DEEP
PURPLE INTERVIEW
Despite the fact that
they haven't released anything new in five years (the group's eighteenth studio
album 'Rapture Of The Deep' was released back in 2005 on Edel Records), and having
already undertaken an extensive tour in support of the album (a tour which saw
them play in fifty countries over a three year period), legendary classic hard
rock act Deep Purple are still very much a band in demand throughout the world.
Having
spent time on their respective solo ventures, Deep Purple (Mk 8, who comprise
of vocalist Ian Gillan, guitarist Steve Morse, bassist Roger Glover, keyboardist
Don Airey and drummer Ian Paice) have again decided to hit the road with dates
being pencilled in across the globe - with Australia included within their schedule.
In
the lead up to their Australian tour, I caught up with guitarist Steve Morse at
home in Florida to chat about the band's upcoming world tour plans, Morse's own
solo career happenings, and the prospect of a new Deep Purple album after vocalist
Ian Gillan announced the possibility of heading into the studio as early as this
year to follow up 'Rapture Of The Deep' (which is the band's biggest selling album
since 1984's 'Perfect Strangers').
"I can't tell you anything
about a new album, and the reason for that is because nobody really knows anything.
The bottom line is that the schedule keeps changing. It takes a big chunk of time
to get around to working in the studio for what is primarily for charity. And
that chunk of time just hasn't materialised for any of us at all. There's really
nothing more than that. We love getting together, and we work really well together
and really enjoy it, especially when it comes to the writing process of making
an album. But everybody has had plans to do some touring with their solo projects,
and Deep Purple has just done a lot of shows within the last three years, with
plans do a whole lot more in the future. So I can't see any recording taking place
anytime soon. In terms of putting a new album in a timeframe, all I'll really
say is that it's hard to say. I guess it all depends on what happens with us,
and whether we'll find the time to all do something together. If our schedule
ends up being wide open, then there is that possibility. Who knows? Because if
there's no time, then I guess we can't. That's my take on it anyway. And guess
what? We're five different guys, and we all have a different take on what happens,
and what could possibly take place in the future. And then when you add our manager
into that equation, then you have six different people, all with their own version
of what's going to happen. And no-one really knows because this band is like a
synergy of all these different directions. It's a shame, because we all really
enjoyed making that album, and we were all really happy with the result too. Deep
Purple has never been a media darling. You can try and think as hard as you can,
but you can't think of a certain video where Deep Purple is looking down the camera
pouting and making certain moves and stuff. And that's because there aren't any.
At least I don't think there are any! (Laughs) And that's the same thing when
it comes to the albums. You don't really see the faces on the albums. The band
is simply a vehicle for the music. It's a performance thing. I think because of
that, we've got some extra longevity built into it. I wasn't all that happy with
the mix of 'Rapture Of The Deep', but I really loved working with the guys! (Laughs)
We really want to get together and do another album. That's for sure. So I'm sure
it will happen. But for some reason, Deep Purple is still in demand to travel.
So as long as that demand is there, we'll do a lot of travelling, which leave
little time for something like recording a new album."
And
it's that demand that has fuelled the band's tour this time around, with Deep
Purple spending most of the remainder of 2010, and some of the following year
playing everywhere the band is welcomed.
"Well, I sure
didn't plan to spend that long on each leg of this tour. Our manager may not have
either, but while the schedule was being worked on, some other offers came up,
and they simply decided to join them all up together. For example, on this leg
of the tour, we're going from the eastern side of the United States to California,
to get on a plane to Australia. Of course, I'll be in the wrong city when I get
to Australia, so I have to jump on another plane to get to the right city. So
we'll play all the shows in Australia, before heading off to play in four different
markets in Asia. Then we head out to Russia, then to South Africa and then onto
Europe. All those flights and the time spent travelling are crazy. It's hardly
what you would call a free flowing course in terms of catching flights from one
place to the next logical destination is it? All I can say is that somebody must
have bought insurance, because someone is trying to kill us our there on some
of these plane flights! (Laughs) We're on so many flights that there's a distinct
chance that we're going to die! (Laughs)"
But despite
the time spent on the plane flights, and the endless hours spent in hotel rooms,
Morse is still very pleased to play onstage as a fully fledged member of Deep
Purple.
