As we began our phone interview, long-time rocker Aaron Freeman noted that he was currently going on a walk. That’s not particularly unique or special, but the setting itself for the walk certainly is: the Woodstock Cemetery, a final resting spot for many cultural legends including Levon Helm and Rick Danko of The Band.

The cemetery was a fitting locale for our interview, considering Freeman recently put Gene Ween, his long-time alter ego, and the difficult times attached to that persona to rest.

Alongside Mickey Melchiondo (aka Dean Ween), Freeman put together an impressive almost 30-year run as the experimental rock outfit Ween. However, life as another Gene Ween – and the drugs, alcohol and hard living that came with it – was beginning to take its toll on Freeman. After an on-stage meltdown in 2011, Freeman went into rehab and soon after his recovery parted ways with Ween and Melchiondo – much to his former bandmate’s surprise.

To say the least, it’s been a turbulent few years for Freeman’s personal and professional life. After much self-repair and self-reflection, the musician is himself again – literally – recording and performing as the lead in his new band, fittingly titled Freeman. This past July, Freeman released the band’s self-titled debut – his first original material in years – and now they’re on the road, including a stop on Thursday, Sept. 25 at Turner Hall Ballroom.

Before then, OnMilwaukee.com chatted with Freeman about the hard road to recovery, music and himself.

OnMilwaukee.com: You were essentially living two lives, as yourself as Aaron Freeman and then as Gene Ween.

Aaron Freeman: I was! Total identity crisis. Absolutely. And it took me a little while to undo that. Nothing against Gene Ween, but after a while, I started associating my entire life as being Gene Ween, with all that goes with that – the good and the bad.

It got to the point where if people called me Aaron, it kind of freaked me out. It still kind of freaks me out, because I spent so much time on the road surrounded by the Ween fans, and I was just Gener. That’s cool and all, but I was very odd. If you called me by my first name – other than man or dude or Gener or Papa – I got really freaked out. That was a big sign for me that maybe I was having a bit of an identity crisis and that I should get back to my name.

OMC: Is there anything in particular you miss about that Gene Ween persona?

AF: Not really. When I look back at Gene Ween – and people will always call me Gene Ween and Gener, and that is absolutely fine – personally, I associate it with f*cking 28 years of amazing music that Mickey and I made. But, like I said, I associate it with other things. I just want to be Aaron (laughs) for my own sake. It’s just a personal thing; it really doesn’t have to do with Ween. It’s just my own personal trip. 

OMC: You said in a Rolling Stone interview before the latest album came out that you weren’t sure if you were ever going to be able to write another album again. How close were you to that?

AF: Oh, I was very, very close. I hadn’t written in seven years. It wasn’t like I just got out of rehab, and I couldn’t write anything; I hadn’t written anything since "La Cucaracha," so it was a major writer’s block that I was having. It wasn’t like after rehab, I hoped I would write a record. It was before rehab too; I was like, "Oh sh*t, I want to write some music but just can’t."

I think it was a neurological thing. I think I probably roasted my brain, like a f*cking acid head that doesn’t came back. I think after a while, when I started getting healthier and more comfortable with myself and stopped thinking about it so much, it’s identical to so many other artists and writers. When they stop thinking about how they’ll never write again, that’s when they write. There’s books written about that; you can’t really predict that, when it’ll be over. For artists, it’s f*cking terrifying. That’s what they do, and suddenly they can’t do it anymore. It’s very disturbing.

All you can do is try to keep going on and have faith. I tried to have faith in the universe that someday I would write again. And I was surrounded by really supportive friends, you know, who were like, "You can do this. It’s gonna happen. Don’t worry about it. You’re gonna have another record, and it’s gonna be OK." Eventually it happens, and you never know. You never know.

OMC: Did you think about, like, what can I do for a career if this doesn’t come back?

AF: Oh yeah, absolutely! When I got out of rehab, I was resolved to f*cking get a job at Wal-Mart, because that’s what I had to put first and foremost in my life. And I’m still dirt poor; I had to give up a lot to get healthy. It was terrifying.

I remember sitting in a movie theater when I got out of rehab, and I saw a preview for a movie that was coming out on Thanksgiving, and it was probably two months before Thanksgiving. And I had a total f*cking anxiety attack. I was like, "Where will I be at Thanksgiving?! I’m probably going to be on the street or in a homeless shelter." Those are the kind of things you have to get over and keep going. And I’m lucky; I wrote a record.

OMC: How’s the reaction been to these new Freeman songs at shows?

AF: Well I’ve only played four shows, so this sh*t’s brand new. I played two shows in New York the day the record came out in small clubs, and this past weekend, we played two festival shows. The band rehearsed for a few days, and we’re really just starting to get to know each other musically. I really lucked out with some great guys.

It’s really exciting because, even from the first show that we did to this shows we did this weekend, you see this evolution. Musicians establish a different language with each other, and we’re really starting to connect that way. When you’re playing a guitar solo and you look at the drummer, and he’s looking at you, it’s this whole different thing. It’s great; we’re all really excited, and it’s gonna form into something really f*cking cool.

OMC: Are you still concerned about taking these new songs on the road and how people will react to them?

AF: No, it’s actually the opposite. If I get too hung up on Ween or whatever and the fans and are they going to be bitter or this, it’s like, wait a minute, there’s so many other people that, if I tell them I’m in Ween, they’re like, "Oh, you were in that ’90s band? You did that pushing little baby song; I saw you guys in 1994." You know? A lot of people are just discovering this record, so it’s really nice to have a record to tour, and people really appreciate it. I play Ween songs too and covers and go all over the place, so it’s really nice.

OMC: Obviously, you just released this album and you’re touring now, but do you have any idea what’s next for you?

AF: Yeah, I’m working with a publishing company. I’d like to try my hand at writing music for other people or for movies or for TV shows and stuff like that – along with making new music, like a bunch of new Freeman records. I love playing live, so I’m going to do that too. I’m going to keep myself pretty busy, just starting to get the momentum going now. It’s looking really positive and good.

OMC: Are you ever concerned that your music and your career, from this point on, will be defined by this last transitional segment of your life?

AF: No, I’m done with it, to tell you the truth. I’ve talked about it enough. I didn’t even want to talk about it all, but you have to do publicity and press, and obviously the recovery aspect is a good talking point.

But you know, it’s not that big of a deal. It was two people in a f*cking bad relationship, just like any other thing. You try to work it out, it doesn’t work out and it winds up dissolving. That happens to f*cking millions of people. I’m pretty much done with the recovery thing and the whole ex-Ween thing. It’s just all about the music in the end. It’s not about the drama; it’s about what you put out, because that’s what you do. And that’s all I’m going to concentrate on in the future.