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Joe Perry: "Aerosmith are not splitting up"
Guitarist speaks of band drama, solo album
Joe Bosso, Mon 28 Sep 2009, 4:30 pm BST
Joe Perry isn't in the desert. He just has a very big sandbox in his backyard (© Ross Halfin)
"Aerosmith are definitely not splitting up," Joe Perry tells MusicRadar, putting to rest rumors that have circulated since the Rock And Roll Hall Of Famers ended their injury-plagued summer tour prematurely.
"The band still has their best record in them," the guitarist says. "I know people say that all the time, but I firmly believe that. But it's going to take some doing to get there. Everybody's got to chill out, take a breather and then we'll have dialogues."
That neither Perry nor singer Steven Tyler have spoken in a month and a half did much to fuel breakup chatter, but Perry says, "The clock is ticking on that one. Things have to happen in due course."
Until then, Perry is busying himself with Have Guitar, Will Travel, his fifth solo album and one he recorded in a brisk 47 days. "Which just proves you don't have to spend a year in the studio dickin' around," he says. "If only Aerosmith worked as fast."
Have Guitar Will, Travel features 10 gale-force rockers, which Perry cut at The Boneyard, his state-of-the-art home studio in suburban Boston. Whereas the guitarist played most of the instruments on his last solo effort (2005's Joe Perry), the new album was more of a band affair - bassist David Hull, drummers Ben Tileston, Marty Richards, Scott Meeder and Paul Santo all contributed.
But the biggest change to The Joe Perry Project (that's what he's calling the live band once again) is the addition of Hagen, a German vocalist who Perry's wife, Billie, found on YouTube. "Who needs the classifieds anymore when you've got YouTube?" Perry jokes.
Hagen belts it out impressively on the album's first single We've Got A Long Way To Go. But does Perry, who shares vocal duties in equal measure, mind stepping out of the spotlight on what is, after all, supposed to be a 'solo' endeavor?
"Not at all," he says. "I've always played right alongside one of the best singers in rock. For me to sing half the songs on a record is enough."
Take this the right way, Joe: Have Guitar, Will Travel is the best Aerosmith record that Aerosmith haven't made in a while.
[laughs] "That's great. Thanks. I don't mind that at all. Obviously, I'm in Aerosmith, so you can't divorce me from that sound. Whether it's a solo album or an Aerosmith record, my guitar playing is my guitar playing. I'm not all of a sudden going to sound like…I don't know, Glen Campbell." [laughs]
