Intervju - Ian Gillan, Deep Purple Med lite tur lyckades vi få möjligheten att ringa upp en av hårdrockvärldens främsta röster, Ian Gillan. Han är just nu aktuell med senaste albumet från Deep Purple, "Rapture of the deep", samt samlingen "Gillan´s Inn". Den senare är nyinspelningar av låtar från hela hans fyrtioåriga karriär och beräknas komma ut i januari 2006. Vi nådde honom på ett hotell i Köln och det var en mycket trevlig och typisk brittisk man, vi fick nöjet att fråga ut under tjugo minuter. Här har ni svaren! Hi Ian! How´s Germany? IG: Very good! Full of beer (laugh). We had a traditional German Cologne meal last night which involved many, many glasses of local beer and about a mile of sausage. Sounds great! About the new album. What was it like writing this album? Was it any different than previous ones or...? IG: Well, in a couple of respects. It´s obviously the same producer, same city, same line up. But there was some differences, yes. We came off the back of an 18 month tour with "Bananas". I mean literally! The band was HOT! I mean there was a tremendous amount of empathy between the musicians, so when we went into the studio there was a...I sat in amazement every day watching these guys work and music was created. And the ideas were flying back and forth and everyone picking up and understanding exactly what was being offered. Someone would start a twiddle a little riff or something like that and everyone would get it straight away. It was great fun! We had no plans and we just decided on a starting date and everyone turned up at the studio and we put the coffee on and told some jokes and talking about the glittering prospects Queens Park Rangers and Sunderland and Nottingham Forest the forthcoming season (laugh). And then we went in and started banging away. Nothing really happened for the first few days and everybody´s just sort of exploring ideas. The only other thing really, apart from that, from a lyrical point of view, was that the previous album was very...leaning very heavily on a political attitude and this one is very much more of a spiritual type of approach. How do you guys write songs? Do you write by yourself or do you sit all together and strum on the guitar? IG: It´s a matter of discipline. You go in the studio every day and start jamming. These guys are unbelievable musicians! So they start jamming without a rhythm or a riff or a lick or a chord. Somebody starts a chord sequence and everybody follows. Somebody starts a lick and everyone does a counter riff or whatever and then the dynamics slowly...I´ll give you an example! "Rapture of the deep", the title track, we came back in from a coffee break and Don was going (sings the melody). I was going "Ahh, that´s cool!". He said "You know what? I hear that we´re going to Istanbul. I´ve never been to Turkey before, so I´m just playing...this is called `Turkish delight`!". And he was just doodeling or whatever you call it, and just exploring a different scale, it´s an Eastern scale. So emediately Ian Paice started playing along with it and it changed the thing completely when you get two musicians. And then everyone else started playing and it became a joy. So all of those things, they evolve. They don´t get written as such. The big job of course is writing the words and I normally get up at five o´clock in the morning and prepare those when I´ve got the tunes sorted out in my head. I like to work in the quiet, before the sun comes up. But it´s very spontaneous. It seems to be a very nonchalant approach. It seems very laid back! IG: It is! But you know, it´s like a family. We get a lot done without saying much. It just does happen beautifully. It´s a great thing to witness. I´ve always said thet the best songs ever are written in ten minutes! Suddenly you get it. If you have to really work too hard at constructing something, then it sounds like a contrievence. Well, it´s great fun anyway! Is there any difference when it comes to recording an album today compared to the 70´s or 80´s, besides the technical stuff? IG: Actually, that´s a fantastic question! A couple of days ago I was in my local pub and there´s a friend...I´ve got a friend and I know you´ve got a friend exactly the same , because everyone has a friend that swears that vinyl sounds better than cd´s. And I said "Why do you think that is?". And he said "Well, it´s the vinyl isn´t it?". I said "I don´t think so!". Here´s what happened! When vinyl was the only medium for commercial music, what used to be coincedentally at that time...this is the how the records were made...the musicians used to go into the studio, set up the equipment, the producer used to run it through once or twice to get the sound balanced and then utter the immortal phrase "Take one!". And the band played at the same time, on the same song, in the same room altogether and that hasn´t changed