![[hand]](/hs-pics/portraits/hands/morse5.jpg)
![[face]](/hs-pics/portraits/faces/airey3.jpg)
It’s what not to play
Some time earlier this year, before Deep Purple departed for Japan, Simon McBride sat down for a chat with dopeYEAH talk.
What does it take to step into one of the most legendary bands in rock history — and make it your own? 🎸🔥 In this episode, Rob Cass sits down with Simon McBride, the guitarist who took on the massive challenge of joining Deep Purple and stepping into the shoes of Steve Morse and Ritchie Blackmore.
Simon opens up about the moment that changed his life, the pressure of his first show with Deep Purple, and why the “easy” songs can actually be the hardest to play. One of the most compelling parts of the conversation is his honest take on replacing a legend — and how he approached it with respect, but also with confidence in his own voice. From picking up the guitar at just nine years old to winning Young Guitarist of the Year, his journey has been driven by pure passion for music. Along the way, he shares stories about touring with heroes like Joe Satriani and evolving across genres, from hard rock to soul and R&B 🎶
Beyond Deep Purple, Simon reflects on his early days with Sweet Savage, forming his own band Blind Friday, and building a career that blends technical mastery with feel. The episode wraps up with Simon playing his top five favorite guitar riffs, giving you a glimpse into the influences behind his sound. Honest, powerful, and full of guitar wisdom — this is a must-watch for any rock fan 🎥✨
It is a long form conversation, clocking at 70 minutes, and a very interesting one, with Simon in a quite relaxed and talkative mood.
TL;DR takeaway: the new Deep Purple album comes out in June. We speculate June 5th, right before the tour resumes on the 11th, hopefully with a revamped setlist.
Thanks to Mike Whiteley and Uwe Hornung for the heads-up.
Unauthorized copying, while sometimes necessary, is never as good as the real thing
I remember Tokai guitars, they were Japanese copies of legendary US models, but of such high quality (and slavishly accurate rebuilt, only better) at a much lower price. That sent shockwaves through American guitar makers and they did cease & desist counterstrikes. This was late 70s/early 80s, just as the so-called “lawsuit era” of Japanese guitars came to an end and the sons (and daughters) of Nippon began developing their own shapes. But for a short while, Tokai guitars were all the rage, lauded by guitar mags like Fachblatt as better than the American originals and the scourge of music fairs.
Simon’s recollections of his dad introducing him to rock are cute, I would have liked to have heard the question asked what his old man said when he heard of his son’s ascension to the DP ranks, did Simon perhaps quip: “Shall I now sign one of your Deep Purple albums, Dad?” 😂 Likewise, I wish he would have initially said “I’ll think about it …” to the DP job offer, gone home and nonchalantly told that to his wife. That would have been another case of reverse domestic violence in Belfast! 🤣
I agree that Simon’s years with The Commitments icon Andrew Strong
https://youtu.be/OL_gRfmja6g
were good for him, that is where his choppy R&Bish rhythm guitar skills must have been honed. Priceless his comment that Andrew is at heart a metal man!
https://youtu.be/KKx9UxD9t2U
April 24th, 2026 at 08:13Should the album premiere take place in early June – this would be interesting to see, no anticipation build-up phase as long and heavy as with “=1”. We were set to wait some 6 months between the album finished, first single dropped and album being released. Now it seems it might be dropped like a H-bomb on our heads… Come on Folks, I am really curious what direction you did take this time around! Otherwise I’ll start to hum Roxette (a lovely rocker song, mind you): “Why did you keep me waiting so long?” 😀
April 24th, 2026 at 10:55The interview is interesting insight into how Simon gradually (or quickly I should say) grew into his new life with Deep Purple
He’s certainly fortunate to finally got his break in the music business by joining Purple. Age 43 when he joined the band and let the world know who he is. That’s the same age when Gillan, Glover, and Blackmore made The House of Blue Light. That’s how ‘late’ he was in this venture. And like he said at the beginning, he was into the sort of calling it a day as a musician, only for Don Airey came in handy to make him broke his duck.
