Steven Tyler, Aerosmith and the Drop the Gun Cowbell

I’ll never forget being backstage at the Sydney Entertainment Centre. We had just got off the plane from L.A. that afternoon and were invited to see the AEROSMITH show. Steve Tyler had a copy of Full Frontal Attack on his then modern CD pod playing “Drop the Gun”, and he had an equaliser on it that could turn the vocal down so he could sing along.

He told me he used to be a drummer and asked about the drum fill I played in “Drop the Gun”, where I use the cowbell, and where I put that cowbell. He told me it was the funkiest drum fill he’d ever heard, and said “Where’s your head at man, how did you beam that one down? Haha!” I said “It’s all Gene Krupa’s fault.”

I noticed he was wearing black nail polish and chrome. Really charming guy, full of energy, a true rock star. You’ve gotta be around people like that, just to learn how it’s done, like a mechanic or a doctor. This was the true school of rock!

Clifford Hoad, founder of Kings of the Sun