{"id":3120,"date":"2011-08-05T17:21:17","date_gmt":"2011-08-06T00:21:17","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/mmusicmag.com\/m\/?p=3120"},"modified":"2011-08-05T17:21:17","modified_gmt":"2011-08-06T00:21:17","slug":"joey-kramer","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/mmusicmag.com\/m\/2011\/08\/joey-kramer\/","title":{"rendered":"JOEY KRAMER"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"<\/h1>\n

JOEY KRAMER<\/h1>\n

Aerosmith\u2019s hard-hitting drummer sounds off about recovery and rock<\/strong><\/h2>\n

As recently as a few months ago, it appeared the 40-year story of Aerosmith could be coming to an end. Lead singer Steven Tyler was out of touch with the band and focused on solo projects, and guitarist Joe Perry announced that he and his fellow members were looking for a replacement. Uncertainty and speculation reigned for months before the group surprised the world by announcing it would be touring this summer with Tyler back in the fold. \u201cWe finally had a meeting and ironed things out, and everything in Aerosmith-land is copacetic at the moment,\u201d says Joey Kramer, the Boston-based group\u2019s drummer since its formation in 1970. \u201cFor a while I wasn\u2019t really sure it was going to go on, but I never lost hope.\u201d<\/p>\n

Kramer declines to say more about the circumstances of either the\u00a0near-breakup or the reconciliation. \u201cIt\u2019s basically a private matter,\u201d he says. \u201cA family matter, so to speak.\u201d Certainly, Aerosmith has been together for long enough to feel like a\u00a0family\u2014if at times a dysfunctional one. During its initial 1970s heyday, the members became almost as famous for drug-fueled offstage debauchery as for hits like\u00a0\u201cWalk This Way,\u201d \u201cSweet Emotion\u201d and \u201cDream On.\u201d Kramer was no stranger to such behavior, struggling for many years with drug abuse, anxiety and depression\u2014a journey he recounts in his recent memoir, Hit Hard<\/em>. We spoke with him at\u00a0home in Boston.<\/p>\n

What drew you to the drums?<\/strong><\/p>\n

The major thing was seeing the Beatles on Ed Sullivan. It wasn\u2019t necessarily that I zeroed in on Ringo or the position of the drums. What I honed in on even more than the music was the camaraderie, being part of a little gang that was going to take over the world together. It was just a question of finding guys that had the same mindset that I did.<\/p>\n

When did you first play?<\/strong><\/p>\n

I was about 14. I had an accident with this little mini-bike that I had and then sold it. I always had an interest in the drums, so I bought my first set, put them in the house and there I was.<\/p>\n

Did you drive your parents nuts? <\/strong><\/p>\n

Pretty much, yeah. (laughs<\/em>)<\/p>\n

How has your style evolved? <\/strong><\/p>\n

I wouldn\u2019t say it\u2019s evolved, I\u2019d say it\u2019s matured. I come from a really heavy, heavy school of rhythm and blues. That\u2019s what I bring to the band. My influences were the likes of Clyde Stubblefield, who played with James Brown, Mitch Mitchell and Dino Danelli from the Rascals. I used to play with a band called the Unique Four, which eventually went on to become Tavares. I played in the backup band. I used to go with these guys to see artists like the Temptations and the O\u2019Jays. They would sit me down and say, \u201cWatch the drummer, because he\u2019s accentuating the dance steps.\u201d I used to go to rehearsals with just the singers. That\u2019s where I learned a lot of my stuff. That\u2019s where my roots are, really. Tower of Power, Earth, Wind & Fire\u2014I love that stuff.<\/p>\n

How do you keep your chops up when you\u2019re off the road? <\/strong><\/p>\n

I play here at home and practice. That\u2019s basically it. I don\u2019t worry about it too much.<\/p>\n

<\/strong><\/p>\n

What\u2019s your practice routine? <\/strong><\/p>\n

I sit behind my drums, pick up my sticks and whack the piss out of them. (laughs<\/em>) No, I play with CDs and noodle around by myself for a while. I\u2019ll put on a Michael Jackson album, or some Tower of Power or Sly & the Family Stone and just play along. It\u2019s fun. I do that for an hour or an hour and a half at a time.<\/p>\n