"There's a lot of time spent getting from one
place to the next, but that's always been what it's like in Deep Purple, or at
least since I joined the band anyway. The band have quite literally opened up
the world and said that there's not a single place that we can't go now. And sure
enough, a lot of new markets have opened up for the band, and we've been fortunate
enough to play most of those places. Deep Purple is the most international band
that I know of. It's what we do. You have to learn to live with it, or else you
can stay at home! (Laughs) And let me tell, I've always had that option to go
home. But then if I did that, I would sure miss these guys."
The
last time Deep Purple hit Australian shores was back in 2006. But despite the
fact that the band has precious little new to offer in terms of new songs, Morse
assures fans that the shows this time around will be something quite different.
"It'll
be a mix of four really different areas. One area will be the obvious classic
Deep Purple songs, stuff off 'Machine Head' and 'Made In Japan'. You know, songs
like 'Smoke On The Water', 'Highway Star', 'Black Night', 'Hush' and 'Space Truckin''.
Then there will be some songs from the newer albums, or stuff that's been released
in the last couple of decades. And then there will be some obscure songs added
in there as well. You know, the kind of stuff that has been recorded, but they've
since become cult favourites of fans, but didn't necessarily get any airplay.
And we rotate a lot of those quite a bit. And then in-between all those segments,
there's some solo sections, where there's some improvisation and some stretching
out of numbers to show off some individual flair. And those sections are kept
mercifully short for those who simply want to hear the songs and nothing else.
But those moments are disbursed throughout the show to make it a bit more of an
easy listen for fans. So overall, it's quite a fun show. There's a lot of energy
on show, and you'll see a lot of people up there onstage smiling and having a
fun time. There's no longer any grimacing! (Laughs) That's not to say there aren't
a few odd frowns here and there at times, because in all honesty, anybody can
have a bad night. But the idea is to make a bad night sound like a good show.
And we hold our standards up pretty high. I mean I've been playing my whole life.
I'm still practising every day. Every day while I'm tour, I hear people say that
I'm so lucky. But while other people are out there on tour relaxing, I'm out back
practising. We have our little difficult lines here and there within the songs,
and I really have to nail that stuff night after night. You'll always find Airey
and me running through some of those difficult parts. I don't think the band has
had a disastrous show, unless of course there's been a case where the power shuts
off or something like that. It's always something external. If Gillan got sick,
and couldn't sing, or something like that, that would really suck, because we
would have to cancel the show or something! (Laughs) But I think that's only happened
once in the last sixteen years. I mean he still gets colds and stuff, but he can
usually pull through. So if he can do that, then we all can really. So far, we
have dates booked through to the end of this year. But the way things are looking,
we'll be still on the road well into 2011, with those tiny short breaks to give
us a bit of time to ourselves to do our own thing."
And
speaking of that little bit of free time, I asked about Morse's own solo ventures,
in particular his recent short tour of his home state of Florida with his own
band, and the release of his new solo album 'Out Standing In Their Field' (Released
through Eagle Records).
"I just got home last night after
finishing a tour with my band. The last show of our tour was nearby actually.
Fans seemed to like the new stuff, which is basically instrumental rock. The album
itself has been well received, which has been the case for most of our other albums
really. People who like to listen to music really like it, and they go ahead and
buy it. And then there are those people in the industry that completely ignore
it. So the album has been going pretty much as expected! (Laughs)"
While
the album has gradually been filtering through to fans, Morse hasn't been sitting
idle, with not one, or two, but three new projects in the pipeline.
"I
have an album I just finished about two months ago actually. It will come out
on Radiant Records this month. It's called 'Angelfire', and it's acoustic, progressive
music with beautiful vocals by Sarah Spencer. She sounds like Sarah McLachlan
with her perfect and beautiful voice, and it works perfectly with the acoustic
guitar. And I've also been working with Neal Morse (Ex-Spock's Beard/Transatlantic).
We've been fans of each others work, but until now, just never found the time
to do anything together. So we're going to get together soon and work on an album.
We don't have a name for the project just yet, because the project is still in
the planning stages. But we have had one writing session. Aside from that, I'm
going to see Jimmy Barnes and Bob Daisley when I'm in Australia. Hopefully we
can work on some more tunes for another Living Loud album. So there's no spare
time for 2010. But I've found that the secret is to savour and treasure every
moment that I'm here, because the rest is all pretty much planned out! (Laughs)"
I
would like to thank Steve Morse for his generous time and Lionel Midford at Lionel
Midford Publicity for making the interview possible.
For
more information on Deep Purple, check out - http://www.deep-purple.com
©
Justin Donnelly - justindonnelly@ozemail.com.au
