Interview

I caught up with Deep Purple at the Cardiff international arena. Ian Gillan was suffering with a cold and had cancelled the show the previous evening. The interview was arranged for 6.30 with Ian Gillan. As is usual a certain amount of waiting is involved, as people are never where they intend to be. Complications soon set in as the tour manager suddenly had no recollection of even organising the meeting. The fact of the matter was Ian Gillan's cold was not going away and the tour manager didn't want him burning up his voice. "The thing is, once Ian starts talking, he won't bloody stop!" However Steve Morse picked up the baton and came to the rescue. "You've got 15 minutes and that's it ok?" so spoke the man who was briefly elevated to God, also known as the tour manager. I wasn't about to quibble! The only problem being, my carefully structured questions were now absolutely bloody useless. A good journalist never panics, at least not when anyone is watching. I wait for Steve in the Grey Bar backstage rapidly redoing the notes and then some bloke sat next to me, " Hi, your Robert right?" We exchange pleasantries and I turn the Dictaphone on.

Steve: I don't recall, I wasn't there. Ha ha

Rob: Hi Steve, tell me how's the tour going?

Steve: Well it's going good, real good.

Rob: I hear there's a solo project in the pipeline?

Steve: Yeah, it's coming out in a matter of weeks actually. Near the end of March. It's an album I've done for Magna Carter records called Split Decision, it's a combination of big band material, some solo. Also some acoustics are on there. Not too different from the stuff I do now. If any one has heard my stuff, like High Tension Wires, will be familiar with the sound. But it's not all band stuff, which is why it's called Split Decision.

Rob: Will you tour with it your self?

Steve: It depends on if they will let me or not! (Laughs).

Rob: Purple have going for so long now and have a distinct sound. Do you still get compared to Blackmore or are you happy that you have carved your own niche now?

Steve: No not really, well at least not to me! There are plenty of discussions about it, particularly on the net. More so when I was new to the band. This is probably my eighth year so it has calmed down. I think the problem with the U.K. is we have only been here one other time and because of that it is maybe still an issue for some people. But I haven't seen it being a problem.

Rob: When you play the older material, you give it the definite Steve Morse spin.

Steve: Oh yeah, of course. I play it like a fan would play it and put in bits I would like to hear also. That makes a difference, people can tell and I like that.

RD: How much of a say do you have in what Purple play?

SM: What influences what we are going to play is really how Ian feels. Like right now this last week he's had a really really bad cold, laryngitis. Everyone feels the same way "whatever you feel like doing, that's what we'll do!" Because he has the hard job. But tonight we are doing an instrumental that I wrote in the set called Well Dressed Guitar. Although Ian Gillan named it!

Rd: This line up of Deep Purple is the longest and is the most successful; do you agree it's the best it's ever been?

SM: Oh yeah, it feels real strong and steady and has been for some time.

RD: Because D.P. has been around for so long, has the audience aged with you?

SM: In the U.S. and U.K. especially yes. But outside of those two countries we have a much wider mix. All we see is young people up front. Maybe because of the seating arrangements aren't so good you know? We have so many thousand people and they will fit in this space! (Laughs) and only the fittest can stand up! Only the young can survive! (Laughs) Within the States though music is very segregated. This is music for young people, this radio station is for older people and they call it classic rock. They will play two songs of Deep Purple and play three songs of Led Zeppelin over and over and over for we don't know how many decades just as long as we can sell advertising! So that's how drastically cordoned off the demographics are. So we are instantly categorised as a classic band. They put us in the same group as every one else. Because we don't play there much, they think the band just got together last summer to do a tour and cash in. We still fill stadiums; it's been growing actually.

RD: Do you ever get used to that?

SM: I don't take it lightly. But I do get used to it, but I still don't think it's normal! It's still a thrill but I have got to the point where I expect thousands of people to be there! I can tell you from experience with having my own band; we always had a good steady following, but nothing like this.

RD: Dixie dregs and the Steve Morse band: you tour a lot of times with Purple. Is there any chance of them coming to the U.K.?

SM: It's just the states really. We did two legs with the Dregs just a few weeks ago. But coming to the U.K.? I don't know. Just going by the history of what's happened, every time we try to schedule something, its "Well, we might be touring then. But we might be in the studio. Then again we might not. We'll let you know a couple of weeks before we go." So it can't be done on such a short time scale. The U.S. allows us to book pretty close to the gig time; so then we can do the Dregs things

RD: Apparently you're a bike fan.