What\u2019s your setup like now? <\/strong><\/p>\n

It\u2019s a four-piece kit. I\u2019m keeping things really simple. Less is more. It makes your voice come out more. I used to use a much bigger kit, but the days of that are over. It\u2019s\u00a0kind of pass\u00e9.<\/p>\n

What\u2019s your relationship with Steven? <\/strong><\/p>\n

We work a lot together, because he used\u00a0to be a drummer. He was a big help to me when we first started the band because he was a little further along than I was. We collaborate on a lot of stuff,\u00a0we always have.<\/p>\n

During recording, are you under pressure because the drum tracks go down first?<\/strong><\/p>\n

Yeah. The other guys know that what they\u2019re doing is not necessarily for keeps. If they get a good track and decide it\u2019s a keeper, that\u2019s all well and good, but I know I\u2019m going for it. Most of the time the whole band is playing, but everything will be discarded except for maybe a bass track\u2014but what we\u2019re really looking for is the drum track, the bed for everything else to lie in.<\/p>\n

How do you learn the songs? <\/strong><\/p>\n

Unless you\u2019re in on the song to begin with, [Tyler and Perry] usually use a drum machine or a loop and I\u2019ll put my stamp on it from there. Whatever their inspiration is, I try to stick to that, either to embellish upon it or make it better.<\/p>\n

What was writing the book like? <\/strong><\/p>\n

It was very cathartic, actually. Once your memory gets rolling, it\u2019s pretty amazing what\u2019s inside there. One thought leads to another and another, and before you know it you\u2019re remembering things that you haven\u2019t thought of in years. Some of it was hard, some was fun, but overall it was a great experience. Seeing it in print and having other people read it was fantastic.<\/p>\n

Was it scary to write about that stuff?<\/strong><\/p>\n

Yeah, because you\u2019re putting yourself right out there\u2014or at least I am. The one thing I\u2019m proudest about is that I was really honest in the book. I tell it like it is.<\/p>\n

Why did you decide to write it? <\/strong><\/p>\n

Just by journaling. I started reading what I was writing and realizing that I could add a little bit more of a dimension to it. I could write about the alcoholism, the drug addiction, the anxiety and the depression in addition to it being a rock \u2019n\u2019 roll memoir.<\/p>\n

You turned 60 in June. How is it? <\/strong><\/p>\n

It doesn\u2019t feel any different to me than when I was 30. I feel better, actually.<\/p>\n

What are your hopes for the future?<\/strong><\/p>\n

I see us touring and making records. I don\u2019t see any reason why not. If anything we\u2019ve gone through so far hasn\u2019t stopped us, I don\u2019t see anything that\u2019s going to do it at this point. Playing with the band challenges me all the time. There\u2019s nothing like being up on stage playing, especially in this band. But I\u2019d like to get out and play with other people, because that challenges you, too. It\u2019s always great to play with other musicians of the same caliber because it\u2019s nice to be around people that you appreciate and have admired over the years. The ability to play with them is a joy.<\/p>\n

What do you get out of playing now? <\/strong><\/p>\n

It\u2019s the same thing as when I was 19 and\u00a0first joined the band, except that I have the ability to appreciate it a bit more now. Appreciate my situation and my gig,\u00a0and also appreciate the fact that I\u2019m helping to bring as much joy to people as I\u00a0am. That\u2019s what really floats my boat\u00a0about it now.<\/p>\n

\u2013Chris Neal<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

JOEY KRAMER Aerosmith\u2019s hard-hitting drummer sounds off about recovery and rock As recently as a few months ago, it appeared the 40-year story of Aerosmith could be coming to an end. Lead singer Steven Tyler was out of touch with the band and focused on solo projects, and guitarist Joe Perry announced that he and […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[7],"tags":[2298,623,970],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/mmusicmag.com\/m\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3120"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/mmusicmag.com\/m\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/mmusicmag.com\/m\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mmusicmag.com\/m\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mmusicmag.com\/m\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=3120"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/mmusicmag.com\/m\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3120\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":3122,"href":"https:\/\/mmusicmag.com\/m\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3120\/revisions\/3122"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/mmusicmag.com\/m\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=3120"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mmusicmag.com\/m\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=3120"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mmusicmag.com\/m\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=3120"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}