Ritchie Blackmore Interview Italian Deep Purple Fanclub Hello, Ritchie! Yes? To begin with, I would like to hear your opinion about the album "Stranger In Us All". Okay... What do you want to hear? Your general opinion; what do you think about the songs, how did they come about, were they born out of improvisation or did you already have ready-made riffs... tell us whatever you want. Good album... That's it! Hmm... It took us two years to create "Stranger In Us All". There are eleven songs in total on the album. Eleven? Actually ten. Ten songs we've written over the last couple of years with new musicians. They can be called melodic rock and roll. Not many bands play this kind of music these days, but melody is very important to us; there are some interesting things on the album. For example, "Ariel", an oriental song, or "Hall Of The Mountain King", which I often played on stage. We came up with a vocal part for it, so our version is with a voice, and then it goes into an instrumental and at the end it accelerates, becomes more and more frantic, just like the original version. This is quite simple but exciting music. Remember the version of this song that you recorded with the Lancasters with Chas Hodges and Mick Underwood? It's the same melody, but we have a completely different arrangement. I first recorded "In The Hall Of The Mountain King" in 1964, I don't remember Chas playing then. I can't say who played there. We worked for Kim Fowley, who was managing The Runaways later, and we recorded an instrumental version for PJ Probey, who came to London. But since then I haven't heard anything about it. Two years ago it was published on a collection of your works before Purple; that's how I found out about it. I don't know, they are releasing so many things now. I'm surprised they haven't released footage of me sitting on the toilet yet! What is your favorite song on the new album? It depends on the mood, but most of all I like "Hunting Humans", "Ariel", we will be doing a remix of it today or tomorrow, and "In The Hall Of The Mountain King". Other bands don't play songs like that because it's not grunge or commercial music, so it's like we live in our own little world. It's not a very commercial album. It seems to me that it will be difficult for you to choose a single, because there are no three-minute songs on the album. Exactly. I'm lucky to work with a record company that allows me to play whatever I want. All the songs on the disc were played exactly the way I wanted. And some songs will sound great at concerts. I think they will all sound great live. How did you find new Rainbow musicians? I found Doogie by listening to a cassette that my girlfriend gave me. I asked her: "Who is this?" She replied: "Some singer." The only name on the tape was "Doogie White" and a telephone number in London. I called him and invited him to a rehearsal. He flew to us and we rehearsed for two days. He sang very well. And then he returned to London; and flew back to us two months later and we went into the studio to prepare for recording. We moved into a big house in the suburbs of New York. We lived there together and composed music. Regarding other musicians: John O'Reilly, he was a drummer on Long Island. I heard about him, I was especially interested in his ability to keep pace. He plays very smoothly. He's not a particularly flashy drummer, but he knows how to keep the tempo, which is very important. Nowadays it's so hard to find a drummer who can keep the same tempo. For me, this is the main skill of a drummer. But finding such a drummer is very difficult. The bass player is also from Long Island. I saw him perform in a small club and I liked his playing. He has very strong sound production in his right hand. He plays hard, it's real rock and roll. He's a rock 'n' roll bassist. We had another bass player who was very jazzy, but I felt like we couldn't make real rock 'n' roll music with him. Everything came out too jazzy. And this guy, he's not at all interested in this kind of pseudo-music, he just wants to play hard rock, that's what I look for in bass players. Keyboardist Paul: Some friends and I were playing at a club on Long Island. He came up to me and asked: "Do you remember me?" I answered: "No!" He said, "Ten years ago I auditioned for you, but you took David Rosenthal." I asked, "Seriously?" I listened to him and he played great. I immediately offered him a job. He is a brilliant musician, a wonderful keyboard player. He also lives on Long Island. So we're all from Long Island except Doogie, who lives in Scotland. What do you like about Doogie's voice? He can sing hard rock, ballads and old Scottish songs. So his voice has a wide range. In my opinion, he is a very versatile singer. Very versatile. He likes different music. It's nice to work with a singer who can sing in different ways. It often seems to me that most singers sing in only one style. Sometimes you want someone to sing a song from a different perspective. Did you call Pat Regan because of his good work on "The Battle Rages On..."