Aerosmith guitarist Joe Perry recently spoke with Consequence Of Sound about Rise, the new album from the Hollywood Vampires featuring shock rock legend Alice Cooper and A-list actor Johnny Depp on guitar. Following is an excerpt from the interview.

On Johnny Depp:

"I think that if he had his druthers, he would rather be a rock star — not a rock star in the sense of being famous as a rock star, but having that as his gig. I’m not sure if he’s so enamored with the fame. He certainly has the drive and the chops to do it. If people know anything about Johnny, he did go to California with his band to try and make it, and he just kind of fell into the acting thing, and discovered he had this incredible talent and really used it. I mean obviously I know him pretty well, and I know he really respects that talent, and he really gives it all he’s got. But he really is an outsider, as far as that goes. He just found his own path.

But he’s a musician from the word 'go.' I’ve never met any actors through him. I’ve met musicians through him — plenty of them — but no actors. And you know, walking through his place, he’s got a studio in the living room and guitars hanging on the walls. When I met him, we became pretty fast friends."

On Alice Cooper:

"One of the things that’s impressed me the most about Alice, from the early days to now, even when he takes on the Alice Cooper persona, he’s a rocker. The music, from the first record on, you didn’t have to have all the theater that he was a pioneer with — there’s a lot of bands that were influenced by him over the years, without a doubt. The thing is he also made sure that the music held up. You didn’t have to see the show to like an Alice Cooper record. On its own, it’s the real deal. So, that’s one of the things I admire about him.

He’s got the ability to perform and write some really heavy rock stuff, and they’re great songs. Some of my favorite songs to play live are 'I’m Eighteen' and 'School’s Out' — just great riffs. But when he was coming up and putting on those kinds of shows, I’d never seen anything like that — I mean, when [he was] 18 years old. Nobody’s done anything like that. He’s a true pioneer."

Read the complete interview here.

Hollywood Vampires (featuring rock 'n' roll royalty Joe Perry, Hollywood superstar Johnny Depp, and shock rock icon Alice Cooper) were the musical guest on the Wednesday, June 19 episode of Jimmy Kimmel Live! The band performed their original song, "I Want My Now", as well as their cover of David Bowie's "Heroes" on the show's outdoor stage. Watch below:

Hollywood Vampires will release their new album, Rise, tomorrow (Friday, June 21) via earMUSIC. Pre-order here.

Rise, the band’s second album, is some of the purest, unapologetic and most enjoyable rock and roll of the year, made by masters of the craft and true fans of the form.

Unlike their 2015 debut record, the new album Rise consists mainly of original material, written by the band. There are however, in the spirit of the Vampires’ original mission, three covers of songs originally written and recorded by some fellow rockers who died far too young: an intimate and intense version of David Bowie’s “Heroes”, again beautifully performed on record by Johnny Depp; the late Jim Carroll Band’s “People Who Died,” and Johnny Thunder’s “You Can’t Put Your Arms Around A Memory,” sung by Joe Perry.

Tracklisting:

“I Want My Now”
“Good People Are Hard To Find”
“Who’s Laughing Now”
“How The Glass Fell”
“The Boogieman Surprise”
“Welcome To Bushwackers” (feat. Jeff Beck and John Waters)
“The Wrong Bandage”
“You Can’t Put Your Arms Around A Memory”
“Git From Round Me”
“Heroes”
“A Pitiful Beauty”
“New Threat”
“Mr. Spider”
“We Gotta Rise”
“People Who Died”
“Congratulations”

Album preview:

“Heroes” video:

“The Boogieman Surprise” live video:

“Who’s Laughing Now”:

Unboxing video: