{"id":13323,"date":"2012-11-07T07:30:28","date_gmt":"2012-11-06T20:30:28","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/maytherockbewithyou.com\/mtrbwy\/?p=13323"},"modified":"2012-11-07T08:50:54","modified_gmt":"2012-11-06T21:50:54","slug":"joey-kramer-of-aerosmith","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/maytherockbewithyou.com\/mtrbwy\/2012\/11\/joey-kramer-of-aerosmith\/","title":{"rendered":"Joey Kramer of Aerosmith"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"
\n<\/a>\u201cI think that we\u2019re at a point in our lives now that we\u2019re old enough to realise that by virtue of the five of us staying together and continuing to do what we do, there\u2019s something really special there and we\u2019ve finally gotten that and decided that there really isn\u2019t too much that we should let get in the way of that, and so we\u2019re not going to.\u201d<\/p>\n

Aerosmith are a band that needs no introduction, but we\u2019ll give you one anyway.\u00a0 Ladies and Gentlemen, Aerosmith.<\/p>\n

We chatted to Aerosmith drummer Joey Kramer all about the bands brand new album \u2018Music From Another Dimension\u2019 and why we didn\u2019t get to hear it in August as originally planned, as well as touring, American Idol, and how they\u2019re still able to do what they do some forty years on\u2026<\/p>\n

Thanks for taking the time to talk to us Joey. \u2018Music From Another Dimension\u2019 is your first album of all new material in eleven years, why was now the right time to release an album?<\/strong>
\nIt\u2019s not necessarily that now was the right time, but it was according to when we got it done.\u00a0 We didn\u2019t wait eleven years on purpose, the time wasn\u2019t right, the stars weren\u2019t aligned let\u2019s just say.<\/p>\n

It\u2019s a killer album, and after so many years between releases, when you were putting it together, was there a clear idea of how you wanted the record to sound?<\/strong>
\nWe just knew how we were going to make it, we didn\u2019t really have a clear picture of it because we were just leaving ourselves up to what it is that we do and the way that it comes out no matter how we play is going to be an Aerosmith record because it\u2019s the five of us playing the music.\u00a0 So by virtue of getting Jack Douglas on board and going in to the studio and playing tracks live and concentrating on learning the arrangements there on the spot before we went in the studio, we were all working together and playing live in the studio.\u00a0 Jack brings a large fun factor to the party and when something is fun it usually comes out pretty good.<\/p>\n

There is such a deep groove to Aerosmith in the rhythm section, is this something yourself and Tom work on outside of the band’s normal rehearsing, or do you all work on the new songs together as a full band, and then refine your drum and bass parts further\/together without the rest of the band?<\/strong>
\nNo, Tom and I go in, you know we\u2019ve been playing together so long we make mistakes together, but it\u2019s just something that happens.\u00a0 After you\u2019ve been in the same band for forty years some things happen that even amaze me, sometimes we go in to the studio and play, the stuff that will come is is just buy the virtue of being together so long you don\u2019t even know how well you know one another.<\/p>\n

Were you able to do anything on this album you hadn\u2019t considered doing before?<\/strong>
\nWell, not really, other than just playing the best that I know how to play and got some song writing in there this time.\u00a0 We all got together and did some song writing sessions, a few songs came out of that, plus I wrote a song with Marti Frederiksen and that\u2019s on there, a song called \u2018Closer.\u2019 Other than that, I\u2019m doing the same old thing, which is playing drums.<\/p>\n

Can you give us the meaning behind naming the album \u2018Music From Another Dimension\u2019?<\/strong>
\nI think it\u2019s kind of a take-off on the old, are you familiar with \u2018The Outer Limits\u2019, the old show that used to be on TV, it\u2019s kind of our take-off on that.\u00a0 The beginning and the end of the album is actually Jack Douglas doing all that speaking.<\/p>\n

\u2018What Could Have Been Love\u2019 sounds like it could be \u2018I Don\u2019t Want to Miss a Thing\u2019 part 2.\u00a0 What a track! Can we expect to hear this on a blockbuster movie anytime soon?<\/strong>
\nNot so far, but you never know, we\u2019ll see what happens when the album comes out and what movies come along, I mean that stuff all happens as we go.\u00a0 As soon as the record comes out we\u2019ll see.<\/p>\n

