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Def Leppard
offical website
articles/contests
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Raven Drum Foundation store
"Everybody has dirty laundry, no matter who you are. It's just that mine happens to be aired in public. But I think that's part of my strength, that I'm not afraid to admit it these days. We could literally sit here and talk about absolutely anything down to the finest detail, and there are no secrets." - Rick Allen
"Rick is a beacon. He's the light for all of us. His path has been one of incredible inspiration for all of us. Everyone who comes into contact with him receives that from him." - Lauren Monroe
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2.10.03
Def Leppard's Rick Allen: Rock 'n' Roll Survivor Making A Difference (cont.)
by Paul Rosner
Mt: What has it been like living your life in the public eye with all your dirty laundry hung out for people to see?
RA: At a certain point, I've just got to let go. Hey, everybody has dirty laundry, no matter who you are. It's just that mine happens to be aired in public. But I think that's part of my strength, that I'm not afraid to admit it these days. We could literally sit here and talk about absolutely anything down to the finest detail, and there are no secrets. And it's unusual for somebody to be in a life where they can actually walk the walk, if you know what I mean. I've been forced to air those sides of myself that I am not very proud of, but on the other hand, it's very cathartic. It's a way to break through the layers of your self as a person.
Mt: I would think it would either make you a hermit or very introspective…
RA: Absolutely, absolutely. Like I said, I didn't have a choice, and that not having a choice led me to a place where I'm comfortable with it. I'm okay. And other people in my life are okay with it, and at least they know what they're getting when they get into any kind of relationship with me. There's no secrets. Hopefully, I learned as much as I can. It's good when you can learn through experience, as opposed to "don't do that…I tried that once." You just don't pay any attention to that. We're all experiential beings. We need the direct experience—the direct relationship—with whatever it is before we go, "Ah! Now I know what they were saying."
Mt: It's the essential part of growing up and becoming an adult, I guess…
RA: Yes, yes.
Mt: You guys are getting ready to head out for a brief U.K. outing?
RA: That's right, I actually leave on Wednesday. I fly to London and then fly over to Dublin, and then we've got press and TV, and then I think our first show is on the 10th—I haven't actually looked at the itinerary—in Dublin. Then we drive up to Belfast, and then from Belfast—Belfast being in northern Ireland—from Belfast, we go over to England, and go through to the 27th. And then, I'll be back here on the 28th. The first show in America is going to be on the 24th of March.
Mt: How has the response to the new album been back at home?
RA: Actually, really good. People compare it to the classic sound of Hysteria or Pyromania with somewhat of a contemporary sound mixed in with it, which is kind of what we were looking for. We wanted something that had mass appeal, but with some sort of edge. I think working with different producers really helped us produce that sound.
Mt: What about response over here in the States?
RA: Again, the response in the States has been good. The song "Now" has been on the radio for a while and is doing really well. What we're hoping for is a release of another song called "Long Long Way To Go" that hopefully should be coming out in February.
Mt: After all these years as a musician, you're still a young man. Do you have plans beyond Def Leppard?
RA: The Raven Drum Foundation takes up a lot of my time these days. It's a great way for to me to give back to the community, because the community's been giving to me for years and years and years. The hospital system in England gave to me in a great time of need and I've since become a patron of one of the hospitals connected to the one where I was when I lost my arm in '84. It's a teen cancer ward, and we did a drum show down there…gave people the experience of a small drum circle. It really inspired people; it gave them a reason to smile; it made them forget about their own problems for a while. We did some simple breathing exercises, simple visualizations. It was really good. Just two days ago, I got a phone call from Neil, one of the patients who was in there and was just about to go through chemo, and now he's in total remission. Whether we had anything to do with that or not, we helped him some way or another. It was so good to hear from this guy, because he went through a really bad patch and it was really good to hear that everything was okay and that he was at home, loving life, really loving life. We were just so happy for him.
Mt: Sounds amazing.
