Posted by Sandra L. Villani slv2@po.cwru.edu http://www.geocities.com/SunsetStrip/Alley/1802/lepchat.html ********************* Joe Elliott and Phil Collen AOL chat April 21, 1998 7:30pm OnlineHost: Your emcees for this event are AOLiveMC7(Sheilah) and Question: Are you coming out with a new album soon? DefLepJP1: Yes! We're in the process of writing. The four of us are DefLepJP1: over here in Dublin, writing songs for the new album... Hopefully DefLepJP1: we'll finish writing by the end of the year. We're recording as we go. Question: This is Maureen and Debbie from Minneapolis. Your new CD has already Question: been compared to "Hysteria". With all the new styles of music out there today, Question: how accurate a comparison is this? Are you going back to your "roots" so to Question: speak? DefLepJP1: Hi Maureen and Debbie from Phil and Joe. It's going to DefLepJP1: have lots of elements of Hysteria. It's similar, but we're not DefLepJP1: going to copy that sound. We're pleased. Question: Joe & Phil... would you ever consider letting fans sing back-up on stage Question: during your tours..just curious cuz it has been a wish ful dream of mine !! Question: :-))...Adele from Ohio DefLepJP1: Fans have gone on stage occassionally. But security guards DefLepJP1: have come and thrown them off stage. DefLepJP1: We wouldn't encourage it in case someone got hurt. Question: What kind of sound can we expect from this new album? DefLepJP1: Lots of guitars, lots of melody. Lots of hooks. Full of energy. Question: Will you be performing in the round on tour again....THAT ROCKS!!!!! DefLepJP1: It does rock. We've kind of done it so much. Who knows DefLepJP1: in the future we may do it again. It has its advantages. Question: How many of you are married and/or have children? DefLepJP1: Me and Joe are divorced. I have a son 8, and Rick has a daughter named Lauren. Question: why did the group change their style of music from the days of pour some Question: sugar on me to what they are now DefLepJP1: You can't keep doing the same thing over and over again. It gets DefLepJP1: dull. It comes from change. Question: Have you ever thought about filming an "Unplugged" sessionfor Mtv? - Question: Nipmeister DefLepJP1: Yes, we actually are going to do an unplugged with the Hot DefLepJP1: House Flowers. We were going to do a bunch of their songs. DefLepJP1: We have done live TV in Canada and the Far East. There's DefLepJP1: a bunch of stuff out there but not necessarily MTV unplugged. DefLepJP1: VH1 just completed a documentary on Def Leppard. DefLepJP1: There's going to be live interviews with everyone. It will DefLepJP1: probably be aired in June. June 26th we think. Question: What was your favorite Album or project to work on? DefLepJP1: I really like the location of Slang...Southern Spain. The last part DefLepJP1: of Hysteria was great. Slang was really good fun. DefLepJP1: and the VH1 special will be from Dublin, but they'll also be DefLepJP1: playing some old embarrassing stuff I'm sure. Question: what is your opion of the type of music out today, and what type of Question: music to you listen to? DefLepJP1: I always listen to comtempory music. Whether its Madonna or DefLepJP1: Prince or whoever is contempory at the time...rock or pop. DefLepJP1: I also like R&B and all sorts of stuff. Question: If given a good script would either one of you do a movie . Brian DefLepJP1: Yea, sure why not! Question: who will be the supporting acts if you tour the u.s.? DefLepJP1: I have no idea. We have to wait for the time and who has an DefLepJP1: album out at the time. It's a timing thing. Question: What's the upcoming album's name? DefLepJP1: Good point. Still waiting. We'd accept names from you. It would DefLepJP1: be cool. If it's not a great name we'll have a good laugh. Question: Hello Joe and Phil! First of all, I have been a fan for years, and will Question: always be. When do you plan on touring the States again? DefLepJP1: Well when the album comes out. It varies where we start. Question: how long has def leopard been together DefLepJP1: It has been a really long time ...19 years. I've been in the band 16 years DefLepJP1: Unofficially of course. Question: hey joe and phil do you remember me, i used to play in WASP. it's johnny Question: rod. DefLepJP1: yea we do. We were talking about you the other day. How are you DefLepJP1: doing? Question: Joe, do you still have Ian and your other boxer dog???? DefLepJP1: No I don't. Unfortunately they passed away. AOLiveMC9: Hey guys....EVERYONE wants to know about a touring schedule. AOLiveMC9: Is there one available for them? DefLepJP1: Us too...not until the album comes out next year. We'll have info then. Question: The other day, I tried to get to your web site, and it's bee removed. Question: Are there any plans to replace it with a general Def Lep web site? I look Question: forward to your new album, and please tour soon! I look forward to seeing you Question: soon. ;) Kristin DefLepJP1: Maybe we'll get something new on the go. I don't have any DefLepJP1: details yet. Question: Joe, what gave you and Sav the idea to start The Player's Cafe? DefLepJP1: Joe: A mutual business partner DefLepJP1: came up to us one day and said they wanted to do a sports DefLepJP1: bar. DefLepJP1: A cross between the Hard Rock and Sports Cafe. DefLepJP1: It's not a specific entertainment hotel. DefLepJP1: It's nice