Kenny Aronoff
Kenny Aronoff is a world class drummer/percussionist who is best known for having worked with John Mellencamp through the glory years of the 80's and 90's. He has also been currently recording and touring with John Fogerty for over 20 years. The list doesn't stop there - as the amazing array of artists that Kenny has worked with through the years is a virtual "Who's Who" of rock and roll royalty- such as: Paul McCartney, Ringo Starr, Bruce Springsteen, Rod Stewart, Bob Seger, Meatloaf, Joe Cocker and so many more. Being known as a very versatile drummer, Kenny can adjust to any genre of music at the flick of a switch. A variety of artists such as: Celine Dion, Johnny Cash, Waylon Jennings, Adele, Robert Randolph, Brad Paisley, and a slew of others that have all requested Kenny's services. I recently had the opportunity to converse with Kenny.
R.V.B. - How are you doing Kenny?
K.A. - I'm good. I'm super busy as always.
R.V.B. - I can imagine with your resume, it's like who haven't you played with?
K.A. - My co-writer turned in my auto biography and the editor called me up and said "Dude I'm just letting you know, this thing that you sent in is longer than Moby Dick."
R.V.B. - (hahaha)
K.A. - It's 230,000 words or something. "I'm just letting you know that we're going to have to chop it in half." I went "Man, I did so many sessions... why am I being punished for that."
R.V.B. - Why don't you have Volume 1, Volume 2, and Volume 3?
K.A. - Maybe. I might have to. I did an article once on The Beatles and it was like "Wait a minute... you can't do one article." I turned it into three. There's three periods... early Beatles, middle Beatles, late Beatles.
R.V.B. - Well congratulations on your career. It must have been a nice ride so far. How did you get interested in the drums in the first place?
K.A. - When I was a little kid, there was a little marching band that would come through our town on Memorial day. I grew up in Stockbridge Massachusetts, which is where Norman Rockwell lived. It was this picturesque little New England town. In the 60's it was like The Village in New York that came up to western Massachusetts. It was very artsy... very creative. There was a marching band on Memorial day and I flipped out listening to the drum lines. I was taking piano lessons at the time and I would come home and try to imitate those drummers. When they asked me in school what instrument I wanted to play, I said "I want to play drums." I told my mom that I didn't want to play piano anymore. She said "You really need to" and I said "No." I was running around the piano saying "no, no, no, no, no, no, I'm playing drums." Then when I saw The Beatles on The Ed Sullivan Show at 11 years, and I turned around to my mom and said "I want to be in The Beatles... call them up."
R.V.B. (haha)
K.A. - She laughed, and five months later I saw "A Hard Day's Night" in a movie theater and I went "That's it." There was nothing like that. It was like a drug. I started a band the next week called "The Alley Cats". We played Beatles and Beach Boys music. All I could afford was a snare drum and a cymbal.
R.V.B. - Did the Alley Cats have a full lineup with bass and guitar?
K.A. - Yeah, 2 guitars, bass and piano because we were the Alley Cats.
R.V.B. - You had to play "The Alley Cat" (haha)
K.A. - We had to play "The Alley Cat". That was in the beginning, and the cool thing about the story is, 50 years later I was playing with Ringo Starr and Paul McCartney, honoring them 50 years to the day that they played on the Ed Sullivan show. That effected 72 million American people and I was one of them.
R.V.B. - Not to mention all of the other millions from other countries.
K.A. - Right. That was 72 million just in America. Dreams do come true. I tell the story in my book and I do a 2 hour show called "An Evening with Kenny Aronoff." It's a speaking and performing event where I tell my story. It's based on 7 key points to a successful life and career. I look ahead mostly, but when I wrote my book I had to look back in the past and I started to realize "How did a kid from a town of 3000, with no lesson plan or college course that you take to become a rock star. So how did that happen? I try to explain that.
R.V.B. - I'm sure most of it was because you were a go-getter. That's how it happened.
