Exclusive Interview: Vivian Campbell on Revisiting His Youth Via the Dio-Inspired 'Last In Line' & Enjoying the Evolution of 'Def Leppard'

Photo: Ross Halfin

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Vivian Campbell is arguably one of the busiest men on the rock landscape right now. He just wrapped up playing a string of dates with his Dio-inspired bandmates from Last in Line and he will barely have a chance to catch his breath before joining Def Leppard for the European leg of their current tour. His year is booked solid and at least for right now, the iconic guitarist would have it no other way.  It seems that he is quite content to be literally revisiting and honoring his early years with Dio while embracing younger generations of fans that show up night after night to hear the Def Leppard classics.

I caught up with Vivian the other day for a quick chat and discovered a man whose search for inner acceptance seems to have made his current joy that much more palpable.

Last In Line Promo Shot

Vivian on making the juggling of Def Leppard and Last In Line look easy:

"It's not easy I've got to say that, but I've always enjoyed my work and I think now I'm enjoying it more than ever. Over the last couple of years, and for the first time in my career, I'm happy with my guitar playing (laughing). It has always been a struggle for me because I've never really been content with what I did and finally after all of these years I realized that it's okay. We're all individuals and we all bring something to the table and while I may not be the worlds greatest guitar player, nobody sounds like me. We all have a unique voice and I'm happy with mine so I'm really enjoying my work.

I've also realized that while the Last In Line project is a side project, it's a very serious one to me. Especially in this day and age, you can't just phone it in. You really have to manifest it and do live shows to make it a real thing, so I've been committed to doing their tour. I am quite literally working all the time- I'm either working with Def Leppard or working with Last In Line. It's work that I really enjoy but it has also taught me another life lesson (laughing) and that is that I do finally see the importance of scheduling time off. I am intending to do that next year (laughing) because this year is already booked with both bands but next year I will plan a vacation."

Vivian on the differences between playing in both bands:

"I really enjoy both Last In Line and Def Leppard because they are two incredible bands filled with incredible musicians that I get to play with. I also get to exercise different muscles because, with the Leppard thing, it's the vocals that we're really known for. It's a high production show and very well oiled machine with two guitarists and Phil Collen really does all the heavy lifting. It's the vocal aspect there for me and being a rhythm guitar player, something that a lot of guitar players don't focus as much on, so I'm very proud of my ability in that. In Last In Line I'm not just the only guitar player but I'm the only melodic instrument in the band, we're not even touring with a keyboard player. That puts a lot of pressure on me as a guitarist but it's also very rewarding and it challenges me.

It brings me back to the origins of Last In Line, which goes back to the original Dio band. We took the name from Dio's second album and so this band is a great way for me to reconnect with that part of my life and that band. It's a challenge to play like that and I take pride in trying to nuance my performance night after night. Some of those guitar solos from those early Dio albums, in my mind I still haven't played right (laughing). I've played them 96 or 98 percent right but I'm still looking to get to a hundred percent. It's not even big things, it's tiny little things (laughing) but I need to challenge myself. I think that if you're not moving forward then you're standing still in life so I'm not trying to reinvent the wheel but I am always trying to make things better.

The same is true with Def Leppard. Joe (Elliott) and I talk about it some nights right when we come off stage. I really do think that sometimes it's only us guys in the band that notice the details. As professionals, we all do have that desire and goal to make things better rather than just phoning it in and taking the easy road. I think that is the difference between bands that are successful and bands that maybe aren't doing well. It's a matter of professional pride."

Vivian on the creativity that still is running through his veins:

"A lot of people ask why Def Leppard even bothers making new records in this day and age when people just want to hear hits from the '80s. It's important to us. We make them for that percentage of our fan base that is really excited about new Def Leppard music but more importantly, we do it for selfish reasons. We do it because there is a creative element to what we do. We want to get better at the songs that are decades old but at the same time we have a creative muscle that we all need to exercise and so we still strive to make great new records too.

It's a strange time because back when Def Leppard or even the old Dio band were first starting out we had the ecosystem of MTV and of FM radio that actually programmed their own music nationwide and even worldwide. The digital age is so different and even with all of the media, it's actually very difficult to get new music out there. There's a percentage of fans of any band that really want that new music but struggle to find it."

Def Leppard Promo Shot

Vivian on watching the Def Leppard audience evolve over the years:

 It's interesting and also a good situation for a band like Def Leppard that has been growing our audience for years now. There's a strong percentage of that audience that is like our children's age now and they come to the shows all excited to hear the hits of the '80s (laughing). It's so nice to reach beyond your own generation and see your audience grow. It's such an exciting thing and it has been happening for us for the last decade or so. We really feel the energy and as our audiences get younger they also are more energetic and we feed off of that and it makes our performance more energized.

Def Leppard was obviously very big in the '80s and then the '90s were rough because the musical landscape changed so much that we were playing live just for our core fans. The late '90s brought a change in the wind and more people started showing up and we noticed that a lot of them were younger. Last year we did 60 dates in North America on a co-headlining tour with Journey and probably 40% of that audience was younger. The energy that young people bring to the show is very palpable and we really feed off of that. Especially when your playing songs that are thirty years old (laughing), we are playing them for the audience and their excitement fuels us to make things even better. It's such a good thing and it makes us really happy."

