2MMM: First of all Ian welcome back to Australia. This is
about your 3rd visit now?
IG: 4rth
2MMM: Tell me about your new band.
IG: It's a 3 piece, first time I've ever worked with a 3
piece, um, 4 including me, I should include myself. That's 2
Americans, the wishy-washy rhythm section as I ca11 them from San
Francisco. Leonard Hayes plays drums and Brett Bloomfield is the
bass player. The guitar player is Dean Howard.
2MMM: He's a change isn't he from the current album isn't he,
from the Toolbox album.
IG: That's right, we changed the guitar player at Christmas.
Steve wasn't hacking it on stage. Nothing personal but the
chemistry just wasn't right, you know and, um, things have just
slotted into place since Dean's been in the band. He's got music in
his body. I like a guitar player who sits himself down on one hip
when he's playing. I think you can tell someone who's going to get
the groove, you know, 'cause it's the body language, the whole
thing.
2MMM: Now, the day we're doing the interview, the listeners
won't know this, but it's the morning after England beat Australia
in the one day game so I don't mind now reminding you this year's
your 30'" year as a professional singer. That's just to get you
back a bit. But what's significant about that is, on the Toolbox
album, I mean the singing is really exciting and there's a song
called "Don't Hold Me Back" where you hit those high notes just with
ease. I mean, you must be very pleased with the way you're singing
after such a long time?
IG: Yes. I think there are 2 or 3 things that have happened
that have really kicked me up the j ack so and make me pull out the
stops again. One was getting squeezed out of PURPLE .... Which
made me sit back and take stock. Um, another one, I quit smoking
last year, um, approximately 9.25 on 2" December 1991, give or take
a minute or two, was when I had my last cigarette. And the ....
fact we dispensed with the keyboards has got a lot to do with that,
strangely enough. 'Cause keyboards were becoming such a dominant
part of the music, such a, that even when they weren't soloing there
was this wash of sound.... Uh, and you sit in the studio and hear
things sounding as good as that and it kind of makes you lazy, you
know, you feel that there's no gaps for you to do anything. You
don't, there's no need for you to drive it along. Whereas, you
dispense with the keyboards, um, first of a11, your guitar player
gets a lot harder 'cause, you know, he's got all this space. The
rhythm section takes off, and it's an area, and then you get the
feeling ofhow it used to be back in the early 60's, how you used to
have to drive the band along.
"Don't Hold Me Back" played.
2MMM: On the Album Show tonight on MMM and K-ROCK my special
guest is former DEEP PURPLE singer Ian Gillan. Just mentioning the
60's as you did then, what led to you getting the job singing on the
original cast of Jesus Christ Superstar?
IG: um....
2MMM: 'Cause you were unknown to most people then.
IG: Yea, that was, it was Tim Rice heard me singing, um, with
Purple in the clubs in the early days when we were recording Deep
Purple In Rock. And I think he came along and heard the set and
they were just putting this thing together, um, and they were out
ofbudget so we settled for a royalty (laugh).
2MMM: Bad move. Those 4 years, your first stint in DEEP PURPLE you
recorded 2 of the, well, best hard rock albums of all time - Deep
Purple In Rock and Machine Head. Were they happy times and exciting
times for you then, looking back?
IG: Very. Yea it was wonderfully exciting. I think, you know, if
all the ingredients are there you work for years and years and, you
know, the formula changes - you try and replace people and improve
the band all the time.... Until you get something that's settled
and then something like Purple comes along. And it's not only a
great band, it's happening at a time when it's cool to like that
sort of thing. So, you're doing something you really want and it's
coinciding with public taste. That means you're going to have a lot
of success.
2MMM: What got you to leave in 1974?
IG: 73. 30'" June. In Osaka. When I'd given my notice in 9
months beforehand...
2MMM: Why?
IG: I was getting bored out of my brain. I thought it was
getting really boring. They hadn't changed the set for about 2
years. Um, it wasn't the band I joined, simple as that. Rock music
is not, for me, um, there's that sort ofbig rock and roll freeway,
you know, and everyone's sort of drawing ahead here and there, and
going, it's just a, I'd like to get out in the hills every now and
then and take the scenic route and I think it's important to come
back refreshed, you know, back on the highway. Um, I think if you
try to, um, try to recreate the formulas that weren't formulas in
the first place. It was just human chemistry. If you try to
recreate those, um, you get this vast machinery around you -
advisers and producers and managers and record labels and they say
"Well, look, you know, this was a hit record - Woman from Tokyo was,
and Black Night was and Smoke on The Water. And you should be doing
that sort of thing." Now Ritchie's very alert for that kind of
thing, I mean, as you can tell with Rainbow, I mean, he's very, he's
got a good ear for a pop hit, you know, um, but I think DEEP PURPLE
is far more than that. I always believed that completely that those
songs were there by fortune as much as anything else. Um because
they were the radio playable songs off of the album. Um but there
was a far richer sort of tapestry to the music. Um and in the early
days it was great because of the excitement in the rehearsal room
that's how the songs were written, um there was no question of lyric
or melody. It was just a question of the arrangement was there
almost before the song was and, um, that was Ritchie's big mistake I
think – refusing to share the song writing. Um, he thought it was
just a question of notes and tunes and guitar solos. But to
ostracize someone like Jon Lord from the creative part of the band
is beyond my comprehension.