at all. And that´s why "Rapture of the deep" sounds like a vinyl record. But once you go through the glass, to the producer, it´s of course the latest technology. It´s all digital and everything was recorded directly on to a computer. There was no tape involved or anything analog. The only thing that has remained unchanged is the fact that we´re in the room at the same time playing. And you know, that doesn´t really happen that much, so yes, things do change a lot but we still play guitars. I think the only thing that´s happened differently in my life is that I´m using radio micrphones. When I´m on stage I´ve used them for the last ten years and the weren´t very good when I started, but I could see that the technology was gonna improve and now they´re amazing. Roger´s gone radio with his bas guitar, but Steve still prefers to use a cord. So things have not changed that much. A drum kit is still a drum kit and a hammond organ is still a Hammond organ! The song "MTV", that one says a lot about today´s music and music television and all that. How do you feel about that? You´re a band that´s been around faor a long, long time, but there´s not a big chance of you being seen on MTV or other channels these days. IG: No chance at all! In fact, the interesting thing is that after this last tour, we played about 38 countries and to millions of people, and the average age of our audience is 18 years old! Cool! IG: Well, that´s what I said to my daughter when she came out of Wembley. I said "Who let all the kids in, Grace?" And she said "Dad, you just don´t get it do you?". Well, that´s nice, but 20 years ago when MTV is in its infancy, they swore they would never play any Deep Purple records because we were too old then. So, actually the song is not about MTV! The song is about classic rock radio and I was listening to a radio station in Buffalo, New York when Roger Glover was on. We were touring and I was staying at a friend´s house and...you can get the whole story if you go on my website gillan.com. But she (radio dj) was not in the slightest bit interested in talking about "Bananas". He was on for about 20 minutes and everytime he started talking about the reasons for the tour, the new record, she was going "Yeah, tell us about this and tell us about that!". She did not want to talk about it and in the end as she finished the interview she said "Yeah, Roger Grover, lead guitar, Deep Purple, Smoke on the water yeah!". She got everything wrong and I thought "My God, it´s happening to radio as well!". Once you´ve had your time in terms of the people who design these categorys, then you might as well be dead as far as they´re concerned. We know in our hearts that this band is very vibrant, performing to young audiences, totally sold out everywhere we go...in the major venues, but somehow it seems divorced from the industry. So they think we´re dead, so let´s poke them. So I´m poking them with some fun with the lyrics. I know a lot of people in the musicbusiness so I´m not being that wicked. Just a little bit. Well, they need it! Do you have any idea what songs you´re gonna play live from the new album? IG: I would guess, in addition to "Rapture of the deep", "Wrong man" and "Kiss tomorrow goodbye", which we´re already doing... when the tour starts in January we will almost certainly do "Junkyard blues". Possibly "Clearly quite absurd", because that may fit in as a quieter track . I´m not sure if it´s gonna work on stage, we´ll have to see. I would think probably six or seven tracks. But then again we may play all of them and just rotate them on different nights. The song "Clearly quite absurd", I instantly thought of stuff like Peter Gabriel. A very nice song! IG: Thank you! It was very difficult to write that one and also "Before time began". They were really written as instrumentals. Steve Morse, his guitar playing is very lyrical so sometimes it´s difficult to find exactly where to fit in some vocals on the tracks. But you just have to keep working on it and I think these two songs particulary and "Kiss tomorrow goodbye" fit the spiritual...I have this theory that Deep Purple is still going to be going 2000 years from now, in a metaphysical form. So one of the things I´m talking about lyrically on this record is that in order to survive I believe that the human race needs to mutate in to something non physical, because the rate of expansion is clearly unsustainable at this rate. And if you look at the predictions of the population figures of the planet in 50 years from now, that´s all, it makes you tremble. It´s horrific! Anyway, I´m not Bono and I can´t misrepresent the rest of the guys with my views. I recently read that Richie Blackmore said that he would like to do a one off show with you and the classic Mark II line up. Have you heard anything about that? IG: I´ve read that too, yes. He´s