SM: Oh yeah, my first bike was a Harley. Actually right now I am looking for a certain kind of Sportster, there's lots of models out there, I am trying to find one I can fit with a comfortable second seat. I want one that's not too chromed up. I ride bikes all the time and I like to ride and I like a Harley with suspension. I am always riding off road on dirt and sand roads, the sand is very deep in Florida, so I want something that's not too heavy that I can throw around a little bit. Our road manager in the Dregs, His name was Twigs Linden, he had a Harley Davidson café racer and I would ride that whenever I got a chance. It was so cool, really lightweight and tons of power. You could wheelie it in any gear.

RD: So you have no desire to have one of those gold plated jobs you see rolling down Sunset Boulevard?

SM: AH no that's just not me. When I do long distance touring I do it with Aeroplanes. I have aeroplanes. I've been flying for just about my whole life. When I did my first album back in the seventies in L.A., Twigs let me put my motorcycle in the back of his trailer that he drove all the way out there. I drove it around in L.A. and my plan was to buy a tank bag, an atlas and a raincoat and I was going to ride back from California. But the mixing kept going on and on, we were waiting outside of the studio and finally they let us in too late to finish the album because of this other project they had going with Stanley Clarke. By the time I got going I had to ship the bike back, which was a bitter disappointment. I really wanted to make that trip. I have done some long trips but never that one. I love to fly so I do that. I do like to go on treks, maybe 270 miles of exploring. Also I go to bike week and tootle around a little bit.

RD: Does your other half like bike too?

SM: Yeah, I'm divorced. But my second wife who I've gotten to know again, in a good way, she loves to go out on the bike. She also rides, I got her a little 4-stroke dirt bike and we go riding in the woods. I have a KTM for doing that kind of stuff. I like the KTM because it always starts! If you're way back in the woods by yourself, as I usually am, you need it to start every time. I did take my little boy once and that was cool, I really enjoyed that.

RD: Where are Purple off to next?

Sm: We are going to Russia. Then we're going to Asia, and then maybe the States. We are pretty much set up through the summer.

RD: do you suffer from road fatigue?

SM: Yeah, today! Today it began. And I don't know why! I can normally go about three weeks with out any problem. I need to fly one of my planes and see my boy. Being a passenger only and being away from family is torture to me. You know guys who ride motorcycles can say, "Fuck it, I'm out of here. Just hit that starter and go." That's what I love about a motorcycle; it's the same thought about having your own aeroplane. When all that September 11th crap started, it was like, man they are going to try and take it all away. Big brother has got to get SO big now; they think that they are going to protect us from crazy idiots like that. You can't

RD: So, what's your dream bike?

Well for different things. For instance I have four different aircraft for different things. I'm trying to get rid of one of them to trade for yet another type. It's the same way with motorcycles. I have a trial bike that I am just starting to learn some more refined balancing. The UK riders are the best in the world at this. They are so just beyond belief. Dougie Lampkin may be responsible for me almost breaking my neck one day trying to imitate him. It should say: 'don't try this at home' every time he rides. A trial bike is so special and so different than a touring bike. The bike I jump on most often is a single cylinder 650 with 12" of suspension. I ride these trails, but they've got sandy potholes and stuff and you are going to die if you hit one riding just a regular bike. I like to do exciting things; I like to have a very high certainty of coming through it in the end. Ha ha. When I do acrobatics in my acrobatic plane, I wear a parachute, which is my plan B. If I rip the wings off the plane trying something too fancy, I want to be able to meet the ground a little slower.

RD: I bet your insurance policies are an interesting price.

Well I don't have any insurance. It's a rip off, it's fine if you are normal insurance is affordable, but if you do anything slightly unusual you are targeted. My reward for flying 25 years without a problem is 'how about we reward you by doubling your insurance'. Thanks guys, that's a treat!

RD: How is Mr Gillans voice going to be tonight?

