“Yeah, it was.  It was but it paid off for me and I’m extremely happy now.”

In past interviews relative to “Hit Hard”, Kramer has mentioned his desire to help others by telling his story.  I asked him what his “elevator speech” would be to a room full of people, kids and adults alike, who are either in homes like he was as a kid or were at their own “Miami cross-roads” as he was in 1995.

“Well, it’s a difficult thing to just say and pull off at the same time but I think that the biggest attribute that I was able to establish for myself was honesty.  And once you’re able to be completely honest with yourself then I think a lot of things begin to fall into place.  Because, you know, we have a lot of things justified and we make excuses for anything and everything in life, whether it’s for not doing certain things that we should do or being a certain way and not correcting it or being mean to people and not being a pleasant person. 

“I mean, there are all kinds of justifications for everything but when you get down to being honest with yourself, I mean, for real, because I believe that we all have that little voice inside, you know? That little voice inside – that we know better?  Unless you’re troubled by being mentally ill in some fashion, then when that little voice talks to you, then that’s the honesty.  I know that I have that little voice inside and I’ve done a lot of work and a lot of therapy and I honor that little voice inside.”

I asked if there were any stories that he wished he had included or if there has there been any backlash with regards to the stories he did include.

His reply is resolute and confident. “No to both questions.  I pretty much put everything in there.  I made an honest attempt at doing my book and I think that’s one of the things that people recognize and identify with is the fact that its honest.  I don’t think that I left anything out, really.  I mean, I worked on that book for four years.  It’s pretty much all in there.”

Coming close to the end of our conversation, I asked Joey what was next, project wise, after he has completed the promotion of his book.

“I don’t know.  I have a couple of irons in some different fires that I can’t really talk about yet but – you know, there could be some other things.  Maybe another book, maybe some other projects, it all depends.  It depends on a lot of different things.”

I relayed how pleasantly surprised I was to find that the book wasn’t another “stoner rock star” tome and that I couldn’t put the book down until I was finished.  I also shared some of the positive responses I received from Boomerocity readers.

“Well, thank you very much.  I didn’t want it to be just your average rock and roll memoir, you know?  There’s a lot of those out there and, not only are there a lot of those out there, but it gave me the opportunity to use my celebrity to discuss things that are very pertinent subjects today which are depression, anxiety, drug addiction and alcoholism. 

“And, yeah, it’s talked about all the time but you don’t have to be in my position, you don’t have to be a rock and roll star to crash and burn.  Everybody suffers from all of those things.  And, if you don’t suffer from them yourself, you suffer with the likes of somebody you know that suffers from it and, therefore, it affects you in some way, shape or form.  So, it’s pertinent information and you know, it’s out there today.  I’m not a believer in creating a bunch of dirt that people can read about, although that’s what people want to read.  But this is the real stuff.”

I closed out my conversation with Joey Kramer with one final question that required some heart-felt reflection on his part.  I asked how the changes in his life affected his view of the world and of life.

“Well, it’s made me much more pleasant person to be around, I think.  I have discovered that it’s a whole lot easier to be nice than to – I use to be a fairly grumpy kind of person because there was a lot of things that I was angry about and that I was unhappy about but I didn’t really do anything about it. 

“Writing the book helped me get it out and I’ve become a better person for it.  My view of life in general is better – more positive.  I don’t let a lot of things bother me that I used to and I don’t allow people to take my power from me anymore.  It’s been a very difficult road for me but now that I’m on the road that I’m on, I’m pretty happy about it.”

After the conversation was over, I sat in my office and reflected on the conversation that I just had.  First, I pinched myself, making sure that I just didn’t dream the conversation with a member of one of my favorite bands of my youth and adulthood.  Second, I was both amazed and thankful that Joey Kramer rid himself of his addictions, fought through the depression and anxiety, and thought enough of others to swallow his pride and share his gripping story with the world.  It’s a story that others need to hear and can benefit from.

If you know of anyone that is fighting some sort of addiction, depression or anxiety, then do them a favor and pick-up a copy of Joey’s story, “Hit Hard”.  It’s a brilliantly written, but painful, book to read that is certain to help those that take the time to read it.