Ian Gillan and Roger Glover talk about "Rapture Of The Deep" 4th September 2005.
(with Uli Kniep for Edel Records)

"Rapture Of The Deep" is a pure rock album:

Roger: "We are a rock band and we started the album after having been two years on the road with "Bananas". So we are road-fit. Having played that much around the world, there was a certain eagerness to go back into the studio and write some new music. But it´s an unconscious thing. We don´t decide what direction the album is going to be. We just go in with a blank book and start writing in it. The state of the band comes through. It´s not something we design so much. And if you say it sounds more hard, like a hard rock album then great.

"Ian about the meaning of "Rapture Of The Deep":

"It´s a phrase coined by Jacques Cousteau to define the confused state you get into as a diver when you get down to three atmospheres, which is 30 metres or a hundred feet. And you go through a feeling of euphoria; it has a strange physiological effect on your mind and your machine function. It´s a bit like being drunk and stoned - not that I would know, of course (laughs).-

A fan sent in a small picture: In a small village in England there was a pond and there was a sign in the water saying "Danger - deep water" and somebody had crossed out "water" and put in "purple" instead. And so it was in the back of our minds and "Rapture of the deep" described very well the way I was thinking at the time: If you are in a condition like that, you start thinking about things in a different way. And there is quite a lot of spiritual content in the underlying theme of the lyrics of four or five songs certainly. It´s not to be taken literally - it´s a word picture."

Ian Gillan about "Junkyard Blues" :

"It´s one of my favourites tracks on the album and it reminds me of being a kid: We used to play in junkyards and I used to sleep in old cars, the dogs barking...The little things all sorted out didn't´t belong to someone until somebody finds it useful - little parts of electrical things, old carpets and fridges and bones! Where did they come from? It was fascinating, fascinating.

We grew up with the blues and it was something in Europe specifically in England. We were hearing those records, they came in through minority record labels- Jazz and Blues and it was of course in post-war England, where we didn´t have very much, but we heard this music: three chords, simple rhythm telling a story. And of course it was so easy when you get a guitar and so it became a very fashionable thing: Blues bands replaced the traditional jazz bands and it was a fundamental stepping stone in the story of rock´n´roll.- And I was talking to a friend of mine who said: white guys can´t play the blues, or they shouldn´t play the blues - what right do they have to play the blues? And I said: listen - I have heard a lot of blues records and they´re not all about slavery and those sorts of things! There´s an awful lot of blues songs about drinking and women and I told my black friend: there´s a lot of simple things in the blues... It´s a wonderful thing and you can feel the blues in "Black Night", "Strange Kind Of Woman", you can feel it in shuffles, mournful songs like "When A Blind Man Cries". For me it´s a beautiful picture: What are we complaining about? When a blind man cries - then you've got something to worry about!"

Roger about his favourites:

"Oooh - that´s a difficult question - it changes every day. I haven´t actually listened to the album for a few weeks now. I like "Junkyard Blues" a lot, I find myself singing the strangest things: "MTV", "Clearly Quite Absurd" - I wake up with that melody in my head. I think the one that gives me the energy is "Wrong Man" - it´s such a driving riff and it is great to play live."

Ian about the bonus track "MTV":

"It´s really about classic rock radio. I come to the conclusion that more traffic accidents are caused by classic rock radio than by drink driving - because people are falling asleep at the wheel through total boredom because they play the same old songs over and over again! - And so there´s another little story behind it: Roger was doing an interview in an upstate New York radio station for half an hour and he was talking about the album "Bananas", but the girls kept going back to old historical classic rock things and at the end of the interview she said: Good luck with the new album - and thanks for coming in - and here is some Deep Purple, yeah: "Smoke On The Water"! - And they didn´t play the new record. I think it´s a very healthy attitude to be disrespectful of these things and poke a little fun at them."

Roger about format radio and the new product:

"Traditionally we are not very good at picking singles anyway. We always make the wrong choices. I think on "Bananas" Michael Bradford (the producer) probably had more an ear towards what would probably be successful on the radio and maybe this time around he pretty much left us to our own devices and we obviously don´t get played on the radio except on classic rock stations in America where they only play "Smoke On The Water" anyway. So getting radio play is not priority for us - getting songs that mean something to us is a priority and getting songs that are going to be good live."

