by Andree Schneider & Lars Wehmeyer
Lars Wehmeyer (LW): The new album "Bananas" sounds like a band that is
doing what they do best: jamming, having fun, playing,
singing. It really sounds like you had a lot of fun in the studio. Is that so?
Roger Glover (RG): Yes. (long pause - laughter). It was done actually very quickly,
which is good, because, when we're left to our own devices, we give
ourselves too much time, and when you got too much time, you spend
a
lot of time doing trivial things, and not enough time doing the
really
important things. There's no sense of purpose if you got loads of
time. One of the reasons that we wanted to use a producer was
precisely that, to give us some discipline. Because I can't discipline
the band, I'm in the band. They don't listen to me. But they'll
listen
to Michael Bradford. And they did.
And so we had a writing session
in
December, which was about four weeks, and during that time we hammered
out pretty much all the songs and we came back in January, had a
week
back in the rehearsal studio putting the final touches to the songs,
getting more familiar with them. We didn't really know what they
were
going to sound like in the studio. That's one of the great things,
it's as much a learning experience for us as it is for someone
listening to it. We don't know how it's gonna end up. Anyway, a
week
of doing that and then in the studio, Michael just kept this pace
up,
and I guess we fell into a groove, we'd come in, we'd do a song
and
nail it in one or two takes and then have a break, go for a meal,
come
back, rehearse the track for the next day, and then come in the
next
day, nail that track in one or two takes - it was really quite
effortless. There was a lot of good vibes in the studio, yeah, Don
made his presence felt, he had his corner and his keyboard sound,
he
was flying.
It was just really a pleasurable experience being in
the
studio with a great producer, certainly for me, no weight on my
shoulders, no nothing, I was just being a bass player and a
writer. Mind you, there were several times when I had to zip my
lip
because you have so many ideas and you try and get them across to
people, and sometimes it does and sometimes it doesn't. When I saw
Michael go through the process of having people throw ideas at him,
you know, watched how he did it, I was very impressed with his
demeanour in the studio.
I'm taking a long time to answer this
question, and I'm worried now that we'll be here for breakfast
(laughter).
LW: You've already answered some of the questions further down...
RG: That's what I hoped.
LW: You once said: "It's great to be in a band that's happy.
I'd
recommend it to anybody". Is Deep Purple a happy band today?
Maybe
more than ever?
RG: I don't know about more than ever - ever hasn't come yet. It's
a
pretty heavy band, but it's not without its friction. There is
friction in the band. It's inevitable, you get that. But the bottom
line is that despite our differences there's a great respect and
love
for each other. We know we're in a good band. It may sound conceited,
but sometimes you come off stage and you've had a great show, and
you
can't help feeling "Fuck, we're good!". Every now and
again you have
to feel that. I don't often brag about the band, I just let the
music
speak for itself really, but every now and again there's a feel
that
"Wow, this is it", you know.
Andree Schneider (AS): Wasn't it sometimes hard for you in the studio not to tell
Michael
Bradford your opinion and give him clues and hints?
RG: I'd mentioned that, I had to zip my lip. The thing about having
producers is all about trust. You trust the man who's in charge.
I
guess we all decided that he was going to be our producer so therefore
he had our trust from the outset. The thing about Michael that's
most
impressive is his language, is the way he explains ideas, the way
he
does things. He's extremely erudite. He says exactly the right thing
to get his point across. He's a very clear-headed man. I admire
that,
he's got a strength there, and so despite the fact that sometimes
we
said "Oh Michael, we'll do that again, let's do that again,
we can get
it better". And he goes "No, that's the one". So
he cut out all
argument.
AS: Could an experienced producer like you learn something from
Michael Bradford?
RG: Oh, absolutely. You learn something every day. You're always
a
student. You're a student all your life, experience means nothing,
well, actually it means a little bit, but you're still a student,
you're always a student. Experience just tells you what to avoid.
It
doesn't tell you how to do things. You have to learn that still,
every
day.
AS: Would you like to see Michael producing the next Deep Purple
studio
album?
RG: Yes, I would. I'd work with him again.
LW: Two of my personal avorite tracks on "Bananas", that's
"House Of
Pain" and "Walk On" have "Gillan, Bradford"
as the writing
credits. Should we consider Michael Bradford as Deep Purple member
number six?
RG: No. He's the producer. It's a typical question you asked because
you're assuming of course Deep Purple always writes its own
material. That has become the norm, but it's not a rule. It doesn't
have to be a rule. We did some dodgy songs at various points in
the
past. Early on, "Hush" wasn't written by the band, "Kentucky
Woman"
wasn't written by the band, there's no rule about this. One of the
things that endeared me to Michael, when we first met him he outlined
his vision that he had for making the record. And he said it very
simply, he said: "You are Deep Purple. You ARE a trade mark
sound. You
shouldn't be ashamed to be who you are. People are always playing
the
old tracks, they're always playing the 70s stuff. And why is that?
