VIVIAN CAMPBELL On Next DEF LEPPARD Album: 'If It Comes Out Being Wussy, I'm Not Accepting Blame'

Earlier this week, Kate of the London, Ontario, Canada classic rock radio station Free 98.1 FM conducted an interview with DEF LEPPARD guitarist Vivian Campbell. You can now listen to the chat using the SoundCloud widget below. A couple of excerpts follow (transcribed by BLABBERMOUTH.NET).

On his health after undergoing stem-cell treatment in his continuing battle with Hodgkin's lymphoma:

Vivian: "I am actually doing really, really well. I got a stem-cell transplant a while ago, and I'm just kind of recuperating from that and getting ready for next year and everything is going as well as it could. So I am expecting a full recovery as well as a growth of hair."

On DEF LEPPARD's plans for 2015:

Vivian: "We have a new record that's gonna be coming out next year, and as a result of that we're actually undertaking a world tour instead of just doing our usual, which is going around America in the summer. So that's exciting for us. We're starting up in Canada, obviously… So we're going to Canada, we're gonna do the States, we're gonna go to Europe, we're going to Japan, Australia and hopefully the UK. So it'll be a busy, busy year for us, and as exciting as that is, it's also very exciting for us to actually have some new music be coming out and to get on stage and play something new."

On how the new DEF LEPPARD album is shaping up:

Vivian: "We're doing it in installments. We live all over the planet, so it's a little difficult getting us all together to work. But we did about six weeks starting February into March last year — that was the initial session — and that was the most fun part, because we did that playing live — we actually set up and played as a band — which is not something that we normally do in the studio. So that was the fun part of the record, and then from that it gets difficult; the hard work begins. But there was another session in May, which, unfortunately, I couldn't do, because I was doing a chemo session at that time. At the moment, Joe [Elliott, vocals] is actually doing most of the work, 'cause there's a lot of vocals to be done. We cut a bunch of tracks and we basically left it all in Joe's hands. We said, 'Joe, go and write some lyrics and sing on this.' So the weight is on his shoulders to get this done. I know that he's currently doing a little club tour around the UK and Ireland with his project band DOWN 'N' OUTZ, but before and after that he's in the studio doing vocals, and he'll be doing that all the way through January. Phil [Collen, guitar] and I do some Pro Tools sessions at home and then we send them over to Dublin for them to fit into the record. So the bulk of the record is done; it's just the finishing touches and a lot of the lead vocals that need to go on from here on."

On when fans can expect to see the new DEF LEPPARD album released:

Vivian: "We do have a commitment that we have made to ourselves and to our management to get this record done before the tour. I would guess that the record will be released by the middle of the year, but we'll certainly get a track on the radio sometime in the first quarter of 2015 — we'll get a single out there — and I would assume that when we go on tour, we'll be playing that."

On what the new DEF LEPPARD material is sounding like:

Vivian: "Well, it's never finished 'till it's finished, but, like I said, last year when we first started playing, we did track as a band, and when we do that, we tend to write more rock songs. So I would say that the first four or five tracks that we cut were on the heavier side, but I have no idea if they will actually make the grade. You never know. The way DEF LEPPARD records work, the last guy in the studio gets to have the final word. So who knows?! I know that I'm not gonna be there, because I have too much medical stuff going on. I'm kind of done at this stage, so I'm not going back to Ireland for any more sessions. There may be a final session in January or February that I will not be party to, so I have no idea what the final thing's gonna be. All I can tell you is my involvement was with the first part of the record, and it was a hard rock record at that stage, so if it comes out being wussy, I'm not accepting blame, you know what I mean?! I'm throwing my hands in the air."