Joe Perry On Whether He Prefers Hollywood Vampires To Aerosmith

Joe Perry recently joined Raised On Radio for a chat and discussed whether he preferred Hollywood Vampires over Aerosmith, how a simple tribute session with Alice Cooper and Johnny Depp led to the birth of the supergroup, and how excited he was to hit the road.

The supergroup initially hadn’t started as a well-thought-out project, but the idea sparked when Alice said they should pay tribute to the original Hollywood Vampires. The rest was history as the trio clicked rather quickly, and the magic from their session made them think, ‘Why don’t we do this in the studio and hit the road?’

The band had released a full-length studio record since and announced a worldwide tour approaching in the following months. So, when the host mentioned the band’s upcoming concerts in Scotland, Perry couldn’t help but admire his work with the Vampires, calling it a labor of love.

For Joe, working with the supergroup felt like a garage band getting together and just playing for fun. Aerosmith had also started as a garage band but later turned into a much more professional setting as they grew in popularity and became a global act. However, playing with the Vampires felt to the rocker like a get-together with some old friends and doing what they do best, playing music and enjoying themselves.

So, it seemed like even though Aerosmith’s place surely was special for him; he’d preferred working with the Vampires as all of his work with the band didn’t feel like a business. The original Hollywood Vampires also consisted of a bunch of friends getting together and partying in the late 60s; therefore, it felt like Perry, Cooper, and Depp had got the original band’s spirits right.

Perry on working with the Hollywood Vampires, how they were initially formed, and their upcoming concerts:

“First of all, playing with the Vampires is like a labor of love. It’s the kind of band you dream about being in because it’s as close to a garage band as I can think of in the real sense. I mean, think of Aerosmith as being a garage band that just kind of got global, but with the Vampires, we’re just doing it because we get along, and we all have a great time together, and we get to play.

It started off, [when] we would just basically paying homage to the legend of the original Hollywood Vampires and all the original members passing on, and it was a tip of the hat to these guys that gathered together back in the late 60s and partied.

When Alice said we were gonna cover some songs by them, they asked me to sit in, and within a short time, we’d put this album out. Then, the next thing was, ‘Why don’t we go on the road with it?’ It just seemed like the natural thing. So, I’m really excited to get out and play it live.”

So, it’s evident that even though Aerosmith initially started as a garage band, their major commercial success turned things global, and it became a much more professional, business-wise act. However, with the Hollywood Vampires, Perry felt that it was only him and his buddies enjoying themselves and playing together for fun.