That's what they like". He said: "That's what you are
still. That's
the way you play, just don't be scared to be it". And in a
way, he
brought a vision of what Deep Purple is back to us, which is why
a lot
of people think this album sounds like it could have been a 70s
album
in some ways. And in the process he came up with a couple of songs
that he thought might spark something. And they sounded like good
songs, so why turn down a good song just because it's written by
someone else?
LW: I said they're my favorite tracks! Bananas entered the german
album charts at position three. Is it a commercially successful
album,
and do you get more airplay? Or do you know how much airplay you
get?
RG: I haven't got a clue.
LW: I thought so...
RG: I don't follow sales figures, I don't follow chart positions,
I
don't follow radio play. I suppose if it becomes obvious to me that
it's happening, then I'll know it's happening. I don't go looking
for
it. You know, "Oh, we got a play on tuesday morning on this
morning
station". You know, it's whatever happens happens, I'm too
busy right
now thinking about the tour to worry about the album. The album
is
gonna do what it does regardless of what I think. And it's been
very
good, you always want to sell more, but you kind of have to accept
what you get. You're at the mercy of "the business" (does
a strange
face) (laughter)
LW: "Bananas", the CD is copy protected. What is you
general opinion
on copy protection?
RG: I know nothing about copy protection. I've seen all the emails
flying forth among the fans about copy protection. I honestly don't
know what it is. The CD that I've got plays fine, I don't know if
there's any distortion. I still need to have it prooved to me that
that's what's causing the distortion. I think it could have been
something else. Could have been a bad pressing. I did see one analysis
of the waveform, and it bounces beyond the limits. So maybe it's
nothing to do with copy protection. But copy protection in essence,
I
don't think it's such a bad thing. I think it would be nice if you
could copy something once or twice and then it's closed or something
like that, but I don't know how you do that. Maybe there are ways
to
do that.
But right now the record business, the music business is
in
dire straits. I know people in record companies. I know executives
in
record companies. There's huge things happening. Titans are
falling. And they all fall. There's more bad news to come. So anything
that gets the balance right - I think maybe what's happening in
the
record business is, in a way, a kind of equilibrium finding thing,
'cause they've had it too good for too long. A top executive, one
of
the big five told me "The worst thing to happen to the music
business
was the CD". The CD came out and they just took all the stuff
that was
on vinyl and put it on CD and charged far too much for it. They
made
so much money, huge huge profits in the mid-80s and all the 90s
and
inflated everything. They're paying the price now. People are pissed
off with CDs that only have one good song, and they're pissed off
with
the amount - there's so much stuff out there, you can't possibly
listen to it or evaluate or judge it or buy it. It's almost
impossible, it's a top heavy arrangement.
LW: Why did you decide not to put "The
Well Dressed Guitar" on the "Bananas" album?
RG: Well, that's a slightly touchy
subject with Steve, 'cause he would have liked to have it on. The
record company and certain other people felt that it didn't belong
on the album because it was a "Steve thing" rather than
a "band thing". "Contact Lost" is also a "Steve
thing"...
LW: That's what I was thinking...
RG: Between "Contact Lost"
and "Well Dressed", the feeling was "Contact Lost"
should be on the album, "Well Dressed" not. That's a tough
decision, and I wasn't in favour, if it was up to me, I'd have put
everything on. But it's part record company, part band. Not a popular
decision with Steve, which is understandable.
AS: "Haunted" is a great
song. Isn't there a way of producing a video clip for it? I'm sure
with a video clip, this song could have turned into a real hit.
RG: There's only one reason to do a
video clip, and that's if someone's going to play it. To spend a
hundred, a hundred-and-fifty, two-hundred-fifty thousand dollars
to make a video if no one's gonna play it is rather foolish. The
band that we are and the class that
we're in and the age that we are, as far as MTV is concerned, and
the've told us this, they would never play a video by us because
we're too old. So why spend so much money? It's nice to dream about
it, and if it's grass roots sales out there that's warranted, I'm
sure there would be some kind of video. I'm sure there would be,
but until
there's a reason to do so, we're not going to do it.
AS: Are there any plans about when
you will take on the next studio album?
RG: No plans, but intentions. Somewhere
round about the end of next year we'll go and do a writing session,
or something like that, that's a vague thought. But we certainly
don't want to leave it five years for the next studio album. This
last one was a good experience, I think we can do another one fairly
quickly.
LW: We know, and Ian Gillan says so
every evening that you had some close connections with the crew
of the USS Columbia, "Contact Lost", the title says it
all. I saw the pictures on the web after your concert in Mexico
city when you were given what remained of the CDs, and from the
pictures alone it was very touching. Wasn't it somehow also a strange
feeling to get what remained of such a terrible accident?
RG: Yes it is. It's odd, you see things
on the news, they have to do with other people and other places.
And just that little thing made you a part of someting that you'd
seen on the news. It was very moving, he's a lovely man and she
was a lovely woman. I can't remember if I met her, but I met him
and a couple of the other NASA guys. They came to Houston to see
us. I was very impressed with him, we had a very good connection,
he and I. He's very calm, a very sentient man, and dealing with
a very public grief, and dealing with it by immersing himself in
it, he's travelling around and talking about it, doing
things like coming to see us and give us these things. It was a
great experience but humbling, very humbling.
