Web Exclusive Interview
Def Leppard's Rick Allen, Part 2

Rick Allen

This is Part 2 of our interview with Rick, where he talks to us about recording Def Leppard's new CD, X, tapping into "basic knowledge" with the Raven Drum Foundation, VH1's version of the Def Leppard story, and much more!

by Billy Amendola

MD: What kit did you use on the new album, X?
Rick: I used this beautiful old vintage Ludwig kit that sounded wonderful. Producer Marti Frederiksen also brought some snare drums with him that were quite interesting, including a Pearl free-floating snare drum. The main snare we used was a Ludwig Black Beauty of mine from '83 or '84. My tech, Jerry Johnson, brought this 14x22 bass drum, and there was a 14" hanging tom, with 16" and 18" floor toms. This kit just sang. I felt like I was John Bonham.
MD: Where were the drums recorded?
Rick: A place called Rumbo Studios in LA. It was a great-sounding room--a lot of wood, a lot of rock.
MD: Did you track with the band or by yourself?
Rick: I tracked by myself. We recorded the drums completely separately, and then I went back and figured out the cymbal parts. So it was an interesting puzzle for me to figure out.
I tracked to the demo, because everything was already laid down. We had a rough outline of how we wanted it to be. Then it was up to me, letting the thing evolve naturally by adding my sound, vibe, and energy. I enjoyed this approach.
MD: From what I've heard, Marti is a pretty good drummer himself.
Rick: You know, he really put me through my paces. But I loved the way he worked, because it was challenging. And there was a constant stream of ideas from his end. I responded to his musical background.
MD: Did you play your parts into Pro Tools?
Rick: I'd play all the acoustic parts first. That's how I started out playing drums, so that's in my DNA. Then, like I said, I went back to do the cymbals. So it's almost like I could think in terms of having two arms again--in fact, three arms. Then the next part of the puzzle was translating all that to my electronic kit for the live shows.
MD: You play barefoot.
Rick: I just feel more connected to the earth. Otherwise, to me, it's like trying to put a watch together with a pair of gloves on. I like to be able to feel the pedals and get into the details of what I'm doing.
MD: Do you have anything on the pedal, or are you just right on top of the metal?
Rick: Right on top of the metal. And I always know if I'm over-playing because I hurt myself. My whole thing is about having this even flow. I do a lot of breathing and meditation exercises before I go on stage, so I can connect with the audience and connect with my spirit. I know when I'm having a good show when it's effortless. I'm in such a wonderfully relaxed place that I don't have to try. It's an even flow. It's perfect energy. I can listen to a tape of a show and tell whether I muscled through it or it was effortless. And the way that I feel after those kinds of shows is like night and day. The shows that I muscle my way through, I feel physically and mentally exhausted from trying to hold the space and over-playing. But when I'm in the right frame of mind, I use just enough effort for what I need to do.
MD: Let's talk about The Raven Drum Foundation.
Rick: It' still very grass-roots. We've got a lot of very interesting people working with us. What we are doing is forming a collective so there'll be musicians all over the country. We've opened up a chapter in England as well, with a guy who I started my first group with at the ripe old age of ten. He's now a music therapist, so he's already experienced at this kind of thing. We just got all our promotional materials printed up, so we're very excited.
The project is about sharing ancient knowledge through music and the arts. When I say "ancient knowledge," I'm talking about trying to connect with what we were like when we discovered that we could make fire--and then the communication that came from that: the clapping of hands or the bashing of a stick on a log, and then finally coming up with a shaker or a drum. It's extremely powerful. I don't know whether you've ever experienced any drum circles where there is more of a spiritual intention behind it. At a certain point it's almost like the rhythms start to play you.
MD: Like a trance.
Rick: Yeah. It's almost like the physical goes away and the drum becomes a key to other states of awareness. Just recently we opened up a teenage cancer ward in my hometown, Sheffield. My partner, Lauren Monroe, has a background in teaching and music therapy. So we do breathing exercises and visualization exercises, and then we go into a non-musical, low-impact sort of drum circle. These two teenage kids who were in this cancer ward at the time, they loved it. I mean they really enjoyed it, couldn't stop smiling. They felt good about themselves, empowered. They didn't feel alone. My experience of being in the hospital is that one day can feel like a month--especially when you are going through chemotherapy or some other therapy. So, A, we empowered them, B, we took them out of their own rooms for a while, and C, we gave them an experience where they didn't feel alone. And that was the most important thing for us.
Raven Drum is far-reaching too. It's not just about cancer patients, or people who are physically or mentally challenged. It's really trying to speak to us all. It harks back to a time when life was simpler, and the abstract is really the thing that brings in the elements. Looking at a painting can be worth a million words, where sometimes language gets in the way. It's related to what I said earlier, about how I like people to experience me as a person by listening to the way I play. Then, later, if you want to talk about it with words, then let's do that.
MD: You are an inspiration for a lot of people.
Rick: You know, I get a lot back. It's a beautiful thing. I meet people who are in a lot worse situations than I am, and I get a lot back from them. Believe me, it's a two-way street.
MD: How accurate was the VH1 movie Hysteria?
Rick: With the short amount of time they had to get twenty years' worth of information in, I think it was pretty truthful.
MD: Did the band have input on it?
Rick: We read the script and okayed it. We changed certain bits to make it more accurate or more concise. Sometimes particular situations happened over longer periods of time, but to get the point across, we condensed them into a shorter space of time. So it was pretty accurate, though you always have to give people sort of a free rein, and I think we gave them just enough.
MD: Do you enjoy touring?
Rick: Yeah, I look forward to it. I'm straight these days, and I have more time than I know what to do with. And I have more fun playing my instrument, being around people. Since my daughter was born I've been in a good space.
MD: How old is she?
Rick: She turned five May 20th. I learn so much from her. It's like seeing a little me running around--a mini me. When she was born my mother looked into my eyes while I was holding her and said, "Do you see what I mean now?" I really connected with my folks after we had Lauren. It was very special.
MD: You've also seen the music business change over the last twenty years.
Rick: Man, I've seen it change drastically. It's more of a business than it ever was. Sometimes I think it feels like the soul is gone from the music, and it's not really about the music any more. But ultimately it has to be. We can never forget about that. The thing that is always going to allow you to succeed is believing in what you do. If you can make alliances with other people to strengthen that, I think that's good--like creating songwriting teams or groups where you've got a home base, where you can get back and reestablish yourself as an entity in this world, where you can really make a difference.
But you still have to pay attention to the business end. Unfortunately we all have to play the corporate game, but don't lose your self within that. If you surround yourself with enough good people who believe in you, whether it' family or friends or just people who have a lot of faith in you--like, hopefully, people at a record company--then I think you can make it. It is possible.

[For more on the Raven Foundation, log on to: www.ravendrumfoundation.org.]