Ian
when we still had rationing for food.
And I’m not saying it was tough, but
we had a loving community and it was
very exciting. We always looked on the
bright side, and no one complained,
that sort of thing with Deep Purple —
the most unbelievable events. I’ve seen
more dead bodies than I could possibly
imagine, shootings and people lying
dismembered in the streets in Lima,
Peru and a few other South American
countries. I’ve seen the results of earthquakes
in Armenia, a lot of strange
things in Chechnya, and the aftermath
of the Russian evacuation from
Afghanistan — some horrific and
amazing things. And we’re not
immune to it — we’re just not shocked.
IE: So you’re like, “Virus-Schmyrus!”
IG: That’s the way to beat it. You just
Ian Gillan of Deep Purple (Top)
09•2020
nobody was entitled to anything. And
in my area, all the kids inherited it
from our parents and grandparents —
everyone had a highly developed
sense of humor. And I don’t mean in
telling jokes, but just looking on life
from a slightly sideways perspective.
So that’s always been there. And of
course, I’ve been a musician all my
professional life, and there’s a lot of
dark humor in music, especially on the
road. So you tend to dismiss a lot of
things. We’ve been through storms and
hurricanes, riots and terrorism, and all
nailed it on the head. You use sarcasm
to defeat it, like, “You call yourself a
VIRUS? Hah! You’re nothing!” That
being said, I hope that most people get
through this okay, even though it
might not look that way sometimes.
IE: Looking back at old photos of
Deep Purple, I forgot how cool you
dressed in the ‘60s. You were quite the
dandies.
IG: Ha! I don’t know about that. But
it’s amazing, the influences on you
when you’re a kid, and the rejection,
and then suddenly it’s like, “Well, I’m
gonna grow my hair long — I don’t
care what people say.” And then the
next thing you knew, everyone’s go
their hair long, and so I cut all mine off.
I didn’t want to be one of the crowd —
it was just stupid kid’s behavior. But
when Roger (Glover) and I came into
the band, we came from a band called
Episode Six, and we wereareal hippie,
8
illinoisentertainer.com september 2020