Ian about "Money Talks":

"This is based on the principle, I think, that money as a currency is an essential tool in civilization. However, when money becomes a commodity it takes on a very nasty complexion. If people are just interested in trading money to make money someone else has to pay for it! So it´s talking about that, it´s talking about the corruption. I mean, there is nothing wrong with earning money, there is nothing wrong with enjoying life but it´s against the greed and corruption that takes place just to accumulate wealth on other people´s expense and so there are references in that about having more food on your plate than you need and not to worry, cause there are guards at the gate. Money always comes back to money, money makes money and it whispers in my ear, it laughs at me - it´s corrupting!"

Roger about the producer:

"Michael Bradford is an engineer, a songwriter, a bass player, he´s a guitarist, he´s good at a lot of things - he´s a good talker, too and he´s a pretty good chef!" Ian and Roger talk about the recording studio "The album was recorded at Michael Bradford´s studio in Los Angeles: He´s moved into a new house with a very nice environment. It´s a small room with a kitchen where we used to stand and write the lyrics and a little yard outside where we could relax and sit in the sunshine, have a beer. We worked there from noon to 6 o´clock - 6 days a week, we didn´t work on sundays, Michael wants a day off, but it´s good to clear your head. And it took five weeks. Yes, it was very interesting, very spontaneous.- Sometimes you have a writing sessions, where you write the songs, then you have a recording session, when you record them. This album was done pretty much at the same time: we´d go in, write what was going to be the idea for the song and immediately go into record mode and captured it. Michael is very good at stopping us from overdoing it. Usually it´s two takes and that´s it! We all played together and the whole album has a spontaneous feel to it we would have lost if had gone over and over. That´s why it´s not perfect!"

Ian and Roger about the cover and title of the album:

"The man is standing with two trees on every side and he´s like a reflection, but if you look into the water, the trees are wobbling and he´s straight. It´s thought-provoking, that´s the idea of it.- Rapture is a happy state, it´s a state you´d like to be in, but the more happier you get, the more dangerous it is!"

Ian compares the new album to Bananas:

"I love "Bananas", it got played more than any other Deep Purple record in the history of my home, and with my friends! But it was another transition, because it was the first record made with Don Airey and I think at that time he was considered probably more just moving in to replace on Lord. And I think on this record he is a lot bolder. He made a big contribution to "Bananas", but I think his personality has emerged over the last couple of years on the road and consequently that has a knock on effect with the other guys in he band. And it´s created that wonderful balance between Don Airey´s organ and Steve Morse´s guitar. Perhaps the last album was more in favour of the guitar - this one is more balanced, I think."

Roger about the exceptional rhythm section:

"That's a nice compliment, thank you. Paice is an exceptional drummer. With drums, an instrument which you hit, it´s very difficult for your personality to come out. Most drummers sound more or less the same. They play the same patterns, they all worship the same original drummers. The licks tend to be the same. Paice comes from a whole different perspective. I realized this when I was re-mixing "Highway Star": If you isolate the drums, he´s swinging! It's not an exaggerated swing, but there´s a swing there and if he´s slightly swinging and the instruments are straight ahead - that to me is the essence or R´n´R as it came out of New Orleans. Some people are swinging, some people are straight and you get that strange kind of tension. That gives you that unconscious movement."

Roger Glover (and Ian) about solo-albums:

Roger: "Steve came into the band bringing with him his side project, the Steve Morse Band and the Dixie Dregs and he still does those. Deep Purple has always had a history of everyone from time to time doing a side project. And I think it´s a healthy thing: You come back into the band refreshed and excited to be playing with your mates again. "Living Loud" is Don Airey´s part as well. That´s fine - everyone is doing his own thing: Paice worked with Paul McCartney I did "Snapshot", I´ve got another album I´m working on - it´s all expression!"

Ian: "You don´t go home and stop writing. I mean, I don´t stop writing. Roger does something creative every day whether it´s designing this album cover or writing poetry or painting pictures or taking photographs or writing songs, recording something - whatever. That´s what we do: I go home and I write, it´s a joy!" `.

Mk8 news