That's basically
going to be the announcement for theAerosmith tour for the next year. Is
Joey going to be a part ofum? Unfortunately, at this point,
(10:03):
I don't think he's going to beplaying with the band. I mean,
he's officially still part of the band, but physically he's he's given everything he's
got. I mean, he's beaten, beating himself up. You know,
listen, playing the drums is anathletic event, and you know there's a
(10:26):
point where your body just can't takeit anymore. And he's his heart is
in it, and who knows,you know, he might come back,
but right now, um, youknow he's he's healthy and happy. Oh
wow, I guess that's it.Thanks Joe,
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