K.A. - Well the 1st 2 points of the 7 steps is 1... self discipline is the foundation of everything. The second one is hard work, fueled by passion and education. Hard work is your transportation to life. If you apply self discipline and hard work and you really have a passion for what you do... you're unstoppable. The people who are lazy and feel entitled and want it to come to them, are losers to society. They're dragging the world down because those people aren't doing their share. The people who are hard workers are having to drag those people along. It's a sad state of affairs when you have people that are looking for the easy way out when they are fully capable of taking care of themselves.
R.V.B. - Right. Let me ask you about your college years for a moment. Why did you choose Indiana University? I also see that you went to Aspen and Tanglewood, which I'm sure was a great experience in itself.
K.A. - I got into the University of Massachusetts School of Music because I wasn't good enough to go to Julliard, or Indiana University, or Eastern, which were the top three in the country. Not to mention New England Conservatory. In high school I was playing rock and roll, and jazz. I didn't want anything to do with marching band, symphonic band or orchestra. I was under developed on tympani, marimba, symphonic snare drum, harmony, technique, reading skills, but I was studying with the principle percussionist from the Boston Symphony orchestra, Arthur Press in the summer. I saw somebody getting better in my little home town and he told me he was studying with this guy, so I went for it. The guy was extremely disciplined and really intense. Instead of saying "Fuck this", I actually embraced it. I was good enough to get into the University of Massachusetts, but within that one year... you talk about a go-getter, and this was not conscious...in one year I figured out, yeah this school was good but it wasn't the bad assed school to be part of. It wasn't a school for musical performers at the level that I thought I should be at. It was more for education. So I was going looking. I auditioned to get into Eastman school of music during that year. I didn't realize that they did accept me but they didn't have room for me. All of the people I auditioned for realized I was a very aggressive go-getter but my technique was underdeveloped on percussion. So the teachers really enjoyed having a student like that because they could enjoy teaching them. So anyway, I got into Eastman but there was no room for me. There was a girl who was a really hot cellist and beautiful to look also, and I heard her talking about going to Aspen. So I sent an audition tape in to go to Aspen. They ask you to record and perform in three out of four areas. For example: mallets, timpani, percussion, and snare drum. I sent in all four thinking that it was kind of a bonus question. I had never heard from them. I had my whole summer planned. I had an Allman Brothers type of rock band. I had lessons from the principle percussionist from the Boston Symphony Orchestra. My summer was rocking. I had a girlfriend back home. That spring ,when I left to go home from school... I was 2 miles down the road and I realized I had forgotten my mail. I went back to get it and there was the acceptance letter to Aspen. With Aspen, you had to answer immediately and had I not gone back I would have missed the opportunity. I figured I was an alternate because somebody had cancelled. Why would they contact me two weeks before I had to be in Aspen? I'm on my way home flipping out. It's a $500 scholarship. I had to go to Aspen, and the teacher that taught at Aspen... taught in Indiana University. I was so blown away by this guy... this guy was the shit. He was a heavy teacher and a very deep-smart thinker. So I demanded an audition up there. He was trying to convince me to come back and audition in January. I said "no" and I demanded an audition and I got in. So in one year I went from U Mass... got into Eastman... got into Aspen, and then got into Indiana University. In 1 year I progressively brought myself up to a higher level of education. In all of those places, I worked my way from the bottom up. It took me four auditions for four consecutive years to get into Tanglewood. I eventually got into Tanglewood, where I worked with Leonard Bernstein, Aaron Copeland, Arthur Fiedler. It was a heavy chapter in my life. I think the American dream is somebody who goes to college... studies in a field that they like, and then get out of college and get a job in the field that they studied. I fulfilled my goal. I had a goal. I created a plan and I executed it. Which was, go to college, get into a symphony orchestra. I did and I decided I'm not going. I got into the Jerusalem Symphony Orchestra.
R.V.B. - Did you actually audition and play with them once?