? Not really, but he did a good job on the live recordings and I like him as a person. I've heard his other stuff, like "Freight Train Jane" and all that stuff, he did a great job producing it. And he is a wonderful musician. He understands how to view a group. It was my first time working with a producer. I usually only worked with Roger or the people who did the mixing. This was the first time I recorded with a producer. How do you like this experience? He helped me a lot, he understood where Doogie needed to be corrected and kept him within the melody, sometimes I myself didn't know what to say to Doogie in terms of vocals and approach to songs, but he always understood how it would be better and how to sing. It was very useful and helped me a lot. I usually do the arrangements, the music, and make sure the song sounds right. But then I stop following the process; when the vocalist sings, I like to go out for a walk or do something else. So it's helpful to have someone who can continue my train of thought. Why did you call this group Rainbow? At first there were rumors that it would be called Rainbow Moon... At first I wanted to name the group Rainbow Moon, because Moon is my mother's maiden name. I thought this would be interesting! I've always liked the word "Moon"; For some reason I have always admired the moon. But then I suddenly noticed that there are too many bands called "Moon" now, especially here. In the local newspapers I saw almost ten bands with the name "Moon", Cadillac Moon, Moon So and So, Moon Boats, Lovers... I thought there were too many groups with "Moon" in the name, so I went back to the first name. And I also thought that it would confuse people, they would not understand what kind of "Moon" it was. Have you already started preparing for the Rainbow concerts? No, we haven't started yet. We'll start rehearsing in about a month. But do you already have some ideas? Yes, I am making a list of suitable songs; There will be some old songs, a lot of new ones, and maybe a couple of Purple songs. "Burn"? We discussed "Burn", Doogie loves "Burn". So we can play one verse from "Burn"... Good song. Tell us about the title of the album, "Stranger In Us All". Does it have any special meaning or is it just a phrase from a song? Both: this phrase is in one of the songs, but I always believed that two personalities live in everyone. Maybe he is a good and a bad person; like black and white. It's like an alter ego, our second personality with whom we sometimes communicate. It is the stranger in each of us who pushes us to do crazy things, good deeds, creativity, destruction. I am sure that there are two personalities hidden in everyone. And most often we don't know this stranger at all; he is just like a guardian angel for us. He is always there, but he hides in the shadows, keeps away from the light. Who is Miss Isralow, who helped you with the recording of the album? This is my girlfriend. She goes by the name Candice Night, but his real last name is Isralow. She has two last names. I heard that you are planning to record an album with medieval music, where she will sing. Right. We wrote eight songs. Sometimes we perform at festivals. I took some melodies from the music of the 16th century. We change them a little, and she writes poetry to them. It's a cross between Renaissance and folk music. We'll start recording the disc soon. The album will be just us with other instruments, different guitarists, flutes and instruments of that time; but now I can't decide whether to record the album completely authentic or make it a little more commercial. But the thing is, if I make it commercial, I won't be as interested in playing it. So I'll start growing a little commercial monster again, and the record companies will start telling me what to do to sell albums. I wrote these songs and developed these ideas to get away from the mainstream and commercialism. So right now I don't know how to record this album; completely authentic, or work with synthesizer effects like Moog. A year ago I sent you a cassette with a group playing baroque music. Did you receive it? What is the name of the group? Rondo Veneziano. Maybe you can find ideas for your album with Candice in their music? No, I started writing these songs five years ago. So I've been working on them for a long time. Often I played it to relax; until people heard it, and until Candice wrote poems to them, and everyone began to say how much they liked these songs. Then I decided to record this album as a side project. Do you think you will have the opportunity to give concerts with this music? Yes, very small concerts, performances for hundreds of people! This is the other side of my life where I am a minstrel. This is my other music, which I love even a little more than rock and roll. I play classics, but we perform this kind of material only for a small circle. I can't imagine that I would perform such music for a large audience, this is music for the elite, it is more personal. This kind of music has no place for the bass drum, and it is not aimed at the general