“FOR THE PAST SIX YEARS I’VE DEDICATED EVERY SINGLE DAY TO MY WORK WITH DEF LEPPARD”:

INTERVIEW WITH STEVE CLARK
Burrn magazine | October 1989 – Interview and photos by Uschi Freund. Translation by 001 Translations.

We caught up with Def Leppard as they gathered in Amsterdam, Netherlands to work on their new album, the follow-up to Hysteria and got our hands on an exclusive interview! From their vivid and emotional memories of their 1988 Japan tour to their current situation, we chat to guitarist Steve Clark.

Burrn: 1988 was a year in which many big names came to Japan, but among them, Def Leppard, who only played four shows, won the Best Live award. What do you think about that?

Steve: That’s great! We went there at the end of a 15-month tour, so we were totally immersed on stage, and our albums were selling well, so we were in a really relaxed mood. When you’re having fun playing, you look cool!

Burrn: It’s been over a year now [since you were here in ‘88], what are your memories of Japan?

Steve: It was my second time there, after ’83, and Joe [Elliott] and I just love Japanese food. We ate a lot of it. And I got a massage in Kyoto, which was amazing. I ended up going there. Oh, it’s not a dangerous place or anything! (laughs) Anyway, Japan is a great country.

In ’83 we spent more time drinking than seeing the sights, but this time we were determined to see a bit more so we did a bit of sightseeing. The schedule was tight, but we found the time.

Burrn: By the way, it feels like you’re finally taking a break after a long tour, but what does 1988 mean to you?

Steve: It went by so fast I barely remember it! I didn’t have time to think about it. But it was the first time we had a number one album in the UK, and of course it was number one in America and Australia too, but that realization didn’t sink in until much later. I thought the album was of very high quality, but I wasn’t sure if people would take an interest in it, so it was quite a surprise. Anyway, achieving greater success than Pyromania is really wonderful but I’ve been so busy touring that I haven’t had time to appreciate it!

Burrn: Do you still have the mindset of being a “British band”?

Steve: Even if you haven’t lived there for six years you have a very British mindset. And nowadays you can watch British TV shows in Europe, so I think the world is getting smaller.

Burrn: Where do you live now?

Steve: I have a house in England and an apartment in New York. But wherever the band goes, that’s home.

Burrn: Where would you like to live?

Steve: Hmm, I don’t know. I’ve gotten used to moving around.

Burrn: What did you mainly do during your time off?

Steve: Hangin’ out at pubs! (laughs) I was in New York, but I just broke up with my girlfriend, so I was completely alone. It was great not to be tied down! (laughs)

Burrn: During the tour, do you think about what you’ll do when you have time off?

Steve: I do, but when I actually have time off I just don’t feel like doing anything. I’m too tired.

Burrn: How is the recording progressing?

Steve: I’d say about halfway through. This time I’ve changed the way I do things quite a bit. I did two months of work followed by one month off, repeating that cycle. I think that might help maintain freshness. Plus knowing there’s a month off coming up naturally makes me more focused on work. (laughs)

Burrn: Is it like self-producing [this time]?

Steve: Yeah, there’s no way we didn’t learn anything from the four years of studio work we experienced with Hysteria! (laughs) I think the end result will probably be something completely different from Hysteria. Each of us could work as producers individually, but when we all get together, everyone wants to do everything and it would get chaotic, so having someone who can control that to some extent becomes necessary.

Burrn: Who is your favourite producer?

Steve: Mutt Lange of course. But we’ve made three albums together, so we need to change things up a bit before we start sounding stale. Even great bands like Foreigner have become predictable. That’s why I think we need to take a risk every now and then. That being said, we still don’t know what kind of album it will be. We might just show up at Mutt’s door screaming for help! (laughs)

Burrn: Do you plan to produce other bands?

Steve: Eventually. Right now I’m just focusing on Def Leppard and since we’re a busy band, I don’t really have the time. And when we do have free time, I like to try and forget about music for a bit. But if there’s an opportunity to do something just for fun, I’d give it a shot and if it was successful, I might consider producing more seriously. When we next go on tour, we’ll probably slow down a bit, so maybe I’ll have some free time then.

Burrn: Are you not going on tour anymore?

Steve: No, I just don’t think we’ll do anything as long as 15 months anymore. I’d like to stop after about six months and make an album. I’m still young, but as I get older, I may not be able to do a 15-month tour and I won’t want to. Once you reach a certain level, there’s no need to tour that much. Over the past six years, it’s been Def Leppard 365 days a year, right? I think it’s time to start prioritising my personal life.

