Jan. 14: Aerosmith bassist Tom Hamilton and his Close Enemies ready to rock The Rex

MANCHESTER, NH – When it comes to the history of rock’n’roll in New England, Aerosmith has definitely played a major role in it. Everyone knows the hits from “The Bad Boys From Boston” like “Dream On,” “Sweet Emotion,” “Walk This Way,” “Cryin’,” “Crazy” and so many others. Last year was supposed to be the farewell tour for the acclaimed band, but due to a variety of factors, the band had to call it a day earlier than planned and cease touring. Since then, bassist Tom Hamilton has joined up with a new project called Close Enemies. As part of a small run of shows around the region, the band will take The Rex Theatre stage Jan. 14, at 7 p.m. (VIP Meet-and-Greet tickets are sold out).

We had a talk ahead of the gig about how the band got started, a debut single that’ll be released later this week and what his plans are moving forward.

GOT TICKETS?

Close Enemies, 7 p.m.Rex Theatre, 23 Amherst St., Manchester

Rob Duguay: How did you, Tony Brock, Peter Stroud, Trace Foster and Chasen Hampton get together to start Close Enemies? Was it through a random jam session, did one of you guys initially have the idea for it and everyone was getting phone calls about starting a band or did it happen in a different way?

Tom Hamilton: Trace has been my bass tech for a few years now and a few years ago, Aerosmith was off the road and he called me up and offered to come up to Boston with some friends of his and help me develop some song ideas I had. He came up to Boston with Tony and Peter and we jammed for a few days and had a great time. It was the first time I got to see my uber tech, Trace, play guitar and I was blown away. Those guys went home and I went back into Aerosmith mode to get ready for what was supposed to become the “Peace Out Tour.” Meanwhile, those guys went down to Atlanta and began the process that resulted in the songs we have now.

When the Aerosmith tour had to be canceled, Trace called and invited me to come down and join them. I flew down and on the first day we put together the track for a song that’s now called “Wink and a Feather.” The following day, I played everybody a demo of a song I was working on and by the end of the day we had a track for a song called “More Than I Could Ever Need.”  I was blown away by how creative and supportive the guys were so I was hooked.

RD: That’s awesome. When you all first started hashing out ideas, what did you initially bond over with each of you coming from different bands and different musical backgrounds?

TH: We mainly bonded over guitars and drums at that point and everybody was more than ready to come up with a rock album. We work with a lyricist named Gary Stier, he’s virtually the sixth member of the band and is dripping with talent. One of the biggest challenges we faced was finding a singer. We were determined to hold out until we found the perfect match. A dear friend of mine introduced us to Chasen, so we had him come down and do some singing and wow! He’s a very experienced, very gifted singer and it wasn’t long before we knew we had our guy.

RD: On January 17th, Close Enemies are going to be releasing the single “Sound of a Train.” What was the songwriting and recording process for it? Was it a purely collaborative effort where everyone was able to incorporate ideas?

TH: When I joined, “Sound of a Train” was written and pretty much recorded.  Like most of our songs, I recorded my bass parts at my studio outside of Boston. I really enjoyed that process because I could experiment and take time to get my parts as good as I could get them. I was able to dig deep and hopefully come up with tracks that enhanced what was already there. I love being in the studio with everybody but it was nice to work by myself without the pressure of getting it done as fast as possible to minimize studio costs!

RD: It’s always great when it doesn’t take long to complete something. Can we expect this song to be a preview to an upcoming full-length album or EP that’ll be due out later in the year, or will there just be a series of singles due to the current landscape of streaming services and short attention spans?

TH: At this point, the plan is to release songs one at a time. After we’ve put out a few songs. we might then roll out the whole record. We’ll see.

RD: That makes sense. With Aerosmith retiring from touring and having no plans going forward, will Close Enemies be your primary focus for the time being, or do you have any other projects or collaborations in the works?

TH: Right now, Close Enemies is what I’m concentrating on. I know my beloved Aerosmith band has announced that we won’t be touring, but I’ll always be ready if different types of opportunities come along.