Writer Glenn Williams has posted transcripts of three interviews the held with Roger Glover, Don Airey and Steve Morse recently during the Japanese tour.

A quick update on the album Roger? What can you tell us?

RG: Well it’s hard to describe music really. It’s like how do you describe the Mona Lisa? A woman standing there with a funny look on her face. (laughs) Maybe she’s sitting…we don’t know do we?

Q: Is it more of the same?

RG: It’s hard to tell. I think it’s more of a heavier album than Now What?! It has a few unrelenting tracks on it and some surprises and in fact one of the songs is very surprising. It’s more or less finished: we’ve got some more vocals and we did some vocals actually two or three weeks ago in Toronto. All the tracks were done in February in Nashville, Bon Ezrin is still working hard yelling at us. (laughs)

Q: I’m guessing that you didn’t even consider anybody else to produce it given how good Now What?! turned out.

RG: No. Bob was really a good thing for us. You know, we are not a very together band strangely enough. We are all very different people, all live in different parts of the world and all have different ideas about what to do – it’s hell in there. (laughs) So writing sessions tend to be a lot of fun but making a decision is hard. Is it going to be a B Flat or B Flat minor, etc and everyone weighs in but Bob has a work ethic that leaves me tired. He’s really energetic and he’ll say ‘Right. Let’s listen to that one!’ and then ‘Yeah, I like that. We’re doing that’ and all of a sudden two hours of arguing in the band is gone.

Q: Which is what a good producer should be doing.

RG: Yeah. He’s opinionated and he contributes. He’s not one that says ‘I don’t like it: do something I like’, he’ll make suggestions. He’s a good songwriter, has good pitching and can work out harmonies. He works really hard, works his staff hard and us hard. We had eleven days…or was it nine days…doing about twelve songs, some of them from scratch so he’s brilliant.

More of Now What?!

SM: Yeah. In the terms of personnel, procedure and excitement, it’s the same but I would say Bob is more excited about this one and I think it’s a really good time for the band because everybody’s taking it super-seriously but at the same time everybody’s having fun. The Rock Hall of Fame thing sort of put a marker – a point in time where they got recognized. You know, we’ve seen people die, Jon died and there were people in my band, road crew and of course Tommy Bolin and I think everyone is really aware that we owe a lot to the audience and I guess for some reason. People are paying more attention right now. The audiences are more attentive and supportive than ever.

All this and much more at http://www.writerinjapan.com

with thanks to Yvonne Osthausen

JUNE 17, 2016

“A big thank you to all the people who have been in touch with me expressing their concern about my health.

I think you will appreciate that there have been too many to answer every one personally.

So if I don’t reply to you please accept my apologies, but there are only so many hours in a day!

Also my one typing finger is having its own “event” and is starting to get very sore.

I knew I had a lot of friends around the world but never realised quite how many.

Again thanks to you all and I will endeavour to keep you up to date with my progress which so far is great.

Ian.”

via Earmusic/Facebook

From www.deeppurple.com

To all the people who were expecting to see Deep Purple in Sweden and Denmark this week I would like to let you know the reason the shows were not possible,and also to stop all the speculation and rumours.

On the morning of the 14th of June I woke up to find that the right side of my body was feeling numb and I could not control my right hand and fingers.

So I had myself admitted to hospital where I was diagnosed with having suffered a “mini stroke”, or TIA. The hospital staff in Stockholm were amazing and started my treatment straight away.

After both CT and MIR scans there was found to be no serious or permanent damage. As of this moment all I am suffering is a slightly numb right side of the face a tingling sensation in my right hand. My dexterity in the hand is coming back quickly and I fully expect to re commence touring next month.

So now I have a set of tablets which have to be taken every day to ensure it doesn’t happen again!.

So sorry for not being able to play for you.

And I’m sorry for myself!

These are the first shows I have missed with DP since its formation in 1968.

Thanks to all the people who have shown concern and sent their best wishes.

-Ian Paice.

with thanks to www.deeppurple.com

We all here at THS wish you a speedy recovery.

Live Nation Sweden are reporting that tonights show in Stockholm and tomorrows show in Gothenburg have had to be cancelled due to illness.
As yet we have no further news, please check with the venue before travelling!
Looks like Horsens is off too.

