You might think that after Aerosmith hung it up in 2024, Joe Perry would be kicking back. But he’s been working behind the scenes on a range of Aero-related activities, touring with the Joe Perry Project, and teaming up with Steven Tyler and Yungblud for an unexpected EP.
One More Time is the result of the veteran bandmates befriending the younger musician – real name Dom Harrison – last year. “It’s been three months of insanity,” Perry says.
“It was something we really hadn’t planned on. Then after it was done we had promotion, photoshoots and rehearsals morning to night.”
He adds: “The songs are inspired by him working with us, and us being inspired by working with him. There’s a lot of great guitar players and bands out there, but Yungblud really has the stuff, so we thought we’d throw our lot in.”
What was your rig for the Joe Perry Project shows?
The couple of stacks that I have are the ones I was gonna use on the last Aerosmith tour. I’ve got gear in LA, Vegas and Boston, and this stuff was stashed in one place. They’re the ones with the old script lettering on them.
I had a Fender Vibroverb which was custom-made for me way back. I love those amps. For the studio I had a stack of three Vibroverbs, and two Marshall stacks, and a 5150 Iconic.
Another thing I used was the Terror Stamp by Orange. It’s a solid-state power amp the size of a big pedal; you can put it through a 10- or 12-inch speaker. I’ve been using it in my studio to practice, and I get all kinds of great sounds out of it.
Is that the same gear you used while recording the EP with Yungblud?
I ended up doing almost all of the five songs with that setup. A couple of times we were working at Johnny Depp’s studio, where I had a really nice old Supro. But it was basically the Orange because those things sound fucking great; and after that it was the usual foot pedals.
How did you first meet Yungblud?
Our manager’s son thought it would be a cool idea to get Aerosmith and Yungblud together, and he mentioned it to his dad, Larry Rudolph. They started talking to Yungblud’s manager. Then Dom and I got on the phone, and he ended up coming down to Florida last year.
He said, “Let’s work on some stuff for my next record,” Mainly it was just to get to know him, but when I heard his stuff I was like, “Holy shit, this guy’s got the pipes!” I watched some of his live stuff and I thought, “He’s got it, man!”
Dom went off on the road and I told Steven, “It would be great if we got together with him.” We went in a bunch of different studios – two down here in Florida and three in LA. We were all bouncing around, depending on who was doing what. When we got three songs done we were like, “Holy shit, we’re really locking into something!”
What led to the cover of Back in the Saddle?
The record company said, “You guys gotta write two more songs so you put an EP out. That’s how we’re setting up to release stuff now.” We had six days before I started rehearsals with my band, and we wrote another song.
I was thinking, “If we can’t come up with anything else, we can always do a blues song.” But then my wife, Billie, said, “Why don’t you cover an Aerosmith song?” The light goes on in my head, so we covered Back in the Saddle, and it was a lot of fun. We’re gonna do a dance mix of it and all that.
What led you, Steven, and Yungblud to hook up at the VMAs?
Steven and Yungblud played at the Ozzy thing in Birmingham, and somebody there said, “Why don’t you guys do this for the VMAs?”
You just played at the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame induction ceremony for Bad Company.
It turned into a really big deal because it was the first time it was going to be broadcast that way. I remember when it used to be a couple of thousand people showing up, and it was really loose. This time there must have been 7,500 people there. The fans could get in; it was a lot bigger of a deal.
We’ve been talking about doing at least one show in conjunction with a documentary
You were playing the role of Mick Ralphs. What was that like?
It was kind of sad because Mick passed away recently. I’d always thought how much fun it would be to play with Bad Company – but I didn’t wanna do it that way, you know? I did everything I could do to honor him.
Chris Robinson ended up filling in for Paul Rodgers. Seeing as you’ve been touring with him with the Project, that must have been a comfortable transition.
Paul had another health scare and his doctor said, “You can’t fly; you can’t travel.” We found out two days before the show, so Bryan Adams came on, and then Chris was able to do it, which was great. We all did the best we could do to pay homage to Bad Company.
You used a gorgeous vintage Gibson Black Beauty that we’ve not seen you play much.
Mick’s style was basic yet really soulful. He was a Les Paul guy, so I pulled out my ’58 Black Beauty, and I fell back in love with it, you know? I’ll be using it again a lot more. As much as I love the Strat, it was great playing that.
And on the other end of the spectrum, you used a Les Paul Junior.
There was one song with an open tuning, and the guitar that seemed to work best was the Junior with one P-90. It really was both ends of the spectrum – I had arguably the fanciest Les Paul they ever did with the three pickups, the binding, and all that; and then I had what they say is the beginner’s guitar!
But I’ll tell you it was tough to say which sounded better, because those P-90s, man, with the dog ears, they’re just phenomenal-sounding. It was great to be able to play the two of them.
With the EP out, I’m sure you and Steven want to play some of this stuff live. Are there plans for one final Aerosmith show – or a few one-offs with Yungblud?
There’s stuff flying around; you know, ideas. The latest thing is that we’ve been talking about doing at least one show, somehow, some way, in conjunction with a documentary that tells the band’s story.
We’re still talking. Steven’s bouncing back and forth from New England to LA; I’m in Florida; and Yungblud’s on the road in Europe. So, it’s been a lot of Zoom calls!
If the last Aerosmith record is already done, are you comfortable putting a period on everything?
I don’t think about it like that – I think about it like I don’t know what’s gonna happen next. For the last 20 years I’ve looked at every show and played it like it’s the last show. You really don’t know what’s gonna happen.
- Aerosmith + Yungblud’s One More Time EP is out now.
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