If you know music, then you've heard of the Sex Pistols. Or perhaps you remember Girl, a UK band that achieved some popularity back in the early '80s. You've certainly heard of Def Leppard, right? If not, then you don't know music and you should stop here, or continue reading and educate yourself. It starts with an unlikely trio of extraordinary musicians that include, Phil Collen (Def Leppard), Paul Cook (Sex Pistols) and Simon Laffy (Girl). They have created an eclectic array of songs for their debut album, released by VH1 Records on June 3rd titled Surreal. With a little something for everyone, the songs range from straight ahead rock, to memories of Sex Pistol punk with some reggae thrown in the mix for the sheer fun of it. And don't be fooled, this record is fun!! The strength of these three talented musicians has been their versatility. Always thinking outside the box, they have come up with original material that doesn't "fit" into any one genre. Their lead-off single titled “Turn It Up” is a catchy little riff, with memories of Sex Pistols and Phil Collen's strong vocals are able to shine and add extra punch to the tune. This is probably one of the best albums to come out so far this year. It's simple, raw, and it works.

I had the chance to chat with Phil Collen last week to talk about the new album, his band mates, and about the music. Original, fresh and inspiring, this is one record everyone needs to go out and purchase--today. You won't be sorry. “Turn It Up”, indeed.

TINA PEEK: Hi Phil, how are you?

PHIL COLLEN: I'm good, I can barely hear you, you sound like you're in a tin can!

TP: Does it? It must be because I've got you on speaker phone. I'll make sure I speak up for you... How's this, does it help?

PC: It does a little bit, yeah.

TP: I'm so excited to be talking to you about your new venture/rock band, Man Raze. What a fantastic line-up, absolutely brilliant, with yourself, Paul Cook (Sex Pistols) and your long-time friend and ex-bandmate from your Girl days, Simon Laffy! How did this unlikely trio come together to form Man Raze?

PC: I was staying in London (UK), I'm based in London right now, but I was there with my dad just before he passed away, just hanging out with him really. And while I was there, me and Simon just hooked up again and started writing songs. We'd never really written songs before, I mean, even in all that time in Girl we had never really sat down and actually got together to write songs. So we started doing this and we said, "This would be great if Paul Cook was the drummer!" I mean, literally. [laughs] And I saw Paul just a couple of days later in the street and it was like, “Well that was weird.” It was one of them moments. So we went and rehearsed, and I knew Paul from, just from being in London really, from being around in the mid-70's and stuff. And we went and rehearsed and it just clicked. It just worked straight off the bat! And it's been working for us ever since really. We keep improving and working on the sound. We had a natural thing about it; that's what was most exciting.

TP: How did you come up with the name Man Raze?

PC: It's really funny. At first, me and Joe Elliot from Def Leppard, we're always making up band names like, "Oh this is a cool name," or "Oh that would be cool for a girl band," or "That'd be great for a boy band," and The Stay Rays would be good, you know, like The King Kong Girls? And all of a sudden in Man Raze, we needed a name, so I suggested that, but I was like, "Naa, it's kind of a bit campy." I mean, it's a camp thing in England, we should get something more manly. "So what about Man Ray?" And we thought, "No, maybe not." So we just literally changed it. We changed the style and the meaning a bit so it's not a person, but it's kind of a macho sounding name and that was it really, that's how it came about.

TP: The full-length album titled Surreal, was just released on June 3rd by VH1 Classics Records, but truth be told, it's really been a long time in the making, hasn't it Phil?

PC: Yeah, it's been like three years. Although we only, the main dub, we're only talking about 2 weeks, again in Dublin, at Joe's Place. We'd done a gig, we'd rehearsed a lot, but when we got together and started playing in Raze, it really started taking on shape and we'd begun to see that, and it was like a real creative explosion. It was one of them classic, magic moments that you read about and that you hope happens now and again, and it actually really did. It was like, all of a sudden, we had a different concept for it and an agenda and it was like, “Let's make this more aggressive and more fun.” And we did. We just went off on a tangent. Like totally out of the blue, Paul would suggest something, like a drum tam and we had this reggae song and he was like, "What if we did this a bit more like Coldplay?" And he just played his thing and it was "Every Second Of Every Day", and it just really kicked in and all of a sudden it just worked perfectly. So there were a lot of little things happening like that, that were really special actually.

TP: I'm sure a few people are going to wonder what the album is going to sound like with such a diverse group of individuals such as yourselves, but the album rocks! The songs are fresh and original...a couple are straight ahead rock songs, a couple have that Sex Pistol punkiness to them and there's even a bit of reggae thrown into the mix. Certainly to me, one of the best albums, in the sense of originality and uniqueness, to come along in a very long time Phil.

PC: Thanks!

TP: You're welcome! I sincerely mean that, the album is phenomenal. Did you write most of the songs, or was this a collaboration of the three of you, once the band became a realization?

