Beatweek Magazine recently caught up with DEF LEPPARD guitarist Vivian Campbell (pictured left). An excerpt from the interview is available below:

Q: The music industry has changed profusely due to the Internet over the last several years. Do you feel that it is easier or more difficult to make it these days as an artist?

Campbell: "It is completely different now than when I started. The Internet has definitely opened doors and leveled the playing field for musicians. There is really no filter now, which also means that there is a lot of crap. You really have to hunt for the good stuff."

Q: Your thoughts on all of the new technology now available?

Campbell: "Technology has made it much easier to make and manipulate music. Studio-driven, machine-driven music does not always transcend into being a good live act. Many current acts are great live, but many cannot cut it live. The music is not organic."

Q: In your opinion, are these changes then damaging to new artists?

Campbell: "These are very difficult times for new artists. Back in the day, a hit song could really seep into a person’s DNA with radio and MTV. A hit today is not the same as a hit twenty years ago. Now there is so much competition, it is very hard to reach the people. The music scene is so overly saturated. There are no gatekeepers like there used to be."

Q: The solution?

Campbell: "Live music. Live music is the last frontier. This is why I personally love to play in front of a live audience. I started by playing live shows and immediately loved it. There is just no feeling like the instant satisfaction of real music in real time in front of real people. Nothing is greater than that type of instant gratification."

Q: One more issue that the Internet has created is piracy. Your thoughts on this?

Campbell: "Now, this is just my personal opinion – not a Def Leppard opinion. Many people may think this sounds crass, but again, just my personal opinion. I don’t necessarily think of music piracy as a bad thing for bands like us. It is very hard on new bands, however. But, for us it has brought us younger fans. The Internet is not a bad thing in this way. I know there are kids out there who have our entire catalogue on their iPods, and I am pretty sure they didn’t all pay for it. But, maybe those same kids will buy a ticket and come to a concert."

Go to this locatzion for the complete interview.

Def Leppard will be returning to Japan this November for two shows in Osaka and Tokyo. Tickets go on sale July 16th. For all show details click here.

Dates include:

November

5 - Grand Cube Osaka - Nakanoshima, Kita-ku, Osaka
7 - Tokyo International Forum - Marunouchi Chiyoda-ku, Tokyo

Def Leppard's official YouTube page recently posted professionally-shot footage of the band performing their classic 'Animal' during rehearsals for the Summer 2011 Mirror Ball Tour in Belfast, Northern Ireland. Check out the clip below:

Def Leppard's Mirror Ball (Live & More) - a behind-the-scenes one hour radio special - is currently airing and streaming on over 100-plus radio stations in the US. This special radio program includes band interviews, details about the making of the band's first ever live album, plus new songs taken from Mirror Ball. Stream the entire three-part special here.

Def Leppard's new live album, Mirror Ball (Live & More), landed at #16 on the Billboard 200, selling approximately 20,000 copies in the US in it's first week of release.

Mirror Ball is available exclusively at Walmart and Sam's Club locations in the United States and Canada. The triple disc package features two CDs and a 50 minute DVD containing live performances and intimate backstage footage of the band captured on the road. The album also brings together three brand new studio tracks - 'Undefeated', 'Kings Of The World' and 'It's All About Believin'.

Mirror Ball tracklisting:

Disc 1:

'Rock! Rock! (Till You Drop)'

'Rocket'

'Animal'

'C'Mon C'Mon'

'Make Love Like A Man'

'Too Late For Love'

'Foolin''

'Nine Lives'

'Love Bites'

'Rock On'

Disc 2: (DVD)

'Rock! Rock! (Till You Drop)'

'Armageddon It'

'Pour Some Sugar On Me'

'Hysteria'

'Nine Lives' (music video)

'C'Mon C'Mon' (music video)

Disc 3:

'Two Steps Behind'

'Bringin' On The Heartbreak'

'Switch 625'

'Hysteria'

'Armageddon It'

'Photograph'

'Pour Some Sugar On Me'

'Rock Of Ages'

'Let's Get Rocked'

'Action'

'Bad Actress'

'Undefeated'

'Kings Of The World'

'It's All About Believin''