to put something back into your own home town. DefLepJP1: It seems like a good opportunity to do something good for the town. DefLepJP1: It's going really well. We had DefLepJP1: a big opening the first of March. Question: How did you come up with the name Def Leppard? DefLepJP1: I vowed we would never answer that question again. DefLepJP1: I don't know. DefLepJP1: The answer is that in 1975 when I was just still at school, I was the DefLepJP1: odd ball at school. DefLepJP1: After getting bored in using names in class. DefLepJP1: When the question of what we were going to call ourselves, the DefLepJP1: name Def Leppard was used. DefLepJP1: It's one of those names that either you love or hate. DefLepJP1: The name was phonically changed....from the normal spelling to Def Leppard. DefLepJP1: Wierd spelling. DefLepJP1: Something that everyone would remember. Question: On the new album will rick still be using the acoustic drums, they sound Question: awesome. You guys rule! DefLepJP1: That's a big possibility. Even on the last album it was electric drum and acoustic drums. DefLepJP1: At the moment we're at the embronic stage and we're open minded about DefLepJP1: what drums we're going to use. We're using a Roland VR5 DefLepJP1: drum machine a inch and a half thick...smaller than a lap top. DefLepJP1: Rick's doing evil things with it at the moment. It has 500 sounds DefLepJP1: in it and you can program it like a lap top computer. Rick can DefLepJP1: actually record a demo in this box. We write a lot of songs off DefLepJP1: the machine and we put the guitars over it and work backwards DefLepJP1: from that. We let Rick program the machine and parts of his DefLepJP1: personality into the song. DefLepJP1: When you're making a record a lot of the time I sing over the back track DefLepJP1: and you can put the real drums on last and let Rick come in DefLepJP1: after the song and do the drums last. He can play the drum DefLepJP1: over the vocal. DefLepJP1: There's always a possibility that Rick will be playing acoustic DefLepJP1: drums on tracks that are necessary. We don't do demos the way DefLepJP1: people think we do demos. We actually record our demos DefLepJP1: on master tape in the real studio. So if you have a DefLepJP1: great song they'll actually end up on the album. Question: i just want it to be known you are the greatest of all time Question: Joe, are you guys gonna be playing any charity soccer matches stateside Question: this year? Barmy Army!! (Hi to Sav!) DefLepJP1: No we're not going to be playing any soccer matches stateside DefLepJP1: or Europe side. Question: How has Sav been?I was saddedend when I found out he had Bells Palsy a Question: few years ago. DefLepJP1: He developed it about 1993. It just came on overnight like these DefLepJP1: things do DefLepJP1: He 90% normal now. You wouldn't really notice it because DefLepJP1: he's improved so much. It's not really affecting him as much. DefLepJP1: I don't know the medical history but what I can gather it DefLepJP1: is getting better all the time. DefLepJP1: But it doesn't get him down. You don't see him moping around. DefLepJP1: I see him everyday and he never seems to moan about. Question: if one of the 4 original members decided to call it quits would the rest Question: of you carry on or call it quits too!.....from me! defleppy! DefLepJP1: Great question. lt is really impossible to tell. If we DefLepJP1: were in an incrediably low ebb we would. DefLepJP1: The one thing we will never suffer from is numerous DefLepJP1: lineup changes. Just milking the name. DefLepJP1: When Steve died we didn't think it was fair on ourselves to DefLepJP1: let the songs disappear. We decided to stick together. DefLepJP1: I think that we have enough dignity to know when it's time DefLepJP1: to go away. DefLepJP1: If we were just becoming a joke then we would just pack it in. DefLepJP1: There are a lot of bands out there that still make people happy. DefLepJP1: That's what they do. The thing a lot of people don't understand DefLepJP1: is that we still only made only 8 albums. DefLepJP1: We spent a lot of time between tours but have not yet written DefLepJP1: our greatest songs yet. So we'll carry on what we're doing DefLepJP1: regardless if members left or not. DefLepJP1: However it would be a major adjustment. Because we DefLepJP1: all get along so well together. Question: How has life and music been since the departure of Steve Clark...and Question: Does he still have an infuence on the band??? DefLepJP1: Well it's been very different because he was a major DefLepJP1: contributor to the band because he left a void that needed to be filled. DefLepJP1: Life goes on. DefLepJP1: Steve is someone that will always be close to everyone's heart. DefLepJP1: He's part of the past and not part of the future. DefLepJP1: He doesn't influence what we do now. DefLepJP1: But he's never that far from our thoughts. DefLepJP1: He was a big part of the band but now he's gone. Unless there's a DefLepJP1: big band in heaven. AOLiveMC7: Thank you Joe and Phil for your outstanding answers. You sure have a lot of fans:) AOLiveMC9: And Fans....THANKS for the great questions. Sorry we couldn't get to them all! DefLepJP1: We'll do it again any time you ask! Thank you again we appreciate it. AOLiveMC7: Good Evening Everyone! OnlineHost: Copyright 1998 America Online, Inc. All : Rights Reserved. :