And by what he said, it gives more evidence that personality played a big part into how a new musician could stay and work together with his new bandmates. Simon could be here right now after 4 years certainly speaks more about his personality than his guitar playing skill. He said about he does not like stress and ego, well that’s surely an advantage on his side that made him fit with Purple. The last person Gillan, Glover, Lord, and Airey wanted is someone with big ego no matter how skillful his guitar playing is.
.
The same can be said about Steve Morse, who even came from a totally different background musically to his then-new British bandmates. He could gel, work together for 28 years due to his personality as well.
Great to see Simon and Steve exchanging messages, information during the transition period, including that amps thing. And of course the last one was as Simon said, when he send his condolences after Janine’s passing. Only curious about what song/album of Mark 7 and 8 he said he liked, he didn’t finish that answer as he focused on praising In Rock and Machine Head.
I think I’m not the only one here who wants to see both of them jam together a song or two, either in Purple or in any other concert. Prefer it in another concert, to clearly see the contrasts between their styles. Maybe it will exceed the number of views of Albert Lee – Steve Morse live video got, who knows..
April 24th, 2026 at 16:49BTW: I think Simon plays the SOTW riff beautifully, understanding that it is as much about the down- and offbeat spacing as it is about the individual notes of the melody.
April 24th, 2026 at 17:22I had two guitarist friends who owned Tokai guitars, back in the mid 1980s. Immaculate guitars they were, a Stratocaster and a ‘Les Paul’. They swore by them and they certainly looked incredibly well made and they did sound grand indeed. A Tokai ‘Les Paul’ was what Robert Fripp had and he used it throughout the 1980’s on the road, if my memory serves me correctly. According to what I have just read, Stevie Ray Vaughan had one and it is on the front cover of the Couldn’t Stand the Weather album. Cheers.
April 24th, 2026 at 19:15@3
You are right, there are so many similarities between Steve and Simon!
Both joined DP in their 40ies, both had a career (but not necessarily financially) before, and both can’t help to be themselves – and that is the good thing! Respect the “old” compositions where it is needed and put your stamp on the rest of the piece.
I wish DP would give Steve the farewell he deserves with a gig in Florida where the fans can see (and hear!) both great guitarists. In some other post here I wrote that I dream of a last “Sometimes I feel like screaming”.
April 25th, 2026 at 07:42@ 6 -with respect Beate, I don’t see any comparisons at all between Morse and McBride. Morse was a similar age to the Purple guys and had quite an established career on many fronts. His name and also the respect he had at that time was sky high. McBride was hardly known at all and certainly didn’t have a name and reputation anything like Steve did. Plus Steve is an incredibly gifted composer, complex at times and much more diverse as a guitarist. My take on it anyway. It is a take no prisoners situation for Simon though, as he has absolutely nothing to lose and hasn’t a lot of time to evolve in the situation he is in with DP. Steve wouldn’t have been ‘restricted’ to a time limit at that earlier stage in Deep Purple’s evolution. Cheers.
April 25th, 2026 at 09:03All comparisons must stop at the shirts though, Beate!!!
I had to get that out.
April 25th, 2026 at 12:31@6
Beate, that song is perfect with Steve playing the guitar 💜
“In some other post here I wrote that I dream of a last “Sometimes I feel like screaming”.”
April 25th, 2026 at 16:49– I would love that too! And I normally prefer the man in black, but with this song – woah, so perfect, rip up my girlie emotions like nothing much can (music wise ☺️)
I think that Blackmore, between around 1970-1977-ish was the most intense guitar player in rock – period.
There’s no other way to join a band than to be yourself. No one could have told Blackmore to play like anyone else, he would have flatly refused, known to character.. So I don’t think that was ever on the table with Steve, or Simon to tell them what to do. They band hears something they like, and they go for it, whoever it is will make their mark and change/enhance the sound of the band. Personally I don’t think Bolin was a great fit for Purple. (I don’t care to explain why right now) I do like all other guitar players who have been in Purple.
Note totally off topic: I met an old childhood friend recently, having a few beers and chatting before a concert. We both suddenly remembered having our newly bought scarfs signed by Ritchie after a gig on the Down To Earth Tour. Yes, we were tiny kids, but he was very nice to us. 🙂
April 25th, 2026 at 21:04#6 Beate:
I think there’s a 1 in 1 billion chance that Purple will ever do SIFLS live again.
but I also believe one thing, that if there were to be a sensational “nostalgia operation” for the last tour, we could see both Ritchie and Steve on stage one last time, closing the circle of Purple’s life.