dreaming! Why on earth would we do something with that guy...that brought the band to the edge of ruination. It´s just ludicruos! We spent the last ten years rebuilding the reputation and the style and the quality of the music. There´s no way on earth that will happen! Have you heard any of the Blackmore´s Night stuff? IG: I have! I had to do an anomynous review. I heard his records and I listened to it very carefully. I do understand his love and I´m gonna pick my words very carefully here, but you know...I was doing a blind review and I suspected it might be Blackmore´s Night and I said nothing. And the bloke said "Well, have a listen to this one!". What I did say was that the voice was very weak and the guitar sounded terrible. And then they played a Jeff Buckley track called "Hallelujah" and I said "Now you´re talking! There´s and acoustic guitar, compare the difference! What was that? Richie?". "Yes!". I know in my heart of hearts that Richie Blackmore is one of the great guitar players of all time. He´s a fabulous technician and he´s got incredible skills and he was a great showman. I have to talk about the positive things with Richie, because everyone talks about the negative things. He has all these qualities and all these skills and yet something is going on in his brain and I don´t know what it is. But for a guitar player of that quality, to record such a crappy sounding acoustic guitar...you just have to listen to Jeff Buckley and you hear how good an acoustic guitar sounds. Just listen to the vocal performances! Delivered quietly but with such vibrant passion. Beautiful delivery! And as far as I am concerned, in my honest opinion, Richie is wasting his time! I know he´s quirky, but I think I, like everyone else, would like to hear Richie play the guitar properly again. Not with Deep Purple, but he´s got plenty of opportunities to do what he wants to do. I´m a huge fan of Richie and I would like to see that. So that´s my opinion on that and I hope I didn´t sound to negative. No, I understand! What about "Gillan´s Inn" coming out soon. You´re working with a bunch of really cool guitarists on that record. Why remakes of the songs? IG: My manager came up with the idea. Look, if you just get all these songs, the original recordings, and put them together and you liten to them, it´s avery uncomfortable experience, because they all come from different ages and the sound is different. You can´t settle down and you´re listening to them individually. I wanted to create a situation as of all these songs had been recorded at the same time and with paying total respect, I´ve made that in the liner notes, we´re not trying to improve them we´re just trying to have fun with them. And that´s exactly what we had. A joyful experience! So rerecording them was the only answer really. I don´t think that anyone´s gonna think that we seriously are gonna try to improve on "Smoke on the water". But you kow, it is fun and on the flip side of the dual disc you can pick your soloist. You can have Jeff Buckley, you can have Joe Satriani, you can have Steve Morse, you can have Uli Jon Roth or who ever you want! It´s a lot of fun and I know that "Smoke on the water" means a lot...I remember when Joe Satriani joined the band. He flew to Japan, rehearsed everything and at the end Ian Paice said "Well, we don´t need to rehearse `Smoke on the water` Joe, do we? You know `Smoke...` surely?". And Joe had this little look on his face. And I said "Joe, no problem we´ll do it!". And he said "Well, I´d really rather just do it!". So we did and he went across and adjusted his amp a little bit and I said "You´re alright?". And he said "Jeez, I get to play `Smoke on the water` with Deep Purple!". It was very important to Joe to do that one performance in private, because he said "My knees were shaking!". And these are all pros, these are guys that have been around a bit and they know what they´re doing. So yes, we can have fun with "Smoke on the water" and "Speed king" as well as some of the other stuff. I mean, to give you the spirit of the album...Joe Elliott (Def Leppard) and I went out to a pub in Dublin many years ago after a football match and we got locked in afterwards. We were singing just to the landlord and his family and a couple of mates. There was a micrphone, one guitar and a bar stool, which I used as a drum and apart from everything else we sang a load of Everly Brothers songs, in a private performance just for the sheer joy of it. So I called him up and said "Joe, will you sing on my record?". And he said "Count me in mate, I´m there!". So choosing this Bob Dylan song, there´s something from each era and this is from my Episode Six period and I heard it from the BBC tapes. So I said "Do you remember when we did that sing song in the pub? Well, if you could do the other Everly Brothers part?". So it´s me and Joe Elliott