Author: Jernej Vene
Interview date: 04.10.2005
Shortly before the release of Rapture of the deep, I chatted with Mr. Gillan on the phone…
Vene: Rapture of the deep followed Bananas pretty quickly…
Ian Gillan: There were a few years in between. We used to put out three albums a year. The band is really prolific right now. We wrapped up the Bananas tour in the spring of 2005, and we decided to take a year off to record a new album. We’re really fired up to work, and when you’re always on the go, you understand your bandmates better too. We’re carrying a lot of music inside us that’s ready to hit the road and get out to the people.
Vene: Did everyone in the band contribute to the new songs?
Ian Gillan: Absolutely, the songs always come out of rehearsals. We usually meet at the studio around noon, have a coffee, talk about football, crack a few jokes, and then get to work. We work six hours a day, and after two or three days we’ve got the beginnings of two or three songs. By the end of the first week there are four or five, then around eight. After three weeks we’ve got enough songs. That’s how we’ve always made music.
Vene: What grabbed you so much that you called the album Rapture of the deep? (In Slovenian: navdušenje, or zamaknjenost nad globino)?
Ian Gillan: The title makes you think. As soon as we started looking for titles, it fired me up, because I find the lyrics interesting. The previous album, Bananas, was pretty political, while the new Rapture of the deep is spiritual. The title describes the state you experience when you dive. When the pressure at a certain depth climbs to three atmospheres, the state is like narcosis, or like being a little drunk. That’s when you lose control of your limbs. You start thinking about things differently. I’ve been thinking about the world and its problems my whole life. Growing up, I lived through bombs exploding, and that’s happening again now in Northern Ireland. People are constantly killing each other. There’s a line in the title song: “Every day of my life I find out, someone is murdering my brothers and sisters in the name of some god.” The title Rapture of the deep gave me the awareness that I can write about important things. I don’t shout it from the rooftops, but these are questions that have stayed with me my whole life. The title Rapture of the deep has good alliteration, and it’s simple or complex, depending on how deep you dive into it.
Vene: What do you think of producer Michael Bradford, who already worked on the previous album, Bananas?
Ian Gillan: Michael is very good for Deep Purple. He’s kept us disciplined. The big temptation with musicians who progress through the years is that they need to be brought back down to earth. We have a lot of fun exploring the music, sometimes we overdo it, and Michael says: “Enough, this one’s fine, let’s move on to the next song.” He brings a lot of objectivity to the recording.
Vene: Will we be able to see you in Slovenia again soon?
Ian Gillan: I hope that happens. We’re sorting out the tour dates right now. We’ll start in January 2006, and it’ll last at least two years, so I’m sure we’ll make it over to you guys too!
