Leppards don’t change their spots
Def Leppard guitarist Vivian Campbell says the revolving door policy in some of his previous bands will never happen in Leppard
Reported by Cameron Pirie
Published: July 6, 2011. © Rock AAA.
Vivian Campbell (photo by Steve Brinkman)Speaking with Postcrescent.com ahead of their appearance at the Milwaukee Summerfest, Campbell was open about his experiences in previous bands where line-up changes were more frequent than Fridays, making Def Leppard a different proposition to what he experienced in his time with Dio and Whitesnake in particular. He said:
“Primarily, Def Leppard really is a band. It’s five guys and we’re not a revolving door of musicians, which those other bands are.
“Whitesnake especially — I mean, has anyone actually counted how many musicians have been through Whitesnake? (laughs) I know it’s over 50.
“It’s ridiculous, and even Dio, like after I left Dio, there were several other guitar players, a couple other drummers, quite a few bass players (and) a couple of keyboard players.
“Def Leppard, if Steve Clark were alive, he’d still be in the band today. Def Leppard is not the kind of band that just goes out and swaps members.
“It also has a much higher standard than other bands I’ve been involved with. When it comes to songwriting, good isn’t good enough, it has to be great. The band is notoriously meticulous in the studio, and even going to our live performance, we take what we do very, very seriously, so there’s a very high standard of work that goes into the band. We show up sober and on time and do our job.”
Campbell also suggested that it takes more than just talent for a band to continue to be successful for the length of time Leppard have been at the top of the rock tree. Speaking about the advice he might offer to young musicians he said:
“There’s a certain level of talent, but I think more importantly when young musicians ask me for advice like, how do you do it? How do you make it in the music business? One of the first things I would always say is that you’ve gotta remember that as with any other job, you’re interacting with people.
“So work on your people skills as much as your guitar chops because a lot of great guitar players are just real (expletive), so you don’t wanna work with them (laughs).
“That’s one thing I can’t say about Def Leppard; we genuinely do like each other. We get along. It’s not like we go out camping all day together and wear matching pajamas, but we can tolerate each other’s company and have enough respect for each other as human beings to work together and keep it together.
“So many other bands, frankly, they (expletive) hate each other. They have separate dressing rooms, stay in separate hotels and it’s painful for them to come onstage and pretend like they like each other. It’s not an act for us.”
Def Leppard are currently on a North American tour with Heart which runs until September 15 before the band head for Japan in November
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