Joe Perry denies Aerosmith breakup rumorsBy Jed Gottlieb
Wednesday, September 23, 2009
Aerosmith over? Dream on.
The globetrotting Boston bad boys are scheduled to be back in the saddle Oct. 18 and 20 in Maui, Hawaii, and on Nov. 1 at a Formula One race event in Abu Dhabi.
Last week, Aerosmith guitarist Joe Perry fueled speculation of a breakup after telling The Associated Press of his frustrations with singer Steven Tyler, who forced the band to cancel summer tour dates after injuring himself in a fall from the stage on Aug. 5 in Sturgis, S.D.
Yesterday Perry said that while it is true he and Tyler haven’t spoken in weeks, rumors of the band’s demise have been greatly exaggerated.
“We’re getting our visas together and the papers drawn up and everything,” Perry said. “So as far as I’m concerned we’re doing these dates.”
And then?
“If (bandmembers Joey Kramer, Brad Whitford and Tom Hamilton) were in the room with me I’d say they’d agree that we’ll be working on a studio record in late spring and planning a tour in the fall,” Perry said.
Would Tyler, too, agree?
“The break in his shoulder is a really unusual one,” the guitarist said. “They have to see how it heals before they know if they have to put a pin in it or not. If they do that’s going to set him back a whole lot. I’m just really glad he didn’t get hurt worse. This is my brother and we’ve been together for 40 years and I hated to see that happen.
“Of course we’ve all fallen off the stage at one time or another,” Perry laughed. “Maybe twice in some cases.”
Perry admits he was discouraged when the tour was canceled, but he didn’t stay down for long. On Saturday he plays Fusion 5 in Foxboro ahead of the Oct. 6 release of his solo album “Have Guitar, Will Travel.” Perry cranked it out in 47 days at his home studio with old friends from the Joe Perry Project.
“When we realized that we weren’t going to make the (Aerosmith) studio record I was ready to record solo,” he said. “I figured I’ve got this pile of material and I’ve got time, (so) why not? I went into it full blast because I needed to stay occupied. But I still believe we have another Aerosmith record in us and a better one than the last one. And that’s my half of the story.”
More from Jed Gottlieb’s interview with Joe Perry:
Herald: Your interview with AP got fans worried. What’s the real story about the future of Aerosmith?Joe Perry: Aerosmith is taking a breather. We had to postpone some dates at the end of two or three tours and that kind of pushed our touring problems into the forefront and didn’t give us a lot of time to make a studio record. After having to cancel this last tour we need to stand back, take a deep breath and let everybody come back down to earth. We’re going on hiatus like most bands do, we’re not kids anymore we don’t need to pound the pavement every day but we got locked into that after postponing gigs and having to make them up.
So did that AP story exaggerate your frustration with Steven Tyler?Sometimes certain things come out. I always try to be as honest as I can and that’s it. I stand by everything I said. In the context of a longer interview it probably would have seemed less harsh, but it is still the truth. I’m still getting over the fact that tour was canceled. It was the best one we’d put together in such a long time.
What surprised me the most was hearing that you and Steven haven’t been writing together for some time. Is that really true? Nothing in a decade or so?Relationships go through changes, songwriting partnerships go through changes. When we started using outside songwriters it definitely helped with our success in the ’80s and ’90s. I don’t know, maybe it got too comfortable to rely on that. I don’t think anybody really cares who writes the songs as long as they sound like Aerosmith songs and, at least to me, there have been times when we drifted away from (sounding like Aerosmith). I don’t mind using outside songwriters but I’d still like to see an Aerosmith where the core of the music comes from the guys in the band.
Will that happen? Will there even be another Aerosmith record?Maybe we have three more records in us. Maybe we have five (and) seven years of touring.
Why were you so upset by the tour’s early end?The band was getting better and better and the shows were getting better and better. That’s why it’s hard for me even (sigh) to think about how good this tour could have gone and how well it could have been. But I wasn’t going to sit still and let that hold me up. I’m already writing material for my next solo album.
With this free time will you do a solo tour?That’s a definite possibility. That’s actually my next phone call. We’re trying to see if we should do a release party and I know we’ll be doing some dates after the Aerosmith dates we have to do.
Why start with a gig like playing Fusion 5 in Foxboro?I don’t have a huge Aerosmith machine behind me. This is, um....
A do-it-yourself kind of thing?Yeah, and it’s a lot of fun. By doing some of these dates that are small, we just get to get the band comfortable playing places other than my basement. (Laughs) I never know when we’ll get the call from my agent that Jay Leno wants me and I don’t want our first gig to be in front of national TV. Small clubs give you a chance to get ready. And it’s a great way to pay back the fans.
I hope Steven calls you up soon and says he’s ready to write a new album.That day will come. Whether it’s him calling me or me calling him, it will happen.
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