K.A. - My teacher got me those positions based on his word. They excepted me. I was going to live there and be in the orchestra. I opted not to. As soon as I got home after I graduated from Indiana University, I immediately started studying drumset in Boston, with a teacher from the Berklee School of Music and also started studying with drummer in New York. There used to be a very good session drummer there. Gary Chester was the guy in New York and Alan Dawson was the guy in Boston. That was when I realized "this is where my hearts at." I want to be in The Beatles... so it took 40 years. I moved back from Indiana and I got into a regimen. I was practicing 8 hours a day. I had spent a year at home and eventually moved back to Indiana and formed a band. The next goal was to get a record deal... write songs... make records... tour, and do the whole thing like The Beatles did. We didn't, but after 3 years of living in Indiana, I hear about this Johnny Couger guy, and I got this audition and got the gig.
R.V.B. - Where was that audition?
K.A. - It was in Bloomington, right in John's house. Now in Hindsight, I remember meeting him and he was kind of grumpy... not in a good mood at all. I walked in with a double bass drum, 9 tom toms, 8 cymbals, a big drumset and he wasn't into a big drumset. He was into like...
R.V.B. - One mounted tom and one floor and that's it?
K.A. - Yep, he wanted the Charlie Watts or the Ringo Starr setup. So he thought "This guy is not the right guy for the band." My car was leaking oil on his driveway... but I won. When they told me to be familiar with the record, I was so prepared. I memorized every single thing that that drummer did, even though I didn't understand that style of drumming.
R.V.B. - Was that the "I need a lover that won't drive me crazy record?"
K.A. - That was the record I memorized... yes, exactly.
R.V.B. - Did you find out right away that you passed the audition?
K.A. - Yeah... I played the songs and John went upstairs and he yelled at the guitar player Mike Wanchic "Mike, come upstairs." I was actually packing everything up and Mike came down... shook my hand, smiled at me, and said "Welcome to hell."
R.V.B. - (hahaha)
K.A. - I thought "What the fuck are you talking about?" I found out later on what he meant.
R.V.B. - Was it a strict practice regimen with him?
K.A. - Very strict. We basically would rehearse from 9 in the morning until 5 at night... take a dinner break and come back from 7 to 11. That was our basic rehearsal, 5 days a week.
R.V.B. - That sounds like hell.
K.A. - (hahaha) We were in a thing called "the bunker". It was like an old dog kennel. We named it "the bunker". He lived on a ravine and the driveway would drop down. The house was on one side of the driveway... going down the ravine and on the other side of this driveway was this concrete bunker... like a storage shed. They used to keep the Sheppard dogs in there. Once I set the drums up... and we're talking a four piece kit... I could barely get around them because the cymbals were touching the walls. We rehearsed in there until he got his studio, which was after the "Uh-Huh" record. In 1985/86 he built this studio during the "Scarecrow" record. In the bunker, John was not the happiest guy in the world, that's for sure.
R.V.B. - When you first joined, were you working on new material or were you working on your set list to go out on tour with?
K.A. - We immediately worked on "Nothin' Matters and What if it Did." He had to make that in 5 weeks. He was not in the greatest of moods. He was just going through a divorce and he was very grumpy. He wanted me to come up with a million answers. He played the song on acoustic guitar and he wanted everybody to come up with parts. It really goes to the drums first. Eventually, that became our routine. He would play the song one more time and then would be looking to me for a direction. When you come up with a drum beat, that is the direction of the song. I had to really think out of the box because a lot of the songs sounded pretty much the same. He would admit it.
R.V.B. - Well you take a song like Jack and Diane... the drums are prevalent.