Vivian on The Rock & Roll Hall of Fame Induction:

 "It's a great honor to be in the hall of fame and I definitely think Def Leppard deserves it. I'm happy because now I get to vote and have a say from the inside (laughing), but personally, I've never put a lot of stock in the industry awards. Being the new guy in the band (laughing) and it has been 27 years for me, but as a fan first, I remember buying the Hysteria album. I wore it out on cassette and then I bought it on cd, and I can remember being amazed that this landmark rock record wasn't even nominated for a Grammy. It had seven hit singles on it! That kind of framed my whole reference point for industry awards and I just don't think that they're totally reflective of merit. I will say that the thing that resonates with us is the fact that we got the biggest ever popular vote. The fans are very loyal and they made that happen. The people who have been with Def Leppard since day one are really the ones who put us here. I believe they're the ones who brought us to the attention of the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame."

Vivian on the fans:

"The audience is vital. If there's no audience then there is no band and so that means there's no show. They are like an extra member of the band and if they aren't excited about the show then we're not so excited about playing it. We're kind of like vampires now, we feed off of that energy and if they're giving us a lot when we're giving even more back. There are certain cities all around the world that I really love to play because of their energy. There's really no such thing as a bad audience it's just a matter of how excited they can get, and then in turn how the can excite us."

Check out both Def Leppard's official site and Last In Line's official site for tour dates, merch and more! Also, keep an eye on Vivian's official Facebook page for updates. 

Exclusive Interview: Vinny Appice on The Appice Brothers Releasing Tribute Video on the Tenth Anniversary of Ronnie James Dio's Death

(Promo Shot from Vinny Appice's Official Site)

Saturday, May 16th, 2020 marks the tenth anniversary of Ronnie James Dio's death and it's a day that will not go unnoticed by the rock community. Stomach cancer may have shortened his life but Dio's vocals on tracks by Rainbow, Black Sabbath, and of course, Dio are never forgotten.  In fact, he remains in permanent heavy rotation in both the rock world and on MTV Classic's Metal Mayhem.

While Covid-19 has grounded a lot of touring musicians that extra time off has paved the way for a lot of creative projects to be brought to fruition, including one by Vinny and Carmine Appice. The brothers, plus Jim Crean (vocals), James Caputo (bass), and Artie Dillon (guitar) are releasing a video for the song "Monsters & Heroes" as a tribute not only to their former bandmate but also to the man that they'll always consider a brother.

I stole a few minutes of Vinny's time ahead of the video release and he was happy to share the details on how this touching tribute came to be. Check it out.

Vinny Appice on how the idea for the tribute video came about:

"It wasn't something that we had planned for a long time, because if things were normal (before Covid-19) then I would have been out of town. I had dates scheduled with Last In Line for March and April, then I was supposed to go to Europe and South America with another project. So the idea hit about two weeks ago when I was seeing all of the virus videos that everyone was making, with all of the windows looking kind of like the Brady Bunch (laughing).  I thought it was cool and the best part is that you're seeing stuff you've never seen before, like performers playing in their own living room.

I thought it would be cool to do one of these videos and when I called my brother Carmine (Appice) he thought it was a cool idea. There was a song we did a few years ago, written by Paul Shortino,  called "Monsters & Heroes" that was originally on our Sinister album, and it felt like a real single. It was the best song from the album to release as a single and since Ronnie's anniversary was coming up and we actually had the time to do something special it really worked out perfectly."

Vinny on how the video was filmed during the Covid-19 quarantine:

"Luckily our guitar player, Artie Dillon, knows how to do all of the video stuff and so we started putting it together. I played first and then I'd stop so Carmine could play. We've done this song live many times so we can choreograph it pretty well. Everyone was in separate locations filming their parts and so it took about two weeks to actually piece the footage together and sync everything up. When we finally saw the finished version we really thought it came out even better than we had expected.

Paul Shortino sang this song on the album but in this video, it's Jim Crean on the vocals. We have played hundreds of shows with him over the years and then Carmine and I have both played on a few of his records, so Jim is like family. It's the same with James Caputo on bass and Artie Dillon on guitar, they're our band so we've done many shows with them live, making them also like family."

Vinny on how Ronnie James Dio is always with him:

"When I go out and play with Last In Line, we play five or six Dio songs and when I go and do my own show then it's a night of Black Sabbath music, so most of the music that I play is tied to Ronnie. He's always there with me. When I'm writing music I remember how much he taught me about creating songs that aren't so predictable and that it's good to mess with the formula a little. The music keeps him with me and we got along so well that we were like brothers. I'm lucky the music has continued and I've gotten to play with legendary musicians that created rock classics. We didn't know at the time how things would end up we just knew that we thought the music sounded good. Who knew "Holy Diver" would become such a staple (laughing), it was just a lot of fun to do. Here we are ten years after he passed and we're still tied together which is so good, it's a nice feeling."

Vinny on remembering Ronnie today:

"The video is really special and it feels good to do something for the tenth anniversary of his passing. If you listen to the lyrics it tells a great story about Ronnie and mentions a lot of the song titles that he was known for.  I think seeing his silhouette and the cancer fund link at the very end is really touching. That picture blew me away when I first saw it, what a great guy Ronnie was. He really loved his fans. He would stop and get out of the limo while trying to leave a venue because there were fans in the cold waiting at the gates. He would get out and sign autographs and take pictures because he really loved his fans.  We all miss him and so it's a good day to remember Ronnie. This song and video will help to bring him into people's thoughts and that's just such a good thing for this great guy."

Check out the video for "Monsters & Heroes"!

Currently Booming: NEW Music by Last In Line - 'Landslide'