In a random turn of events, Johnny Depp makes an appearance on the album too on the track \u2018Freedom Fighter\u2019, how did that come about?<\/strong>
\nI don\u2019t know, I think Joe and Steven just kind of met him.\u00a0 He came to Hollywood to begin with to be in a band, which he did and he\u2019s actually even played with us at The Hollywood Bowl, he came out and played \u2018Train Kept a Rollin\u2019 with us, and he\u2019s actually a pretty good guitar player.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/strong>The album was due to come out in August but was pushed back to November was there a specific reason as to why?<\/strong>
\nYes there was as a matter of fact and that reason was there was a new G.I. Joe movie that was coming out in July or August and that\u2019s when the album was originally going to be released.\u00a0 That\u2019s why we did \u2018Legendary Child\u2019 on American Idol because we were premiering the song and the movie was to follow and then what happened was that they put the movie back until next March as they got scared that the movie wasn\u2019t going to do well because of all the competition that was around at the moment, so what happened was that we got beat and cut out of all the promo that the movie was going to give us because we were going to be in all the trailers and such, and now we had to do it on our own.\u00a0 We had to give the album back to the record company and it takes the record company about three months to set up an album before it can be released, so instead of being released in August we had to put it off until November. We got word they were going to put the movie back the night we were doing Idol, so they kind of pulled it on us at the last minute, so we didn\u2019t really have too much of a choice, I think there\u2019s actually a lawsuit going on as we were banking on all that promo and we were banking on that movie being out and us riding the tail of \u2018Legendary Child\u2019 being in the movie and we moved around dates for that and they were going to do a big premiere in Dallas and all of that stuff got cancelled and we lost millions of dollars by virtue of them changing their minds, so that\u2019s all got to get settled out.<\/p>\n

Back in August we got given the track listing and now it seems to have changed slightly, was that a change because of what you just mentioned above?<\/strong>
\nWell nothing like that gets written in stone until the very end, there\u2019s things always changing, we\u2019ve been changing things up until yesterday on the record, the last minute details because you want to get everything right as we\u2019ve reinvented ourselves once again and we want everything for the record to be perfect so we\u2019re just trying to make everything right.\u00a0 It\u2019s finally done, the record\u2019s been in the can since August, it\u2019s all mastered, sitting there, the artwork\u2019s all done, everything\u2019s all set and you\u2019ll see it in November.<\/p>\n

Now, the last time you were in Australia was 1990… I guess the question is, are there any plans at all to come back and see us, we\u2019d love to have you back?<\/strong>
\nYou know, I would imagine so, it all depends on record sales and the demand and when we can get down there if we can, we\u2019d like to come back too.\u00a0 Australia is beautiful and we enjoyed it the last time we were there and I know we\u2019ve only been there once but we\u2019re definitely due back there.<\/p>\n

After all these years on the road, playing gig and touring the world, do you still get excited walking out on the stage?<\/strong>
\nI do!\u00a0 I do, when I sit down to play my drums on stage behind this band it\u2019s where I can fly; it\u2019s the only time during the day or the only time I can get where I can be myself and I don\u2019t have to listen to anybody\u2019s shit one way or another and I can just do whatever the hell I want.\u00a0 When you have twenty or thirty thousand people responding to you the way our fans respond to us there\u2019s really no other feeling quite like it.<\/p>\n

Obviously Steven became that \u2018public\u2019 figure on American Idol, were you in any way worried at the way it would be perceived or harm the band?<\/strong>
\nYou know there was a lot of speculation about it and I thought about it myself, but in my heart I kinda knew that it wouldn\u2019t do us any harm and it was only going to do us good, it was kind of a drag when it happened as he had a job and the rest of us were left with \u2018well, what are we going to do?\u2019\u00a0 So we had to deal with that whole situation, and as it turned out, it worked out well but we weren\u2019t able to work as much as we wanted to in those two years he was doing Idol, but I never lost any faith or never thought that Aerosmith had played its last show.<\/p>\n

There were rumours though about replacing him and all sorts of things, these were all just made up by the media am I correct?<\/strong>
\nIt\u2019s all bullshit.\u00a0 The media takes stuff out of context and they run with it and just to make stuff happen and create what they call news.\u00a0 It\u2019s no better or worse than \u2018Keeping Up with The Kardashians\u2019 and that stuff only happens in America.\u00a0 It\u2019s all bullshit.<\/p>\n

What do you think it is that keeps everyone together, where in other bands members come and go, Aerosmith still stand as a unit, is there something specific that allows this to happen?<\/strong>
\nWell you know, I don\u2019t know that there\u2019s any one particular thing that does that for us, or one particular reason but I think that we\u2019re at a point in our lives now that we\u2019re old enough to realise that by virtue of the five of us staying together and continuing to do what we do, there\u2019s something really special there and we\u2019ve finally gotten that and decided that there really isn\u2019t too much that we should let get in the way of that, and so we\u2019re not going to.\u00a0 I think there\u2019s a lot more juice left in this band than anybody thinks.<\/p>\n

What\u2019s left to do that you haven\u2019t done in your now over 40 year career?<\/strong>
\nCome back to Australia (laughs).\u00a0 Somewhere down the line I\u2019d like to do a Rhythm and Blues record with a horn section, just some fun, maybe take the band out on the road and tour a little bit, and do some clubs.\u00a0 I\u2019ll take out my own band at some point in time, but with doing what we do there\u2019s not a lot of time because there\u2019s so much stuff to do other than play.<\/p>\n

