ROGER GLOVER Still Doesn't Know How Long DEEP PURPLE's 'The Long Goodbye' Tour Will Last

Etic's Live conducted an interview with the members of DEEP PURPLE prior to the band's November 9 concert at Auditorio Citibanamex in Monterrey, Mexico. You can watch the entire chat below. A few excerpts follow (transcribed by BLABBERMOUTH.NET).

On the current musical landscape:

Roger Glover (bass): "I don't think we pay too much attention to fashion or trends or anything. We just do what we do. It's kind of always been that way. We just do what we feel like doing and we're lucky enough that it works."

Don Airey (keyboards): "When I first joined the band, it was what you call the 'silver-hair, pony-tailed brigade'. All the older fans were there. As it went on and the band took off again, suddenly all those guys went to the back and it was just young people. It was a sea of 18-year-olds. It was because the way music became automated, young people wanted to hear a real band. They wanted to see what one looked like and sounded like."

On the band's current "The Long Goodbye" tour:

Roger: "'The Long Goodbye' implies that we will say goodbye at some point. But the word 'long' implies we don't know how long it is."

On choosing a setlist that appeals to all fans:

Don: "You could try. We try to do a sample of everything from across the band's catalog, so there will be something from the first three albums. We do some obscure songs. We do some from the band that started when Steve Morse [guitar] joined, and there's a lot of improvisation as well. We're just a band. We try to keep it informal. It's not very, 'Oh, we must do this.'"

On recording their latest studio album, "InFinite" with legendary producer Bob Ezrin:

Don: "How Bob Ezrin works is we rehearsed very hard before we went into the studio. That was the tough bit. When we went into the studio, it was quite easy. We did about 15 tracks in about six days. To great surprise, Bob Ezrin goes, 'We're finished.' Ian Paice was on a plane ten minutes after Bob Ezrin said that. Of course I stayed after, and Steve and Roger as well, to do a few overdubs and that was another week. Then the real work began — the most important thing, of course, the vocals, went on — and that was done in Toronto. We rehearsed in Germany and in Nashville. We recorded in Nashville and Toronto. Some of it was done in Cambridge in England. I did some of the keyboards [there] That's how it all comes together."

On the band's dynamics:

Ian Gillan (vocals): "With DEEP PURPLE, it's always been the same. It's part of the English way — it changes every day, but the elements remain the same. I've worked with Roger Glover since I was about 20; I was in a band called EPISODE SIX in '65. He taught me how to write songs. We've done everything together since then. It's a bit like the way John Lennon and Paul McCartney used to work insofar as sometimes Roger writes everything, sometimes I write everything and sometimes we do it together, but the music always comes first. It starts the same every day, during the recording and writing session. We go into a big office six days a week. We meet up, make a cup of tea, talk about football, family, cars, rubbish; then either Ian Paice or Don or anyone kicks off and starts jamming. We jam for six hours every day, stop for tea at three o'clock and somebody else records anything that is interesting, which we review, mostly Roger — he's our bookkeeper — and he says, 'That was interesting what you did Tuesday afternoon. Let's have a go at trying to turn that into a song.' We all gather around, have a listen to it: 'Yeah, that was a nice lick, a nice groove. Maybe we can build it into something.' That's what happens. Eventually, we got a short list of ideas and some of them really do develop into good songs and some of them fall by the wayside."

On what has kept DEEP PURPLE going for so long:

Roger: "I think the real reason is we love what we do. Obviously, we get a kick out of what we do. It's an unusual occupation. Not many people can do what we do, travel the world and have people like us. It's very nice, so why not?"

Ian: "When we were kids, we did this because it made us happy. Ian made me happy, he made me happy; we did it for ourselves. Fifty years later, we can still be kids again, making ourselves happy. If you guys come along with us, that's okay, but we make ourselves happy first."

"The Long Goodbye" tour started in May 2017 in Europe and included a North American leg with ALICE COOPER and EDGAR WINTER as well as another summer run with JUDAS PRIEST.

"InFinite" came out in April 2017 via earMUSIC.