Aerosmith star Tyler does Vic Falls

30 Nov, 2014 - 00:11 0 Views
Aerosmith star Tyler does Vic Falls

The Sunday Mail

Steven Tyler with the group Imbube in Victoria Falls last week.

Steven Tyler with the group Imbube in Victoria Falls last week.

Rock legend and Aerosmith lead singer Steven Tyler last week joined a growing list of global celebrities who have visited Zimbabwe’s world-renowned tourist destinations.

American actor Arnold Schwarzenegger, singer Shakira, Russian billionaire and Chelsea FC owner Roman Abramovich, King of Pop Michael Jackson, former US secretary of state Hillary Clinton and Microsoft founder Bill Gates, to name just a few, are some of the celebrities who have come to enjoy the country’s amazing sights.

Steven Tyler, who has a series of shows in South Africa that started yesterday at Sun City Superbowl and continue today at the same venue, was in Victoria Falls where he was “greeted with a welcome party”.

The singer posted a picture of himself with a local traditional musical group, Imbube, which was aptly captioned “my new African Jam band . . . Imbube” on his Facebook page.

The Sunday Mail Leisure could, however, not ascertain how long the singer was in the country or details of where he was staying.

Below we reproduce excerpts of an interview he did with Channel24.

 

Steven answers the phone:

A: Yes, Jean-Marie! Hey, baby, how are you doing?”

Q: “I’m fine and you?!” I ask.

A: I’m so good!

Q: Will this be your first visit to South Africa and will you be doing any sight-seeing?

A: Yes I am, I’m actually going to the waterfalls in Zambia and Zimbabwe, and maybe I’ll jump out of an aeroplane and into the cold ocean over there in South Africa. This will be my first visit to South Africa . . . I’m so excited! If we had more time I would love to go on safari.

Q: We are just as excited, and even more so for your show! Have you been rehearsing a lot?

A: Well we spent about four hours rehearsing . . . and we’ll probably spend one more day rehearsing before the show and then we’re just going to rock out.

Q: Steven, after years of touring, how do you still do it, I mean it seems like you just keep doing more the older you get!? It’s amazing, what’s your secret?

A: You know, rocking out is what I do, and I just feel much better when I’m playing in front of 20 to 30 000 people. You know it’s just the greatest feeling there is, going back stage being in the cloakrooms, I’m in heaven.

Q: What do you do to keep fit?

A: I go to the gym. I’ve got my own little regiment. But, you know, when I’m on tour, I’m on stage for two hours when performing, I lose like a pound every night! And I think that more than anything keeps me fit.

Q: Do you have any rituals before you go on stage?

A: No, not really, to be honest. You know, I warm up my voice and just chill backstage. I like to eat Salmon and broccoli before I go on, you know, it’s pretty simple.

Q: Steven, what would you say is the recipe for writing a good song?

A: Write things down, so you have little snippets of words and so forth. For me it’s just putting one foot in front of the other and going at it with a bunch of people, and it happens naturally. It’s so much fun for me to sit in a room and throw down ideas and chords. You know, it is what it is, just put one foot in front of the other.

Q: Do you have any advice for up and coming musos?

A: I would just say play as much as you can, in a room . . . don’t pick it, it will bleed. (he chuckles). I think the secret nowadays is just to play and play and play, and in front of a live audience if you can so you can go through feelings of rejection, because that’s how you sharpen.

Q: Well, this is amazing. This is so surreal I can’t actually believe that I am speaking to you and I just want to say thanks so much, I think our time is up . . .

A: Well. If you’re coming to any of the shows, come backstage and say hie.

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