Monday, 6th March 2017
By Chele Drappel
Def Leppard guitarist Vivian Campbell was interviewed in February and the full audio is available.
Vivian spoke to Kris Engelhart of Backstage Axxess on 28th February.
Vivian talked about his current health, Last In Line, the Heavy Crown album, DIO, second Last In Line studio album, his memories of playing in Buffalo/Darien Lake, older bands not releasing new music, 2017 North American tour, playing festivals, live hologram shows and his (small) dog Stuart.
Vivian mentioned in November 2015 that the clinical trial of the drug he is taking during his Immunotherapy treatments comes to an end this summer. After that he will have to look at "other options" but as with all of his updates since 2015, he remains positive and says everything is continuing to go well.
Listen to the full 14 minute interview below.
Backstage Axxess - Vivian Campbell Interview Quotes
His Current Health Treatment
"I am still doing treatment. I'm doing Immunotherapy. I've been doing it for almost two years now. It's the latest and greatest in medical science. So I'm taking a drug called Pembrolizumab which is a monoclonal antibody. The same stuff that cured Jimmy Carter's melanoma. So all good. I'm happy to say. It's the least of my concerns you know, it's just maintenance."
Classic Bands Not Releasing New Material
"Well I mean it's understandable because no matter how good your new music is, it's almost impossible to get to people to hear. It's never gonna have the ubiquity that classic rock has. You know because radio doesn't exist in the same way that it used to be back in the 80s or even the 90s. So that support structure is no longer there to bring new music to people's ears. You know rock radio's very much kind of stuck in a rut playing classic. Not only rock radio, commercial radio. So there's not really that support system for new music."
"So I can see how you know many, many classic rock bands wouldn't be very motivated to bother to put out any new music. But I personally believe that it's vital for the integrity of the band. It's like exercising a muscle. You know if you don't exercise it, use it or lose it. So I do think that it's important, even if it's just a personal exercise in futility, and that ethos is shared you know with all the guys in Last In Line and indeed with Def Leppard. It's always been very important you know with Joe in particular with Leppard, that we continue to put out new music. Just because it validates our existence you know as creative musicians and as creative outfits."
"That's the desire that makes you able to go out there and play those classic songs with fire and conviction. I mean if you're just in that rut where you just doing that and nothing else, it's, you know, you're not gonna play with the same passion."
2017 North American Def Leppard Tour
"Well this is really just an extension of last summer's tour in many ways you know. We normally do tour in the summer. The summer is the time that most bands take it on the road in America. We've done that for the last several years. We had significant interest after last summer where promoters wanted to continue the tour but we weren't able to at that time. Hence doing it this way."
"It's a different kind of approach for us because we're going indoors on a lot of these shows. You know normally in the summer you play the amphitheatres like Darien Lake, these outside places. So we're actually going indoors. Not at all of these shows but the majority of them I believe are indoor arena shows. So it actually is better for your production when you play indoors you know. It makes it a little bit more vibrant and it is different from last summer's tour in so far as we have Poison with us. You know we still have Tesla but the middle act has changed so that'll make it a little bit different."
Playing Festivals/Guitar Playing
"And you know with my cancer diagnosis of recent years I've really kind of delved way back into my original passion and to the original spark that made me start when I was a teenager. That was playing very aggressive rock music. You know really focusing on my guitar playing. So in many ways this whole Last In Line project has really helped motivate me to fight this battle."
Buy 'And There Will Be A Next Time...Live From Detroit' Online
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- Interview Source - backstageaxxess.com
- Def Leppard - Interviews 2017
- Def Leppard - Vivian Campbell Band Section
- Previous News - 1st March 2017