UK-based KomodoRock.com recently caught up with DEF LEPPARD guitarist Phil Collen to discuss his other band, MAN RAZE. An excerpt is available below.

Q: A lot of old bands are reforming and hitting the road at the moment, bands who broke up years ago. Some of them might be better off staying at home, being grandparents etc. What's it doing to the rock business, do you think?

Collen: "Well, because there's no record industry any more, that's what really happened, everyone wanted to see live gigs... People go, 'Oh! Shit! We can do this! We'll reform!' That's what really happened, you've got lots of these bands that shouldn't really... They knocked it on the head ages ago for different reasons, they should have stayed like that. You can actually tell which ones are kinda real..."

Q: It's as if guys from these, if you like, supergroups, are now in a position to do something more individual and creative. Do you get more freedom to do that when you know your main band has “made it”?

Collen: "No! Not all! This is something we've been trying to do for, like, 5 years, trying to get the time to do this [Man Raze]. We've tried it in Def Leppard a million times, tried to write different songs, tried to experiment and things, but no-one really likes it! You put it out and people go, 'Oh...' [pulls a face]. In fact you paint yourself into a corner. So you're really restricted, you can't just do anything you want. Like, say, Prince does anything he wants, pretty much. He's pretty diverse. But with GUNS N' ROSES, they can't. Def Leppard, they definitely can't."

Go to this location to check out the complete interview.