public, although some of the melodies are very catchy. But like I said, I don't want this music to become commercial. In 1991 in Germany, you gave me a cassette of a German group... Des Geyers Schwarzer Haufen. These are my friends and idols. They inspired me to play this kind of music. I saw their concert in the castle, they intrigued and impressed me. I began to think enthusiastically about making the same kind of music. This is a completely different question, and you have been asked it many times already. Can you tell us about why you left Deep Purple? Oh yeah! It all started with the fact that... I was not happy to see Ian Gillan in the group. The others wanted him as the vocalist, but I didn't. Then I agreed to see what would happen. I have nothing to do with that last disc, "The Battle Rages On...". I wrote the backing tracks, but I didn't interfere with his vocals, I wasn't very interested, and I left it to Roger. After a week of touring, I realized that I didn't like his singing. And two weeks later he lost his voice, this can happen to anyone, but it pissed me off that he didn't sing the lyrics to two songs. He simply forgot them, and then made a joke out of it in front of the audience... he simply laughed, drank, or turned his back to the audience. And he behaved like this for two songs in a row, which is about ten minutes into the concert. I talked to Jon Lord: "Have you noticed that Ian doesn't sing those two songs?" One was called "Talk About Love" and the other "Twist In The Tale". John replied: "Seriously? I'll talk to him so he can learn the words." But it didn't help, it only got worse. I don't have much respect for Ian. And I don't like him as a person. So after three weeks I just couldn't take him seriously anymore. He seemed like a circus clown to me. And I told the rest of the musicians, wrote them a letter that I would leave at the end of the European tour, and that I did not want to fly to Japan; I don't want to continue this tour because I don't like playing along with Ian Gillan, he hasn't changed at all and I'm not impressed. I said I was leaving and I hoped they would find another guitar player. I didn't want to leave suddenly because they wouldn't be able to finish the tour. I wanted to give them time, I gave them about five weeks. They found another guitarist and flew to Japan. The main reason is Ian Gillan. I just don't like his singing. And behavior too. He knows it. Jon Lord said that you and Ian should not be settled in the same city. Yes exactly. It's not about the music, it's a more personal question. Right. I just don't like his behavior at all. Do you think this is natural behavior, or is he trying to create an effect? Exactly! Very accurate. He does a lot to make an impact. You're right. I noticed this. I don't know why he thinks he has to make an effect, and why he just can't be himself. What happened in Birmingham? Oh, Birmingham! Yes. We were told that the concert would be filmed. I said, "It's a good idea to film the concert, let's do a video at the beginning of the tour, film the first three or four shows while the band is fresh and Ian Gillan hasn't lost his voice"; To this they told me: "No, you can't do that." "Why not?". They wanted to make a video to promote the single "Anya". I replied: "Then do it now, not when we get to England in six weeks, that's too late, almost at the end of the tour!" I wanted to do advertising from the very beginning. And they wanted to wait, I'm talking about the record company. And when we arrived in Birmingham, I said: "Okay! I don't want cameras next to me on stage!" Cameramen have a habit of obscuring the view of the audience, which makes it not very pleasant to play. On this we agreed. I was told that there would be no cameras near me on stage. I replied: "Great, then let's continue, I don't care." But when I walked on stage, there was a camera right next to me. I left the stage and said that until the camera was removed, I would not go on stage. They answered me: "Yes, it was removed, there are no cameras on the stage, everything is fine." Great! I went on stage again, but there were still two cameras there, they had not been removed! Then I turned around and left again. And, unfortunately, there were very good spectators in Birmingham, they watched me go in and out, due to the fact that I could not work with the cameras on stage. In the end, I had to decide everything myself... funny, we paid people who were supposed to do this, to do everything to prevent this from happening. But they turned out to be unable to do this, so I had to decide everything myself. I just took a glass of beer, ran across the stage and threw the beer at the camera so that the operator would move it and get off the stage. Here's what happened. It's stupid that I had to do this myself, there should have been people there who would have told him: "Okay, get off the stage, stand over there." But I had to figure it out on my own because no one could help me and I couldn't play. Unfortunately, the poor audience only saw me running around the stage and throwing