Interview with Deep Purple in Dubai

Gulf News

Ian Gillan of the English heavy metal band Deep Purple shares his thoughts on what it takes to be a legendary icon in the music scene, ahead of the bands performance at the 2013 Dubai Jazz Festival. See more at: http://gulfnews.com/gntv

Transcript

00:00The show is an entity, and it goes from one thing to another.

00:08They all have dynamics, and if you had a favorite song, then the rest would become less important.

00:14So they're all important.

00:16It's quite important to realize, I think, that the joy of performing embraces in part

00:23the joy of listening.

00:25So an awful lot of my enjoyment comes from what the other guys in the band do.

00:30I really like that sound, I really like that groove, that attitude.

00:36I like that professionalism, and I like that awesome identity that Purple has, it's fantastic.

00:43And so you're a very small part of that, so listening is a big part of it.

00:46I get off on what the other guys do.

00:48Music is a thing of mood.

00:49I think the songs that we do present different personal feelings.

00:53It's a framework.

00:55You know, most gardeners would understand, you have a trellis where you grow wild roses

00:59on, they choose to grow exactly how they want within the framework.

01:03That's how I like to describe Deep Purple's music.

01:06There's a framework, which is what you might call the set list.

01:09Once the starter's gun goes off, it's mayhem.

01:11So the idea is that we won't be doing any stuff from the new record, because it's impossible

01:17these days because of YouTube.

01:19Within five minutes, the whole world will have some tinny, horrible, emaciated version.

01:24It'll be a complete waste of time.

01:26Until the record's out, we're not doing any new stuff.

01:28But then again, the old songs are new every night because, as I keep repeating, the improvisation

01:33is the one thing that holds it all together.

01:36Artistic differences is probably one of the great euphemisms of our business.

01:40It probably means that someone's got a black eye and someone else is in hospital.

01:45So yes, but I suppose somebody used the words because we don't have a press agent.

01:50We never did have, so I guess somebody used that phrase, almost certainly, yes.

01:55Said the words, what goes on tour stays on tour.

01:57Well, it's impossible, isn't it?

02:00It doesn't, because there's always somebody with a vested interest to spread the news.

02:07So no, I haven't said that, nor do I expect anyone to.

02:11So it just makes sense.

02:12You've got to behave yourself or you're in trouble.

02:15To be honest, you learn fairly soon that there's no privacy in this game, particularly

02:22if you want to stick your head up above the parapet all the time.

02:25So we have been fairly low profile in terms of promotion.

02:28We've tended to focus on the musical side, one of the more acceptable of all the hundreds

02:34of descriptions that we've had over the years, everything from rock and roll band to heavy

02:41metal and classic rock, with all the things in between, dinosaurs, wrinkly rockers, heavy

02:46metal and you name it, progressive rock.

02:48I think underground was my favourite, because that means you get the job done and you don't

02:53have to deal with the media, with all due respect.

02:56We never have predicted the future, I've never been able to do that and I've never really

03:01thought about it.

03:03You just think about what you're doing now and the knock-on effect of that, in terms

03:08of how it's going to affect your life or music, that's about it, so I've never really

03:14looked more than a year or two ahead, so five years is a long way, particularly at our age.

03:18I can imagine, providing we're healthy, that music will be the central force in our collective

03:27lives.

03:28As far as definitive plans are concerned, we all have individual lives outside of Deep

03:33Purple.

03:34Right at the moment, all I can think of is to the end of this year, at the moment, because

03:39we have a record coming out in April, so let's pray for some health and keep going.

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