April 25th, 2026 at 22:25I would do something like that tomorrow, but I think the Purples are tough on their positions….
but never say never, the last shots of their lives could give us some surprises, maybe right on the stage of the Royal Albert Hall
Tommy was flawed, but at the same time also magical. He would have never stayed for more than two or three albums with any established band, he was a free spirit. I’m glad there was an Mk IV era with Purple, I didn’t expect it to last forever though one more album would have been nice.
But in Purple’s pantheon of great records, CTTB is a remarkable piece of work even if a case can be made that it is more a Tommy Bolin album with Coverdale, Hughes, Lord & Paice guesting than a Deep Purple album.
April 25th, 2026 at 22:33You mean something like this Fla76?
https://youtu.be/IpXJCflwjBY
April 25th, 2026 at 22:42@7
I fear, I simplified it a little too much. I wanted to speak about some similarities in age when they joined (no matter what age the others members are/were) and how they managed “to be in DP”.
Steve mentioned in an interview that it was the right time when he joined purple because of his divorce etc. – so he was not in a comfortable position financially.
You are right to mention the differences between Steve and Simon – and IMO the differences are HUGE.
April 27th, 2026 at 07:23No-one will ever make a guitar sound like Steve does and yes, Simon can write songs (do you know his soloalbum “The Fighter”?), but does not reach the compositional complexity as Steve does (if they let him do it…;-)
I think that Simon‘s presence in DP has a whole lot to do with the following aspects:
– Don Airey loving Gary Moore as one of his earliest guitarist sparring partners and hearing a substantial influence of him in young Simon.
– Don having checked out Simon for years as a touring member in his own band and finding that he had no issues with life on the road (which had increasingly become a problem for Steve).
– Don, after having played with pronounced guitar heroes such as Gary Moore, Ritchie, Randy Rhoads, Bernie Tormé, Jake E. Lee, Michael Schenker, John Sykes, Glenn Tipton and Uli Jon Roth for much of his career, longing for some real hard rock grit from the guitar within DP. Never forget that Don – unlike the other members – did not actively choose Steve as a DP member, the latter was “foisted on him” when Don took over Jon‘s role. I believe that Don never considered Steve ideal for DP – for purely musical, not personal reasons.
April 27th, 2026 at 13:05Don apparently got the Guitar Player he wanted and they gave us =1, a very boring record IMHO with some of Don’s most uninspired playing on any DP record. I know most folks don’t agree but, who cares. There is a reason to have =1 though, and that is “I’ll Catch You”! One of Gillan’s best moments on any DP album.
April 28th, 2026 at 12:29@1 Tokai is a Hungarian wine region rather than a guitar brand. Get your act together, Uwe (in a grumpy voice).
April 28th, 2026 at 14:10@16
Leslie, ‘I’ll catch you’ was my first favourite song of =1 too.
However I hear this album as more of a return to their roots.
And now I really love all the songs!
Simon McB does sound – in my ears – more like Ritchie than Steve did. And don’t get me wrong, I really liked the way Steve played.
I look so much forward to the next album.
Oh and by the way: Uwe if you read here, I have a bone to pick with you!
April 28th, 2026 at 17:15Last year rumours said re the new album, it would be released at Ian’s b-day, August 19th, and you ridiculed me sooo much and said that nooo they would never release the album while people are on holiday…
Well, when was =1 released?
I don’t know when you people in Germany have your holiday, but in Denmark July 19th is pretty much right in the middle of most people’s vacations.
(Woah! Man I’m good almost a year later 😎😁)
Bone picked, fingers licked and a little satisfied smile on me face ☺️
#13 Uwe:
yes, something like that!
I think it would be the right conclusion to let all the men involved go home without having to settle scores with the past.
Obviously it’s almost impossible I think, and certainly extending this discussion to David and Glenn would be pure metaverse!
listening to this interview and seeing how Simon plays and can play, I really think he was the best possible choice that Purple made, just as Steve Morse was the best possible choice in 1995!