beer on people, and thought: "What's the matter? He's gone crazy! Didn't come down. They simply did not know the reasons for what was happening. You don't have many concert videos, and in one of them you break a guitar, and in another you pour beer on it. Many people think this is some kind of madness. But judging by your words, you had reasons for this. Exactly. Things turned out to be very interesting and it was interesting to see how everyone else reacted. When other musicians or roadies were asked: "Why did Ritchie behave like that?", They answered: "He's just crazy!" No answer! They knew exactly why I behaved this way, but it was easier for them to say that I was crazy. It suits them. But sometimes it turns out the other way around, people think: "This is a real psycho, I want to look at him!" Is it true that after the Rainbow tour you are planning to release a video film with behind-the-scenes recordings? No, I haven't heard anything about that. Why did you change Marshalls to Engl? I like the sound of Engl amps better, it has more character. Marshalls are just very loud and I've been unhappy with them for a long time. I could never get good sound, all I had was high volume. I tried playing through Engl and was very pleased. Now I will use Engl on stage too. Marshalls are very loud and reliable amps, but they have no character. When did you start playing through Engl? About two years ago; I started playing in a small club with a local band. I haven't played in small clubs for a long time, I just wanted to play in a couple of clubs with this group. I played four or five songs with them. This is a very quiet group and I needed a quieter amp. At home I had one small amplifier Engl. And when I started playing through it, I liked it. And then I went into the studio to record for the Rainbow project and realized that playing through Marshalls I was getting nothing but volume. I wasn't inspired by this, so I started using Engl, whose sound I liked better. When you play more quietly, the sound will be better. I heard that you are working on a signature Fender model. That's right, by the way, such a guitar is now standing right in front of me. It's a two-pickup Fender that I worked on with the Fender people. The neck and body are made from a single piece of wood; it is slightly smaller than a regular guitar; and it has two pickups, not three. Because the neck and soundboard are made from a single piece of wood, the guitar resonates better and produces a better sound. Did you play it during the recording of "Stranger In Us All"? Yes, in several songs. I often played the black guitar. They have standard Fender pickups. You can't use standard Fender pickups on stage because they make too much noise, so unfortunately you have to use special pickups; The Fender pickups are so cool, they have a great sound. But there is so much noise and overtones on stage that you have to use a more advanced sensor that does not remove any unnecessary sounds. As a result, a lot of high and low frequencies are lost, only the middle sounds. But on stage you have to put up with it. It is very difficult to find Fenders through which you can play loudly on stage and without any noise. In some venues everything is fine. But usually there is some kind of radio interference. So the pickups have to be modified. Don't you feel that now, having left the group, you have begun to develop as a musician? I don't feel like I'm developing as a musician, but my music is much better and more honest now. I could have remained in Deep Purple, this huge monster, and been provided with everything, but I wanted to take a little risk and play something fresher. To be honest, I am very surprised by your new album. I didn't expect this. I can't say that you were predictable in Deep Purple, but now you have recorded something special. Yes, I felt that I could do more than what I did with Deep Purple. But when there are five selfish maniacs in a group, it is very difficult to convey your opinion to them, because everyone has their own opinion. I wanted to be in a group where I could do whatever I wanted. I didn't want to manage a band, but I thought I could make better music. I didn't want to just keep playing for the money. It seems to me that your favorite recent Purple album is "Slaves And Masters". Yes, I like "Slaves And Masters". Which songs? "Truth Hurts"? Yes that one. I like "Truth Hurts" and "Wicked Ways". Why did you stop performing "Wicked Ways" then? Don't know! I've already been asked. I don't remember. Probably, when we played it, it didn't work out very well, maybe that's why. "Truth Hurts" was great, you played two long solos. Yes, I like "Truth Hurts". Good vocals. I have an unusual question. Who really is Ritchie Blackmore? Many people consider you to be a gloomy and irritable person, is there some truth in this? It's not always the same. I'm not trying to be gloomy and irritable, I'm just trying not to be an everyday boring person. I rarely give interviews because I have nothing to say. And when I say something, the next day I change my mind! I