PC: I think that the chemistry and that, was more a band thing, I'd come up with a few ideas floating around, but me and Simon, we just kind of bounced ideas off each other all of the time, because like I said, we'd never really written before and even lyrically, we were on the same page. It was slightly political things, but you're making them a bit more cryptic, so it's not obvious and not kind of standing on a little box or anything. So we were totally on the same page about that and just making it a fun rock album. It's kind of hard to do that a lot of the time you know, someone say's they're gonna' come play in or it's shallow, lyrically, or whatever. So we all kind of clicked and we were all on the same page as far as that goes. And Paul definitely helped you know, he's the first person who goes, he's very basic about it, he goes, "That's crap," or "We can't do that." And we just really, it just clicked, it bounced, and we done all the right things. We were thrilled really. And up until that point, we were still experimenting. And with Paul, there was such an excitement to it when we got to record it and it was great. I can't say enough about that!

TP: How many songs did you write initially, before whittling it down to the 12 tracks that made it on the debut album?

PC: I think it was about 15, and there's a few left over that now. There were a couple of songs that we felt were too commercial, but I think now if we done them, knowing that we have a bit of a sound and a direction, they'll take on a totally different light and life really. So we're already thinking about the next album, and I was writing a new song the other day, out on tour with Def Leppard, and I was sittin' in the hotel, just coming up with a new idea for that. It's going to be along the same lines, but it's just a progression, so I'm really excited about that as well.

TP: When you first started writing songs for SURREAL, did you know at the time, or had you considered then, that this might be the start of a new phase or direction in your life?

PC: I didn't. There was something, if someone had mentioned and said, "What is this? Is this a scratch that you've been wanting to itch?" And it kind of was, with the Leppard stuff, which I do a lot of the writing with Def Leppard as well, but there's certain things we can't do. We'd gone out and wrote Slang in '96 and everyone hated it. The band loved it, but it was too diverse and no one excepted it, and there was another part of me that really wanted to get some stuff out, and there was not a hope in hell that I'd be able to do it on a Def Leppard album. So this was really cool, especially because it grew, and I hate saying this, but it really grew organically. It was like a real natural thing. It just took on it's own life really, it's own direction. That was really good and it actually helped me with songwriting, because I kind of had a bit of a writer’s block, but all of a sudden I could just express anything I wanted, and if one would work with Def Leppard and one wouldn't, then it would definitely work for Man Raze, or vice versa.

TP: Exactly. And just so everyone is clear, this is not a side-project for you is it? This is an honest-to-goodness, serious, rock band correct?

PC: Absolutely, absolutely! We're going to be doing some gigs and just really excited about that you know, the whole emphasis is completely different because it's a classic three-piece band in the Nirvana/Police tremendous experience. It kind of goes along those lines. And you know, I've never really experienced that before. That was the fun part about it, you know? I've been playing guitar for years and singing and stuff, but all of a sudden, it was like a brand new thing for me. And for everyone in the band, it was like “Wow!” Everyone could go in different roles, “great!”

TP: Man Raze has played a couple of live shows, one, a sold-out gig at the Spitz Club in London, England in 2005 and the other at a rehearsal studio in Los Angeles (California) earlier this year. How difficult will it be for the three of you to play more live shows together, given that you're out touring with Def Leppard to promote the new album, Songs From The Sparkle Lounge and Paul will be busy touring again with the Sex Pistols?

PC: We're actually talking about that now. I think we're going to try and do, and this isn't a definite, but we're gonna try and play some east coast shows in September.

TP: Cool!

PC: So that would be really cool. I don't know how many we're gonna do, but we're just trying to get that together and trying to get some TV appearances, or maybe get some radio stuff that we can actually just tie it in.

TP: Very cool.

PC: That would be really cool for that, yeah.

TP: "Turn It Up" is the first single released off the album in the States, but in the UK you actually released a limited edition LP Skin Crawl as the debut single in 2005. My favourite is "Turn It Up". I love the punky overtones in it. What made you decide to release that song, rather than "Skin Crawl"?

PC: Well when we released Skin Crawl in England, the band is an English--well actually, the band is a London band--we met, we've rehearsed, we done all the original writing and stuff in London. So Skin Crawl came out in England first and we actually hadn't even written “Turn It Up” at that point. That was the last song to get in really, and it was done in bits right towards the end, towards the end of the album. Again, I think it's a better lead-off track and it's more really what we're about, even the subject matter, it's almost like you see people walk around with iPods and that, but it references a lot of music that the three of us kind of listened to in the '70s, the kind of rock music or reggae. Just coming from London, there was so much diversity and so much amazing music and different cultures, blends and stuff, if you live in a big city...do you live in New York?

TP: Actually the magazine is based out of New York, but I'm in Toronto.

PC: Again, New York, Toronto, Paris, London, there's a lot of kind of mixing going off and I think that it's really good for our eyes or something, it just keeps a lot of things open. And that was one of the things about it and that was what we kind of gave a nod to, that kind of upbringing if you like, musically, the reggae, the punk, the rock and everything just coming together really.

