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Still vulnerable
Louder has published online their Whoosh feature that originally appeared in Classic Rock magazine issue 278. All five members of the band have been interviewed for the article.
Ian Gillan:
When somebody suggests you make a new Deep Purple album, do you think: “Oh God, not again?”
No, no, no. Quite the reverse. We went through a time years ago when everyone seemed under the weather for whatever reason, then everyone felt a bit better and the energy came back, When that’s there, you’ve just got to find an outlet for it.
Whoosh! is like the last two Purple records in that it sounds like a bunch of mates having a good time.
Absolutely right. Everything is done together. We write the songs together, we arrange them together, we record them together. Hopefully that joy and immediacy comes across. You can’t recreate it artificially.
Ian Paice:
Have you ever thought: “Oh no, not again”, when someone has suggested recording a new album?
I used to. Hanging around in the studio and doing nothing is soul destroying. Especially when you hear it and it doesn’t sound very good. I don’t think any of us have enjoyed it like this for a long, long time.
That title, Whoosh!, is that what Purple’s career has felt like? That the past fifty-plus years have gone by in a flash.
Domestically, yes. When it comes to family stuff, it’s flown by. But in terms of the band, no. I can remember all the times, good and bad. But there are other ways to look at that title: the things we’ve been going through for the last couple of months, the problems we’re creating on this glorious little ball we live on. We could be here and gone that quickly.
Steve Morse:
Whoosh! is the seventh album you’ve done with Deep Purple. Is it still fun?
Oh yeah. There’s nothing about it that’s too serious – listen to songs like And The Address and What The What. I feel like the Ians and Roger don’t feel right unless we’re getting near a recording/touring cycle again. I remember asking Rog: “Why don’t we just do a song every few months and release it on the website. Why does it have to be such a big production?” And Roger says: “Because that’s what we do.”
I’m guessing that Purple are a band steeped in traditions.
Yeah. There are some things you just don’t do. Like making a change in the set-list, or inviting somebody to ride in the van. And you don’t keep people waiting. If you’re on time in Deep Purple, you’re late. I’m not joking.
Don Airey:
Were you surprised when the band decided to make this new album?
We didn’t expect to go back in the studio, but everybody was ready for it. We had a lot of material, everybody was up for it.
And you had Bob Ezrin.
He doesn’t brook any delay, there’s no excuses. The job gets done no matter what. He’s brilliant at corralling you all together and setting you on the same path. I don’t understand how he does it. He’s at least two steps ahead of me.
Was that discipline missing before?
When I came in they were in total shock that Jon had left. But I think the band was at quite a lazy stage in its life as well. It’s funny, I came in for three dates and here I am eighteen years later.
Roger Glover:
What was better about being in Deep Purple in 1970 compared to being in Deep Purple now?
Women [laughs]. You’re basically asking me what I enjoyed about being twenty. Being in a big hit band in the seventies, it was every schoolboy’s dream. But it’s all a whirl now.
What’s better about being in Deep Purple now compared to being in Deep Purple in 1970?
[Thinks] I don’t know, really. As things change, some things remain. The attitude towards our music is the same, but you get a different view of things. Certainly songwriting. We don’t write as naïve twenty-year-olds. There’s more of an ease to what we do. We’re not so desperate. But you’re putting something out there for people to judge, so you’re still vulnerable. Even after all this time.
Read more in Louder Sound.
Thanks to Gary Poronovich for the info.
Unauthorized copying, while sometimes necessary, is never as good as the real thing
Always amazing!
September 10th, 2020 at 14:34Love the record!
Thanks guys!
For those of you that thought Damian Salazar’s cover of SIFLS was a bit of a tough cookie to swallow…. then this little effort from the 1970’s might just take your life!.
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=3Ikp_fInvok
It made my day! 😊 chào!.
September 11th, 2020 at 00:19A new Deep Purple album is one the best gift that we will get in 2021! 👍👍👍
September 11th, 2020 at 05:44Nothing to do with the story, but stumbled across a video of John Coletta’s granddaughter reacting to Smoke. Just a weird tidbit for ya.
https://youtu.be/yOtF4HPOO3Q
September 11th, 2020 at 19:02I think it is time for a remix of Rapture of the Deep. Roger has some down time. The album has a lot of really great songs on it. In fact, I think the song “ROTD” is Don’s finest hour in the band. “Clearly Quite Absurd” and the bonus track “Things I Never Said” are DP at their finest. There is not a bad song on the album. The production lacks. Remix!
September 14th, 2020 at 15:50