July 13th 1985 in Zurich, Switzerland.
The band are receiving their gold and platinum awards from the Swiss sky diving team on behalf of Polydor Records… view here…

Deep Purple played at the Budokan again, for the first time since their 2014 Japan tour. This is their second visit to Japan after their latest album, “Now what?” was released With the current line-up, DP does not necessarily tour when they have a new album, rather, they tour regularly regardless. It just means that in their set list of new + old song combinations, the new songs are still from “Now what?” It’s hard to tell to what extent the Japanese audience wants to hear new songs, but it seems quite clear that the band is being motivated by the new songs.

As in the previous tour, Holst’s “Mars” was the opening sound effect. DP appeared on stage with this dramatic tune, and the first song they played was Highway Star. The crowd goes wild. In the previous tour, DP chose “Apres Vous” from “Now What?” as their first song, but with the Ian Gillan line-up, Highway Star is definitely the best opening tune. Apparently they started playing Highway Star as their first song from the middle of the European tour late last year.

In this show, the band used three large screens on stage — center, left and right — to produce the show. The screens show the members’ real-time performance as well as images. I was quite happy that we were able to see Don Airey’s performance from right by his side, his fingerwork up close. As he plays facing the audience, this is an angle you cannot see. It was a nice treat. For me, personally, this was the best part of this show, watching Don playing up close.

The second song was Bloodsucker from “In Rock”. This song became part of their on-stage repertoire from late last year, but was not played so much in the past. In Japan, they played it for the first time on day 2 of their show in 2000 at the International Forum. They slipped in Bloodsucker where they played Into the Fire on the first day. Starting with Highway Star, and bringing in Bloodsucker next — a great song which they did not play so often in the past — really enhanced the value of the show.

The third song was Hard Lovin’ Man, the fourth was Strange Kind of Woman, same order as the last tour. After which Ian Gillan speaks for the first time. In other Japan locations, DP played Woman from Tokyo, but here they moved on to Vincent Price. Then Contact Lost, Uncommon Man, The Well-dressed Guitar, The Mule… all same order as the last tour. Then Lazy, which brings on much handclapping from the audience. Ian Gillan plays the harmonica as usual, and this is really cool. Without Ritchie Blackmore and Jon Lord, Ian Gillan carries the band’s “legendary” aspect. When Ian does not shine, the show does not succeed. Today Ian had a great voice, so who could complain (although he dressed very casually….). We could all relax and enjoy the show.

The next song is Demon’s Eye. This was also added to the set list from late last year. In the Japanese and US versions of “Fireball,” this song was replaced by Strange Kind of Woman, so Demon’s Eye was rarely played on stage. When I heard DP’s groovy performance of Demon’s Eye, I understood for the first time why Yngwie Malmsteen liked this song so much. The light touch of the next song, Hell to Pay, added a special effect to the show. The good thing about the current line-up is that they can play these “pop” type of songs, and it was very impressive how the three players in the front of the stage really seemed to be enjoying themselves.

Next comes Don’s solo — one of the highlights of the show. Don’s solo is full of enjoyable moments, and not a second to be bored. He is always service-oriented and includes local tunes in his solo. This time, he played parts from “Sakura”, a popular song by a Japanese band called Ikimonogakari. The audience was thrilled.

This was followed by the powerful performance of Perfect Strangers, Space Truckin’ and Smoke on the Water. The crowed is very satisfied by the performance of one well-known song after another. The band left the stage but came back after only a short break. As in the previous tour, they played Green Onions a little bit, and went right into Hush. The chase between Don and Steve seems to continue forever, intensifying the convivial atmosphere of the song. This is followed by Roger Glover’s simple solo, leading to the last song. Starting with Highway Star and ending with Black Night. This is Deep Purple!!

Deep Purple’s performance as a live band was highly satisfactory. It was a great show. Ian Gillan’s vocals were shining, and above all, the solidarity of the band was amazing. The band is a legend, and the show had many high points. What is important is that the new songs from “Now What?” are quite hot on stage. They are not in the set list just to make sure that something new is included. The new songs play an important part in the show. I am very happy that such a well-seasoned band is still very much alive and kicking.

