Deep Purple learned a valuable lesson during their eight years away from recording studios – and it's powering them on to their next album, says bassist Roger Glover.
Last year’s Now What?! followed 2005’s Rapture Of The Deep after a delay during which the band weren’t sure they wanted to make any more records.
But key knowledge came from producer Bob Ezrin, who helped them make sense of current conditions in the music industry.
Glover tells Ultimate Classic Rock: “We did some fantastic tours, and albums seemed to have fallen of the radar. Somebody said, ‘It’s the new age and albums are old hat – you’ve got to put out a single on the internet,’ and that kind of thing.
“That really didn’t appeal to us, so we just carried on touring.”
Things changed when they met Ezrin in Canada. “Bob came to see us, and he met us the next day and he was very enthusiastic,” Glover recalls. “He loved what he’d heard and he said some very astute things – ‘Forget trying to make a big smash-hit single. Those days are gone. Really do what you do, and do it well.’”
That powered Purple on to record and release Now What?! and the band recently gathered in Portugal to begin work on the follow-up.
Glover says: “Iron Maiden’s Steve Harris is building a studio there. It’s not quite finished, but he let us use the room because the room’s good. We had about a week there and we’ve got about a dozen rough ideas down.”
And he believes Ezrin will return to produce. “He’s become a very good friend,” says the bassist. “He really enjoyed making the record with us, so it’s a no-brainer that we’re going to do it again.”
Purple’s 20th album is pencilled in for release next year.
