Rick Allen

Beasley Digital

Rick Allen, drummer from Def Leppard, discusses how he joined the band and Preston shares his favorite Def Leppard memory.

Transcript

00:00I was playing clubs when I was 18, and it was awesome.

00:04It was great.

00:06It was really funny when we had to share a dressing room with the stripper on a Sunday.

00:12Oh my God.

00:17I've waited a long time to meet this gentleman.

00:19Ladies and gentlemen, from Def Leppard, Mr. Rick Allen.

00:23Yeah.

00:23Fantastic.

00:24He was here this morning.

00:25Very nice introduction.

00:26Thank you, sir.

00:27I have been waiting to meet you for a long time, a couple of reasons, and I'll stop fanboying

00:32all over you, but number one, I'm a drummer, have been since I was a kid.

00:36I knew that.

00:36And number two, you knew that?

00:37Yeah.

00:37You could tell you got the vibe.

00:39Number two, I believe the Pyromania Tour was the second rock concert I ever saw.

00:46So you go way back to my very beginning days of experiencing live rock music, and I vividly

00:52recall that show.

00:53Now you're scarred for life.

00:54No, I'll forever remember it.

00:57It was in St. Louis.

00:58It was the Pyromania Tour, and man, I was just blown away by the performance.

01:04It was excellent, and it just ushered me into wanting to go to more concerts and experience

01:09that whole live thing.

01:10I play better now.

01:11You do play better now?

01:12I think so.

01:12And I've seen you in the years since.

01:14I'd seen Def Leppard after your accident and losing a limb, which for a drummer, that's

01:20a little bit of an issue.

01:22It at least ruins your day, right?

01:24Yeah, yeah.

01:25It was a little inconvenient.

01:26Yeah, yeah, yeah.

01:27But I remember being intrigued, hearing that you were coming back, and I understood using

01:33trigger pedals how that could be done.

01:36Essentially, your left foot becomes your snare drum.

01:38And I was, you know why I was bummed out, other than the significant pain and issues you

01:43went through of losing your left arm, was that you were one of the few rock guys that

01:48used a traditional grip.

01:49That's true.

01:50Not anymore.

01:51Yeah.

01:52Well, not anymore.

01:53But I mean, it was like you and Stuart Copeland and Carl Palmer, and that was pretty much

01:57it, you know?

01:57No, it was cool.

01:59I mean, you started young playing the drums, and then was it your mother who helped you

02:04place an ad or respond to an ad from Def Leppard at that time?

02:08You were 14, 15?

02:09No, I was playing with the local bands from about the age of 10.

02:1510?

02:15And then at the ripe old age of 14, I was going to quit the business.

02:20And you'd had enough.

02:22I'd had enough.

02:24And I remember coming home one day and saying, Mom, you know, I don't want to do this anymore.

02:32And she found this article in the newspaper, in the local newspaper, and it said, Leopard

02:38Loses Skins.

02:40And we called.

02:42And a couple of days later, I met with Joe and Steve at a local club, and I went for

02:50an audition and got the gig.

02:53It was really funny.

02:54Yeah.

02:54At 14?

02:55And then I joined Def Leppard around about my 15th birthday.

03:00Oh, my God.

03:01What was that like?

03:01And I'm sure you guys were playing bars, clubs, and things like that at that time.

03:05I mean, now, in the UK, is that much of an issue, having a 15-year-old in a bar and a

03:10band?

03:11Because here, they'd have a problem with it.

03:13It wasn't so much of a problem.

03:16But, yeah, I had to sort of stay out of the way, you know.

03:20Yeah.

03:21Get other people to buy beer for me.

03:23There you go.

03:24I was 18.

03:26Yes.

03:27I was playing clubs when I was 18, and it was awesome.

03:31It was great.

03:33It was really funny when we had to share a dressing room with the stripper on a Sunday.

03:39Oh, my God.

03:42How old were the other guys when you were 15?

03:45What were they?

03:46They were probably 8 to 10 years older than me.

03:50Okay.

03:51So, I mean, you were really good.

03:53I mean, the fact that you could, you know, hold your own with, you know, there's just

03:56even, there's a growth spurt that's taking place, and you're still at the beginning of

04:01that, and you're confident enough to land this gig, and then you're off and running.