don't think there's much to be said about music. We have to play it, and let people decide for themselves what to think. I don't think musicians should turn into politicians, I believe in speaking as little as possible. Well, it depends on my mood, sometimes I talk a lot, and sometimes I'm completely silent. What do you do in everyday life when you are not touring or recording albums? Sometimes I sit in the garden and eat fruit. And do you play football? I haven't played football for a long time because I injured my knee and will soon have surgery. Although I played a week ago! Yes, I like to play football, it's relaxation, such a simple game. Football allows you to forget about all this musical madness. Being a musician means playing a strange role, especially now when you can't just make music, you have to create music that will sell, become popular or fashionable. It infuriates me, I don't like to adjust. On the new disc we played the way we wanted. No compromises? No, no compromises and no fashion! Those who are only interested in fashionable music will not like our album. But it was created not for them, but for those who love music for its own sake. Do you like to go to concerts of other musicians? Yes, but I prefer medieval music. This is not the most understandable music. Is it true? It inspires me. I am delighted with ancient music. I've listened to rock and roll so much, it doesn't touch me anymore unless it's something really special, but that doesn't happen often. Basically everyone is replaying the same thing. Will there be a place on stage for songs like "God Rest You Merry Gentlemen"? Maybe for Christmas! Or in Italy in October? Yes, I'll play it there. Have you heard Ian Anderson's album "Twelve Dances With God"? No, I haven't heard, is it good? Yes. I didn't hear it yet. Is this a new album? New, he plays classic tunes. Oh cool. I need to buy it. You should be interested, because you love Ian's music so much. Right; Ian Anderson is wonderful, he doesn't play for fashion either. He is a very talented person. Have you ever jammed together? Never. He's not a jam guy. I think all his music is very well thought out. His music is complex. He's not the type to just sit around and sing the blues; his music is very thoughtful. Share your memories of Hamburg and the Star Club. I remember the times when I lived in Hamburg, I first came there in '63 with Jerry Lee Lewis and Gene Vincent. But what I remember best was 1965, when I played in The Three Musketeers. Who had only one concert? No, we had about eight concerts. Everything went very well. Great group! There wasn't as much stress then as there is now. It's nice to remember those times, not like now. Now there is only stress and tension all around. I think the world is too stressful right now. Especially in music. Is it true that you had to sing in "The Three Musketeers"? No. If only on backing vocals. What do you remember about the first line-up of Deep Purple? It all started with this group, even if success did not come to you with this lineup. Exactly! We were successful in America, but not in Europe. This was also a good group. We had fun. I liked Deep Purple until '72. The bad thing is that in the first two years we worked too much in America. Agents overloaded us with concerts. This had a bad effect on the group. Tony Edwards once called you a money-printing machine. Yes, he could say that. In 1971-1972 you had a project called Baby Face with Phil Lynott and Ian Paice. Right! We only recorded two songs, but we never finished them. We had interesting ideas, but did not have time to implement them. Again, a lot of effort went into Deep Purple; I was constantly on tour with them. Did you play blues or rock? Blues rock, Phil sang in the spirit of Hendrix or Mountain. What is your relationship with your family? Do they like your music? I never discuss music with my family because they are not musicians. I never ask their opinion. I never thought about it. They prefer jazz arrangements and big bands. Even your brother? My brother is not very interested in music. He is only interested in music if there is something new in it. But he is not so interested in music. You said that now you like few modern groups. But are there any bands that you enjoy listening to? Of the latter, I like King's X the most. Wonderful, excellent musicians! Great singer, good guitarist, they sound great. Jon Lord once said that he would like to publish an album with recordings of your jams. How do you like this idea? When I improvise, I play much better than in the studio, because the music comes out fresh. I'm better at improvising than practicing my parts. In general, I have a lot of recordings of jams, I recorded them with a drum machine in the studio, it turns out very cool. But we didn't work on them. But these recordings are there if anyone ever wants to hear them. I just can't get around to listening to all of this. I've got hours of recordings that I need to listen to, but they're putting out so much crap these days, I'm not talking about jams, I'm talking about