Aerosmith’s Joe Perry says his Toxic Twin Steven Tyler is less of a team player than he used to be.
And the guitarist’s biggest regret is that the band let too much control out of their hands in the 1970s.
Asked what he’d say to his younger self, Perry tells Guitar International: “The advice I’d give myself would be to clean up a little bit, and reinforce that the band is really in charge.
“We were making a lot of money for a lot of people – they had no interest in us taking time off to be in the studio. The cards were stacked against us from completing records in a shorter period of time.
“I wish we’d spent less time on the road and more in the studio, particularly after Toys in the Attic and Rocks, because we were really hitting our musical stride.
“What we were willing to put up with just to hold on to the success was nuts. We put up with it for as long as we could – maybe we should have seen the light earlier.”
He also regrets not focusing on audiences outside the US, but explains: “We heard excuses that we used drugs and might get arrested – all that other bullshit. We were having a good time here in the States, so we let it go. Had we really had our eyes open, it may have changed things. The band had the power, but we were buried under a pile of bullshit.”
His stormy relationship with Tyler has pushed Aerosmith to the edge of collapse on a number of occasions. Perry says of the partnership today: “Steve has become more driven and hungry for acceptance and fame then he was in the 70s, or even the early 80s. He was more of a team player back then.
“Even when I first met him I knew he was going to be a handful. There was something about him that was off. But everybody is quirky – he’s also an incredibly talented musician and drummer with an incredible voice. I figured whatever comes along with that package I can deal with.”
Perry’s biography Rocks: My Life In And Out Of Aerosmith is on sale now. Tyler is currently gearing up to work on a solo album. The band have yet to decide on whether to make a follow-up to 2012’s Music From Another Dimension.