Incidentally, DP apparently started recording their next album in Nashville in the end of January. Bob Ezrin will be producing this album again. It is not yet complete. As DP will start their European tour after the Japanese tour, I suspect it will be a while before the new album is released.

with thanks to Akemi Ono for the information and the translation

Don Airey believes the new album by Deep Purple is now complete and being mixed by Bob Ezrin.
In an interview with TASS, the Russian News Agency, he confirms

“As far as I know, it’s all recorded and now… it’s on the tender mercies of Bob Ezrin (Canadian producer – TASS), he’s going to mix it. I haven’t been given a release date, I know nothing about that as yet. If I knew, I’d tell you but I don’t,” Airey said.

The musician said that the band won’t play any songs from the coming album.
“We won’t play anything from the new album until the album is released,” he said.
In his conversation with TASS the musician revealed he has a connection with Russia. When asked about his favorite place in the Russian capital Mr Airey mentioned the Moscow conservatory:
“I always visit there because my piano teacher, when I was in college, he’d been taught there by Heinrich Neuhaus. So it’s always a nice little visit for me to go there. I’ll just go inside and have a quick look, it’s nice to be there, it’s such an amazing place with an amazing atmosphere. My piano teacher was taught there, the guy who taught me when I was in Manchester, he’d studied there. He told me in Manchester, he ended up in the Manchester school of music, but he studied in Moscow under Neuhaus and his friends were Richter and Gilels. He was called Ryszard Bakst, he was a wonderful musician,” Airey said.

More:
http://tass.ru/en/society/879519
via Blabbermouth

Dan Ingemann Jensen, a musician and the headteacher at Sct Ibs School, now wants musicians from around Horsens to take another stab at the well-known guitar part.

A very big stab.

On the day of the Deep Purple concert in Horsens, he wants to challenge the Guinness world record for the number of guitarists playing ‘Smoke on the Water’ at the same time.

In 1994, the Canadian city of Vancouver was the first to set the record, when 1,322 gathered to bang out the riff.

Over the years, several cities claimed and then lost the record until 6,346 musicians joined current Deep Purple guitarist Steve Morse in Wroclaw, Poland on 1 May 2009 to play the song.

Jensen realises that he has little hope of breaking that record, but that has not stopped him from inviting everyone to take part in the fun.

“I sent an invitation to our students, Horsens Music School and Kulisselageret and there has been a positive response,” Jensen told Horsens Folkebladet.

More details at cphpost

Apparently there is a new DVD featuring Ian Paice that came out in Japan recently (Amazon lists release date as May 18). Our Japanese correspondent writes us with the details:

Ian appeared as a special guest in an event titled “Tribute to the artists fighting cancer ROCK SUMMIT 2014 featuring IAN PAICE (Deep Purple)”, on November 29. It was sponsored by the Higuchi Munetaka Foundation. Higuchi Munetaka is the rock drummer of a Japanese heavy metal band called Loudness. Munetaka passed away in 2008 at the age of 49 due to cancer.

In this event, Ian led the orchestration of 10 drummers who appeared on stage with him. They also played some Loudness songs, and of course Deep Purple tunes, although the Deep Purple songs are not included in the DVD.

On November 30 and December 1, Ian conducted a drum clinic sponsored by Pearl in Tokyo and Osaka.

The DVD is a collection of the performance at the Rock Summit event, Ian’s interview, the other drummers’ comments on Ian’s drumming and his great personality, Ian’s performances at the drum clinic (a lot of wonderful drumming!) and clips of Q&A sessions from the clinic.

I especially enjoyed his comment on how Burn was created. He said that while working on the verse, the band came to a halt at the same place for many hours. He got bored and spontaneously started a drum solo at the place where they got stuck. The other band members said “That’s it!” And so it came to be.

The other drummers’ comments on how Ian is very down-to-earth, and how he really seems to enjoy drumming even now, was very nice to hear as well!

Thanks to Akemi Ono for the info and pictures.

And this, boys and girls, is how you promote a Deep Purple gig (choice of track on the second video notwithstanding):

Thanks to Lutz Reinert for pointing this out.