what the record companies are doing. In the booklet you expressed gratitude to Weeya Music. What it is? Weeya means spiritual contact; in French and German it means "Yes". But it's pronounced a little differently. Does this have anything to do with the Ouija board? Yes, this is a way of communication. What are your future plans? First you go on tour, starting in Helsinki, where you played your last show with Deep Purple. Right. Did you do this on purpose? No! It seems that now we will first perform in Moscow, and then we will go to Helsinki. There was a conversation about this last night. The organizers are thinking of sending us to Moscow and then to Helsinki. Will you have a single? Yes, it will probably be "Hunting Humans" or "Hall Of The Mountain King". The company wanted to release "Stand And Fight", but I think it's a bad single. "Hunting Humans" or "Hall Of The Mountain King" are much better. Yes, much better. Why did you decide to record a new version of "Still I'm Sad"? I always liked this melody, last time I recorded its instrumental version. At rehearsals we played it just for fun. When we finished playing it one day, the bassist and drummer said it would be great to record it again. I asked, "What, seriously? Let's try it, just for fun"; we recorded it very quickly. This was a bonus track. But the record company liked it, so they included it in the list of songs, and made one of the songs a bonus track, "Emotional Crime." The new version of "Still I'm Sad" is very different from the old one. Yes, and this reflects my melancholy view of the world. I kind of wanted to say, "I'm still sad, I'll always be sad." Will you perform it at concerts? Yes, we'll probably play it on stage. It's on my list. Big list? No, only three songs so far. Three songs? The other two are "Hunting Humans" and "The Hall Of The Mountain King"? Yes, we will repeat them throughout the concert. That would be interesting too, you are an excellent improviser. Thank you. Every concert is special. The songs are always the same, but the music is different. Right. Which of the Rainbow albums is your favorite? Probably this one. I know it's very unprofessional to say that. It seems to me that now you have begun to play much better. I agree, I play better than before. It's strange, many people are nostalgic about albums like "Machine Head", they were good records. I often hear, "Oh, Ritchie played the best back then." But that's not true, I'm playing better now. They just remember those songs, that time. And now there are a lot of excellent guitarists. This may be misleading to many. I want to say that although I am developing, there are a lot of other good guitarists in general now. Full of guitarists. Maybe because of this my playing doesn't stand out as much as it did in 1970. By the way, about 1970. Did you consciously decide to change the direction of the band towards hard rock? It was a conscious decision. I told Jon Lord, "I'm tired of performing with orchestras, I want to make a rock 'n' roll album. If it doesn't work out, we'll perform with orchestras again!" You know what happened next. It's probably boring to play with an orchestra. It was boring then. I didn't like the music we played with the orchestras. We didn't work with orchestras because of the music, it was just such a curiosity. I didn't like it. I don't like working with bands that do these kinds of tricks. I really enjoyed Rainbow's performance with the orchestra in Japan. We played Beethoven's Ninth Symphony, David Rosenthal wrote an additional movement, and we performed it with an orchestra, the arrangements were thought out, and everything worked out. This wasn't just a trick. But our early works, Concert for something with a group I didn't perceive it as music. Did you deliberately look for little-known musicians for your group? Exactly! I like to work with musicians who feel enthusiastic, for whom everything is new, everything is new. This inspires me myself, and I begin to take great interest in what is happening. When you work with musicians who have been doing this for a long time, everything becomes predictable. And I like to take risks when working with new musicians. Sometimes it works, sometimes it doesn't. It didn't work out with the first bassist, and with the first singer too! The first vocalist had a great voice, but when we started rehearsing, I suddenly realized that he couldn't improvise. I believe that every singer should be able to improvise! I had to look for another singer. And the bass player had a terrible habit of stopping while playing. A very strange bass player. He would start playing, and after ten bars he would stop. I asked him: "Why did you stop?", he started playing again, and then stopped again. I had to get rid of him too. People come and go. Do you think this lineup will last for a long time? Maybe... We'll see. It will be great if everything works out, but who knows. Many consider your best album "Burn". Songs like "Burn", "Mistreated", "You Fool No One"... "Mistreated" and "Burn" are great songs; "You Fool No One" is not