TP: Yeah, it's very diverse, that's what I love about the album, you're not single-minded, stuck in one genre. You've got a bunch of different genres mixed into one album, but they blend and it works. It's an incredible piece of work, I love the album, I really do!

PC: That is so cool, thanks!

TP: You're welcome! You've also launched an official video channel on YouTube a couple of months ago and you have a band run MySpace site that gives the band basically, total control, with pre-approved clips of your performances, etc. I noticed that you've got a lot of live footage of the three of you jamming and rehearsing, playing live and chatting it up. You've even made a “documentary movie” of sorts. Do you find it's been helpful having this type of media available for your fans to view and what made you decide to promote the album via those channels first?

PC: I do think it's important. I think in this day and age it's very important. But I also think that it's exciting doing that stuff, especially now that we have record companies disappearing and stuff like that, and a lot of it goes back to the artists and to the control of it. So I think it's really good if you have loads of, you know, you can express yourself in lots of different ways, it's really cool.

TP: And of course, you've found it helps the band doing it that way?

PC: Yeah, I mean, Simon's really, really into that and he's based here in London and what was a treat is he's on top of that all the time. And a lot of times, especially with me and Paul being away, Simon chases us up all the time, and we have Bubble Up, which is a website with people that are really into that stuff, and they have some great ideas and it all works fantastic!

TP: That's excellent. You also own your own label, Surrealist Records, in the UK. Is Surrealist owned solely by you, or are Paul and Simon part-owners as well?

PC: Yeah absolutely, yes it's the three of us.

TP: So what made you decide to start your own label?

PC: I just think that later on it would be, like we've even talked about getting some other artists on there at some point, but obviously we've got a long way to go yet. We've still got our own stuff on the go but it would be nice to actually do that, to sign some artists or different bands, you know, have a proper label. It would be a nice thing. I think it's a creative thing as well. It doesn't just have to be either writing books, but you can do some creative business stuff as well, whatever you're passionate about, be it music or something. I think it's a great way to, I dunno, to keep it all burning and give a little bit back and all these things it's just great.

TP: Is there a song on the album that you're particularly proud of, or one that means more to you than the others?

PC: I think “Turn It Up”, just because of the subject matter, is probably one of my favourite ones. But I've got a few of them, “Runnin’ Me Up”, and again, it's what some of these songs are actually about, “Spinning It Out” is great, “Connected (With You)” and stuff like that, they're all a lot of fun you know. I have a lot of them, lots of favourites.

TP: So your fans can certainly expect to see you in September at some point, at least some of your fans. Do you think playing smaller venues and clubs again, going back to your roots, kind of where it all began when you played in Girl back in the UK, will be a refreshing change from the larger, less intimate settings of the stadium arenas that you're used to playing now with Def Leppard? Does it get you excited, kind of like being a kid again?

PC: That's interesting actually. If it was Def Leppard doing these places, then I'd say no, we'd actually done one just a while ago, in Islington in London. It was okay, but I think I prefer playing huge places, you know? We've just been in Eastern Europe, and we've just been playing outdoor festivals and stuff like that and it's been great. But I think for Man Raze, it's a great way to start. It's sweaty and it's to do with the music, because it's kind of like that. So I am looking forward to that.

TP: So is there anything you'd like to add that I haven't asked you, or any messages to your fans that you'd like to get out there today Phil?

PC: Just that we're really excited about it and we just can't wait to get out there. It seems that we're trying so hard to get there and play and it's, we're not being stopped, it's kind of, we're having to be patient because we've got all this other stuff going on as well, which is exciting. I saw the Pistols and they were fantastic, it was just when they kicked their tour off and that was great! And so it was really good for Paul, I think it's especially good that me and Paul are on tour, because when we both get to play some Man Raze shows, we're going to be on fire, you know, just from playing and singing every night we'll be ready to go. So the Man Raze shows in September are gonna be really exciting, because we're trying to get on a tour as well.

TP: Oh are you?

PC: In November, yeah, we're going to try and jump on someone else’s tour, and the fact that we're just a three piece, we can kind of rough it ya' know? We can just get out there and just have some fun with it. And it really is nice to do that without having all the production—which I love, don't get me wrong, with Def Leppard we've got these 50 foot screens and a ramp going out the front and it's a blast, but it's also really exciting to be able to do this again as well, just a totally different thing, it's almost like having another job. [laughs] It's just totally different.

TP: Exactly, exactly. Well the best of luck with Man Raze Phil. I can't say enough about the album, and I hope that I get a chance to see the three of you perform live one of these days. What a mix—classic rock, a little Sex Pistols punk and a little Girl thrown in, who would've thought that that would work? But it works fantastic!

PC: Yeah and the great thing about it, we weren't sure at first, but it really did. It kind of just kept growing, and it ended up sounding, in reality, like it sounded in our heads two years prior to that, so that was really cool.

TP: Yeah it is, and I just want to thank you so much for your time today. It was a pleasure talking to you!

PC: Thank you!