Wednesday, 23rd August 2017
Prev  |  Next

PHIL COLLEN Celebrates DEF LEPPARD's HYSTERIA 30 With Special Shoes

Hysteria 2017. Electric Splatter Shoes

Def Leppard guitarist Phil Collen has created a new shoe called Electric Splatter in celebration of the 30th anniversary of Hysteria.

30 pairs of 'Electric Splatter' shoes were designed by Phil in the same style as his 2010 Jackson PC1 splatter guitars.

Phil had hand painted those guitars in a 'Jackson Pollack splatter' style along with Japanese writing to celebrate the 30th anniversary of Jackson guitars.

He has now done the same with 30 pairs of shoes made by the Six Hundred Four Sneaker Gallery in Vancouver, BC.

Read more about the shoes below and view the promotional video.

Note - The 30 pairs of shoes have already sold out.

Visit the Album News section. For more news on new music (based on band member quotes) dating back to January 2011.

Electric Splatter - Phil Collen Article/Video Quotes

Phil Collen Video Quotes

"There's absolutely similarities between any kind of art medium, whether it's music, spoken-word, written word, poetry, paint. And I think the more that you let in, the more you have to let out. You get this muse and all of a sudden you just need a slight activation."

"Right, I'm Phil Collen. I play in Def Leppard and yesterday I came up to Vancouver from LA and I personalised 30 of these wonderful sneakers in this kind of Jackson Pollack style splash thing. That I'd actually done to 30 guitars for Jackson's 30th anniversary."

"2009 was Jackson guitars, obviously the guitar that I play, their 30th anniversary and they asked me: 'Could you personalise something on 30 guitars?'. It could be artwork or just signing it. So I thought I'd do something a little bit special. And again the Jackson Pollack thing obviously Jackson Guitars. I thought I'd tie that in."

"Def Leppard were on tour. We were playing Vancouver. We saw this place and we thought: 'Is this an art gallery?'. And we wasn't quite sure what it was. Which was really super cool like we've never seen art on sneakers like that. And we got talking to James and it was like wow you actually do this stuff. I actually bought a pair of shoes. I was like this is killer. I'm a total sneaker freak you know I have been for years."

"You know I mentioned the 30 guitars for the 30th anniversary and we got talking and James said: 'Well, how about you come in tomorrow and we'll do a trial run on a couple of these shoes?'. So that really, it sparked it all off and from there it led to this."

"I'm colour blind so to me it seemed obvious the order of one. You know I started with yellow. Then it was red and red was a bit more like a blood spatter actually. And then the next colour was blue and then green. So that became the order of the day and then I decided to sign my name. It's not just Phil, I put it in Japanese."

"I love the splatter paint because it's actually quite violent and aggressive and you know I play guitar like that. I use a metal guitar pick. I have really heavy strings and I attack it."

"Being an artist that feeling of actually completion is just amazing. You've been allowed to express yourself."

Shoes Story

In 2010, Phil Collen, the lead guitarist of Def Leppard, splatter painted 30 Jackson PC1™ guitars (image below) as part of Jackson's 30 year anniversary. Those guitars now sell for upwards of $15,000. Furthermore, this August 4th marked the 30th anniversary of Def Leppard's #1 Album, Hysteria. Commemorating both of those milestones, Phil Collen has partnered with Six Hundred Four to create 30 limited edition splatter painted shoes.

It all started one afternoon during Def Leppard's Spring 2017 Tour, when Phil and his wife Helen wandered in to the Six Hundred Four Sneaker Gallery. Both Phil and Helen are sneaker lovers, so they instantly fell in love with the brand. As they got to know the owner of Six Hundred Four, James Lepp, the idea of creating custom splatter painted shoes started turning into a reality. So much so that literally the next morning with the help of renowned sneaker artist Zac Vine (@zeevycustoms), Phil was splatter painting the first two pairs ever made (reserved for him and Helen, respectfully). The shoes were completed mere minutes before the concert that evening.

The next step was obvious - to create 30 pairs that anybody could purchase. On July 19 Phil returned to Vancouver to splatter the 30 limited edition pairs. The shoes will officially be shipped starting on August 28th.

The 'Hysteria 30th Anniversary Edition' was released around the world on 4th August.

Buy 'Hysteria 30th Anniversary Edition' Online

  • Amazon - (Box Set/Super Deluxe Version)
  • Amazon - (3 CD Deluxe Edition)
  • Amazon - (1 CD Version)
  • Amazon - (Double Vinyl)

Related News - JOE ELLIOTT On How DEF LEPPARD's HYSTERIA 30 Album Was Put Together

Related News - PHIL COLLEN On Writing New DEF LEPPARD Songs/Hysteria Anniversary

Related News - JOE ELLIOTT Says DEF LEPPARD Have More New Songs For Next Album

Related News - PHIL COLLEN Says DEF LEPPARD To Record New Songs In October

Related News - PHIL COLLEN Says DEF LEPPARD Wrote A New Song This Week

Related News - PHIL COLLEN On DEF LEPPARD's Massive 2018 World Tour/New Music


share this story:





get def leppard news

Stay in touch with the latest updates.


explore def leppard tour history
Phil Collen - Guitar
Phil Collen - Guitar
Phil Collen - Guitar
Phil Collen - Guitar