K.A. - That song was off the record. Then I programmed a Linn drum machine. I grabbed that machine when he walked in. I was disgusted that they were gonna replace me with a drum machine. So I grabbed the drum machine because at least I wanted to have some control over what was being programmed. Then I sat down and all of a sudden latter that day they needed a drum solo. That was a life changing moment because the record before, I had gotten fired on, after two days of just getting the sound for the recording. Steve Cropper (the producer) wanted to get the record done fast and he saw all of this tension between me and John. Back then, you had to get the drum tracks first. I got replaced by session guys. That was a crucial life changing moment because when John told me to go home I said "No. I'm not going home. You don't have to pay me. I'll sleep on the floor." I asked him "I'm the drummer in your band right?" He was really perplexed like "Oh my God, what is this guy getting at?" He said "Yeah." I said "Well look, If I'm the drummer of your band, then I should stay here and see what these fuckers are doing and I'm not doing. I'll benefit from that, and then you'll benefit because I'm your drummer." He didn't know what to say.
R.V.B. - That's a good point.
K.A. - It was a good point but it was just total survival instinct. I wasn't that clever. I've had moments in my life where words come out of my mouth, that I don't know who's talking? It's me, but I don't think like that, and that's what happened. Sure enough, I went home after that record and I set up an 8 hour practice routine, lifted weights, ran 6 miles a day. I just became a Marine. No drinking, a vegetarian, got really focused, and my goal was to make the next record. Everything was about "I'm making that fucking next record." That was Jack and Diane. We didn't know how to arrange Jack and Diane until, now I'm programming this drum beat, then I've got to do this drum solo. I figured "Drum solo on a ballad?" We spent a whole day getting a drum sound because back then you were in a vocal booth. We brought them out and nobody really knew how to mic the drums... get the big sound. There's the close mics, the overhead mics, and then the room mics. We had room mics at 15ft, 20ft, 25ft, high, low, all over the place. Trying to figure out what gets you the best big sound. "How do you blend the mics?" Once we got the sound, I created that to make it short. I created that solo step by step. I remember at one point walking back to my drumset from the control room after listening to nine people telling me what they think I should do, and thinking "You have 25ft to save your career... you have 20ft... you have 15ft... "What are you going to play man? I'm not sure? 10 ft... Dude, he already fired you on the last record, now he's already fired 2 guys from the band on this record (bass and keyboards) What the fuck are you going to do?" I turned around and came up with that drum part. So I had a big part in making that song.
R.V.B. - That's a very distinctive drum part. It makes the song.
K.A. - Yeah, everybody still air drums to it. It's still on the radio.
R.V.B. - In a general sense, what were some of the bright moments in the John Couger Mellencamp Era?
K.A. - There were great moments were being part of a band that went from the bunker to selling out Madison Square Garden... 360 degrees with no opening act... 3 hour show...just us. We could do multiple nights in some cities... in arena's. We were flying in a private jet and we were staying at the Ritz-Carlton Four Seasons Hotel. Girls were throwing underwear and bra's at us. There were groupies. It was wild man. We were really living our rock and roll fantasy's. MTV embraced us... we were all over the radio, and back then we were number 1. "American Fool" went to number 1. "Jack and Diane" went to number 1 and "Hurt so Good" went to number 2. Both were in the top ten at the same time. When you are number 1, that meant you were number 1. You were on every fucking radio station in the world. You couldn't get away from us.
R.V.B. - It was classic stuff.
K.A. - Classic... I don't know how anybody can do that anymore. Radio doesn't the impact like it used to have.
R.V.B. - Everything is compartmentalized now. There is no more general rock station now. It's either classic rock, or light rock, or this rock, or that rock.
K.A. - Country rock, or modern rock, or high school rock.
R.V.B. - Well, one of the things that I noticed in your career is your diversification. You've played with country artists and I see you worked with Tony Iommi?
K.A. - Oh yeah, Iommi, Alice Cooper, Billy Corrigan, and I did all the Avril Lavigne stuff.
R.V.B. - That's going from ultra pop to ultra heavy metal, with a little bit of country mixed in between. That's a big variety.
K.A. - When we talk about country, we talk about, I used to play with Johnny Cash and Willie Nelson. Not the new modern shit, we're talking about the real fucking guys.
