Def Leppard News - VIVIAN CAMPBELL Hopes DEF LEPPARD Release New Music In 2020

Sunday, 16th June 2019

VIVIAN CAMPBELL Hopes DEF LEPPARD Release New Music In 2020

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Def Leppard guitarist Vivian Campbell was recently interviewed in Finland and mentioned the next studio album.

Vivian spoke to KaaosTV at the Rockfest in Finland on 9th June.

Vivian talked about the European tour, Sweden Rock show, Last In Line, writing/recording, Last In Line Schedule/Solo Shows, Last In Line Live Production, Guitar Playing/Outside Projects, Writing Music For Last In Line/Def Leppard, Latest Riverdogs Album, Being In Many Different Bands, his health, Rock And Roll Hall Of Fame Induction, Future Plans/Third Last In Line Album and new Def Leppard songs.

Unlike Phil who said he hopes the band will finish a new album in 2020 Vivian says he hopes they at least release two or three new songs.

Vivian may have been suffering from tiredness as he gets Last In line and Def Leppard's name mixed up a couple of times.

Watch the full 19 minute interview video below.

Visit the Tour News section. For more news on future tour plans.

Visit the Album News section for more news on new music (based on band member quotes).

Kaaos TV - Phil Collen Interview Quotes - (Transcribed by dltourhistory)

Sweden Rock Festival Show

"Sweden was great, really good. We'll be playing much the same show tonight. Not quite as long 'cause we're not headlining tonight. So it'll be fun. It's good. We haven't played in a few months but we fell right back into it in Sweden. It was a great show."

Working With Last In Line Compared To Def Leppard

"Totally different. They couldn't be more different. Well first of all there's no other band on the planet like Def Leppard. The way that Def Leppard approaches writing and recording is very. It's very deep. it's a very intellectual process."

Last In Line Schedule/Solo Shows

"It will be difficult. We wanted to do more. i tried to get Last In Line on this festival and the one in Sweden. But with the logistics and the finances it's too difficult to do. But we did manage to get Last In Line on the bill at the Download Festival. And we'll play a show in London. A club show on the Wednesday which will be, next Wednesday, two days before Download."

"So yeah it'll be a long day at Download 'cause Def Leppard are the first band on. We open the mainstage and then later that evening Def Leppard close it. So in between I gotta take a nap."

Have you played two sets with different bands before?

"I have done it actually yeah. Well actually several years ago in England we were touring with Whitesnake and with Black Star Riders. Which of course is what's left of Thin Lizzy. So I've played with Whitesnake and I even played with Thin Lizzy s while. So I ended up playing with three bands in one night. But that was just at one show, you know, it wasn't a festival thing."

"It was. It was a bit too much. I was confusing myself. I started playing Still Of The Night when I should have been playing Rocket. So this is the first time I've ever done a festival date with two different bands. And I'm excited about it you know. It's gonna be great for Last In Line. We've wanted to do this for a long time. To get over to Europe and play festival shows instead of just doing clubs."

"You know which we've done on a couple of occasions. Three different times we've done European clubs. In fact we'll be back in December to play mainland Europe. I'm not sure exactly where but I know it's some time early December. But, you know, to build a band. To get to play in front of tens of thousands of people is always gonna be more advantageous. And for a new band like Last In Line that's really what we need to do. But it's always difficult because Def Leppard is always touring every summer either here or in America or Australia or whatever. So you know it's hard to find time."

Guitar Playing/Outside Projects

"I feel that I'm playing the best in my life. The best that I've ever played. And I think that's mostly because for the last seven or eight years I've been really focused on Last In Line and you know Phil and I were talking about this before. Phil has his Delta Deep project and Joe has Down 'n Outz. And when you go away from the Leppard thing and you do something entirely different it refreshes you when you come back to it. There's more of an excitement to it."

"So I think it's very good for all of us in Def Leppard that we have these other musical projects. It helps give us perspective and focus on what Def Leppard's all about."

Being Busy/Health Situation

"Well life is short. I've been dealing with cancer for the last six years."

How's that at the moment?

