Tommy Lee

At 46, Tommy Lee isn’t showing signs of slowing down. The legendary drummer is ravishing in his midlife success as much as he enjoyed the early years of his career when Mötley Crüe first started. “I pinch myself almost daily. All this sh*t started happening when I was 17 and to sit here at 46 and still be rocking the sh*t out is, like, Wow! It’s amazing and I can’t believe it’s still happening!”

At the time of the interview, Tommy had just gotten back from Mötley’s European tour and was getting ready to embark on the band’s Crüe Fest II American summer tour. “We’re gonna play the entire Dr. Feelgood (1989) record from top to bottom.” When the tour wraps later this summer, Tommy is slated to release Methods of Mayhem’s sophomore album, which he recorded at his home’s recording studio. “It’s the best ever to wake up in the morning and just rock sh*t!” he says.

When asked about the sound of the new Mayhem album, Tommy is at a loss for words. “It’s hard to explain music,” he says. “For me, it’s one of those things that you feel or don’t. It’s very eclectic like the previous album. One track will be full-blown rock, next is a dirty electro-dance track, while another one is a beautiful ethereal-spacey-sound thing. The best part about doing a solo record is you do whatever you want. With Mötley, people expect a certain thing; with this, it’s a free for all where anything goes.” When asked which he preferred doing, Tommy played coy and noted that he equally loved both Mötley and his own ventures.

Once the album is released, Tommy will immediately go on its promotional tour. However, in between dates, fans might be able to catch him performing random DJ collabo appearances at local clubs, since he’s also known to have an appreciation for dance music. “I’m a drummer, so when it comes to beats, I’m all over it,” he says. “I started messing around with computers, drum machines, turntables and DVJs. I was, like, ‘F*ck, let me at it.’ Once you go into that world, you start meeting different DJs and remixers and then you’re off to the races! There’s something really fun about it that’s similar to playing drums. When you’re looking out at the fans, they’re putting their hands up to the beat and this weird control thing takes over. It’s like you’re the heartbeat for the evening. Nothing makes me happier than to look out and see people going f*ckin bananas dancing, screaming or moshing to the beats.”

With so many projects going on at the same time, it seems as if Tommy’s schedule is as hectic as ever. “It’s crazy. I have no idea how it happens,” he says about his ability to juggle numerous projects without any conflictions. “It feels like I’m always doing something. At times it can be a bit much, and I know I need to just slow down once in a while.” But don’t expect Tommy to totally disappear off the face of the Earth; he’ll always be involved in entertainment in some way or another given music is his life.