Ian Gillan has lost count of how many times he’s been asked to sing on other people’s songs.
“Thousands,” says the Deep Purple singer, speaking from his home in Portugal at the impressively early time of 8am on a Tuesday morning. “I don’t normally say yes, but this seemed right at the time. I loved the song and they’re a lovely bunch of guys.”
The bunch of guys in question are Italian rockers Urock, led by singer Umberto Urock. Gillan appears on the title track of the Rome-based band’s second album, The Line, trading lines and harmonies with Urock. He’s not the only recognisable name to have been enlisted for the album – prog wizard Alan Parsons and, more bizarrely, former Nirvana producer Jack Endino are both involved in a production capacity, though Gillan didn’t cross paths with either.
It comes during a period of downtime for Deep Purple before they hit the road once more next April.
“I just thought doing would be a bit of fun,” the singer says of The Line. “And it was.”
How did the collaboration with Urock come about?
Umberto lives just down the road from me in Portugal. He did a couple of interviews with me for various magazines, and Urock did the Portuguese show on Deep Purple’s tour [in 2022]. But the main thing I remember is when I went to Rome, I went to the radio station [Rome Rock, which Urock is involved in]. It was just like going to someone’s house, just a bunch of fantastic people. They sent me some music they’d written. I thought: “That’s pretty good.” One thing led to another, so I went in the studio down the road and sang on the track.
Did you have any input into the music or lyrics?
Not in the slightest. It was all finished when I came along to do my bit. I just rocked up and sang a couple of lines. Even so, there’s a line in the song that feels pertinent: ‘I don’t want no regrets, I don’t want to feel old.’
You turned eighty in August, and you recently did an interview for the University Of The Third Age magazine. Most musicians are in denial about getting old, but it seems like you’re accepting of it.
I wasn’t doing any interviews at all this year, but I’ve ended up doing half a dozen or so. The U3A thing caught my eye – I know the PR person involved, and it appealed to me. It’s talking about reality. It’s hilarious this growing old thing. It’s a laugh a minute.
Is it really? Or are you being ironic?
Well, sometimes yes and sometimes no. I walk down the road and hear something drop off - clang, there’s something else gone.
What are the benefits of being the age you are?
Well, nothing’s changed really apart from I can’t pole vault any more. Other than that, things move a little more slowly. But nothing’s changed. If you’ve got a sense of humour you can get by with most things.
In a recent online Q&A, you talked about losing your vision.
Yes, it’s one of those things. I’ve only got thirty per cent vision. That won’t get better.
How does that affect you?
It makes life mysterious. The hardest thing is working on my laptop. I can’t see anything on the screen unless I use my peripheral vision – I pick up a line by looking at it sideways. But you find a way. You adapt. But it’s achingly tiresome. It takes a long time to do the work.
Is the idea that rock’n’roll is a young man’s game a myth these days, given that so many musicians are getting older?
It’s interesting you say that. Throughout your entire life, you’ve had to deal with this thing – you get older every day. It’s a slow process, but it happens. When you’re a kid, you write about fast cars and loose women and that sort of thing, or at least we did in those days. And it’s very rock’n’roll and had a lot of attack and youthful energy.
But I started thinking in my thirties: “This is ridiculous, this feels uncomfortable.” So you have to find other things to write about – stuff that’s interesting and off-the-wall. You have to adapt, otherwise you look like a fool. But you can write a song about anything, at least in my experience.
I think if I lose my energy I’m going to stop. I don’t want to be an embarrassment to anyone. We’re not far off that. It creeps up on you – you don’t really notice.
But then this isn’t like a normal job. It’s all in your mind. The writing certainly is, and the ability. And these guys who I work with [in Deep Purple] just seem to keep improving. The hard thing is to keep them down.
What else have you got on the go? Is there a new Purple album in the pipeline?
There’s not much to talk about yet. It’s a quiet year. We’re just gathering together bits and pieces for songs. Next year is going to be a mega tour. I pack my suitcase in April and finish in November. After that, we’ll see.
Your old friend Tony Iommi has talked about doing a solo album. Has he tapped you up to appear on it?
We’ve done a few projects over the years, but not this time, no. I’ve been so busy I’ve had to turn down so many things. I should get in touch with him.
Were you surprised to hear Deep Purple’s Child In Time on the trailer for the new season of Stranger Things?
I don’t know what you’re talking about.
Stranger Things, the Netflix show?
I don’t have Netflix. I don’t have a television. So yes, in that respect it’s a surprise.
The Line by Urock featuring Ian Gillan is out now and is taken from the forthcoming Urock album.
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