LAST IN LINE Has 'A Whole Bunch Of Embryonic Ideas' For Fourth Album

In a new interview with Thomas S. Orwat, Jr. of Rock Interview Series, LAST IN LINE bassist Phil Soussan once again confirmed that he and his bandmates — frontman Andrew Freeman and original DIO members Vivian Campbell (DEF LEPPARD) and Vinny Appice (ex-BLACK SABBATH) — are working on material for their fourth studio album. He said (as transcribed by BLABBERMOUTH.NET): "We had got together, and in the crazy way that we do, we usually get together and get into a room. And we don't really bring in ideas. We just get into a room and plug in and start banging around and seeing what comes out, seeing what sounds cool. And we've got a whole bunch of embryonic ideas, and so we're working that at the moment. We do have to work around the DEF LEPPARD schedule, obviously; that's part of the parcel of what we do, and it's fine. And Viv has some personal things that he has to do as well, which is not my business to talk about. So that's going to mean where it's gonna be a little hard for us to get together as much to do this record. However, the [2023] 'Jericho' album, we got together and recorded half of those ideas just before the pandemic. It wasn't a plan. We found ourselves in L.A. 'Let's go into a studio and let's just do that.' And it turned out to be somewhat prophetic because of what happened with the pandemic. At least we had half an album to work on. But in the process of doing that, we found that we were able to work on a record remotely, using file transfers and doing things. So, half of 'Jericho' was done that way. And a lot of this album is probably going to be done in a similar kind of way as well. And the plan is probably to get back out on the road again after the summer of '25."

Asked if there has been any thoughts of maybe going out on a tour opening for a bigger band and getting more exposure to LAST IN LINE, Phil said: "It would be great, if it would work out and if everything made sense. Just prior to the pandemic, we were really on a good roll, and we had been going to Europe quite a lot and we had done tours opening for SAXON, for example, that was just terrific. It was a lot of fun for everyone on the tour together, and we had a great time. When that whole period came along, it really disrupted a lot of our plans. We had plans to go to South America, to Japan and back to Europe, a bunch of festivals in Europe, and all of that vaporized. And it's been hard trying to get that impetus back on track again. Not for any crazy reasons. One of the reasons, which is no secret, it's extremely expensive to try to get to Europe now, what with the kind of costs involved in touring — the fuel costs and the transportation costs and the way that the exchange rates have been, it's almost been a little prohibitive. And we've sort of been waiting for an opportunity to be able to go there and do that. We'd love to, sooner rather than later, I hope. So, I'm keeping my fingers crossed."

Regarding how difficult is it for a band at the level of LAST IN LINE to make a profit going out on the road, Phil said: "It's not really about making a profit. It's about, basically, being able to cover everything, cover all the expenses. We're very passionate about what we do, and I think I am personally, and that's always been my mantra, is to be passionate about what I'm doing and let the money take care of itself. So it's not just about trying to make money, but sometimes it's just cost prohibitive to be able to do something. I mean, if you figure the expenses of — I don't wanna get into details, but once you start adding these numbers up, then you realize it's going to be really in the whole to do a tour. But if we can cover it and get close to covering it, then that's fine. I mean, thank God that we don't all live paycheck to paycheck and we're able to be able to do these things and get together with our fans in a way that works for everyone. I mean, that's the most important thing, is getting the music in front of the people who love our band and being able to find a way to do it."

LAST IN LINE's third album, "Jericho", came out in March 2023 via earMUSIC. The LP was helmed by Chris Collier, who has previously worked with KORN and WHITESNAKE, among other bands. LAST IN LINE's first two albums were produced by former DOKKEN and current FOREIGNER bassist Jeff Pilson.

Last year, Vivian told Classic Rock magazine about the "Jericho" songwriting process: "One thing we insist on in LAST IN LINE is that we have to be in the room together when we cut the tracks, old school, because that's how we did the early DIO records with Ronnie [James Dio]. We started this record in January 2020 in L.A., intending to finish it that April, and then obviously COVID happened and things got… discombobulated. It wasn't until February 2022 that we were able to get back into the studio, but that break only made the record stronger."

In 2022, LAST IN LINE surprised fans by releasing a unique version of THE BEATLES classic "A Day In The Life", which was made available on the limited 12-inch silver collector's EP with the same name.

Formed in 2012 by Appice, Campbell and bassist Jimmy Bain — Ronnie James Dio's co-conspirators and co-writers on the "Holy Diver", "Last In Line" and "Sacred Heart" albums — LAST IN LINE's initial intent was to celebrate Ronnie James Dio's early work by reuniting the members of the original DIO lineup. After playing shows that featured a setlist composed exclusively of material from the first three DIO albums, the band decided to move forward and create new music in a similar vein.

LAST IN LINE's debut album, "Heavy Crown", was released in February 2016 via Frontiers Music Srl, landing at No. 1 on Billboard's Heatseekers chart. Initially, the release had been preceded by tragedy when Bain unexpectedly died at the age of 68 on January 23, 2016. LAST IN LINE, honoring what they knew would be Bain's wish to keep the band moving, brought in Soussan and committed to sustained touring in support of the album before beginning work on the follow-up release, 2019's "II", which was also made available through Frontiers Music Srl.

Photo credit: Jim Wright