Vivian Campbell Def Leppard
Interview May 2008

by Chris A.
Staff Writer

A line within the song “Pyromania” extols the opinion that “It’s better to burn out than fade away.” If it was a prognostication of the eventual demise of Def Leppard, it was way off base. It’s been over 30 years since five kids from Sheffield, England formed the band with the “Led Zeppelinesque” play on words for a moniker. Unlike their leather-clad British metal band peers like Judas Priest and Iron Maiden, Def Leppard chose jeans and union jack t-shirts, reveling in their “Britishness,” while writing and performing upbeat pop-metal songs that would define the MTV generation and take the world by storm.

For anyone following the band or attentive to its history, it’s almost amazing that they are still a very viable force in rock ‘n’ roll. Self-destructive conduct, bad luck and perhaps even a curse took a heavy, sad toll on the band in the first half of its existence.

In March, 1980 the band, composed of vocalist Joe Elliot, drummer Rick Allen, bass player Rick Savage, and guitarists Pete Willis and Steve Clark were unveiled to the world with the released their first full-length album On Through The Night. The debut featuring hard driving guitars on tunes like “Wasted” and glimmers of what was to come later with vocal harmony filled songs like “Hello America”.

Less than two years later, guitarist and original member Pete Willis was bounced by the band due to his excessive use of alcohol. He was replaced by guitarist Phil Collen in 1982 during the recording of the Pyromania album. Two years later tragedy stuck again on the final day of 1984 when drummer Rick Allen lost control of his Corvette on a lonely English road while racing another vehicle. Allen lost his left arm in the accident and the future of the Leppard’s was very much in doubt. To his credit and that of his band mates Allen refused to quit and adapted his playing to his disability.

Throughout the 1980s Def Leppard essentially dominated both radio and MTV airplay in the United States and many countries around the world. With award winning and highly popular albums like High and Dry, Pyromania and Hysteria, Def Leppard were indeed multi-platinum, no- kidding rock stars. By the end of the 1980’s their record sales exceeded such bands as Guns ‘n’ Roses and Bon Jovi.

But the “curse” would rear its horrible head again. In 1991, 30 year old guitarist Steve Clark was floundering due to a mix of depression, drug use and alcoholism. Sadly, on a cold January day he lost his battle against his inner demons. Alone and at his home, Clark died due to a mixture of alcohol and prescription drugs. The loss was devastating to the band yet they decided to carry on. In 1992, Irish guitarist Vivian Campbell, who cut his chops with bands like Whitesnake and Ronnie James Dio stepped up to contribute his musical prowess to the group.

Since the addition of Campbell to the lineup Def Leppard has continued to perform and record. At times they seemed to disappear only to resurface with TV documentaries and creative albums. Today Def Leppard’s accomplishments, record sales and popularity seem as bright and vital as they were when Hysteria was released over 20 years ago. The new album, Songs From The Sparkle Lounge strikes a different tone and was written and recorded in a very different method than prior Def Lep albums. Recently, I was provided the opportunity to speak with Leppard guitarist Vivian Campbell about the new album, the bands past and future and his role with what is one of the most popular bands of all time. They are currently on tour in the United States. The new album Songs From The Sparkle Lounge is now available and for Def Leppard fans, it's a must listen to record.

Hardrock Haven: How are you and the guys doing? I understand you’ve been battling some sort of flu.

Vivian Campbell: Yes, we’ve been a bit off kilter with some sort of flu going around but we’re doing better.

HRH: Okay, my first impression based on the title of the new album was “uh oh, is Def Leppard going Las Vegas on us?" Tell me about the title of the album, Songs From The Sparkle Lounge, where did that come from?

VC: The name comes from our own backstage area, our guitar tuning area. Most of these backstage rooms are dark, drab and dingy. When we were on our last tour, on the road we started decorating our tuning rooms with christmas lights to try to give them some ambiance and we started calling it “The Sparkle Lounge” In fact, Songs From The Sparkle Lounge is really the most honest title we’ve ever had. We’d never before tried to write songs on the road and on this album we wrote and recorded many of the early demos right backstage in “The Sparkle Lounge” using my laptop and a mobile version of Pro Tools.

HRH: Def Leppard has always had a very unique sound and this new album continues to build on your band's reputation for great hooks, strong guitar riffs and stellar harmonies. But in many ways this isn’t a “typical” Def Lep record, it's got a very retro feel to it. What did you do differently to achieve what I consider almost a 1970's sound on a few tunes.

