MusicRadar.com's Joe Bosso has issued a new interview with DEF LEPPARD guitarist Phil Collen. The following is an excerpt:

Q: Let's talk about Def Leppard. I understand the band is on a hiatus.

A: "Kind of. We getting some new songs together because we want to release something next year. The plan is to be on the road in 2011, so it'd be nice to get some fresh material out there."

Q: How many new songs has the band has written for the new record?

A: "At the moment, I've got two. Luckily, everybody in the band writes, so we're never usually lacking for material. And it's not like the burden is placed on just one guy, which is good. Our songwriting approach is different from what we used to do. Years ago we used to get in a room and hash things out. These days we write on our own and come into the studio with our demos of finished songs - or mostly finished songs - and we just kind of record 'em. Not all them make the final record. We try to pick the best ones and make well-rounded albums. I still think that's important."

Q: How do you go about recording your demos?

A: "I do them on Logic or GarageBand on my laptop. The only problem is, my hard drive froze about two weeks ago and I've been without a computer. [laughs] So now I've been using my iPhone, recording things into it, which hasn't been so bad, really. I do have Pro-Tools, but to be honest, I haven't touched it in over a year. It's much easier to just lay down my ideas on Logic or GarageBand."

Q: At this early stage, can you speculate as to what the next Def Leppard record will sound like?

A: "I think - and I've been saying this for over a year - that the next album needs to be more raw. What I want to avoid is sounding too clinical, too fussed over. Even when Mutt was involved with us, we did manage to sidestep that. You can kill the vibe of the music if you record it over and over again. So yeah, I just want to go in and make a raw record."

Read the complete interview at this location.