"It's OK. For four years now I've been doing Immunotherapy which is a new style of treatment and I about once every four or five weeks I get an infusion and it keeps everything in place. So, and it's a very benign treatment. I've responded really well to it. I've been very very fortunate. So I just keep on doing that. So now it's dealing with cancer for me. For my cancer at the moment it's just like maintenance you know. So I'm very fortunate that way. But it, as would be true for anyone who has a major impacting issue like that in your life, it does make you reassess things."

"So interestingly I've never been so busy in my life since I got my cancer diagnosis. I think maybe it's sort of a lit a fire under me, you know, to really kind of realise that life is not open ended you know. You have to... and every day you wake up and every day is a blessing you know. So I want to create as much as possible 'cause it does it makes me feel alive."

"Like even when I was doing hardcore chemotherapy years ago I still wanted to work. I still worked with Last In Line. I still worked with Def Leppard because that's part of dealing with the cancer for me. You can't give in to it. You can't capitulate. You have to fight and doing what makes you feel alive is the best therapy. So for me I just wanted to keep working and working and working and I've been very fortunate."

Rock And Roll Hall Of Fame Induction

"Thank you very much. I always try and put it in perspective because I've been with Def Leppard for 27 years. Prior to being with the band I was a big Def Leppard fan. Like right from day one. I remember buying the Wasted single. I had the first album, the second, the third, I had all the albums. I remember buying Hysteria on cassette and playing it so much that it wore out and I went and bought it on CD. And I bought a CD player.. It was one of the first CD's I ever had. And it was a perfect album for CD. For listening on headphones. It was such a great, like a layer cake. There's so much going on."

"So I remmebered 1987, 1988 as a Def Leppard fan and The Grammy's came around and Def Leppard didn't win a Grammy and Def Leppard didn't even get nominated for a Grammy. For what has to be one of rock music's all time greatest albums you know. And so the fact that the band didn't get any industry recognition from that really kind of frames my reference to all of that."

"It's much much much more important that we go tonight or any other night and play to thousand and thousands of people and make them happy. That's what it's all about. Now having said that you know we didn't think much about the Hall Of Fame. People have been saying to us for years you should be in the Hall Of Fame. Def Leppard should be there."

"We didn't give it a lot of thought and then, you know, when it happened we were. We're pleased. We're very flattered. And now that it's over and we're in there you know. I've noticed that a lot of other people. Especially for people in America. It really means something. You know they really kind of look at Def Leppard a little bit differently now as a result of that. So ."

Rock Hall Fan Vote

"That's the thing that resonates with us most because we realised that we got the biggest ever popular vote. To get into the Hall Of Fame. It was really our fans that brought it to the attention of...and it is for them. So that's what the band has always been about. And that's always been where our focus has been you know. We've had people who've been fans of Def Leppard since way way way back like 40 something years you know. And now their kids come to the show. Like 30 to 40 percent of our audience, in America at least, are young enough to be our children. So that's a great feeling for us to see that we've crossed the generational divide as well."

"And that our audience is growing and becoming more youthful and more energetic. And we're also a band that thrives off an audience. If an audience is low key it's more difficult for us to deliver the exuberance of the show. But if an audience is really up and upbeat and energetic we feed off that and we give it back. So it's very important to us."

Future Plans/Third Last In Line Album

"I'll be working as much as possible. This summer we're gonna start writing the next Last In Line record. I don't know when we're gonna start recording but we're gonna get a head start on the writing."

New Def Leppard Songs

"I know that there's a couple of new Def Leppard song ideas going around. I would hope that in 2020 we release something. I don't think we'd get an album done and released in a year but maybe we'll record two or three songs."

"But that is important also for Def Leppard. Even though, as I said earlier, you know records are no longer a source of income or whatever. A lot of people say why do you bother writing and recording new music. Well it matters to us because we are creative individuals and that's why we started in the first place. And I think that's a muscle that we have to keep exercising. We need to keep writing songs. We need to keep putting out records."

"We go out here and we play PSSOM and ANimal and Rocket and all these great songs. And that's what people wanna hear, but at the same time for us we need to make records. So I think that's the short answer. When people say why do you still make records. I think it's a selfish reason. We do it for ourselves. You know if people wanna buy it then that's a bonus."