Miami Living Magazine features the best Miami has to offer. Click on any magazine below and enjoy. You can download our free app on iTunes. Ideal for iPad and iPhone users.
Issue link: https://digital.miamilivingmagazine.com/i/1319614
Tommy Lee has something to say about a lot of things. Iconic drummer for the multi-platinum selling mythical rock band Mötley Crüe, solo artist, master of mayhem … philosopher? To have a conversation with Tommy is to be regaled with tales of a life lived to the extreme, and to bear witness to a dynamically creative imagination. Yes, Tommy has that whole Law of Attraction thing nailed down in spades. He dreams up larger than life adventures and makes them happen, not just for him, but for all of us. Anyone who has ever been to a Mötley Crüe concert and felt their breath escape their body as they watched Tommy drum his heart out, upside down and on a roller coaster, will back me up. Tommy might be more mellow these days, but his imagination is still operating on high octane. Now living his life sober, married to social media star Brittany Furlan and a father to two adult sons, Dylan Jagger Lee and Brandon Thomas Lee (MTV’s The Hills: New Beginnings), the 58-year-old living legend might be more mellow in body, but his spirit remains a livewire, ready to jump at any adrenaline fueled pursuit that will scratch his insatiable itch for feeling alive. Tommy’s latest musical endeavor, his newly released album, ANDRO, boldly crosses musical genres. Fourteen tracks feature a roster of incredibly talented artists, punctuated by both male and female vocals, creating a medley of defiant metal, brazen alternative and progressive pop. Tommy is humble, shockingly down-to-earth and grounded in his love for the music. Our conversation travels through images of his childhood, religious upbringing, the power of hard lessons learned and the purity of rock ‘n’ roll debauchery sans social media. What’s your earliest memory realizing music was going to be your path? Tommy Lee: I remember, and my parents reinforced this, that it started around the age of two or three. You know when you’re in the terrible twos and you’re into the drawers and cabinets. I’m pulling out pots and pans and spoons, anything you can get your hands on, just playing drums like crazy. My poor parents, I drove them nuts. But that’s my earliest recollection. I can see myself on the kitchen floor just wailing on everything [laughs]. Wow! Do you believe in past lives? TL: I go back and forth with that one. Sometimes I think when you die, you’re done. But then there are other times where I have this weird attraction to trees and to birds. Every time I see a bird fly by, I wonder if in my past life I was a bird, because I have this fascination with flying. That’s a wild question. Why? I believe that it is not an accident when children come into this life with certain predilections towards something, whether they are just really interested in something or they have a God-given talent, even if it hasn’t been developed yet. But I believe it comes from somewhere else and your soul carries these things with it, or you make a plan before you come here as to what your purpose is and what you came here to accomplish. TL: That’s wild. I think about that too. My dad tooled around with drums in the marching band when he was in school, but he wasn’t really musical. It’s not like I came from a generational music family or inherited a musical family trait, so I’ll go with that. I was definitely put here to do this, for sure. Nothing else brings me that much joy or makes me feel that amazing. Nothing. Let’s talk about this new album, ANDRO. I really loved how you showcase all of these up-and-coming artists, and I love that you worked with so many women on this album, really talented women. Where did you find them? TL: So much of this record happened organically and authentically. I didn’t set out to make a record that was half male and half female energy. I love the female voice and that energy that it brings. It can make you cry, it can make you feel sexy, so many things. I keep a collaboration list of people that I love, where I think, “One day, I have to do something with this person.” So, in writing for this album, there were moments when I was writing these tracks that needed that female energy on them. I love that kind