doing a Everly Brothers version of a Bob Dylan song. So I´m thrilled to bits! We just had a bunch of fun and it´s a celebration, it´s an anniversary and we´ve got no claims to anything special in terms of improvement. I think people will get a lot of fun out of listening to the stuff. There´s another moment like that for example. It was an inspired moment when we decided to ask Jeff Healy to play on "When a blind man cries". He actually played on three or four songs, but the actual putting together of Jeff Healy and Jon Lord on that track is hairraising. It´s incredible! It was such a joy to sing and it´s just a new approach. Sometimes these songs have been around and you play them many, many times and it´s just nice to have a fresh approach. It´s a hands up, honest...we´re just having fun. It´s a great project and I couldn´t have done that commercially, I mean all of those guys just turned up and played. Sounds great! IG: Yeah, we did a fantastic version of "Trashed" from the "Born again" album. I know, because I read that and I´m just wondering if there´s any unreleased stuff from that time you recorded with Black Sabbath or is all the stuff out there that´s supposed to be out there? IG: As far as I know, yeah! There´s gonna be lots of bootlegs of live stuff, but from the studio...no I don´t think there´s anything else. Everything went on to the record. But it´s interesting with Toni Iommi playing with Roger Glover and Ian Paice. It´s great! Sounds really cool! One more thing. Your voice? How do you keep your voice in shape and how have you kept it in shape over all these years singing on stage night after night? IG: Well, that is the answer! If you do something often enough you end up getting quite good at it. I know quite a lot of, I won´t name any names, but there are quite a lot of singers who have not been on tour regularly and they find it difficult when they do come back to do a tour, to keep their voice going. Because age definetely does deteriate it, but fortunately in certain areas my voice has actually improved and in certain areas it´s changed slightly. So you just work to the best advantages. I think interpratation has become a much bigger thing than it used to. I sing naturally...Roger Glover was a great help to me ten years ago, telling me certain technical things about how...he said "Listen to this when you´re singing that one and listen to this when you´re siging this one! You were very tight and constricted.". I think a lot to do with it, we were talking about Richie earlier on, the band was very unsettled at that time and I think my voice suffered for it and I certainly know that Ian, Roger and Jon´s playing improved dramatically after Richie left. Because there was an air of tension and no one was relaxed and consequently you can´t perform properly like that. So everyone´s improved and it´s a joy now. I don´t know1 I don´t know what I´m talking about really... Sounds like you have a really, really good life? IG: You know I couldn´t really think of anything else, except for the days being a little bit longer.Which would be cool! Who at 60 years old can say "Boy, I`m really looking forward to the next two years on the road. It´s gonna be amazing and if you could be a fly on the wall on the tour bus or the bar or the hotel, you´d see guys getting on like a family with a lot of respect and some of the humour, I mean, I can´t repeat it. Everyone´s got a highly developed sense of humour so sometimes we spend an entire journey just laughing our socks off. Finally! Do you have any idea when you guys will be touring in Sweden? IG: I can tell you sometime in the next two years. As soon as they sort out the intinaries, I haven´t got a schedule yet. But I can´t wait and we always love coming there. I´ve got lots of friends in Sweden. Right! How is Steve Morse doing? Because I know he´s sitting out on these tv appearances you´re doing. IG: His wife has been very ill and he´s nursing her back home. She´s had three major operations and fingers crossed she´s getting better now, but it is a slow recovery. She´s very weak. So we´re doing this promotion tour and suggested...well, our producer Michael Bradford, and he said he would love to come and fill in and he´s a wonderful musician and I fell off my chair laughing...he´s a big, huge black man from Detroit and he introduced himself to the tv producer yesterday, and he said "Hello, my name is Richie Moreblack!" (laughs). Everybody adores him. He´s a lovely man. So we don´t have Steve Morse, we have Richie Moreblack on guitar. Great! Well, my time is up and it´s been a total honor talking to you Ian and I wish you all the best with touring and the album and everything! IG: Thank you! Maybe we´ll talk again when "Gillan´s Inn" is out? I´d love to! Thank you! Deep Purple - Official website

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