Aerosmith guitarist Joe Perry just shared the secret to writing perfect riffs for songs, and it’s far from ‘thinking’ your riffs.
In a new interview with Guitar Player, the guitarist shared stories on the making of ‘Walk This Way,’ ‘Back in the Saddle,’ ‘Same Old Song and Dance’ and more.
“You have to cut your thinking,” Perry said of writing riffs. “You have to let the thinking part of your brain loose and let your subconscious take over. It’s an exercise in getting a connection to your heart and soul, and sometimes, these riffs just come out.”
“You don’t really know where they come from,” Perry admitted. “Sometimes, you sit down to write a song, and you don’t feel like playing. You’re not particularly inspired, but you never know what’s going to inspire you. You’re fired up some days, and sometimes, you’re not feeling it. That’s the creative process.”
“With riffs, they’re little bits of magic. There was nothing, and then there was something. Those little bits of magic… I don’t know where they come from, man. Since the beginning of time, people have been trying to figure that out,” he added.
Earlier, the guitarist also advised aspiring players to focus on songwriting rather than just technique. “If you spend all your time learning technique, scales and all that, you’re not going to write something new and interesting,” he said.
Perry also shared his thoughts on guitar technique and encouraged players to ‘break away’ from traditional methods if they want to stand out: “Technique is a way to get somewhere, and in and of itself, it’s fine. F*cking go for it if you want, but if you want to play the kind of rock ’n’ roll that I like, there’s more to it.”
In May 2023, Aerosmith announced their farewell tour, giving fans one last chance to see them live. At the time, Perry said they decided to retire from touring because the band members were all in their early to mid-70s, so it felt like the right time to end that part of their career. However, before that could happen, Aerosmith retired from touring after Steven Tyler’ vocal problems this August.