04:07But, you know, Preston's always talked about your technique, and, yeah, obviously, you've

04:11talked about the accident and everything, but, you know, one of the best behind the musics,

04:18which used to be a great series on VH1, you know, I was a Def Leppard fan before, but

04:22it appeared to me that the band's commitment to you and vice versa was, that to me is such,

04:30that's the story to tell, is that you don't leave your friends, you know, you stick with

04:36it, and the fact that they did, and you've produced, you know, 10 times what anyone could

04:41hope is the story.

04:43It still has to amaze you now as you look back at how it could have gone.

04:46It's really nice of you to say.

04:48It was really family support, support from the guys in the band, and just people reaching

04:57out from all over the world.

04:59Yeah.

04:59Like, I got letters from so many places, like encouragement, and really, I discovered the

05:05power of the human spirit.

05:07And once, you know, I got that, it was, there was no stopping me.

05:13Yeah.

05:14Yeah.

05:14I just wanted to succeed.

05:15Ripped jeans coming back as a fashion statement when Joe Elliott perfected the art of it back

05:23in the days of Def Leppard.

05:25Yeah.

05:25Does that mean officially old when these styles start to come back around that you helped

05:30create?

05:30Isn't it great?

05:31Oh, man.

05:34That is cool.

05:36Funny story.

05:37I went on stage one night, and the guys, they're always, like, making fun of me, whatever.

05:42But I get them back.

05:44Yeah.

05:44So I got off stage, and my jeans are hanging up, and they cut one leg.

05:49Cut one leg.

05:50Come on.

05:51Jeans.

05:52You must have the largest collection of one arm.

06:03I wonder what you were going to say then.

06:04The largest genitals.

06:05No, the largest.

06:07You know, you've heard every, you know, one arm, one hand, every sort of joke you could

06:13get, right?

06:14I'm sure, you know.

06:15There's one or two.

06:16Yeah, one or two.

06:17How long after your accident was it okay for the guys to start?

06:20Because, listen, part of being in a band, part of being in a group, any small group

06:24like ourselves, like the show, is having fun with each other and being able to joke

06:28and give each other a hard time.

06:30How soon after that accident were they starting to have fun with that?

06:34Pretty much immediately.

06:36Yeah, yeah.

06:37Yeah.

06:37It was wishful thinking, but, you know, jokes like one arm and three legs.

06:41Right.

06:42That's a brotherhood thing.

06:44It is, you know.

06:44I do remember shortly after, and you made your return to the stage, that I remember seeing

06:49pictures because I used to get the rock magazines and all that stuff, and there would be people,

06:54there were amputees that would just line up, just could not wait to meet you, and you kind

06:58of became, I mean, hero might be too strong of a word, or a spokesperson for people who

07:03have had that, similar situations like that.

07:05Were you a little overwhelmed by that at first?

07:09No, I could identify with people, and I think it was really cool because people felt like

07:15they knew me, and they could trust me.

07:17You had a commonality.

07:19Yeah.

07:19And I took that, you know, a stage further.

07:22I do a lot of work with our wounded warriors, and actually a portion of the proceeds from

07:28the artwork always goes to our warriors.

07:31The Raven Foundation?

07:32Yeah, Raven Drum Foundation.

07:33Right.

07:34As the legend goes, the producer, Mutt Lang, was, you know, key and critical to you.

07:39Has that been overblown, or was it?

07:41No, not overblown at all.

07:42Yeah.

07:43He really inspired me.

07:45Just an amazing musician, incredible, you know, songwriter, arranger.

07:50Question, what is your favorite song that you guys have created?

07:55I think the one song that just puts me in the right frame of mind and gives me just a feeling

08:03of well-being is the song Hysteria.

08:06Oh, no kidding.

08:07Love that song.

08:08My Def Leppard memory, probably in, I don't know, it was probably in eighth grade.

08:14I know we've got to wrap up, but the most bold fashion statement I've ever made in my

08:19life.

08:19Oh.

08:19I walked into school that morning wearing my sleeveless Union Jack t-shirt that I got before

08:25anybody had their hands on.

08:28We had taken a family trip to San Francisco, and there it was in a shop, and I'm like, oh

08:32my God, and, you know, a photograph had just come out, and Joe wore that shirt, and it was

08:37so iconic, and I wore, people, heads were just snapping around and looking, fantastic.

08:42Where did you get that?

08:44It was amazing, Rick.

08:45You had your own theme song at that point.

08:46I did.

08:47I did.

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