Vivian Campbell Interview: Reinvigorated and Inspired

By: Rob Cavuoto

Thin Lizzy is undoubtedly one of rock’s all-time great bands. This latest incarnation of the band is arguably the band’s strongest line-up since the days when the late, great Phil Lynott served as their front man. Thin Lizzy are back and set to take the USA by storm with an upcoming tour.

Thin Lizzy’s current line-up includes such “Lynott era” Lizzy veterans as Scott Gorham (guitar), Brian Downey (drums), and Darren Wharton (keyboards), as well as singer-guitarist Ricky Warwick, Marco Mendoza (bassist) and Def Leppard guitarist Vivian Campbell. I caught up with Vivian to chat about Thin Lizzy and what the future holds for both Def Leppard and himself.

Thin Lizzy

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Rob Cavuoto: Tell me how you ended up playing in Thin Lizzy?

Vivian Campbell: It was actually through Joe Elliot. Joe had known Scott for a very long time and the two of them have been working together remastering the Thin Lizzy back catalog. About a year and a half ago, Scott mentioned to Joe that they were parting ways with John Sykes. Because Brian Downey was back in the band and for whatever reason was able to get Brian Robertson back, they had an opening. Def Leppard was planning to take some time off so Joe suggested me. He told Scott that no one knows the catalog better!

Which is true, Lizzy is in my DNA. As a teenage my friends and I used to jam to these songs. We used to take turns be Scott or Brian so I knew both parts. So when we got together in London in April 2010 to play, I think Scott was even surprised how well I knew the songs. I had been telling him on the phone but I guess he didn’t believe it. In rehearsal, I was jumping from song to song, even ones they’d forgotten. It’s so natural for me, and it got me excited about playing guitar again. I’m more excited now than I have been at any time since I was a teenager.

Rob: It must be fun to be reinvigorated and inspired with that kind of passion again,

Vivian Campbell: It is. Even when I starting working back in Dio with Ronnie, Ronnie’s whole thing was classic old school metal and I wasn’t necessarily into that. I can appreciate it but wasn’t my favorite thing. It was inspiring at the time but I feel as if my enthusiasm for the instrument was starting to wane back then. It’s enviable and that happens when you start to do something for a living instead of just for fun. [Covers recorder and whispered – I’m not doing Lizzy for the money]. It’s a labor of love. It’s a great thing.

Rob: If Phil Lynott was looking down on the latest incarnation of Thin Lizzy, what do you think he would be thinking?

Vivian Campbell: I think he would be pretty pleased; Ricky Warwick does a great job. He not trying to be Phil but he has the same attitude. He has the same passion and brings his own flair to it. Ricky also grew up with Thin Lizzy and knows it’d be foolish to try and pretend to be Phil. Given the fact that Brian is back, no one plays like Brian. He’s a very unique drummer. It’s as authentic as it’s going to be without Brian Robertson. As a fan that was the first thing I asked if you can Brian Robertson back. For whatever reason Brian won’t do it. Scott has exhausted that means. So it’s not going to happen.

Rob: I can tell by the smile on your face and hear it in your voice that you’re excited to be in this band? I’m sure that translates from the stage to the audience.

Vivian Campbell: Very much so. Ricky and I as the new blood are trying to get Brian and Scott to play more of the obscure songs. Every night before the encore I’m asking to do “The Rocker.” Sometimes they’ve agreed and we’ve done it. There are so many great songs that Ricky and I want to do but Scott and Brian realize that we have to stick to the more classic songs. It’s a great catalog to choose from.

Rob: I remember seeing Ricky opening for Def Leppard in NYC at the Beacon Theater for the X tour. Just a man and his guitar standing in front of a crowd of Def Leppard fanatics.

Vivian Campbell: It takes a man with big balls to do that!

Rob: Are there plans to revisit Thin Lizzy after the Def Leppard tour and possibly record?