bad. Yes, good album. When I have free time, a period of rest, and I like new musicians, then enthusiasm arises, but when I play with the same guys, I get bored. "Burn" featured two new members; and the next one, "Stormbringer", was a bit bad. The song "Stormbringer" is good, but there was nothing else on the album. I didn't like the rest of the songs. How would you characterize your playing? The rhythm parts on the album sound much harsher... Yes, I really like to play rhythm. Usually I play the rhythm just for effect, and I only play solo along with the recording. A few times when I was playing a rhythm just like that, Pat Regan listened to me and liked it. So I left it to him to choose what to leave on the album. Therefore, sometimes you can hear rhythm parts that I played just for fun, without thinking that it would end up on the recording. I have a bad habit: when I play in the studio, I play one thing, and when I start recording, I play something completely different. People often say to me: "Why don't you play the way you played before recording, you played much better?" I usually answer: "Yes, I know!" I have a bad habit of acting very sterile when I realize I'm being recorded. I try not to take risks. When I don't know that I'm being recorded, I play from my heart, but I can't repeat it. And if you can't write it down right away, that's it! I can only play this once. That's why we would like to listen to recordings of your jams. Yes, I have a lot of jam recordings, I need to listen to them and think about it. In my improvisations, which I have never released, I play much better. But these are just jams where I play whatever I feel. Do you listen to your albums again? Infrequently! I listen to them so often while working that... there's a lot of stuff mixed in... when I listen back to my music, I often get frustrated because it doesn't sound right! Sometimes I prefer not to listen to it at all because it doesn't sound like what I thought it would sound like. You can ask: "Well, what did you imagine it like?", but to this I will answer: "I don't know!" Maybe deep in my subconscious I know the answer, but I don't have the patience to sit in a control room mixing my own music. I get bored of it quickly. For me, music is when I play something and that's it. But now they sometimes work on songs for three weeks! Usually if I work on one song for three weeks, I completely lose interest in it. Was it like that with "Stranger In Us All"? With a couple of songs. It's always like that with me. As soon as I play something, that's it, I get tired of it. I'm not interested in replaying the same thing dozens of times to play everything correctly, instead of playing what I feel. How do Roger and Pat differ in terms of producing? Probably because Pat is more musical, because he plays the keys. But they are very similar. Pat pays a little more attention to the vocals, he sees the big picture a little better. I liked the sound of the drums that Pat achieved. Yes, the drums sound very heavy. Roger was very good at a lot of things, he was very patient, he really helped other musicians get results. His weakness was mixing. I don't think he understands mixing or sound. The sound on the album is very reminiscent of a concert one. I think the same. I recorded through a microphone that was placed six feet away from the booths. Pat recorded me with the microphones very close so there was almost no echo. When I first heard how it sounded, I didn't like it. But he said that the closer the microphone is, the more juicy, meaty and heavy the sound will be, and it's true! When I listened back to the recording, I noticed that the guitar sounded much more pronounced than usual. I like it when the guitar sounds with an echo. I don't like the guitar to be too loud. I play loud. But I prefer the guitar to sound in a mix with other instruments. People often say to me: "I can't hear the guitar!" But I don't want it to sound too loud. Although I know several concert recordings where you can't hear me at all! So this is where I have problems. I like it when the guitar sounds in context, rather than bursting out loud. Jimi Hendrix... he sounded too loud for me. I like it when the guitar is buried deeper in the mix. By the way, Eddie Van Halen does this. His guitar doesn't overpower the other instruments. You can hear drums, bass, vocals, it's not him alone. What do you think about modern guitarists? The biggest problem now is that everyone is striving for a fast game. This shred has become too much. And when many musicians began to abandon it... everyone began to copy each other. Many modern guitarists copy each other. They all buy Guitar Player magazines, once a week they learn the phrases that some guitarist has written down in the magazine, and eventually there are two guitarists playing the same phrases. And then someone else reads the same notes, and there are hundreds and thousands of guitarists playing the same thing, the same phrases with the same sound. I have never been able to imitate others. I could copy something, but then I still had