I guess on the flip side to that, in that time is there anything you would\u2019ve done differently?<\/strong>
\nI don\u2019t think so you know\u2026\u00a0 I\u2019m a big believer in that we wouldn\u2019t be where we are unless we\u2019ve gone through all the shit both personally and as a band as we have.\u00a0 We\u2019ve been through everything from nervous breakdowns to cancer to hepatitis C, to you name it and if that hasn\u2019t brought us down I don\u2019t know what\u2019s going to.<\/p>\n

Is there one song from your entire back catalogue that you think defines Aerosmith, not by popularity but as a song that you are most proud of being a part of?<\/strong>
\nOh God\u2026 that\u2019s a really hard question just to narrow it down to one song\u2026 I don\u2019t know that I could do that.<\/p>\n

Well what about the one you enjoy playing the most?<\/strong>
\nProbably \u2018Lord of the Thighs\u2019.<\/p>\n

With the music industry changing so much over the years what is it about Aerosmith that is still relevant in today\u2019s day and age?<\/strong>
\nI think that we\u2019ve just managed to stay relevant, I don\u2019t think there\u2019s anything particularly relevant about us, but I think what\u2019s happening nowadays is that the music industry is dead for the most part and I think that young people are beginning to question where everything they\u2019re listening to today comes from, and where it originated and what the source of it is, the same that we tried to find out what was the source of Aerosmith or The Yardbirds or Led Zeppelin or The Kinks, you know, where all the stuff comes from.\u00a0 It came from old American Blues guys and I think that now, all the so called music that\u2019s out there, a lot of kids are getting tired of it and they want to know about the old stuff and where did it come from, where is all this shit coming from and what it\u2019s about.\u00a0 They\u2019re starting to ask these questions and I think that\u2019s a good thing for us because a lot of it comes from us.<\/p>\n

That was one thing that I did like about the Idol thing with Steven as it did put the band\u2019s name back out there\u2026<\/strong>
\nOh yeah, we definitely captured another genre of kids but that doesn\u2019t necessarily translate in to ticket sales because those kind of kids don\u2019t really buy tickets.\u00a0 They download stuff that they listen too off the record, now I don\u2019t know how old you are but when I was a kid we used to go out and buy a new record we would bring it home, sit down and smoke some pot and listen to the record, whereas now, kids when something new comes out they put it on and it\u2019s just kind of in the background you know, it\u2019s not really a focal point.<\/p>\n

Well I\u2019m thirty six and I still take it all in, love reading the liner notes and playing start to finish\u2026<\/strong>
\nRight, well if you were a kid today and listening to the likes of Lady GaGa or Nikki Minaj you\u2019re not asking any deep questions as to where what she\u2019s doing came from.<\/p>\n

Yeah I\u2019m not really interested in the inspiration behind those songs\u2026<\/strong>
\n(laughs) right.<\/p>\n

You wrote and released your book \u2018Hit Hard\u2019 back in 2009 and were the first member to really get it all out there about the band, Steven has since followed, but at the time how was it perceived by the guys for you to be telling it how it was?<\/strong>
\nThey were all good with it, the only problem with my book, it was released and the same week it was released was the same week Michael Jackson passed, and so I kinda got beat a little bit because my book kinda got lost in the media shuffle of Michael Jackson dying.\u00a0 It\u2019s a funny thing, because of the subject matter of my book, it\u2019s not something that just goes away, it\u2019s something that stays around and has a pretty long shelf life and people are asking me about it all the time, more and more lately about when I\u2019m going to write another one, or thanking me for writing this one because it\u2019s so relevant for them and how much they got off of it.\u00a0 So the book is kinda starting to take on life again, so we\u2019ll see how that goes.<\/p>\n

Are there plans for a second one?<\/strong>
\nI guess so, I\u2019m thinking about it but I just don\u2019t know, I just have to get my wits together and sit down and think about it, because if you do a second one, it\u2019s gotta be better than the first and the first one was pretty good.\u00a0 It took me four years to do the first one.<\/p>\n

To finish up, I wanted to jump back to touring, as it seems you\u2019ve packaged up with some monster bands such as KISS and Motley Crue, have you got any plans for another of these kind of tours?<\/strong>
\nUm\u2026 well\u2026 you never know\u2026 there\u2019s some stuff brewing but I\u2019m not at liberty to talk about it right now.<\/p>\n

Well whatever it is, bring it down here\u2026<\/strong>
\nAlright\u2026 you\u2019re just so goddamn far away (laughs).<\/p>\n

Essential Information<\/span><\/strong><\/strong><\/h2>\n

From:<\/strong> Boston, USA<\/p>\n

Band members: <\/strong>\u00a0Steven Tyler – Vocals, Joe Perry – Guitar, Tom Hamilton – Bass, Brad Whitford \u2013 Guitar, Joey Kramer – Drums<\/p>\n

Website:<\/strong> http:\/\/www.aerosmith.com<\/a><\/p>\n

Latest release:<\/strong> Music From Another Dimension (Sony Music Australia)<\/p>\n\n

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