Vivian Campbell: I would like to, they have asked me to come back and I want to but that depends on who they get to replace when I go out with Leppard. I don’t want to ruin any chemistry that they’re working on. I wouldn’t want to come back and step on that person.

Vivian Campbell Photo: Rob Cavuoto

Rob: Do you think you can write song in the style of Thin Lizzy?

Vivian Campbell: I would be all over that.

Rob: What seem really cool is that all the guys in Def Leppard can go off and peruse solo project during the hiatus without worries of fights or being replaced, what your secret? I’m sure other bands would like to know how to do it?

Vivian Campbell: We all know at that at the end of the day we come back to Def Leppard, that this is home and our priority – that Leppard will come first. There has always been that commitment to the band. The time we had off was scheduled, and it’s not like anyone is doing anything in the middle of a Def Leppard tour.

Rob: Your resume is pretty impressive with Dio, Whitesnake and Def Leppard….

Vivian Campbell: It’s impressive that I got fired from two of those bands [Laughing].

Rob: Most guitarists could only dream of playing in one great band in their career. What do you attribute your success being able to play with them?

Vivian Campbell: I really only ever wanted to be in one band. I really wished that my first band Sweet Savage had made it. In a way I feel connected to some of those bands and others I feel no connection at all. For example with Whitesnake, I feel I was there for only 25 minutes. I never got to write with the band. I did a solo on a remixed of an old single. I never felt a connection with them even when I was there; we never had a musical bond. We never connected as a band. If you look at it on paper, me, Tommy Aldridge, Rudy Sarzo, Adrian Vandenburg, great musicians and it should have sounded great, but to my ear it never did.

We all met on a video set, it was an image driven band, and no one had played on the record. There was no sitting down and talking about parts or rehearsing them. We all had to learn off the record and then play it. We literally had a half a day rehearsal and then went out on tour the next day. At first I noticed it didn’t sound so good and figured we would grow into it, six months later it still doesn’t sound so good, a years and half later and still it didn’t sound so good.

Rob: And with Def Leppard you feel like you have that connection?

Vivian Campbell: I have been with Def Leppard for 19 years. Much longer than any other band. There is a real connection with them like a family. When we first met it was all about hanging out rehearsing a bit, talking and getting to know each other before committing to me joining. It was almost like a courtship.

It took over three weeks. It wasn’t just about being able to play guitar and sing, you had to fit in, they made me a part of the band, and so I’m not like a hired gun or anything. I feel like I belong there. Unfortunately Leppard works very slowly so there’s not a lot to show for it.

Rob: Were there any other big name bands that you were asked to or looking to join prior to Def Leppard?

Vivian Campbell: Thin Lizzy, when I was with my first band Sweet Savage we opening for Lizzy on the Renegade tour in the UK. At the time Snowy White was in the band. He is a lovely guy and a great guitar player but he wasn’t right for the band. I could tell, everyone could tell and even he could tell. One night before they went on stage, Snowy came up to me looking at his watch, shoulders hung long – you could tell he really wasn’t into it. He said, “Hey kid you want to want a gig?” I was like yeah yeah, yeah, and he said “just kidding.”

It was just so cruel. I kinda of knew this guy want going to last in the band more than six months. It did happen and John Skyes got the job. He was a monster player that could play great and sing. I thought if John hadn’t come into the picture that I might’ve got the gig with Lizzy back then. That would have been a dream job. As it turns out, it was the beginning of the end for Lizzy. In a few months I got a call for the Dio. So it’s just a well. Things work out as they are supposed to.

Thin Lizzy

Rob: Tell us about Def Leppard new live CD, Mirroball, is the name a spin-off of the Sparkle Lounge?

Vivian Campbell: Exactly, that’s Joe Elliott logic [Laughing]. Joe loves that stuff. He is always coming up with titles and concepts. They carry though for the tour and on the t-shirts. So it’s exactly that.

