Def Leppard News - PHIL COLLEN On Finishing DEF LEPPARD's HYSTERIA Album/2018 G3 Tour

Wednesday, 18th October 2017

PHIL COLLEN On Finishing DEF LEPPARD's HYSTERIA Album/2018 G3 Tour

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Def Leppard guitarist Phil Collen was recently interviewed about the Hysteria 30th anniversary release with the full audio available.

Phil spoke to Dr. Ward Bond on RadioMD for his Life Changing Wellness show.

Phil talked about his healthy lifestyle, working hard, vegetarianism/being a vegan, working out/training, staying healthy on tour, playing live, being vegan, musicians, Gerson clinic, the Hysteria album's 30th anniversary, finishing the album, Rocket, playing stadiums/arenas, Rock In Rio, his sneaker range, 2018 G3 Tour/G4 Experience, Delta Deep, 2013 hand injury, not practising, Joe Elliott's vocal problems and the 2018 Tesla studio album.

Phil once again recounted the recording of the Hysteria album and said his Delta Deep band may be the opening act on the 2018 G3 tour in the USA.

Listen to and download the full 46 minute interview via the link.

The 2018 G3 tour was announced on 18th September and runs from 11th January to 25th February.

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

Life Changing Wellness - Phil Collen Interview Quotes

Hysteria 30th Anniversary/Can you believe it's been 30 years?

"No actually. One of the reasons I can't is because we only had one year off, 2010. But other than that we've been like working or something. So it's like really flown by. You know I kind of, I remember all the recording like it was yesterday."

"And again you know it was a tough period as well. Some weird things happened. You know Rick had the accident, lost his arm. We were battling, you know, trying to get producers and that until Mutt Lange came back on board. Then it was really inspiring again. Like I said you know it's all about having that around and you know he was just an amazing inspiration. And then we finished off the record and it did what it did. So you know it has flown by."

"It is amazing and the fact that it still is relevant to this day. You know I hear it on TV all the time. You know just, radio, cars - all the time you hear a song off Hysteria. So it's pretty cool, usually Pour Some Sugar On Me, but you know it's all, it's amazing. So I'm thrilled."

Did you think Hysteria was ever gonna get finished?

"Yeah we did, we knew it was in there. We knew it was a gem and I think you know Mutt had to go and do The Cars' album. You know because he'd already made a commitment to that. So he said I can get the thing started and then maybe you guys can finish it off. And we really couldn't. We couldn't finish off without him 'cause it was all his ideas anyway. You know he had this concept of how it should sound. And when he came back in the fold it was amazing. It actually went fairly smooth. I mean it was tough to record obviously, but it was also inspiring because like I said you know being, just being around him and he's just got this amazing presence and kind of work ethic and he's got all this other stuff. So we actually felt good about it when he was around because you know you'd trust in hi, his judgement to get it done. We thought it would end up sounding kind of like it did. That was the dream you know that was the image of it. And then it did and it ended up doing what it did. It was a slow starter when it first came out, but then it kicked in you know with the Pour Some Sugar On Me single."

Playing Rocket Live

"I like playing Rocket because I like what the song suggests. You know it's got huge guitars, huge tribal drums almost and it's got this chant. So it's very Def Leppard. It's kind of Def Leppard in a nutshell. If you was gonna explain to someone, you know, what's Def Leppard about?. You would play 'em that track and they'd go OK. It's kind of got this quirky guitar riff. It's like not the norm. But it kind of, and it sounds - obviously it was done in the 80s. So it's got a very 80s feel to it. But yeah it kind of ticked all the boxes for what we're about on that song. So I have a good time playing that. Actually all of them. Hysteria's great. PSSOM, everyone reacts in such a crazy way. So yeah, it's all good fun."

2018 G3 Tour/G4 Experience/Delta Deep

"I was honoured to be asked to be part of that. Just over a month ago I was invited to do the G4 guitar camp up in Monterrey, California. And that's amazing. And you know it's like guitar fans, guitar geeks, everything. So you ended up doing. You know there was supposed to be two hour and a half seminars. And all of, when I got in there, they were at least two hours. And it just kind of kept going. Q and A's and there was so much to talk about. You know I played and then I get up and we'd all do a set each. And then I got to play with Joe Satriani and Paul Gilbert. Both amazing players. Warren DiMartini. He plays in RATT. I hadn't play with him for years. And also Tommy Emanuel from Australia who's just an incredible player."

So it was an honour for me to get up there and do all that and it went so swimmingly successful and it was just so a great vibe. I guess my style's slightly different. You know I'm a rock guitar player and it's not instrumental. Obviously I'm in a band. It's a slightly different approach to it. So it was kind of really cool you know to be invited back you know to do some stuff because it actually, it really went down well. It was a great kind of addition I guess. That's what everyone was telling me."

"So then when I got invited to do the tour I thought oh, this is great. So I'm probably gonna, if everyone can do it you know, the guys in Delta Deep, my other band. We're probably gonna be the band that actually does that tour for sure."

EXCLUSIVE INTERVIEW w/@DefLeppard Phil Collen on 30th Anniversary of Hysteria, his #Vegan Lifestyle & More! https://t.co/HwBdUjQ1Nr #music pic.twitter.com/x1vd93bQyO
— Dr Ward Bond (@DrWardBondTV) October 4, 2017