Metal Edge: It’s a pleasure to speak with you, Rick. I have been following Def Leppard since 1980 and actually saw you open for AC/DC when you toured for On Through The Night. In fact, I still have the t-shirt I bought that night, and I’m happy to report it’s still in one piece.

Rick Allen: That’s fantastic. I’ve ended up giving all my t-shirts away. Part of having the foundation is to bring in funds anyway we can, and old t-shirts are really good for that.

Metal Edge: How and when did you find out about drum circles?

Rick Allen: I found out about them through people that I knew, and I started actively doing them around the end of 2000. I had been to a couple of large drum circles across California before forming the foundation.

Metal Edge: It’s no secret that you had some problems with drugs and alcohol throughout the years, as has been documented on VH1 Behind the Music. Would you say drum circles helped you?

Rick: I think the human condition is filled with trauma, but unfortunately some of us are more traumatized than others by various life experiences. I totally believe, through my own experiences, that unchecked trauma in the body manifests new obsessions like alcohol addition, drug addiction, sexual addiction, gambling, you name it. And one of the things Raven Drum is trying to do at the moment is to help those who are coming out of a war zone through our Trauma and Resiliency Program. It is a comprehensive program of all different sorts of trauma therapy; what works for you might not necessarily work for me. I think a combination of different therapies under one roof might be able to make a difference. So along with a trauma specialist, we’re putting these programs together, and I’m kind of going through all the different therapies just to show I’m not just reading this through a textbook. I’m going through the experience of it.

Metal Edge: I don’t think people realize that music can be part of the healing process for many problems.

Rick: It really is. I’ve found through my own experiences that what music, or prayer, or any kind of ritual actually does is stop the intellect for a moment and allow the heart to really experience what it is that you are doing. And that’s the trick: getting the head out of the way so that the heart can really help with the healing.

       Rick at a drum circle in Thousand Oaks, California, in 2006.

Metal Edge: I can relate to that. I’m a cancer survivor, and when I was going through my radiation treatments I had to escape reality afterwards. I found myself listening to a lot of my favorite albums I grew up on just to get through it.

Rick: That’s what I did when I was in the hospital [after the accident]. I asked my brother to bring my stereo system and my music in, and it was a great way to rehab. A great way for me to heal was listening to the music that I grew up with.

Metal Edge: I think the hospital I went to understood that as well. Everyone was really positive, and there was always music playing in the treatment room.

Rick: That’s excellent. The interesting thing is when you put music in connection with intention; that’s what really drum circle means to us. Drum circle is almost like a metaphor for community. It has been done for thousands and thousands of years. Drum circle and gatherings like it have been used to uplift the people in the community that weren’t doing as well as everybody else. It was a place where we could sit down and mourn the dead, where we could bring in new life and [discuss] any major decisions that needed to be made. That was normally where it happened as a unit, as a tribe. So as I said, it’s a very ancient form, and it’s difficult to explain it to anybody who hasn’t experienced it. It’s like trying to explain chocolate. You have to go through it in order to really get the benefits. It’s experiential.

Metal Edge: I understand you started the foundation with your wife. How did you meet Lauren? 

Rick: She was teaching at the Boulder College of Massage Therapy, and she was teaching what they call energy medicine, which is the study of the energy body, the part of the body you don’t necessarily see. Attending some of her classes really gave me a language for many of the experiences I’ve been through. We kept in touch with each other for about six months, and then she made the suggestion that we get together and put this foundation together, so it’s been a fantastic journey for both of us.

Metal Edge: Where do you do the drum circles?

Rick: We’ve done them all over the world. We used to visit a council ward in my hometown in Sheffield. We also get involved with various organizations, but mainly in California, more personal ones where people are going through cancer survival or alternative cancer therapy. We don’t necessarily publicize the fact because that’s not what it is about. It’s about Lauren and myself showing up and offering them our experience of the drum and how we know that for such an ancient form, it could really help people on the road to recovery.

Metal Edge: Do Def Leppard fans attend these just to meet you?

Rick: Well, most of these programs are private. The public drum circles are more geared towards fundraising. For instance, we were working with a teenage penitentiary a lot and are used to working with unconsecrated teens. Obviously you can’t go in there with a camera. There are a lot of situations that we are very sensitive to and there are things you just don’t do. We are there to perform a specific task, and that is to help the people that are there, not be a publicity opportunity.

Metal Edge: How do you choose the places to go for the foundation?

Rick: I have to say where it’s needed, which I know is a little open-ended, but we are constantly making new relationships. And the one that we are concentrating the most on at the moment is with the military. We have some very strong relationships with the military in America, so it’s a good way for us to take advantage of that.

Metal Edge: I’m sure it’s a great release for war veterans who are going through Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder.

                                                                                                                                                                                The Raven Drum Foundation visits Haiti.

Rick: We have a person with our organization that was in Desert Storm, and I’m constantly sending him stuff, like music I’ve put together and ideas for the drum circle and asking how effective it was. We don’t want to go around and say that this is the best thing, that this is going to heal you – that’s up to the individual. All you can do is put it out there as an experience. Once people have been through the [drum circle] experience, it’s easier to express that to somebody else because it becomes part of your heart. It’s part of you.

Metal Edge: Well, that‘s the same with any personal life-changing experience. It’s like somebody asking you what it feels like to lose your arm. How can you possibly explain that?

Rick: Exactly. It’s crazy. One of the comments people initially would tell me is, “Well, I don’t know what I would have done if I had been in that situation,” and I would just say, “Neither did I.” What choice is there?

Metal Edge: It pretty much puts things in perspective, doesn’t it?

Rick: For sure. I’m very much in a place of gratitude these days. People around you, people who love you, family, relationships – that’s what’s important.

For more information or to make a donation to the Raven Drum Foundation, visit www.ravendrumfoundation.org , or write to: The Raven Drum Foundation, 9595 Wilshire Blvd, Ste. 900, Beverly Hills, CA 90212