LW: You've been playing with Jon Lord
for a very long time. Is this certain sense of familiarity also
there with Don now in the band, or does it feel different on stage
today? Maybe even more exciting?
RG: Well, it certainly feels different.
It feels like Don. Personality comes through in your playing. Especially
in a musician's band. In a musician's band your very playing IS
your personality. Don is a different personality. I can't compare
the two, because they're both great, they're just different. Jon
is majestic and simple and stark and bluesy, and quite eccentric.
Don is equally eccentric, but he is more fluid, he has different
thoughts about it. He has different voicings, his voicings tend
to be a bit more jazzy. I've noticed this, that growl of the organ,
you know he's not playing a straight A minor, he's playing an A
minor 7th and 9th and 13th on top, he's got that mix right. He's
very very inventive, he's got great ears, he can hear something
happen and respond to it. He's perfect for this band, it's what
this band needs.
LW: Is it true that Don is playing
Jon's hammond organ? I would have thought that Jon could never give
up this instrument, he's been touring with it and playing on it
for so long.
RG: I think it is, I'm not sure actually.
I know Don wanted to get it from him, he wanted to buy it, and I
think Jon wanted to sell it, but I can't remember if the deal was
actually done. I think it's still the same one, but it sounds different,
because Don has a whole different approach. The famous thing with
Jon is that he went through a Marshall instead of going through
the Lesley like everyone else. Straight feed to the Marshall. It
was really really dirty and really ugly. Don has a slightly different
approach to it, I mean, Jon had lost that, actually, Jon in the
last few years went back to the Lesley sound, because it's a lovely
warm sound. And that roaring sound, he kind of slightly distrusted
it as an effect. I don't know, maybe he didn't, I can't speak for
Jon. But all I know is that Don realized that Jon's organ sound
was magnificient and he's worked very hard using not Marshalls but
some ...
Daniel Stasch: Hughes&Kettner
RG: Yeah, that's it, what he said.
And it sounds great, on stage it sounds great, and I know it sounds
great out there. So he's in a way taken up the mantle of Jon and
extended it. I'm very happy about that. I recommend being in a band
that's happy.
AS: It's great to finally hear some
new material on this tour. "New old" songs were not on
the setlist, though. Did you decide not to play any or was this
never even discussed?
RG: Yes, it was discussed. There are
various factions in the band. I'm one of the ones that wants to
play lots of new material and lots of strange old stuff, but I'm
outnumbered by people who feel differently. It's kind of expected
we have to do the classics. I think it's too expected. I think I'd
like to take more chances. But I'm in a minority. The setlist is
a battle. Not just amongst fans, but much of the band.
AS: And the battle rages on.
RG: The battle rages on (laughter)
LW: You said in an interview with Andree
in 2001 that you would like to go on tour with "Snapshot".
What happened to the plans? Are you still planning to tour with
"Snapshot"?
RG: It's all down to logistics. It's
all down to money. It's all down to time. I wanted to do some american
dates, and I had everything pretty much set to go, we were gonna
do B.B.King's in New York, and Randell, and I have to appreciate
his point of view here, Randell was right in the middle of a Stevie
Winwood tour and he's been with Stevie Winwood for nine years or
so, and so he said "I can't do it". And that was my one
window. And without Randell, it doesn't make a lot of sense. I don't
want to go out and just have a pick-up band do that kind of stuff.
If I do another album with different singers on it, then yeah, maybe,
I'll do that but for this purpose Randell is the only one. And I
begged him, I said "Can you possibly do one gig, and we'll
film it, you know, we'll rehearse for a couple of days and we'll
go and play some good clubs somewhere and we'll film it and we'll
have something", and he said "Yeah, yeah, that's fine".
I can't remember why that didn't work. I think it didn't work because
it would have cost so much to do that one gig, no record company
wanted to know about investing in it. So it's a question of me putting
up money that I don't have right now. And so I couldn't do it.
LW: Do you feel you're exposing a lot
of yourself through your music and by showing your paintings and
sketches on the web?
RG: It's a conceit, in a way. I use
my web page to display stuff that no one has ever seen before, except
for immediate family. I think to be any kind of artist you have
to stand naked in front of people. You have to be vulnerable. You
have to just be who you are, regardless of how other people think
of you. It did occur to me I might bury my soul
too much before putting this on, but I looked at them and I thought
"No one's ever seen this stuff", it's been down in my
basement for years and years and years, this seems like a good opportunity.
So I thought I'd try it. I don't know what people think of it, I
don't get that much feedback. So maybe the whole world is laughing,
and I don't know...
AS, LW: I don't think so!
RG: Oh, thanks, thanks (laughter)
AS: The last question: Please complete
the following sentence: "If we all stay healthy..."
RG: The End (laughter)
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