INTERVIEW: Aerosmith’s Steven Tyler, seen through the lens of Casey Tebo
The new documentary Steven Tyler: Out on a Limb, now available on demand and on digital HD, is a dream project for director Casey Tebo. Since he was a child, he has followed the music of Aerosmith and its frontman, Steven Tyler. Later in life, the two became friends, and now they have worked together to bring this film to life.
The cinematic portrait finds the iconic singer at an interesting crossroads in his career and life. A couple of years ago, Tyler kickstarted some solo work and even switched genres from rock ‘n’ roll to country. Throughout Out on a Limb, Tebo’s lens captures the musician in all of his passionate, nonstop fury — no matter the genre of music.
“When I first met him, there’s a piece in the film where it talks about how we were having lunch together,” Tebo said in a recent phone interview. “Sandwiches and all this fancy stuff, and I proceeded to make what I thought was a complete sandwich. And when I bit into it, it was literally just bread and mustard because I was so nervous that I was standing in front of him. It’s just a funny story considering where our relationship is now.”
Tebo said that he and Tyler have been friends for some time, and they have built up trust, enough to complete the documentary together.
“We won an Emmy in 2015 for an ESPN thing that we had done together,” the director remembered. “He called me and said, ‘Hey, ESPN wants us to do this thing.’ I said, ‘All right, we should do this and this.’ And he was like, ‘Yep, yep, yep.’ It’s really good for your creative ego when somebody of his magnitude is into your ideas.”
For Out on a Limb, Tebo felt he had the freedom to capture Tyler in reality and not worry about shaping a particular image. The filmmaker said there were “no challenges” during the actual filming. Only in post-production, when dealing with legal matters and clearances, did the process become difficult.
When Tyler moved to country, he never left his rock roots completely behind, but still it was a bit of a left turn for the singer behind such hits as “Dream On,” “Love in an Elevator,” “Walk This Way” and “Sweet Emotion.” Tebo was not that surprised by the change.
“I think it was just something that he probably had buried in him,” the director. “You look at some of those older Aerosmith hits like ‘Crazy’ or ‘What It Takes,’ there’s a lot of country vibe in those. When I met him in 2003, he was listening to a lot of old country and really loved Alison Krauss, and I think it was just something he wanted to do.”
Tebo, who comes from Boston, has been an Aerosmith fan — with many of his city’s brethren — for decades. That means this friendship and film are extra special.
“I grew up in Boston, so they’re as much an institution as the Red Sox and the Patriots,” he said. “I was going through puberty I think when Pump or Get a Grip came out.”
By John Soltes / Publisher / John@HollywoodSoapbox.com
Steven Tyler: Out on a Limb is now available on demand and on digital HD. Click here for more information.