SM: I don't know. He doesn't know. You can tell by talking to him and I think that's the best way, if he sounds hoarse when he talks he sounds a little hoarse when he sings. And that last two gigs he sounded a little hoarse but he's making just about all the notes all the time but he's coughing between phrases and he's a little hoarse. He had to cancel last night's show because he couldn't talk.

RD: Has Purple considered doing an 'unplugged' album.

SM: Actually we did on some Radio segments. It was broadcast but I don't know if it was ever released.

RD: Was that fun to do.

SM: Yeah, it turned out pretty good, and that's one of the things about the band that I enjoy. The fact that everyone is willing to say: 'just screw it and let's try something new.' without a plan. I mean really this band improvises more that just about any rock band I've ever known. With the possible exception of The Gratefull Dead. The songs are arranged and everything but we have sections where it's different every night, like the beginning of 'Blind Man' my plan is that John plays the first chord, I follow him and he tries to guess where I am headed and he always throws something in, like an unexpected chord just to see if I'll mess up. Just to see if I am paying attention. I encourage him to do it; it really sharpens your ear if you do that. What we try to do is make it look and sound as if it is planned. That's really cool.

RD: Talking about John Lord, in the music press and fan sites rumours are rife that he is going to retire, can you confirm this either way?

SM: Ha HA, No pressure. That is his announcement to make if he is going to make it.

RD: What's happening with the Purple Studio Album?

SM: Good things are happening with that actually. We met this record producer from the states who is a Purple fan. He is really really cool and plays in Kid Rock's band, he is a producer for Kid Rock as well as playing in the band. A whole unlikely nest of people to be a fan of Deep Purple, and he really wants to do something with us. If we can get the band to all get together it could really be a fun album. We have a bunch of material but we are looking to do something different on this album, that's the whole thing. We don't want to make another Deep Purple album that the music channels go: 'Yeah yeah same old stuff'. We want to make it noticeably different, not necessarily musically, to me I've always pushing to get some more retro Purple sound into the albums. As well as some branching out, but we'll see what the producer has to say.

RD: Any previews in the show tonight of freshly written material?

SM: Yeah, I don't think it's going to be the best representation of the new material. One is an instrumental that I wrote for when we had an orchestra. We had this huge orchestra just sitting there and they would play anything we wrote, we were doing hardly any rock stuff. It was all really quite stuff and just to change the mood I wrote this piece. Ian really likes it so that's why we are doing that one. The other is called Up The Wall; we have other songs that are more representative of the sound of the new album. So don't draw any conclusion from what you hear, the idea is to do something new. I feel we should do stuff people don't expect to hear as well as stuff they do.

RD: What's your favourite track to perform?

SM: Oh it's still Highway Star. That's just a blast.

RD: Are there numbers you wish you could do but can't for technical reasons?

SM: In life there are things you can't do, everyone cant do everything. I write tracks for my band I can't play! I still play them but I have a 98% chance of success! Sometimes if Jon Lord starts off just a little too fast..It's like starting your bike in gear and you haven't sat down yet!

RD: Your having such a successful career, what ambitions do you have left?

SM: My greatest ambition is to convince the guy's they can tour year round, in smaller doses. So then we could regularly tour without having your children wonder who you are. Their kids have grown so they don't give a shit (HA HA) this is my little crusade!

RD: Did you enjoy playing with Pavarotti? Him being such an icon from a completely different genre of music.

SM: It was weird. Mostly just sitting around waiting, doing rehearsals. Seeing Pavarotti and meeting all the movie stars was cool. I'm glad I did it for the experience, but lets face it three flights plus hours of driving to get there just to play for 10 minutes! That didn't particularly tickle me, but it was all for a good cause.

RD: Did you get to play with Anastasia?

SM: That was Anastasia? I was stood behind this very nice looking lady, and it turned out to be Michael Douglas's wife! Michael was stood next to me with his wife stood in front, I elbowed him and nodded toward her and smiled. You know like "hey look at the nice view!" Later on he came up to me and said, " Hi, I'm Michael Douglas and this is my wife." I thought "Doh!" But yeah it was a lot of fun. Thanks Rob but I gotta go now; I'm on stage in 15 minutes!

That was it. This was the only time he wasn't playing his guitar. His fingers are directly wired to his lips! What was looking to be a complete flop with no interview turned out to be a real winner. I had just enough time to get front of stage to see the boys walk on and explode in their own very special way.