Def Leppard News - RICK ALLEN Says STEVE CLARK Encouraged Him In DEF LEPPARD

Thursday, 18th January 2018

RICK ALLEN Says STEVE CLARK Encouraged Him In DEF LEPPARD

By Eddie Trunk

Def Leppard drummer Rick Allen was interviewed on New York radio last week and the full audio is now available.

Rick spoke to DJ Eddie Trunk for his Trunk Nation show on Sirius XM radio ahead of his two art shows in New Jersey and Pennsylvania.

The full one hour podcast is now available.

Rick talked about music streaming, vinyl albums, his artwork/painting, art events, Steve Clark piece, his early days, joining Def Leppard, their first record deal in 1979, his parents, memories of Steve Clark, how the band stood by him, his accident, working with veterans, how his drums evolved, Ded Flatbird, 2016 Hysteria cruise, Def Leppard and Tesla, Rock And Roll Hall of Fame, questions from fans, other one armed drummers and first touring with Def Leppard.

Rick deflects a few questions about upcoming stuff. Or perhaps he really hasn't been told anything...:)

Listen to the full 44 minute interview via the radio link to acast. Rick's part starts at 17:08mins and lasts until 1hour.

Trunk Nation - Rick Allen Interview Quotes

Music Streaming

"I don't know if we've got any kind of agreement with our record company. So I'm not sure if it's even gonna go up. Back in the day I used to learn everything that I knew about the band, from, you know, vinyl. And it was great. I get this big piece of artwork and some of the record covers were just fantastic. And so informative, especially if it was a band that I was new to. So I could go through, and I'd read the thing cover to cover. You know these days people tend to, you know, make up their own playlists."

"I was all about getting as deep into the record as I could. I agree. Me and Joe we have this conversation and he was the same. He'd read album covers, you know, from cover to cover literally and then use it as reference. Who mixed it. Who produced it. The musicians. Who wrote the songs and as you say people tend to skip over that these days. You know the experience isn't as rich in terms of how you take the music in."

Steve Clark Painting

"More often than not, like the new piece that I just did of Steve Clark. I've got this new series that I'm doing called Legends. And I did this full paint of Steve Clark and that's really the direction I really wanna go. You know just learning more and more. I have my own art teacher and more and more I learn about different techniques. And this is the direction that I would really like to go. I'll show it to you."

"It was an existing photo of Steve and then what I did. I studied the photograph and then did pencil sketch outlined and then figured out how I would shade it to create this beautiful, this beautiful piece of Steve."

Memories Of Steve Clark

"The anniversary of him leaving us was on the 8th of January, 1991. He was 30."

"It's impossible to forget about him because he was such a lovely guy you know. I spent such a lot of time around him and he was always so encouraging. You know from the very moment I joined the band. He was always the guy going: 'Try this beat, play this, play that' and he'd be playing a guitar riff to it and always trying to pull me in. You know always trying to involve me in the creative process."

"He was really, he loved that. And I could tell, you know, his love for Zeppelin and Jimmy Page and the just the relationship that Jimmy Page and Bonham had. And I'm sure he wanted that and I got the sense..."

"Anyway, just a beautiful guy and a nice story about the artwork. So after I'd finished this piece, I took a picture of it and sent it to my mother. And my mother took it to Steve's family. And said as soon as she showed it to his Mum, you know, it was a tear rolling down her cheek. And so it really captured something you know."

(Steve Painting) "It's on display now. I wanted to get it finished before the 8th. So it'll be there and, you know, if nobody snags it then it'll probably follow me to King Of Prussia. And then if nobody snags it then it's, you know, I'm probably gonna take it home."

Another Las Vegas Residency

"It was great to stay in one place and have people come to us. And sleeping in a decent bed, nice hotel room. You know it was good. 45 minutes from home on a flight. It was great. I'd do it again but things have really stepped up you know. People wanna see this band."

2018 Tour

"No I'm actually going on vacation. I haven't got that memo yet. I'm gonna go paint."

Def Leppard Cruise/Tesla Cruise

"And I'm actually gonna on another cruise soon. Yeah. I'm gonna go out with Tesla. I think that's the Monsters Of Rock cruise. I'm gonna be on the cruise yeah. Fantastic."

(Play with Frank Hannon?/with Tesla?) - "I may do. I may do. I'm probably just gonna be on there selling artwork."

#TrunkNation with @rickallenlive @DefLeppard now till 11P ET @siriusxmvolume 106 pic.twitter.com/qftowqdLq7
— Eddie Trunk (@EddieTrunk) January 13, 2018

Thanks to @rickallenlive for dropping my #TrunkNation today. Great conversation about his painting, early years and of course @DefLeppard . Hear it again tonight 9-11P ET @siriusxmvolume 106 or On Demand on @SIRIUSXM app. pic.twitter.com/jx3AL0JEqe
— Eddie Trunk (@EddieTrunk) January 13, 2018