R.V.B. - The new modern shit is borderline country. That is almost pop.
K.A. - It's almost like Mellencamp back in the 80's.
R.V.B. - Pretty much. Put on some blue jeans with a rip in the knee and go out and rock.
K.A. - What happened was, so we were rocking and like you said "What were the memories?" Well the memories were when we became rock stars. We were the shit. The last show of the Jubilee tour, I'm about ready to open up a bottle of champagne and he says "I quit." He quit for three years and said "Here's your bonus check and don't spend it in one place." Dude, I just got divorced and I wasn't making the big bucks. It was John's record deal. It was John's publishing deal. It was John's everything. I was on salary... all of us were. I only had enough money to pay bills for 5 months, based on my calculations. I had already started doing a lot of sessions. When that happened, I started making a lot of trips to LA. After every take, I'd be on the phone hustling, hustling, hustling. Eventually, along came Don Was in 1989. He called me up to do an Iggy Pop record. While we were doing the Iggy Pop record, Don went to the Grammy's. He'd won 5 Grammy's. 4 for "Nick of Time" with Bonnie Raitt and one for "Love Shack." All of a sudden Don Was was the hottest, meanest, baddest, thing around. Now he had me do Bob Dylan, Bob Seger, Elton John... everybody. Next thing you know I'm doing Bon Jovi, "Blaze of Glory." I became this new, in demand session guy in LA.
R.V.B. - Like the "Wrecking Crew, part 2?"
K.A. - Yeah, that was just the beginning, and it's still kind of going on. I have my own studio now and people send me files. People still come into my studio. Then I started realizing... this is where the country shit comes in... like any good business, once your happening, you gotta think of what comes next. I could fly to LA from Indiana in 2 1/2 hours and I could drive to Nashville in the same amount of time. I sent faxes to all of the producers down there and eventually some of them thought this was great. So I drove down and started becoming a session guy in Nashville. I almost moved there. They were basically saying you should come down here, it's the new hot thing. I opted not to go down there. I thought LA was a little bit more my town because it was a little bit more well rounded. I did a Waylon Jennings record in LA... I did Willie Nelson in LA... I did the Highwaymen in LA... I did a lot of things in LA that were country related. I eventually moved there. My goal: 1st, college, symphony orchestra, Get a job in the field of studies. 2nd, was to be in The Beatles. That was my Mellencamp. 3rd was to become a big session player. Now I had a career... as you pointed out... in all different styles of music. I was also touring with the original Jefferson Airplane, Bob Seger, John Fogerty... on and off for 20 years. Melissa Etheridge on and off for 10 years. Last year I went out with Styx, Goo Goo Dolls, Chickenfoot, and it ain't over yet.
R.V.B. - How did you enjoy the Fogerty tour?
K.A. - The thing that is interesting, is that the Fogerty thing is... 1st of all, I was the 30th drummer on the "Blue Moon Swamp" record. He spent 5 years ready to record... he spent 5 years recording. He was trying to find himself and his sound. I happened to be the right drummer for him. He wanted to work with me ever since. I've made every record with him except a live record. The thing with John is, that he wants me to play on the edge... he wants me to push it. I get criticized sometimes for not playing like Stu Cook... with that swampy thing. He doesn't like that. That was the best that that band could sound. Fortunately, everybody loved that sound. Unfortunately for me, John does not like that sound... he wants it to be more on top... push, push. So I have to do that to please my boss. A lot of people will look at me and go "Kenny's rushing." It's not my choice. That's what John wants. I watch John every second of that show, and a lot of times he'll say, "push it, push it". Even in sound checks. He does not like a laid back snare drum. He does not want that Creedence swampy sound. He wants me up his ass. If anybody see's me playing with John and I'm pushing it... it's not my decision... it's not my band... it's his band... it's his decision... I listen, I learn, I lead, but I'm not the boss. I could lay so far in the back, but that's not what John wants. He does not want that Creedence laid back sound at all.