April 28th, 2026 at 21:49@16 @18
I’ll Catch You guitar solo is the closest Simon was with Deep Purple to his guitar hero, Gary Moore (he admitted Moore and Steve Lukather as main inspiration). However, I wouldn’t go as far imagining Simon did that Moore’s guitar-gasm while doing the solo.
Excellent Gillan’s vocal, but still not close to that mind-blowing vocal in Haunted which often made me forgetting there was also a fine guitar solo there, because that voice is a soulful beauty
As for ”sounds more like Ritchie” topic, to be honest, I’m pretty bored with this. Forget Blackmore and Morse, come up with something different. If I miss Blackmore, there are old records and some good Mark 2 cover bands out there.
Don’t really rate =1 album. That “Show Me” might be better with Joe Lynn Turner, reminds me of “I Surrender”. Great guitar playing inside, but still yet to find what specialty that Simon has under his sleeves.
Something that could surprise me like “Wow, what’s that!!”. Comin Home and Gettin’ Tighter did that to me, refreshingly new and different compared to Mark 2 old numbers. And then later we got Ted the Mechanic, Loosen my String, and Cascades which guitars sound radically different to any Blackmore song
Hence why I’m still not yet engaged with this Mark 9 formation. Maybe the new album’s guitar sound will come to surprise me like I want, I’ll wait..
April 29th, 2026 at 13:04Karin is right, Simon actually sounds closer to Ritchie than Steve – it’s that British Isles (I’ve learned that the term includes Ireland while “Great Britain” does not and “UK” only Northern Ireland) no-frills-direct sound in the Blackmore, Gallagher and Moore tradition. Steve was/is a wonderful person and a hugely gifted guitarist, but I always found his amped sound über-processed and overdone (in full recognition that his sound is very much part of his trademark style), that overdrive through countless pre-amps, compressors, the endless sustain … very American school.
I tend to like a simplistic guitar-straight-into-the-amp signal and let the hands of the player do the rest …
https://youtu.be/uvRNRiA_h34
But that is of course anathema to Steve’s philosophy which is all his own, he has an immediately identifiable sound.
I’m not sure whether Steve was the best or only choice for Purple to replace Blackers, but he was certainly an interesting one and his contributions over the decades validated the initial choice. He co-wrote a sizable part of DP’s history and for that I’m thankful.
April 29th, 2026 at 14:23Gloating Karin, in most of Europe, August is the traditional holiday month, Denmark and Germany are exceptions!😝
Denmark has flexible holiday seasons for pretty much the simple reason that no matter what time of the year you leave the Kingdom of the Danes, chances are that the weather is better anywhere in the world! 🤣
April 29th, 2026 at 14:28Grumpers @17: Tokai no doubt perfected the mimicry art of making their name look like other – more famous – names, maybe you misread each and every time … 😎
https://www.faberguitar.com/media/image/product/3478/md/tokai-st80-1981-neck-v-shaped-rosewood-fret-board~6.jpg
https://kitarablogi.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/01/tokai-lc-107-e28093-headstock.jpg
April 29th, 2026 at 15:23@ 23 – yes indeed Uwe. those similarities were obviously deliberate and didn’t go down too well from what we could imagine. They were a ‘talking’ point at times with the chaps that I knew who owned Tokai’s, when they were showing other musicians their guitars. Cheers.
April 30th, 2026 at 00:07#3: Great idea about hoping to hear Steve & Simon play a show together. I’ve always had a pipe dream that somehow Steve and RB should do an album together. I’ve even got the perfect name for it: “BlackMorse”.
April 30th, 2026 at 03:50@22
I am not gloating!
In fact if I had any pride left in me, I would never have mentioned it, would I?
I know I’m not that bright but I’m kind to animals and people, and I’m sure that counts for something too….
Yes of course I speak from where I’m from!
You’re right about the weather though.
We still have temperatures below zero at night. But tomorrow (Friday) and the next day (that’ll be Saturday I guess) we might get temperatures over 20 C 🤩
Sadly Tuesday next week we will be closer to 10 C again.