"Highway Star" played.
2MMM: The album show here on MMM and K-ROCK. Was it a mistake to
re-form or get back with the others in 1984?
IG: Not really. No, I thought it was pretty good. I thought, you
know, for one album, it was OK and then the whole sorry mess
surfaced again. I mean, (pause - laugh) maybe it was a mistake I
don't know (laugh). I enjoyed it at the time - I was so excited. I
had the thought that at least we may have been able to put the
problems behind us, you know, and with maturity that some, that some
of the problems that we couldn't understand would have been dealt
with a little easier the second time around but something about
human beings that separates us from all the other creatures on
earth, you know, we learn from our mistakes (laugh).
2MMM: Did you enjoy your year with Black Sabbath?
IG: Loved it.
2MMM: Did you? Was Tony Iommi good to work with?
IG: Tony's great. He's a real, dear friend of mine and I have got,
I think, more (pause) wild rock and roll memories of that year than
I have of the other 28, 29 years - all put together. The wildest
year I ever had of my life - crazy. And the only negative thing
about the whole year was the fact we allowed Geezer Butler to
produce the album or to finish the mix which made it unplayable
because if you leave a bass player alone in the studio you're going
to get terrible results as far as the sound is concerned. But I
thought the album was really good actually and if you can hear under
the muffle, under the blanket of bass, there's some great songs on
the album I think.
2MMM: This is the last thing I'11 ask you about DEEP PURPLE but
what did you think of them getting Joe Lynn Turner backes a singer?
IG: (pause). That was very hard to answer when it first
happened. It's like watching your old lady with another man, you
know, it's very difficult to, well I don't know how good he is
(laugh) - don't ask me that question. And so it used to be quite a
sensitive area. But as time goes along and confidence creeps back
in and that sort of thing, I suppose, I've got to say it doesn't
sound like DEEP PURPLE to me. It sounds like a fine professional
band but, you know, I think it really is Rainbow under a different
name. Politically it's Rainbow. I mean, the power of the band,
it's in Ritchie's hands and the management of Purple, throughout
that whole Perfect Strangers period, was Rainbow's management. And
so, it.. there was a political bias there. Um, but you know, my
dearest friend in the business is Roger Glover. I've worked with
him for 25 years on and off, and, so, even if just for his sake, I
hope it does well. But I think it'11 take a record or two to
re-establish their sound and I think the traditional Purple fans
will find it difficult ever to swallow. Um, but, there's always new
people coming along and they'11 make a new audience for themselves.
"Smoke On The Water" played.
2MMM: Former DEEP PURPLE singer Ian Gillan, Do you get people, I'm
sure you do, yelling out for THAT song during your performances now
- for Smoke on the Water?
IG: Which song is that (laugh)? Smoke on the Water?
2MMM: American Pie.
IG: American Pie? Err....
2MMM: Do you do any DEEP PURPLE songs in your set?
IG: Yea. I think it's vital to do that. I mean, DEEP PURPLE
is a big part of my life and I'm very proud of having been in it and
I think (pause) if I was in the audience I'd want to hear some
Purple songs. So it's very difficult to strike a balance between,
um, sort of a nice gesture to the past and relying on it, you know
what I mean? Um, I was talking to Robert Plant about this at the
Marquee and he wasn't doing ANY Zeppelin songs at all at that time,
and it's very, very hard to make that break and I don't think I ever
will make the break. I don't think it's necessary if you get the
balance right. So we're doing 3 or 4 songs. We're doing "Black
Night" and "Smoke On The Water". Um, and a couple of less, um, well
known songs, things I always wanted to do with Purple. "Maybe I'm A
Leo" - we did that once or twice. Um, and a song we only ever did
once with PURPLE, "When a Blind Man Cries". And Ritchie got sick for
about the 3' or 4'" time and we had to cancel a Canadian tour and
there was a lot of pressure not to cancel the tour. So we got a
replacement for Ritchie. He was only going to be off for a week or so
and we got Randy California in and it was great, absolutely
phenomenal. And we did a show at the Maple Leaf Gardens and, uh, he
said "Do you mind if we do the song "When A Blind Man Cries?" He
said "I love the song?" Yea, sure, so we did it. And it was
killer, just killer. And I mean the show went down so we11, it
raised the roof. And I could see all these tense looks back stage
as I came off and I thought "miserable load of sods!" you know. And
he was fired after the show 'cause he went down so well. Ritchie
phoned up. I guess if we had failed miserably then.... Ritchie
didn't have any threats to his position, he didn't have to feel
worried or anything like that, but, so the tour was cancelled
anyway, till he was well. So, and that was the only other time I
did it.
2MMM: Look, it's been great to talk to you this evening. It's
great to have you back in Australia. You know you've got a
tremendous lot of fans in this country that love the DEEP PURPLE
music and love what you're doing now with your 4 piece. Continued
good luck with your recording and thanks for all the great music.
IG: Cheers, mate.
"Hang Me Out To Dry" played.
2MMM: Ian Gillan's new band, named after himself, Gillan, and a
track called Hang Me Out To Dry. And the opening track of our
interview tonight was called "Don't Hold Me Back". As you can hear,
he's in fantastic voice for that long and if you'd like to win a
copy...........
Interview transcribed by Colin Hadden
Slightly edited and transfered to HTML by Andreas Thul