VC: We didn’t collaborate! The four of us who contributed songs to the record just went off and did our own compositions. Normally we write songs individually and then try to adjust them collectively. However on this album we didn’t want to spend a year just writing an album. So when we brought our songs to the table, if a song was solid we decided that we wouldn’t really mess with the compositions. For us it was a very different lyrical approach since each songwriter really put their own heart and soul into the music.

HRH: The single selected, "Nine Lives” is a very good choice for an assortment of Radio genres. I understand country star Tim McGraw is featured on the cut. How did that come about and what was it like for the band to work with another artist?

VC: We’ve never collaborated with another artist on an album, let alone work with a country performer. However it was cool to work with him and it happened by accident. Our connection with Tim is through our drummer Rick Allen. Rick’s brother is Tim’s tour manager and when we were in California, McGraw showed up to one of Def Leppards gigs at the Hollywood Bowl. He’s a huge Def Leppard fan and he ended up talking his way onto the stage and ended up performing “Pour Some Sugar On Me” with us. After that he was super enthusiastic about doing something else with us. He had written a tune titled “Nine Lives” that he felt would be perfect for Def Leppard. We agreed that it would be an interesting project and decided to do it. Our other guitarist, Phil Collen, flew to the states and met up with McGraw and they worked on the song together. Some parts of the song were recorded in Ireland and other parts in Nashville. The first time we were all together was on the video set shooting the video for the song. Tim McGraw was great on the video, he really was into it and normally, we (Def Leppard) are pretty stiff when we do videos, it takes us awhile to relax but Tim McGraw was so enthusiastic and it made the experience a lot of fun.

HRH: My favorites are tunes on the disc are "Hallucinate," "Go," "Bad Actress" and "Gotta Let It Go." My opinion is this is a very strong record that should appeal to a very large demographic of listeners. Do you have any particular favorite tunes on the record?

VC: I really think the two songs that do it for me are the songs contributed by Rick Savage, “C’mon, C;mon” and “Love.” Now, we really didn’t want any ballads on this record but we don’t really consider “Love” to be a ballad but it’s a really powerful song. I know Rick’s been working on this song for probably 15 years and it’s really been a labor of love for him. It truly is an unusual and unique song.

HRH: Other than the illness issue, how’s the tour going?

VC: It’s going great, we’re selling a truckload of tickets, great audiences and we’re seeing a lot of younger folks in the crowds. A lot of them have downloaded our entire song catalog and enjoy the music. While perhaps many of them haven’t paid for the music, they enjoy it and it’s all good. We’re pleased to see so many people at our shows

HRH: How is the future looking for Def Leppard and are there any interesting cool things planned for the future?

VC: This is a pivotal time for us; this is the last record for our current label. It’s an important year for us and with the changes taking place in the music industry we’re going to consider our next move but at the moment we don’t have any solid plans. We do know that we are going to continue to make music so even if we take a year off from touring we’ll be in the studio recording.

HRH: You are an exceptional guitarist in your own right and those of us who play the instrument admire your ability. After Steve passed away, how were you approached and what were your thoughts on joining the band? Were you excited, hesitant?

VC: You know, I was born to play guitar in Def Leppard. I really feel that had I been born in Sheffield I would have been in the band from the start. Def Leppard really is a band, a group, a gang of friends and musicians. I loved this bands music from the start and was always a fan. I love the focus and again, I like the fact that this is a real band. I saw them for the first time in 1987 during Hysteria. I was in Whitesnake at the time and while everyone in the band were solid musicians we sometimes didn’t play well together. When I saw Def Leppard I could tell they had cohesion, I could tell the cooperation between them was real. I knew Joe socially and after Steve died, Joe knew “the real me.” All the other guys in the band knew I had been in two bands and had been kicked out of two bands! However, through Joe, I got to know each of the guys and we got to be friends. It’s important to play with people who have similar interests.

HRH: What’s the best thing about being a member of Def Leppard?

VC: Well there are pros and cons. As a guitar player, it’s not very challenging. In my earlier days with Whitesnake and Dio, I was the only guitarist which was far more challenging. With Def Leppard being
a two-guitar band, there is less to play. Since we do play a lot of older songs in the Def Leppard catalog, I cover and replicate a lot of Steve Clarks guitar parts. While they are very harmonic and extremely musical, some of it isn’t very technical. With that being said, in the plus column, I'm a far better singer than I’ve ever been and I’m also a far better songwriter. I really understand how records are made and most importantly I know I’m really contributing to a real team.

Def Leppard’s newest album Songs From the Sparkle Lounge was released on April 29th. It’s a stellar disc with great songs from one of the best rock bands of all time. You can see a clip from the video for “Nine Lives” at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MklmdCF_uGM and don’t forget to visit ww.defleppard.com for information on tours, the band, photos, etc.