I have asked René if we shouldn’t move away, but he won’t because he likes the cool weather so until further notice I freeze 🥶 all the time.
April 30th, 2026 at 10:08But tomorrow (Friday) and the next day (that’ll be Saturday I guess) we might get temperatures over 20 C 🤩 …
Alas!, two days of summer ain’t bad for Denmarknon average!
So by next week, you will be deep into autumn?
April 30th, 2026 at 22:05I don’t believe it, René is finally mentioned and it does sound like he has a fair bit of say too, doesn’t it folks. The mind does boggle at times. And it also sounds like he has fair bit of ‘control’ over precedings, making Karin ‘freeze’ etc. Good on you René. Cheers.
April 30th, 2026 at 22:46@27
I guess we will Uwe 😳
How stupid of me still living here, but it’s the only language I speak relatively fluently…
Actually today will be so unusually warm that I am working in my garden and taking care of the beautiful flowers 😍
Have a lovely weekend everybody 🤗👋🏼😚
May 2nd, 2026 at 05:51@28
MacGregor let me tell you a little secret:
The trick to a good marriage is to make the husband believe he has all the power ☺️😉
But I cheat on him! Yes indeed I put on a sweater so I don’t freeze quite as much 😁
And according to his wishes I stop mentioning him now completely!
May 2nd, 2026 at 05:57Nonsense, the trick to a good marriage is of course to always eventually give in (wimmin can’t really compromise), yet do it with just enough resistance and delay to not create the impression that you might not really care, thus enabling your significant other to savor the victory. A happy wife is one proven right.
In those rare cases where she is irrefutably wrong, a wise husband will always assume responsibility for that too, easy!
May 2nd, 2026 at 14:53I recommend that we refer to René in future posts only as “The one who cannot be named here …” 🤣
https://i.pinimg.com/originals/d8/37/cc/d837cc9d24a8d41461d23e3b8caf739d.gif
May 2nd, 2026 at 15:03It seems I am the only one who is still bit annoyed by Simon´s take of Smoke. I loved that when Steve played Smoke, before Ians singing appeared, he used at least three or four different takes of that riff and it made it refreshing. When Simon plays it repeatedly in exact same way, I´m annoyed by that riff before Rog starts to play. What he describes “dont add anything to it, keep it simple” is exactly what annoys me! 😀
May 2nd, 2026 at 20:31I think he plays SOTW is a very puristic way, I like that. That is not to say that I didn’t enjoy Ritchie’s various takes on the song over the years or the way Tommy Bolin kind of hip-shoved the notes along when he played it. Steve’s processed sound wasn’t really suited to the song I thought, it needs to sound brash and raw.
May 2nd, 2026 at 21:38I can understand Karin’s partner René not wanting anything to do with online chit chat etc. I will only mention René from the Allo Allo comedy from now on, if that ever presents itself as a necessity. Cheers.
May 2nd, 2026 at 23:29@35
Yeah, he is a bit peculiar 😆
May 3rd, 2026 at 10:30You decide who ☺️😉
I wouldn’t want to be mentioned here either, terrible place, full of weirdos. 😑
May 3rd, 2026 at 11:45@37
To quote someone in here: kettle – pot – black…..!
I honestly find Purple people among the finest human beings!
Our taste in music is impeccable, and we have the most interest debates 🤩
The only thing I would like to introduce in here is synchronous coffee drinking.
May 3rd, 2026 at 16:18Have done it with friends living in other countries than Denmark, and it is pure hygge!
I personally believe René is a saint 😇 given the fact … 🤐
May 3rd, 2026 at 22:32Isn’t that what this place has been renamed a while ago, The Hyggeway Star? Nobody gonna take my beans, I’m gonna brew them to the ground …
May 5th, 2026 at 19:33@40
The Hyggeway Star – well I like it 😆
“Nobody gonna take my beans, I’m gonna brew them to the ground …”
– Uwe have you helped Ian with the lyrics to the new album Splat? The sound of the title really could be your suggestion 😂
Oh I am loooking so much forward to get Splat!
May 6th, 2026 at 13:023rd of July….. well, some people in the world are having well earned summer holidays at the moment…
Not going to stir anything up, simply making a statement 😃