R.V.B. - Now it's considered if you sell 100,000 units... it's considered to be a very, very successful record. Now apparently, one on the records that you were on sold 31,000,000 units... Celine Dion.
K.A. - 32 million. Yes, Celine Dion
R.V.B. - Now here we go again. That's another genre with the easy listening Vegas type material. Do you have to alter your way of playing in this genre.
K.A. - Oh yeah, absolutely. I adjust what drums I use. I adjust how hard I hit. I listen to the music. I talk to the producer. I make an observation on what musicians are there. I'm ready to do anything that I need to, to make it sound right. With country music, I hit lighter... less high hats. The bass drum beater comes off the head. There's all kinds of adjustments.
R.V.B. - What was your first real drumset?
K.A. - It was a Ludwig, and my mom got it one piece at a time. I couldn't afford to by a full drumset right away. I still have all of this equipment. The first thing my mother bought was a snare drum. She bought it at Manny's on 48th street. The famous music store.
R.V.B. - You know the sign is still there but there isn't one music store left on that street now.
K.A. - I know. I think the studio Right Track was there. Is that still there?
R.V.B. - I'm not sure but the street is pretty desolate. They're probably going to build high risers. It should be a historic district.
K.A. - I'm not surprised. I've heard rumors that, that may happen with The House of Blues in LA on Sunset, which is already gone. They're putting condo's and shit there. There's plans that The Roxy and The Whiskey, the big traditional rock and roll venues are all going to go. The times are changing and it's sad but that's what it is.
R.V.B. - But anyway, you pieced together a Ludwig? What color was it?
K.A. - It was black lacquer, but eventually I stripped it. I made it a natural finish. I eventually ended up getting a floor tom, two rack toms, a 20" bass drum, and I still have it all.
R.V.B. - Was that a keystone badge set?
K.A. - Yeah.
R.V.B. - How did your equipment progress through the years.
K.A. - The next kit I got was a wood finish Slingerland kit. I went all the way up to Chicago to get it... when I was living in Indiana. The 3rd kit I got was a Pearl fiberglass kit with no bottom heads, because in the 70's that was big. You get no bottom heads... you stick the mics underneath the toms... the rack toms that is. After that I got my Tama endorsement.
R.V.B. - That's what you use all of the time now?
K.A. - Yeah.
R.V.B. Do you bring the same kit out when you play the different styles of music?
K.A. - I do. The only difference is that sometime I change the bass drum. With Chickenfoot, I play with a 24" bass drum and I tend to like the 24, but with Fogerty, he likes the 22 by 18's. Thank God his favorite bass drum is a Tama... Maple. That works out great. My signature snare... I have three of them but the main one... the 5 by 14 was based after a Keystone badge Ludwig Superphonic 400 - 1962. It had brass in it. Tama replicated it, and it's even better. I put a die-cast hoop on the top. That fucking drum rocks. I use it in 90% on anything I do. I also have a 6 1/2 by 14 version which is like the John Bonham size.
R.V.B. - I guess the pinnacle gig, obviously had to be playing with Ringo and Paul. Is that the top gig so far?
K.A. - No not necessarily. Anything that I did at the Kennedy Center honors. Last year I played with Lady Gaga, Springsteen, Bruno Mars... honoring Sting. I was playing all of those parts of drummers... Vinnie Colaiuta, and with the police songs it was Stewart Copeland. Trying to capture all of that, and playing that in front of Sting. He came up to me afterwards at the after party saying "You fucking nailed it. Great job." He gave me a big hug. The hug had so much love. Springsteen was thanking me. I played with Springsteen 3 times last year. The year I did the honor for The Who, with Dave Grohl singing... and Chris Cornell singing... and Rob Thomas singing. Those gigs were the greatest gigs ever. There's not just one.
R.V.B. - How about venues? I know that you mentioned Madison Square Garden... do you have any favorite venues that you played?
