Aerosmith is taking a break from pre-production for its next album to hit the road with ZZ Top, starting in Mansfield, MA, on June 16. From what he calls his "lair," Hamilton spoke to LiveDaily about working with knob-turner Brendan O'Brien on the new material, what fans can expect from the live shows, and what has kept Aerosmith together after 40 years.

LiveDaily: What's it like to be working with Brendan O'Brien on new material?

He's somebody we've wanted to work with for a long time. He actually mixed our "Get a Grip" album. The guy works at lightning speed, so he's got very close tolerances with his schedule. We did about eight weeks of pre-production, including about two weeks with Brendan. We did have a date we were aiming to go down to New York and go in the studio, but we just got delayed a bit. Steven [Tyler, singer] had sort of a pneumonia thing. I don't know if it was pneumonia or a bad bronchial infection, but it was enough to sort of screw up the schedule. We decided to put the album aside and go into getting-ready-for-the-tour mode.

So it was going well with Brendan?

Well, yeah, we got a bunch of stuff done. We worked really fast and concentrated really hard, piled up a bunch of really great arrangements for some of these originals we want to record. We've got that on ice. It's ready for us to continue polishing it and finishing it and getting it ready to record.

When do you plan on going back in the studio?

It would probably be some time in the fall unless the tour gets extended. We'll either put it off again or just do the crunch and try to get it done at the same time.

Describe the songwriting process for the new album.

Some songs evolve from jams. But everybody has a pile of riffs. As far as this album goes, it's hard to predict how that's all going to come down. Speaking for myself, I've been bearing down pretty hard on just becoming more of a rounded, self-contained entity, where I can write songs, and, if they don't appeal to Steven as tracks, I can think of my own vocal ideas. I've been working really hard on that. But my scenario is to get in the studio with the band and just see what shakes out. We didn't have enough time to cover stuff that everybody wants to work on. Hopefully we'll get back to that and everybody will have a chance to pipe up.

How have preparations been for the tour with ZZ Top?

It's going good. We haven't done any full band rehearsals yet. We'll probably start doing that next week. We did do a ton of playing [while] working on the record. That all goes on the "good" pile when it comes to being ready to tour, keeping your hands in shape and your chops reasonably fresh.

What can we expect from the shows? Are you going to play new songs?

That's gonna come up. At this point, we're not talking about playing any new material. We are talking about some stuff that's a bit different than what we've done before, but I can't spill the beans on it--especially until we're actually in the process. There's definitely some things that we've been thinking about doing in the set for awhile involving some of our classic material. Once the band gets into that rehearsal cauldron, then we'll find out what we're cooking.

It sounds like you're looking forward to it.

Yeah. Touring can really be a ball buster, but it's very humbling and inspiring that that many people still want to see us play. That really energizes you.

What do you think it is that has (a) kept the band together, and (b) kept audiences coming?

Well, I think it's because we're a very song-oriented band. We like that. We like playing the favorites and we like mixing in stuff that's from the classic list or whatever.

So you like to mix it up to keep it fresh for yourselves as well?

Yeah, we'll be in the middle of a tour and say, "Oh we should play that song," and then realize we really have to be organized and have organized rehearsals before we want to do it. But we're really psyched. We just had a bunch of meetings with our production and lighting people. We're gonna have a dazzling light show, which I love. Some bands think it's almost unethical to have really fancy, lots of flashing lights and stuff. Most bands really enjoy it. It's really fun. It goes back to the old tradition of when theater lighting became a light show. That hearkens back to the psychedelic era in the late '60s when, instead of just having spotlights so you could see the band, they had a pulsating, vibrating, flashing light show that went with the music. So we're all still building on that tradition.

Do you ever get tired of playing the hits? If so, how do you deal with it?

Yeah, I do. Well, there's always something you can do. You can think of new stuff, you just do it within your part. There is a lot of room for improvisation in the songs on tiny bits of it. We really like to play the arrangements the way we recorded them. Even in that framework you can find little places, little challenges, and that keeps it pretty fresh. Plus, you have all the people in the audience smiling away while you play a song; it's hard not to like it.

It must be a real buzz to watch all the people get into your music when you're playing it.

Well, it's funny because the audience thinks the only watching that's going on is them watching us. But little do they realize we're watching them back--and they are very entertaining.

How did the summer tour come together?

It's our rhythm these days--is to have a summer tour. We did a European tour and South American tour the year before last. Last year, we didn't tour. It's all built into our DNA to be taken for granted that we are going to be out on the road. I don't think we're overconfident. It's just a rhythm that keeps repeating itself.

How did ZZ Top come into the fold?

I wish I could give you a real exotic explanation. It really was a phone call from my manager, "These guys might be available. What do you think?" I’m like, "Holy s---, yes." That's before I thought of any of the other responsible things you're supposed to think about before you make a decision. My gut instinct was, "Wow, really great." So I was into it right away because again those guys have so many good songs. They don't have two or three good songs and then the audience kind of like looks at their watch for the rest. The crowd is going to be so energized. We get to go out and watch them play every night. I don't know if people know it, but Billy Gibbons is from a previous generation and I don't mean chronologically. I mean in terms of the depth of his guitar-playing roots. He was a contemporary of some of the really heroic guitarists of that same era I was talking about before, with the light shows. He started a band. It really started out as a blues band, and evolved into a blues-rock band and then they actually had a period when they were cranking out big hits. But they're just--musically, they've got the depth.