Burrn: Does that mean you have no personal life at all?

Steve: No. I don’t live in the UK, and I’m always on the move, so I can’t settle down and make friends. Unfortunately, family and friends end up taking a back seat, so my only real friends are my bandmates and crew. Sometimes it feels a bit cramped and I don’t like it. So from now on, I want to balance my public life and private life.

Burrn: Hysteria has been selling like crazy, so the pressure must be pretty intense, right?

Steve: Personally, I feel much more relaxed than before. With two albums this successful, we could literally go on tour again tomorrow and still have people come out even without a new album. We’re not on the same level as The Rolling Stones, but we‘ve sold over 7 million copies each, so even if the next one doesn’t meet people’s expectations, I feel we’d get another chance. Not everything can be a huge success so I’m not too worried.

Burrn: Some people create pressure for themselves, don’t they?

Steve: Then you’ll break down. You can’t calculate that you sold 10 million this time, so you have to sell 20 million next time. It’s only natural that it will stop somewhere. Even Michael Jackson was said to have failed because “Bad” only sold 6 million copies. So it can’t go on forever. We think we’ve been recognised enough by our fans, so now we’ll just enjoy ourselves a bit.

Burrn: The sound of the next album is said to be completely different from the previous one…?

Steve: I don’t know the details yet, but since we’re not using Mutt, the sound will obviously change, and the songs will be more straightforward rock songs. Garage-style maybe. Other bands are probably trying to make something like Hysteria, so we’re going back to our roots and doing rock ‘n’ roll. (Laughs)

Burrn: What’s the songwriting process like?

Steve: We work hard! There’s no formula. Sometimes we collaborate and other times one person’s idea becomes the main focus and we build on that. I write with Phil, sometimes it’s Sav and Phil, sometimes it’s Joe and Sav. It can be anyone.

Burrn: So it’s always about teamwork?

Steve: Exactly. Everyone has a chance to express their opinion.

Burrn: Def Leppard’s lyrics also have quite deep meanings, don’t they?

Steve: Really? I’ve never really listened to them properly. (laughs) I’m terrible at remembering lyrics. I think lyrics are important. Lines like “Riding my bike at 100 miles per hour” or “How many women did you sleep with last night?” are outdated now. But I don’t think you need to take it too seriously, like U2 [for example]. But it’s also boring to always sing party songs all the time.

Burrn: Don’t you want to be political like U2?

Steve: It’s fine, but in our case we keep our opinions to ourselves. It’s not good to force your opinions on the kids. They’ll be influenced by it. We’re a rock band after all, and we just want to have fun!

Burrn: The influence bands have on kids is huge.

Steve: Exactly. So if you’re going to say something, you have to believe it and say it with confidence. If you write a song saying [for example] “Let’s rape all the women in the world,” and everyone started doing that, it would be a disaster! Every person has to have their own opinion. We don’t need to say it and we can’t take responsibility for it. There might be backlash. That’s why we don’t do charity work. There are some really great causes out there, but we don’t want to be a part of them.

The purpose of Def Leppard is to entertain people. To make them feel happy. That’s enough. If we can make people forget their worries for two hours at a concert, then we’re happy too.

Burrn: But if you had money, wouldn’t you want to donate it or use it for charity?

Steve: Actually we do. One is for a donation to help with the football stadium disaster that happened in our hometown, Sheffield. Also, Joe does charity football games in America and we sometimes play with him. We charge $1 for admission and donate the entire amount to local children. We did one in Allentown, Pennsylvania. We had 17,000 people show up. That’s 17,000 dollars! Don’t you think this approach is more meaningful? The kids can laugh at us making a fool of ourselves, and we’re not going on TV and saying we’re going to save the world. If that’s what I wanted to do, I’d be wearing a suit and working as a politician instead of playing guitar.

Burrn: That’s a great idea!

Steve: Even small things can help people, right? It’s a very innocent way to have fun.

Burrn: What message do you have for your Japanese fans?

Steve: It’s fantastic that they chose us over bands like Whitesnake, Guns ‘n’ Roses and Aerosmith! We’ll definitely come back next year. The tour was wonderful last time and it’s such a beautiful country, so I can’t wait to go again.

This  article was translated from Japanese to English by 001 Translations for STEVE CLARK GUITAR In Loving Memory