AC/DC Bassist Says 'Nothing Is Set In Concrete' Regarding New Album

Thomas S.Orwat Jr. of Glam-Metal.com recently conducted an interview with AC/DC bassist Cliff Williams about the Classic Rock Cares charity project, which also includes AC/DC singer Brian Johnson, Joe Lynn Turner (ex-RAINBOW, DEEP PURPLE) and Steve Luongo, who played in THE JOHN ENTWISTLE BAND. Proceeds from the tour will go to the John Entwistle Foundation, whose "primary mission is to help provide free music education and instruments for underprivileged children through the public library system." A couple of excerpts from the chat follow:

Glam-Metal.com: You have always kept a pretty low profile while on break from AC/DC, you must really believe in this charity to go out and tour in support of it.

Cliff: You know, why not, it's a great thing to do. It's all good. And we get to play and raise a little money for the charity. And that's great, I love that. But the main thing is that AC/DC has been off the charts for a little while and quite frankly when we get back together again, I want to know what end of a bass guitar I'm suppose to pick up first. I need to play and Brian needs to sing. What a great way to do it like this.

Glam-Metal.com: Have you ever consider putting out a solo CD during your down time?

Cliff: No, I toyed with that idea twenty years ago, but that's nothing that I want to do, not at all. I very happy with AC/DC, I've been with them for thirty years, that's very fulfilling for me and I love when we get together and play. This side project is also a lot of fun and I'm enjoying it and that's certainly enough for me.

Glam-Metal.com: You've established yourself as one of the most influential bass players in rock, you've played on releases that sold millions of CDs and are in one of the biggest rock bands ever. Is there anything else that you would still like to accomplish in your career that you haven't?

Cliff: Wow… I'm not chasing anything. I'm just enjoying playing and I'm happy that I still can. There's no goal that I'm aiming to achieve at all. I've been very fortunate in my career and I'm still really enjoying it. So I guess if there anything that I still want to do, it's doing what I do.

Glam-Metal.com: Being a huge fan of the "Highway To Hell" era of AC/DC, I need to ask this. What was that final tour like with Bon Scott and could you sense at that point that the band was going to exploded in popularity?

Cliff: I guess we started to get a smell of it, but prior to "Black In Black" exploding all over the planet, not really. You know that stuff kind of creeps up on you. You are just doing your day by day stuff and then you find out and all of a sudden bang. We kind of got a smell and then it just went nuts.

Glam-Metal.com: What is your favorite AC/DC record?

Cliff: I would have to say "Powerage". That was the first one that I played on and it has some great songs on it. It was very important record for me. And of course I like "Back in Black" a lot too.

Glam-Metal.com: There are a lot of rumors about AC/DC putting out a new CD and touring in 2008. Is there any truth to that?

Cliff: Nothing is set in concrete at all. I hear these rumors too. But when Malcolm and Angus [Young] are ready and they got all the stuff together, they will call us and we'll get together and get it done. We never plan a head that far, except for when the guys are happy with what they have, then that's when it rolls. And that can happen anytime. We've been doing this a long time, and it's OK to take a break. But any rumors that you heard are just that.

Glam-Metal.com: When do you get that call, how long does it take to record the new material?

Cliff: When we get together they have almost everything mapped out. At that point it's just playing it and if we can add anything, we do.

Read the entire interview at Glam-Metal.com.