Star Apps: Aerosmith
Rock and Roll Hall of Famers Aerosmith keep the rock flag flying high. This month the band kicks off the Let Rock Rule tour, with openers Slash and Myles Kennedy and the Conspirators. I chatted with Aerosmith bassist Tom Hamilton about the tour, the stories behind his most famous contributions, surviving cancer, the importance of staying up-to-date on Twitter and Logic X.
Aerosmith is ready to unleash its Let Rock Rule tour stateside.
(Credit: Ross Halfin)
What can you tell us about the Let Rock Rule tour?
Having Slash with us has created a synergy where instead of two rock bands, it's gonna be something bigger than that. We feel that it's the perfect bill, really. There's a mutual respect there, and he's a great character and really flies the rock flag.
Will you be playing together onstage?
I don't see how it would make sense not to. I hope we do.
Will it be a career-spanning set?
It's going to be stuff from all the different eras of the band, the old '70s era, where we established ourselves and defined ourselves, and the later era where we spread out and had all these hit singles. We're very fortunate that we have a lot of songs that people like. But it makes it hard when we pick the set list. There are certain songs that need to be in there no matter what -- "Dream On," "Sweet Emotion," and those kinds of songs. But there's a whole variety of deeper album cuts that we'd also like to play from the '70s and the later years.
Are there songs that you're more excited about playing this time around?
I like playing "Seasons of Wither" from our second album and a "Permanent Vacation" album track called "Hangman Jury," along with "Eat the Rich" and "Big Ten Inch Record." It's funny, you think you wanna change it. But over time moments will happen onstage -- cool little things will happen at the next gig and the gig after, and you think, "Wow, those are cool things to leave in the set," whether it's a song combination or a little moment that takes place that you decide to make part of the show. So it's not just about picking out 17 songs that you really like.
One of your most iconic riffs is featured in the intro to "Sweet Emotion." What can you tell us about the writing of that song?
I'm sure I just smoked a joint this one particular day and then...I'm not gonna lie, but I was sitting down with my guitar and started playing. For the first few minutes, you just browse around through the riffs you feel like playing. You get a little bored, and then you start to get warmed up, and then you get into a frenzy, and that's when all these ideas come out. You just have to watch that and make sure you pick out the stuff that's good. You'll be practicing away on something that's a musical exercise and you wind up changing it, and it turns into a riff. That was how "Sweet Emotion" came up. It wasn't, "How could I construct a riff using a major arpeggio?" I was just noodling around. It can happen in a very accidental way.
Your "Janie's Got a Gun" riff is another one of your best-known contributions. How did that come about?
On the previous album I brought in a demo of a song idea, which was a complete arrangement for a song, and the intro of the song was the same set of chord changes as the intro to "Janie's Got a Gun." The thing I put together didn't get anywhere, but when we did the "Pump" album, one day Steven came in to the rehearsal studio and played "Janie's Got a Gun" start to finish. Everybody had their jaws open, 'cause it's amazing when he comes in with a song completely finished. I'm listening to it, and going, "Boy, that looks awfully familiar." I knew at that moment that he had been playing the chord changes from that song I had brought in. He went in and kept using that motif and wrote the whole song. So at some point he came up to me and said, "Thanks for that little idea for 'Janie's Got a Gun.' Both of our names should be on there." That felt really good.
In more recent years, you've made the news twice for health problems. How are you feeling these days?
I feel great. I had the two cancer experiences and came out of that and really didn't spend a lot of time thinking about it as time went on. I let it go right into the past, but what I didn't realize is that there were consequences from having had it that were gonna come back later and give me trouble. That's the thing that happened over the last year and a half.
When I first had cancer, they used heavy doses of radiation to get rid of the tumor, and it was right in my throat. When you think of all the stuff that goes on in your throat -- it's where you eat, breathe, and talk -- it's easy for all those processes to get changed when you bomb them with radiation. Then I had it the second time and had to have surgery to that area, and then I didn't think about it much, but found my weight fluctuating. Then I found myself in New Zealand a year ago with pneumonia. I am more susceptible than most people for getting pneumonia because of the changes the treatment brought. Eating was a difficult, dangerous thing. I didn't feel like putting a lot of work into it, so I lost a lot of weight and didn't have my strength. Ever since last year, I've gained that weight back and had to make sure I eat a lot. It's hard for me to keep my weight up, so I just plow through anything I want. I like my ice cream. I wake up in the morning and have a coffee shake with ice cream -- and chocolate, and that gets me out of bed in the morning.
Your fans can stay current on all your happenings by following you on Twitter. Do you enjoy posting to social media, or is it just a necessity?
I think it's a little bit of both. I love doing it, but not having to do it. But being able to talk directly to your fans is incredible, and inspiring to see their reactions. They're excited about it, and it reminds you of the core feelings of excitement that this is all about. I don't tweet every day, even though I should. But I'm starting to do it regularly enough where I get more followers.
What are your top five apps?
1. Duolingo: I'm doing French right now and really want to do Spanish. It's fun to learn languages. I can formulate what I want to say, but when someone speaks to me, I can rarely understand what they're saying. [Laughs]
2. I go to the New York Times app a lot, but I think they want more money from me and are going to boot me if I don't pay it.
3. I use this recording software called Logic X, and I am always trying to learn new things I can do with it. If you can learn this modern recording software, you can have a hell of a lot of fun, because you can do any weird musical idea and have it in a form where you can play it for your band mates. So instead of describing an idea or playing a riff, you can play something that really shows what's in your imagination. That was true of a couple songs from the last album that I brought to the band in the form of a demo that I was able to do working with the software. So it's more convincing. It gets people in a band's attention more than just strumming a guitar.
4. I have an app called iFart. I haven't used it in a long time. If I play it too much, people look at me like there's something wrong with me.
5. And Twitter, of course.
Are you currently working on a new album?
As far as I'm concerned, I'm always working on an album. My laptop is sitting right in front of me with Logic open, and I'm working on an idea that's just a riff right now. But I've got more ideas for it, so as far as I'm concerned it's always going on.
Catch Aerosmith on tour this summer in a city near you.
(Credit: MSO PR)
