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Whether they're wrestling over songs or sparring in the studio, the band's in fighting form, says Joe Perry. Here he talks about recording at home, touring and the spontaneous nature of Just Push Play.
by Rebecca Rankin
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 he phrase "America's greatest rock band" and the name "Aerosmith" have been in close proximity lately. And why not? The Boston rockers have got classic riffs, a whiff of excess, and an almost-crazed vitality. Boasting a frontman who still favors strut and screech, a guitar god who puts a wicked spin on the Keith Richards slouch, and one of the world's most piston-pumping rhythm sections, these pop veterans have an explosive spirit.
Since their 1989 comeback with Pump, Aerosmith have employed the talents of high-vis producers and outside songwriters like Desmond Child. This time around, however, they bet the farm on their own production savvy. Just Push Play - album No. 13 if you're counting - is their rawest record in years, with the raunch attack given added muscle by the Tower of Power horns on "Trip Hoppin'" and some coy whispering from Liv Tyler on "Avant Garden."
The disc entered the chart at No. 2 the same week the guys were inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame by Kid Rock. VH1's Rebecca Rankin cornered Joe Perry to ask him about making the extravagant video for "Jaded," wrestling creatively with his bandmates, and keeping his wife awake at night.
Rebecca Rankin: There are a lot of special effects in the "Jaded" video; you've used them before. How was [the process of making it] different from past videos?
Joe Perry: Every video's different. [Director] Francis [Lawrence] was very specific about what he wanted. We wanted to take some of the ideas of the Cirque du Soleil show and bring them into the video. It was marvelously opulent and sexual, and the colors were great. It was the first time I'd ever walked onto a set and got goose bumps. When I saw that first shot, the big staircase with all those performers, and that giraffe, I felt like I was in a Fellini movie. It was incredible. It's like making a three-minute movie. It costs as much, and so it's a real luxury to have an opportunity to do that. And I love animals.
Rankin: Just to see it transform ... I'm sure it's awesome seeing the final cut, too.
Perry: It's funny, because when they get the first edits back, they have notes written on the screen like, "Steven's head will turn into a horse here." Or "Joe will be in the fireplace." So you have to kind of take it for granted that some of that stuff is going to work.
Rankin: You and Steven worked on this album, heart and soul. You built a studio in your home, and you also produced the disc. Give me an idea of why, after all this time, you said, "OK, now we're gonna do it ourselves."
Perry: Steven and I always felt we put in all the time that we could to make our records what they are. All through the '70s we shared production credit with Jack Douglas. We've put in a lot of time ... and we don't feel like we've actually put in that much more time producing the record ourselves than we would have if we had [worked with] somebody else.
I don't want to come off sounding like, "We'll never work with another producer again, and all those other guys sucked." We learned a lot from them. We worked with some great guys. But we just felt like we wanted to take what we were doing in the creative moment of writing and have that be the record. When Steven sang vocals for the first time, those were the keeper vocals. When I played guitar solos, those were the keeper solos. I'd always taken some of my solos off the demos and flown them over onto the record when we've gone in to [the final recording process].
I've built a studio with the idea that if we do demos down there, my solos and my guitar parts are going to sound as good as they can sound. The thing turned into a monster, and everybody that was down there would go, "Oh, you guys should do the record here." And we said, "Well, let's start." So we started writing down there, and our so-called demos sounded like they could be on the radio tomorrow. With that kind of feeling, we just kept carrying on.
[The studio is] actually in the basement of my house, and that's where we recorded. But we [also] built a studio in a house right next door that I bought for other reasons. We have horses and we wanted to a have a little more land, so we bought this place and looked over there and said, "Oh, there's an empty room we're not using, let's put a studio in there, too." So we put in a big mixing room, and that's where we mixed the record.
I have to say that my family was very accepting about this. At any given day there would be about 40 people at the house, and the only instrument my wife minded hearing after 10:00 was guitar. She didn't mind the bass, which I find offensive.
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