Ian Gillan in an interview: “I didn’t want to see Elvis as a fat buffoon.” – Culture

In addition, “Splat!” released, the formation’s 24th and astonishingly original album. After many changes and confusion, there are currently three members of the classic line-up. Deep Purple are considered pioneers of hard rock, have sold more than 100 million records since 1968 and continue to be successful, especially in continental Europe – and at the same time symbolize the incorrigible rock dinosaurs. The meeting with Ian Gillan will take place at 12 noon in Berlin. He is wearing a fine shirt and vest.

SZ: Mister Gillan, suppose we met 50 years ago. Would you have offered me a line of cocaine and a vodka as a greeting?

Ian Gillan: No. I didn’t take drugs back then. Deep Purple were never a drug band.

Why not?

Because we came from English pub culture. We drank beer and smoked cigarettes. I was 38 when I smoked my first joint. 38!

And did you like it?

Yes! But that doesn’t make me a stoner. All my life I have stayed away from any kind of excess, including drinking. That doesn’t mean I’m a bore.

But in the rock business you were constantly surrounded by people who went overboard with these things.

Most of the time it was just one. That one guy who went overboard and ruined everyone else’s work or party. Then at three in the morning you had the manager on the phone: “I wouldn’t take this guy on tour if I were you. He’ll ruin everything for you. It’s best to throw him out straight away.”

Which death of a rock star was particularly close to your heart?

Elvis. He was the idol of my youth, the greatest singer of all time. But when he hit his life crisis, no one dared to say to him: “Pull yourself together!” What a shame. A unique talent that has burned out senselessly.

Have you met him?

We were once invited backstage to see him, but I didn’t go. I didn’t want to see Elvis as a fat buffoon. Biggest mistake of my life.

You still play together with two colleagues from back then. How has the feeling of being a rock star changed since then?

Unfortunately, my eyesight is now very bad. When I received our new record cover by email, I could hardly see anything on the screen. But when I held it in my hands, I immediately felt the old magic again. We have more than 90 concerts scheduled for the rest of the year, all over the world. It feels wonderful to be alive.

The album is called “Splat!”, inspired by the sound a fly makes when it hits the car window.

What’s the last thing that goes through a fly’s mind when it hits the ground? Answer: your own butt. Ha ha, old joke. But that was the starting point: What happens when, at the moment of death, you see your own life, perhaps even the entire history of humanity, like a film in your mind’s eye? And what state of consciousness follows?

This sounds like one of the over-the-top album concepts that prog rock bands were notorious for.

Anyway, I imagined God and Darwin meeting in the pub and talking about overpopulation: “Charles, next time we try we’ll have to keep a closer eye on the numbers!” I considered how Darwinism might determine the future of civilization. Will we fight for distribution, like animals during evolution? And what if humans could pupate like butterflies and transform into more resilient creatures?

Very interesting, but maybe we should…

Moment! I also thought about aliens and why they are always portrayed like humans with huge heads. And whether a kind of transformation into the metaphysical might not be our only chance of survival. Then I thought about King Arthur, the Roman Empire, all the historical puzzle pieces that all fit into this vision…

Many people believe that Rock music got carried away when she suddenly wanted to be art instead of entertainment.

True, there was a break in the early seventies. Fashion was changing and many bands had to react to save their careers. Things were different with Deep Purple. We were never fashionable anyway, but we kept getting better as musicians. And one day you no longer feel like riding “Highway Star” forever. Then it can happen that you only play for your own little man in your ear. You forget what interests the audience.

Was that the reason you left the band in 1973?

There were many reasons. Have you seen Spinal Tap?

Yes. The comedy film about a fictional band that fulfills all rock clichés. She puts a papier-mâché Stonehenge on stage, gets lost in the stadium on the way to the stage door, and her drummers keep exploding.

It was similar at times with Deep Purple. Now to put it roughly.

What role did the World War experience play for the bands of your generation? It is striking that the most influential British rock stars are almost all children of war.

This is certainly not a coincidence. In the post-war period, a strong cultural vacuum was felt. On the one hand, there was still an outdated, partly Victorian style of discipline, from which young people in particular suffered. At the same time, resentment and boredom had built up and things were boiling. In addition, black music was listened to as a matter of course in Great Britain because we did not have the cultural segregation that kept many white listeners away from rhythm’n’blues in the USA.

But that wasn’t directly related to the war, was it?

Who can say that? I still remember how I was supposed to play a series of concerts in a club in Frankfurt in 1965 with my band at the time. “Mum, Dad, I’m going to Germany!” I said to my parents, and they were shocked at first. In 1965, that was 20 years after the end of the war, the memories were fresh. My father just said: “Boy, if you’re going to go to Germany, make some friends there!” And that’s what I did. Some of them continue today.

It was the time when pop music became the medium of the Cultural Revolution. Does it still have the potential today?

I can’t speak for others, but I myself will always remain a rebel. And when it comes to breaking up the calcified conditions, I’m happy to be involved. I reject all extremism and stubbornness, whether from the left or the right. There are a couple in my circle of friends who are staunch communists. Recently a faucet broke, but they didn’t call a repairman. Why? Because they know that the only plumber in town votes for the Tories. For me there is something allegorical in this.

What do you mean?

When ideology thwarts any thought about the practicalities of life, it becomes self-destructive. There are many other examples of this in contemporary political practice. Especially in the UK.

Can we expect an anthem of departure from Deep Purple?

Unfortunately no, politics is a difficult topic for us. We are five men with diametrically opposed views and prefer to talk about the harmless things in life. Otherwise we couldn’t work together. I remember wistfully what it was like when my father used to go to the pub. He worked in the warehouse of a London factory, sitting at the counter with an old soldier, a teacher, a policeman and a shopkeeper. When they discussed things, things really got down to business. Those were wonderful times.

Her mother came from an artistic household. Did your parents’ worlds get along?

I still remember my mother always saying to my father: “Bill, we want a better life. Get an office job with a regular income!” To which my father, the Scottish Labor man, replied: “Pat, I love factory work, my mates and the envelope of cash that is handed to me on Fridays. What have we lost in the lower middle class when we are at the top of the working class?”

At 80, you yourself have a fortune behind you, but at the same time you are still struggling on stage. Is this the best of both worlds?

You could see it that way, yes. The best moments are when I have nothing to do on stage for a moment and take a few steps back, between the drums and keyboards. And then just listen to the others, feel the solidarity, the excitement, the irrepressible power of the music. Even after more than 60 years, this is still pure madness.