K.A. - Well Madison Square Garden is definitely one of them... because it's New York. I grew up thinking "Madison Square Garden. Holy shit." Playing there is like "You made it. You're at the top." I played there with Mellencamp many times. I played there with Bob Seger also. There was a Bob Dylan set once. Playing SNL was always like "Wow." I did that 6 times. The Obama inauguration... that's a pretty cool venue. It's right in front of the Lincoln Memorial. The Kennedy Center "Wow, what a venue." What a monumental event to be part of. I wish I played at Woodstock. Playing the Hollywood Bowl was big. It has a lot to do with the city.
R.V.B. - I gather that you played Red Rocks too?
K.A. - Oh yeah, that's a great one too.
R.V.B. - Now Jones Beach is by me...
K.A. - Oh, I love Jones Beach. They have killer audiences. It's a killer place to play. You nailed it.
R.V.B. - Didn't John have a health issue there and almost have a heart attack?
K.A. - Yeah in 1994. We played there multiple nights. We had a day off and then we were supposed to do another show, and it was cancelled because he was sick. We had never cancelled... ever. At that time I had been in the band four 14 years. He thought he had the flu. He actually had had a heart attack.
R.V.B. - That was right after a performance right?
K.A. - Yeah. He woke up and felt really sick... he felt really weak. His shoulder was killing him. We continued the tour. He just went light. When he got home he did a stress test and they said "Man you had a heart attack." He eventually cancelled the rest of the tour.
R.V.B. - So what do you have going on these days? What are you up to?
K.A. - I'm still playing with Fogerty. They just announced that we're going to be doing a small residency in Vegas... in January. The Fogerty show is really cool. It has 6 big screens and all kinds of special effects. It's a story about Fogerty. It's incredible. There's video's playing through every song we play.
R.V.B. - Did you recently play here on the Island at the Paramount?
K.A. - Yeah, in that club... yeah. That club is cool. I know Brian Doyle, who is the owner of that club. He's part of Champion Management. I love that place.
R.V.B. - It's a relatively new club. It's been a concert hall for a long time. It used to be called "The IMAC Center". They did a major renovation and put a lot on money into it. They turned it into a New York City style club.
K.A. - Yeah. So I'm doing some things with Fogerty, and I also go out with The Bodines. I play with them every so often. I've been recording and touring with them on and off for 24 years. I do it for the fun. The songs are great. They're small venues, but I don't care. Great music... great vibe. I have a studio called "Uncommon Studio's LA." I've must have had over 40 artists in there. I'm not a retiring type of guy. I still work in some of the big studios. I did Brian Wilson, and Rod Stewart, and Brandon Flowers from The Killers... recently. I got one coming up in November with an artist from China. I do a lot in my room. It's got a control room and it's got a drum room. I have an engineer and we get a killer sound. It's very affordable because I've had to adjust to the reality of budgets. Some people think it's too much. Some people think it's not enough. It's really a cool studio "Uncommon Studio's LA." I have to edit this Moby Dick, Ben Hur book I've written. I have "The Evening with Kenny Aronoff Show". Eventually, I'll probably do one in New York. I've got a full schedule. I've got something going on every day.
R.V.B. - It's great that you are staying busy. It's great that you've had such a successful career so far. You're still a relatively young guy. It sounds like you keep yourself in good health. We've lost some drummers that did not keep themselves in good health.
K.A. - In this "Evening with Kenny Aronoff", I talk about number 6. Which is a bullet point called "A healthy life is a wealthy life." Without your health, you ain't shit. Health is everything. Last night at 9 at night I was downstairs in my gym working out. I'll be doing it again today. Working out... diet... practicing, is something that I have to do everyday...
R.V.B. - Thank you very much for sharing your story. Looking forward to seeing you here in the New York area. I appreciate you taking this time with me.
K.A. - Ok no problem. Nice talking with you.
Interview conducted by Robert von Bernewitz
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