Fingers do the talking
Couple of interviews courtesy of Made in Metal. Roger Glover and Ian Gillan talk about Machine Head, Loosen My Strings, poetic licences, Ritchie’s shoes, and other interesting things.
Thanks to Blabbermouth for the heads-up.
![[hand]](/hs-pics/portraits/hands/gillan2.jpg)
![[face]](/hs-pics/portraits/faces/airey2.jpg)
Couple of interviews courtesy of Made in Metal. Roger Glover and Ian Gillan talk about Machine Head, Loosen My Strings, poetic licences, Ritchie’s shoes, and other interesting things.
Thanks to Blabbermouth for the heads-up.
Unauthorized copying, while sometimes necessary, is never as good as the real thing
Yo,
Both interviews were OK, Roger’s being on-camera, & Ian’s being voice only…I find that there’s many questions that I’d like to ask both of them, & yet, the interviewers gloss over the subject matter superficially, without any real depth imo.
For myself, I would have asked Ian if he’s keeping in-touch with Steve, since both have lost their wives within a year of each other, & let the discussion go from there. No need for nitty-gritty, but the two were happy band-mates for over 25-years, if you know what I mean…
That said, there’s nothing really of note that we don’t already know or haven’t heard before or discussed, except that maybe Ian is taking it one-year-at-a-time with regards to touring.
Peace !
May 25th, 2024 at 10:15@1
May 25th, 2024 at 13:39I think the reason interviewers gloss over subject matter superficially without any real depth is because they are afraid if they don’t it may be the last time they get an interview. There are so many questions I would ask that nobody ever asks but I would take a chance and if it happens to be a one and done so be it. Don’t get me wrong I wouldn’t ask anything inappropriate or hard hitting, they would be more information based. I think as a fan we all want to learn a little something from every interview that we never knew before.
I think once you’re turning 80, a general “0ne year at a time”-approach speaks for realism!
Re the ‘two widowers’ thing, I would imagine that Ian and Steve deal with pain and loss very differently. I wouldn’t be surprised if Ian, a complex man, overcomes grief in a much more withdrawn way than Steve who seems to be dealing with the situation via a flurry of activities and is perhaps more the community- and human bonding-seeking type.
Whatever is good for both of them, each to their own.
May 25th, 2024 at 14:42paradoxically Ian talks a lot more about the “enemy” Ritchie, compared to Steve….when Steve was in the band he wouldn’t have cut it short like “the door is closed”….I think Ian -and maybe also the other Purples- had harsh words and hurt hearts with Steve when he decided to leave…..
And we understood that the Dweezil Zappa remix makes our dear Roger vomit!
May 25th, 2024 at 23:43Peoples personal lives have nothing to do with anyone else, except in some cases family & close associates etc. Many interviewers are asked or told NOT to mention certain things and rightly so. Some wouldn’t ever ask or probe at all. Cheers.
May 25th, 2024 at 23:46I enjoyed Roger Glover mentioning the Loosen My Strings story, a nice song it is. I have not listened to the Gillan interview as yet, maybe later on sometime. Cheers.
May 26th, 2024 at 00:29Yo,
I’m pretty-sure that questions are generally vetted by management before the green-light for the interview takes place.
However, imo, great question that “should be asked” goes along the lines of this…To either IG, RG, SM, or anyone in the band less Simon…( Often discussion helps with dealing with a circumstance )…
Q. It must have been difficult for the band to have to lose Steve for personal reasons at home, only to then learn that IG has had the same loss in his personal life too within a 12-month period. Did you all pull together & support each other, or deal with matters in your own ways ???…
A question like this is about the band circumstance & reaction, & if / should a reply ever happen, it’s up to that individual to disclose what they want. Even a yes or no would work as an answer, & yet it leads on to a greater understanding of the bands inter-relationship with one-another. A “yes” may warrant a little elaboration, & a “no” means move on. There’s no invasion of privacy imo.
Better than hearing the same questions, & arguably the same replies that can be found in any old music magazine for the last 52-years…
Peace !
May 26th, 2024 at 02:02I’m with you in principle, Gregster, but I doubt that DP were ever – any era – that closely knit a band. There were friendships sure within like Lord/Paice, Gillan/Glover and Bolin/Hughes, but I doubt that Ritchie and Jon or Ritchie and Roger even in Rainbow days were ever “friends”. I don’t even think Roger and Little Ian are close friends (but they know that they make each other sound great and form an ace “engine room” together as one famous Tasmanian would phrase it).
And Steve especially has in his almost three decades with the band enjoyed from my impression good, cordial relationships with the others, but he himself remarked in a largely non-musical interview years ago that he never really felt part of the “English (and, let’s be inclusive, Welsh) fold”. I remember him saying that the others’ common thread of growing up with British TV shows from the 50ies and 60ies, soccer fandom, Brit humor and even things like the willingness to dive into political discussions at any point was alien to him, the Midwesterner who grew up in the South (and not, say, a New England State).
