IAN GILLAN Rejects 'Heavy Metal' Label For DEEP PURPLE: 'That Isn't Really Our Bag'

In a new interview with The Chap, DEEP PURPLE singer Ian Gillan was asked if he prefers the term "heavy rock" or "hard rock" for his band. Ian responded: "If you want to pick a genre, then I would prefer hard rock. Only because heavy rock was the next step into heavy metal.

"I've turned down awards for heavy metal, even though most of my friends are in it, like BLACK SABBATH and the guys in METALLICA," Gillan explained. "We're good mates but that isn't really our bag.

"My rock 'n' roll was Elvis Presley, Little Richard, Jerry Lee Lewis, Roy Orbison, Buddy Holly, THE EVERLY BROTHERS and Chuck Berry, and that's just to start with," Ian added. "And if you took any of those into today's music scene, they'd be instantly sliced up and put into separate genres and played on different radio stations. They would not be allowed to be all of the same genre."

Two years ago, Gillan spoke to The Sun about the impact on music as a whole by the so-called "unholy trinity" of British rock bands, DEEP PURPLE, BLACK SABBATH and LED ZEPPELIN. Gillan, who fronted SABBATH from late 1982 until early 1984, said: "To a certain extent, SABBATH were the most important because without them there would have been no Seattle [grunge scene] or heavy metal. What [SABBATH guitarist] Tony [Iommi] was delivering in those early days was just awesome. It was so powerful."

This past May, Ian explained to U.K.'s Planet Rock that DEEP PURPLE's most famous song, "Smoke On The Water", features drum parts by Ian Paice which are deceptively simple and contain a unique swing.

"You listen to what [Paice] plays in 'Smoke [On The Water]'," Ian said. "Everyone thinks it's a crash bash, it's a heavy metal song. It's not. You just listen to the drums in 'Smoke'. [METALLICA's] Lars Ulrich came out and played it with me in San Francisco, and he battered the hell out of it. And I've worked with a lot of other drummers who've done it. And none of them actually realized that it's a gentle touch."

Issued in August 1983, "Born Again" was the only album SABBATH recorded with Gillan. It was also the last of SABBATH's studio albums to feature drummer Bill Ward.

Gillan previously described the making of "Born Again" as "a challenge for me. It was a bit like doing [Andrew Lloyd Webber's rock opera] 'Jesus Christ Superstar' or singing with [opera singer Luciano] Pavarotti; it's just something completely different," he explained. "But Tony is such a great writer. You know what to expect with Tony. There's no multidirectional approach. He is the father of everything that came out of Seattle, I believe. He's just very direct, and that's how he evolved from the early days."

DEEP PURPLE's latest album, "Splat!", was released on July 3 via earMUSIC. Produced once again by Bob Ezrin (KISS, PINK FLOYD, Lou Reed, Alice Cooper),the effort has been described in a press release as "the heaviest DEEP PURPLE album in many years".

"Splat!" has received enthusiastic first fan and media reactions, with early press praising the album's DEEP PURPLE spirit. Uncut called "Splat!" "distilled, high-octane PURPLE at its finest". Classic Rock praised the album for delivering "everything that makes DEEP PURPLE one of the greatest acts in hard rock."