RA: It kinda makes it all worthwhile, you know. We've been doing a lot of work over here in California, especially with an organization called LA's Best. They set up after school programs for kids who are in really, really terrible home situations. We did a presentation for all their teachers and that was really successful, as well. Again, breathing, visualizations, some interesting exercises that involve getting in touch with your intuition, and then ultimately going into a drum circle, and they loved it. They thought it was great. We've been asked to do a presentation at the Eisenhower Hospital in Palm Springs. We've been working with LA Goal. Do you remember the movie I Am Sam? Well, LA Goal inspired part of the concept for the movie, and they work with Down's Syndrome kids and autistic kids. That's a really powerful experience going into that situation. I threw out everything I ever knew about playing drums, and we just approached the drum in a completely different way. We'd start just using our fingers, rubbing our fingers on the drum to make almost a wind sound; we'd talk about what that sounded like, how that made the kids feel, and they were like, "Wow, it sounds like the wind, or a storm, or it sounds like the ocean"—all these different ways of kind of getting them out of their shells and getting them involved. I taught how to facilitate a drum circle by just using hand movements: down for less volume, up for more volume, shake your fingers around for thunder, and they get into it so much. They love it, they really love it. I've been working with lots of other people that are joining with Raven Drum Foundation. We like to call it the Arts Collective. It comprises of artists, musicians, healers, indigenous folks from all over the globe. As the collection gets bigger, we can call on more people to go out there and work in their communities. The reach of Raven Drum gets greater and greater and greater as we get more and more people involved. That keeps me really busy.
Mt: How did you meet Lauren Monroe [Raven Drum Foundation co-founder]?
RA: I met her in Boulder, through a mutual friend of ours. She was working for the Boulder College of Massage at the time. She worked on me and then, really, she was my spiritual counselor. We'd stay on the phone and just talk about things. I'd talk about some of the experiences that I went through when I lost my arm, some of the inexplicable experiences that she helped give me a language for. It just really helped, and a couple of years ago, we started talking about how we could give back to the community. She had a lot of ideas of her own and, between the two of us, the most natural way to go was through music. And that just grew into other things. She's been a tremendous help in many ways, personally, professionally, everything.
Mt: Lauren, I was looking at the Web site, and of the current programs, the Warrior Drum program just seems amazing. Talk a bit about the rewards of enabling physically challenged individuals to pursue their muse.
Lauren Monroe: At the moment, the warrior drum circles are still in development, because we're working on some of the technologies so we can go in and be able to facilitate in a way that the participants can be fully empowered through the instruments. We are not working with the physically disabled as of yet, but we are planning within the next year to work with LA's Best—Los Angeles County school system's enrichment programs—working with physically challenged kids. Previous to that, we've been doing lots of other circles.
Mt: What are you most proud that the Raven Drum Foundation (buy gear) has been able to accomplish so far?
LM: I'm personally the most proud of the Arts Collective. We have put together a collective of people that come from so many different backgrounds—spiritually, religiously, artistically—as well as closing the boundaries of science and spirituality. We have doctors that are interested in meeting with tribal people and bringing patients with cancer and HIV into situations of ceremony of healing. I am most proud of the collective that we are gathering and the work that we are doing through the arts to help people.
Mt: What's on the horizon for the Foundation?
LM: Lots more circles and outreach. We're going to be doing a monthly program at the Eisenhower Hospital in Palm Springs, and we started a monthly program at Los Angeles Children's Hospital. We're going to continue educating teachers and working with kids; they have 3,000 children they want us to work with. And there's a safe house for women that we're going to be doing monthly work with, as well. Everything we're doing is all through volunteers and people who want to be here. There is a lot of fundraising to get community support.
Mt: What does Rick bring to the table with the Foundation?
LM: Rick is a beacon. He's the light for all of us. His path has been one of incredible inspiration for all of us. Everyone who comes into contact with him receives that from him. He has a lot of wisdom that he brings from his experience losing his arm and coming back in the music world. He leads us in a lot of ways, just by his experience. I don't think he realizes how important he is to so many people.
Mt: Thank you Lauren.
Mt: Rick, how much longer do you think Def Leppard will go on?
RA: I think as long as we feel we're making a valid contribution and that we can go out there and make people happy and entertain folks; that's really what we've discussed among us. Like, "It's 25 years later guys. We've had a good run; we're doing really well." There's really only the Rolling Stones and Aerosmith and a handful of other bands that have really gone past the point where you're like, "Wow, these guys are going to be around forever." We'd really like to keep doing this as long as we make records that people go out and buy and enjoy listening to.
Mt: Do you have any advice for people who feel the calling to enter the music business?
RA: I think to surround yourself with people that give you positive encouragement—whether that be musicians or your family. Find people with a common interest, a genuine interest in what you're doing, and draw from that. Try and develop a passion for the instrument, not for the business. I think it's important to do that. I went though many different stages in my career: before I had my accident, I was starting to lose interest in playing drums. I think, in a way, it was important that I went through the accident, because the first thing I could think about when I came around in the hospital, was "Wow, I really want to play drums again." I think developing that passion for the instrument, for music in general, is really the most important thing.
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