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Why they sway in the wind

VWMusic has a fresh interview with Ian Gillan. And it is definitely worth spending your time to go through.

Andrew:
The current lineup of the band is one of the most consistent and creative intonations in Deep Purple’s long history. What is it about this group of players that’s kept things so solid?

Ian:
Well, I hate to say it, but it’s the band’s foundation. It’s in the ethos of the band. Now, I don’t listen to a lot of the young bands, but I’ve had a lot of conversations with young musicians who say they were influenced by Black Sabbath, Zeppelin, Deep Purple, and the like. To that, I always say, “Well, what else? What other influences do you have aside from that?” They always look at me, and say, “What do you mean, what else? Other influences? We’re a hard rock band, so we’re influenced by hard rock.” And I tell them that we were influenced by Chopin, Beethoven, Howlin’ Wolf, Aretha Franklin, Billie Holiday, Lonnie Donegan, folk music, big band, swing, and Buddy Rich. I say that and watch their faces shift, and they go, “Well, what’s that got to do with hard rock?” … “Well, that’s the roots of Deep Purple, which is why we can sway in the wind as we do.”

Ian also mentioned that the band has a writing session booked for March 2023.

Read more in VWMusic.

Thanks to Mike Whiteley for the info.



7 Comments to “Why they sway in the wind”:

  1. 1
    Matt says:

    Absolutely love Ian’s comments and succinct way of defining the essence of Purple IMO.
    Writing session, can’t believe it, bring it on!

  2. 2
    Blue Boy says:

    Writing a new album in March 2023! That’s a bery good news! I can’t wait for that 23rd studio album. 👍

  3. 3
    Andreas says:

    They go perhaps for the 60th anniversary in 2028. I would be 70 then. Nice thoughts.

  4. 4
    Dr. Bob says:

    There is a psychological phenomonon that as our minds develop in our teens to early 20s we develop our sense of what music is supposed to sound like and that is one of the reason why older folk don’t often recognise new music as music. So what is remarkable are some muscians in their 20s listen and learn a style of music but then use that sensibility develop a new form of music. Think of all of the class rock bands of the 60s & 70s like Purple, Sabbath, & Zeppelin who brought in classical, blues, folk, or pop, or folk to a rock & roll band and wanted to create heavier music. They created hard rock which inspired those without those early influences to turn it into heavy metal.

    I think that what Ian was talking about, is that if you want to create something new, then you need a lot of influences. If you only have one influence then either you just copy it, or you refine it by taking away its roots. Then the next generation needs to find new influences to make something else move. So you see a cycle once or twice a decade where one form of music gets copied until it becomes stale followed by something innocative and fresh.

  5. 5
    Boswell's Johnson says:

    We really lucked out becoming big fans of Purple. Not only are they dedicated to their craft, they seem like nice folks as well. Also, it’s really great that they’re still going – 54 years is an amazing feat.

  6. 6
    Peter J says:

    Great and very clever talk as always.

    Does anyone know something about the Spanish tour is talking about ?

  7. 7
    Wormdp says:

    I’m enjoying IG’s perspective of new musicians influence. I’m hoping he takes to heart that indulging in the same producer formula doesn’t always create a positive flow

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