Rob: Phil Collen promised Eddie Trunk that the next Def Leppard LP would be hard rock, are you guys able to deliver on that promise?

Vivian Campbell: It’s not this one! [Laughing]. He was talking about the next one! [Laughing] We all agree and know on a certain level that we can make it happen. If we were with a major record label and they paired us with Rick Rubin, I’m sure he would strip us down and have us doing it. It’s easier said than done. What Def Leppard did 30 years ago; they were in a different head space then. You played and wrote different then. So it might actually be disingenuous of us to go back and force ourselves to do a record like High n Dry.

Rob: Not necessarily go back and redo High n Dry but juts a straightforward rock LP?

Vivian Campbell: Back then Rick Allen had two arms, although we can represent ourselves very well live, it’s difficult for Rick to jam. If I were to come in the room and show the other guys a riff, Rick would have to sit there and think how he was going to join in.

It’s not like other bands where you can kick out the jams and see what happens. It does take a little more patience. I’m not saying we’re not going to do it; Phil and I are championing and trying to do something like that for the next record.

Rob: Any chance you will work with Mutt Lange on a future LP?

Vivian Campbell: He worked with us briefly on the Euphoria LP, it was my first time working with him and it was a revelation. I have never met anyone more talented than him in the music industry. That guy is so many steps beyond anyone else that it was inspiring. Would we like to work him again? Absolutely but it’s not likely to happen. Not in terms of doing a full LP. It’s our intention to do a full new LP in 2012 and it would be nice for Mutt to get involved in a song or two. Phil still has a close relationship with him and maybe he can talk Mutt into doing it.

Rob: Things have really changed regarding how people listen to music since the ‘80’s. Gone are many of the hard rock and Top 40 radios stations. Gone are the 24-hour music video channels, now people are file sharing and stealing music. How do these things affect the way guys approach writing, recording, and getting your music heard?

Vivian Campbell: We have been guilty in the past of really conceptualizing the LPs. It’s like we need to make this type of LP before a song or note is written. Though Sparkle Lounge was not at all like that at all. I’m glad to say it was just a collection of our songs that we wrote individually and decided to record as Def Leppard. I thought it was a better LP for it and easier to make. Because I’m personally not too big on conceptualizing for an LP, I tend to think let’s write and see what goes out.

Industry wise its very import to know your audience now, to speak directly to your audience vs. being all things to all people. I think in the past that Def Leppard was lucky enough to almost be all things to all people. It was a result of the time with MTV, because of proliferation of radio of Top 40 radio and being able to get a rock band on Top 40 radio. It parlayed into millions and millions of LPs.

I don’t think that will happen for Leppard or anyone any more. That brings us back to what we were talking about earlier and what kind of LP we would make in the future. We realize that our core audience wants us to make a rock LP. So we will attempt to address that on future records. With that said, I don’t see us making an entire LP that’s like High and Dry, with songs with 1 through 12 as old rock songs.

Rob: How do multiple platinum artists like yourself measure success in this environment?

Vivian Campbell: Certainly not in terms of sales, Sparkle Lounge, Yeah and X didn’t sell in massive numbers. Nowhere close to a million. Nowhere close to half a million. But that’s OK because the other side of the equation is that we have been doing better and better on the road. We have been playing to more people starting with the Journey Tour in 2006. Our first night was Camden, NJ and there was close to 23,000 people. We couldn’t believe it. The touring industry has become about packaging bands together to reach more than just the core fans of each act but to try and reach the casual fans.

We were amazed; nothing changed for us other than we were on tour with another major catalog act. To be honest when our management first suggested it to us, every single member of the band had reservations about it. It shows you how wrong we were. Ever since that day no one in Def Lepard ever questions our management on things like that. It’s not our area of expertise [Laughing]. We have been very fortunate that we have had a rebirth as a touring act and that we have such a catalogue of hit songs and people still want to hear them after 20 to 30 years. We play them well and put on a high-energy show.