I've played football with George Best, the greatest footballer that ever lived. That doesn't make me a footballer. And I've sung a duet with Pavarotti. That doesn't make me an opera singer. I can write and I have a story to tell, but I'm not going to make a career out of it.
Ian Gillan
I think there's something about having a purpose in life and a sense of belonging that is more important than money for any human being.
I remember my uncle, who was a jazz pianist, when we did Deep Purple 'In Rock,' he ran from the room screaming, holding his ears: 'I can't hear anything. I can't hear any instruments.' And I was rubbing my hands going, 'Great.'
Internet is a good and convenient device for us for easy communication. It has lots of value.
My grandad was an opera singer, my uncle a jazz musician; I was a boy soprano in the church choir. But the first performance with Deep Purple was something I'll never forget. All elements were working brilliantly.
I sang 'Nessun Dorma' twice with Pavarotti, and he told me he'd heard 'Smoke' about five or six times, and every time was different. He was so jealous because if he deviated one jot from the traditional interpretation of the famous arias, he'd be crucified. We have the freedom.
When I was in my formative years, I rejected Frank Sinatra, Bing Crosby, Andy Williams, and Dean Martin. I now realise they were all great artists, but at the time, as a young man, you have to clear the decks.
I can't do one thing at a time. If I'm writing song lyrics, I've got to be doing the ironing or cooking or something while I'm working. If I just sit there and stare at the walls, I get nothing.
Glenn Hughes is one of the most naturally talented musicians, but he's still copying Steve Wonder to this day, so I can't call him a bona fide member of Deep Purple.
The only advice I can give is to absorb as much as you can from as wide a spectrum as you can. If you're in a rock band and only soak up Black Sabbath, Led Zeppelin, and Deep Purple kind of beginnings, then you're not going to have much leeway.
What happens is we finish the show, have a couple of drinks, go back to the hotel, talk, and that's it.
Infinity is almost impossible for an eight-year-old to grasp. It's an inquiring age, and you're beginning to shape your thoughts and questions about life in general at that stage.
It means a lot to a lot of people, 'Smoke On The Water.'
In the early Seventies, I bought a dilapidated hotel in north Stoke for about £100,000 and spent the same amount again renovating it, putting in a guitar-shaped swimming pool, painting the bathrooms purple, and installing gold dolphin taps.
The one thing nobody was taught was how to deal with success, and I think that happens to everyone who makes it at a young age.
The thing about a band is, it's not so much how good the musicians are - it's the blend of personalities and characters. It's the human chemistry that makes up a good team.
I have been touring since I got my first band in 1962, so there is no problem there. We are basically performing musicians, so that's what we do.
I hate it in America where the protocol seems to be you are expected to tip regardless of the quality of service. I like to tip when it's not being demanded of me, and if the service has been good, I tip quite generously.
I've done a lot of research on science and theology to try and get a better understanding of what happens to the human soul or what potential it has.
I don't think anyone likes to be pushed around.
If there was such a thing as a typical English gentleman in rock music, then it was Jon Lord.
We soaked up everything from Beethoven to Chopin to Jimi Hendrix to Joni Mitchell and Bob Dylan.
The Hall Of Fame thing, it's an American thing. We don't have that in England or Germany or Australia or Russia or anywhere in the world apart from America. And it's an institution. What's that got to do with rock and roll?
Things evolve. People mature.
I grew up moving from one council flat to another and finished up in a three-bedroom semi-detached on a council estate in Cranford, a suburb of Hounslow. This was in the days when there was still rationing, and we had to be thrifty.
There's very little you can do these days about having any impact at a launch for a record unless you keep it very secret, because communications are so immediate, and YouTube and everything else kind of spoils the party.
Our partying was governed by licensing hours. When the pub or club shut, that would be it.
In Poland, the whole saying is, 'You've got one eye to Morocco and the other to the Caucasus.' That's the heart of the culture. In England, they say it less romantic: 'You've got a wandering eye.' The saying means my main stream in life must be Deep Purple. That's my main job. Then every now, and I can wander off and have one eye to Morocco.
When I picked up my guitar, I spent the first day learning the chord E, the second day A, then B7, and all of a sudden, I could play the blues.
We always used to describe ourselves as an instrumental band. Basically, the music was always instrumentally based, so the songs always came later.
I think you function much better when you trust people and when you've got a sort of relationship where you can develop ideas within a framework.
Elvis's voice was unique. Like so many others, he had natural, technical ability, but there was something in the humanity of his voice, and his delivery.
You can never criticize a monumental musician like Jon Lord or Richie Blackmore, or the part they played in the group, but life goes on.
I like walking and hiking, and many of the ideas for songs have germinated from this.
When I'm writing with Tony Iommi, for example, still it's very easy. We go in, and I know exactly what his style is. It's very distinctive, and you know exactly what he's looking for, and we know exactly where we're going from the first chord.
I once wrote a song called 'No Laughing in Heaven,' which was about not wanting to go to Heaven due to the company I'd be keeping, and with a few exceptions, the Hall of Fame is pretty much the same thing.
Singles - we hated it, going on 'Top Of The Pops' and all that rubbish.
For a rock band, I didn't see the point in live albums. To my mind, you've got to be there.
I feel very fortunate to have been able to do what I do for a living.
One of my greatest pleasures is writing on my Web site.
We've been touring ever since we were able to afford to buy a van, and I don't think we'll ever stop until something falls off or is irreparable.
I was in a band called Episode Six with Roger Glover, which was more of a harmony band, really. At one gig, there were a few dodgy characters leaning up against the wall of the venue - and we ended up joining their band. Purple was the talk of every musician in the country - they had something new and very exciting.
My first contract was in 1965. There were six of us in this band - my band before Deep Purple - six in the band plus management, and the entire royalty rate was three-fourths of 1 percent.
I've always been optimistic - I always expect the sun to come out.
I have heard that my Wikipedia entry is completely incorrect, but then again, so is everyone else's. I haven't bothered about that.
Although he appeared in some awful movies, Elvis could also be pretty damn good as an actor.
Rock music had its own constituency, its own steering wheel. It was beyond the control of the establishment, and we saw TV as the enemy.
There used to be a time when people used to hold up cigarette lighters and candles at concerts, and the place was aglow to celebrate the end of the evening, or during a slow song, there was this congregational euphoria that used to exist. It still does, but now it's a question of iPhones being held up.
I love Buffalo. The people here are wonderful, genuine; they look you straight in the eye.
I assume I must have a pension, but I don't know for sure. I have heard of ISAs, but I can't tell you if I have any.