to come up with something of my own, because I didn't really understand what they were playing. This is how I got my own style. They tell me: "You have style," to which I answer: "Yes, because it's difficult for me to imitate someone!" It's boring for me. I can't sit and repeat other guitarists' parts for a long time, I quickly start to lose interest. I think that young guitarists should listen more often to musicians like you, Jeff Beck or even B.B. King, who have style and emotion. Agree. It seems to me that now many guitarists are trying to impress the viewer with their flashy technique rather than convey something. There is no point in playing exercises if they do not develop the theme of the song in any way. You need to express something with your playing. When I saw you backstage in Milan, you were playing some kind of exercise, I thought that you were preparing for a solo, but when you went on stage, you didn't play a note from it. Yes, it's strange, but on stage I have no idea what I'll play. I know the songs, but it depends only on my mood how I will perform them. And it's just wonderful! Sometimes yes. But it also happens differently, when the audience is waiting for an encore, and I'm in a bad mood, then it has a bad effect. Jeff Beck is very similar to me in this way. He plays whatever comes into his head. Will you play acoustically at concerts? Yes! I generally don't play it live because of the noise and interference. This requires a quiet audience. I love playing acoustic in front of an audience of 20 people. But when there are a lot of people, it is very difficult to get silence from them. Will Candice appear on stage as a backing vocalist? She will be on stage, but more often she will stand behind the scenes. You don't want to take her on stage? No, she's too scary! What? She's too scary. No, she is a very beautiful girl. Yes it is! But it seems to me that this would be inappropriate; One singer is enough. We also have a bass player and a keyboard player singing, so there will be a lot of voices, which is great. And Candy will sing too. Doogie White said that the album would be very intense. How intense will your live show be? The concerts will be very intense. They're always tense when I'm on stage. I meant in terms of music. Doogie works well on stage. He's a great improviser. The only thing that's bad about Doogie is that you have to keep an eye on him so that he doesn't overexert himself. Sometimes he works so hard that the next day he loses his voice. We try to tell him to calm down and not overwork himself. He gets carried away because he sings with great enthusiasm on stage. He likes to work hard. I heard that in clubs on Long Island you played a lot of Jimi Hendrix songs and old Rainbow stuff like "Temple Of The King". It's good that Doogie knows all these songs. As soon as I start playing something, he immediately joins. We also have an acoustic program. We often go to different places and play, he sings and I play the guitar. We play old and strange songs...English and Scottish folk songs. This will be a good addition to your shows. Maybe. We're thinking about running out of theaters after a concert, playing things acoustically. Purple almost always had the same songs. So it will be great to hear something completely new from you. Right. Did you help write the lyrics? They were written by Doogie and Candy. I hardly worked on texts. Which text do you like best? I like "Ariel", tomorrow night I will remix it. For a single? We'll do a remix because I don't like the way it sounds. We'll remake "Black Masquerade" too: the synth riff isn't loud enough, we need to remix it. I was in Germany while mixing. When I came back, I noticed that the two songs didn't sound right. "Hunting Humans" is somehow connected with "Solitaire" by Deep Purple? No, I just like to play this kind of stuff, I'm very tired of straightforward rock and roll. Doogie sang "Silence" great. Yes, great song. This is swing. The drums and the rhythm itself sound great. It's based on an old riff from "Man With The Golden Arm," a '52 song. It was written by some jazz musician. Ritchie, can you finally convey something to the Italian fans? Yes, I'm really looking forward to the opportunity to play for Italian fans, they are very passionate, they love rock and classical music very much. Unlike the Americans, who don't understand music at all. They only love the blues and their pop music! And parties! The Italian public listens more attentively and is attracted by the sound of classical motifs and harmonies. I think it has something to do with the architecture: Italians have very lush architecture, and this is reflected in the music they love. I like the music in many Italian films. The Italians have more classical, gothic, theatrical music, it is very dramatic. That's why I love performing for them, they understand my music. The Japanese also know how to listen, they are not so theatrical, but they are very polite and listen carefully. Thanks for the interview. It was nice to talk to you. Bye! Italian Deep Purple Fanclub 1995