That’s not a horrible finding or even a source of disillusionment in my book, a lot of bands work that way. Playing music with your best friends, from my experience, can be two things foremost: heaven and hell. It certainly is beneficial if you don’t hate another band member, but friendship is not really a necessity for creating excellent music together, respect and a musical rapport will generally do just fine.
May 26th, 2024 at 12:13Yo,
Herr Uwe said qt.”It certainly is beneficial if you don’t hate another band member, but friendship is not really a necessity for creating excellent music together, respect and a musical rapport will generally do just fine”.
I agree with the last sentence, since you build your respect from the music / tunes made with one-another, & from there a professional friendship & balance is struck, since you all depend on one-another for your income / lifestyle. But I would also suggest that friendships also form because of the successes found, music made, & touring the world for near-on 30-years.
25+ years is a long time to remain impersonal with a group of people don’t-you-think ??? They weren’t like Pink Floyd where one’s manager was in discussion with another’s manager per-se LOL !
Seven or so studio albums & a plethora of live albums & even more bootlegs suggest a band-on-fire for most of that time, as you have to be happy to make so much acclaimed fine music.
Peace !
May 26th, 2024 at 23:03Not really a stamp of approval from RG
Maybe he will be asked to do the remix of the Lady Gaga, or Dream Theatre take on MH.
Should keep the DP fans happy, apparently
May 27th, 2024 at 06:50I think in a band like DP people are first and foremost work colleagues and jointly successful business partners. That doesn’t mean that you don’t like the other guys or don’t get along with them, but friendship is another matter.
There is nothing deplorable about that, I believe I would prefer an atmosphere like that to “sparks flying”-scenarios like Kinks, Black Crowes, Oasis or Fleetwood Mac where siblings or romantic couples are involved. That can easily be hell.
May 27th, 2024 at 16:17I think the inetrviewer is doig a great work and letting the musicians do the talking.
May 28th, 2024 at 23:13Loved the “Loosen my Strings” story.Amazing.
I actually thought both interviews very good and going to places rarely trodden (now that I finally had the chance to listen to them both!).
On balance, Roger tried hard to find something nice to say about the Dweezil remix. It occurs to me only now that there might be another reason for having the latter (rather than Roger again, but this time with modern technology) do the remix. Not only for the celebrity (son) factor or the fact that Dweezil is from another generation, but also simply for him having a set of American ears. And the Dweezil remix is actually the most American sounding mix of an otherwise very English sounding album. Brit artists have again and again sought an American production sound, just think of Whitesnake’s Slide It In.
We don’t need no education … Good that someone finally took Big Ian to task about those dreaded double negatives! 😂 We can‘t have none of those no more not. Of course there are other, even more severe culprits to be found, this dude who always held that there ain‘t no love in the heart of the city and how he ain’t gonna cry no more today about it, having made up his mind, he ain’t wasting no more time …
Good observation by Big Ian that if you don‘t try to act famous and do not withdraw from the world, people eventually lose interest and see you becoming part of the scenery. Wise man.
May 29th, 2024 at 08:56And Roger actually said something about SOTW that made me think: That song typifies what DP is about in so many ways. Blackmore starts it with a solitary two string riff with his trademark fourths, Jon joins with his Hammond to complete the ‘Gorgan’ unison sound, Litte Ian defies expectations by not entering with a heavy drum beat, but with delicate 16ths on the hi-hat (you’d be more likely to hear on a Motown or Stax recording), by the fourth repetition Paicey brings in the backbeat via the snare to great effect and come the fifth repetition, Roger’s gloriously metronomic root note bass line with a chromatic intro and a tail end synchronizing with Ritchie’s riff lumbers on to the scene.
So you have quarter notes (the riff), 8th notes (the bass) and 16th notes (the hi-hat) all together, not an obvious combination, but a great-sounding one. And after the riff has been played six times (in the original studio version), Big Ian begins his narrative about something that actually happened.
It sums up so many aspects of DP so nicely. It really is a demonstration of some of the main ingredients to their music.
May 29th, 2024 at 23:27I have now listened to the rather good Ian Gillan interview. Regarding the ‘neighbourhood watch’, Gillan’s point of view may suit him at his abode & surroundings, but that doesn’t suit others who are trying to live their life the way they want to. And lets face it Uwe, he ain’t exactly ‘world’ famous as in a leading Hollywood actor or someone along those lines. They cannot wander around & go to the pub like that, unless they really go into stealth mode or similar in a remote setting somewhere. Each to their own. A good interview though & it sounds like the same guy who interviewed Glover. Did anyone notice the pause or two when asked about the new box set MH release. And a little chuckle before diplomatically answering in a nice polite way. His view is different to the next guy, again. Nice to hear him speak fondly of Blackmore, good to see. It is very late in the day as the sun is setting low on the horizon. Good on him for what he has achieved as a individual & also as a musician. Cheers.
May 30th, 2024 at 06:36Yes, the answers re the 50th Anniversary Remix sound over-rehearsed and a little forced, damning with faint praise. But since they seem to participate commercially, they have to bang the drum just a little. A small sacrifice it seems, but Big Ian is better at it than Roger.
May 30th, 2024 at 13:27