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Milton Keynes Citizen
August 24, 2012 Friday
Aid for Armenia...and a truckload of rock
IN 1988, nature showed its most ferocious side, unleashing a
devastating earthquake on Armenia, writes Sammy Jones.
When it was over, 25,000 people had lost their lives, and a quarter of
a million more were left homeless.
Ian Gillan, the voice behind a swell of Deep Purple rock classics,
visited the region a year later.
Not as part of a humanitarian mission, but as part of a solo tour,
which took him to Yerevan.
"I barely knew about the earthquake," he recalls, "It was still the
Soviet Union then, and news didn't travel very well.
"I went out to Spitak and it made an indelible impression -I don't
know if it was my mind, my heart or my soul, it was just unbelievable,
people were walking around in a daze."
Accompanied by the Mayor of Spitak, Ian took in a tour' of the area:
"The church clock was stopped at 20 to 12 which is when the earthquake
took place, and the Italians had set up this refugee camp of very
nice, well designed little modules, but it looked so incongruous in
all of the devastation," he remembers.
Among all the carnage, one vision more than any other left a deep
impression on Ian: "There was one old lady holding up a picture of a
family group, probably 23 or 24 people...and she was the only one
still alive.
"I noticed the deathly quiet and the Mayor said there had been no
music in the last year - none in the church, none on the radio, the
children weren't singing, even the birds weren't singing..."
When the time was right Ian roped in a swell of his famous muso pals
and set about releasing a benefit single to boost the coffers for the
damaged region.
Deep Purple smash hit Smoke on the Water was re-recorded with artists
including Queen's Brian May and Roger Taylor, Bryan Adams, Iron
Maiden's Bruce Dickinson, Black Sabbath ace Tony Iommi and Paul
Rodgers lending talents.
Former Woburn Sands resident Ian and his new city based manager Phil
Banfield were instrumental in piecing together a compilation album to
raise more cash to the much needed pile.
Fast forward to 2009, and the president of Armenia invites supporters
including Ian, Phil and Black Sabbath legend Tony Iommi back to say
thank you' in the 20th anniversary year of the tragedy.
Phil takes up the story: "We were taken on a tour which included a
visit to a brandy factory and a children's music school where the
children played Armenian folk songs and Smoke on the Water and
Paranoid on authentic Armenian instruments...it touched all of us,
especially when taking into account the terrible facilities."
"Later in the evening, after dinner, everyone had to do a speech and
with the brandy flowing the musicians said they wanted to donate
instruments...I wasn't aware I had to say anything and having had one
glass too many, decided to say that we should knock down the existing
school and build a new one!"
"The next day, it dawned on us what I had done, and Ian and Tony came
up with the name, WhoCares..."
"On the plane home we came up with the idea of starting the music
again," Ian continues.
"People are getting on with their lives again, but the school is
pretty much derelict, although they still teach there.
"It gets cold in the winter and you can see through the walls to the
outside, so we thought we'd get roped in..."
The result is the aforementioned WhoCares, a new to the shelves double
album of classics, rarities, unreleased recordings, collaborations,
new mixes and forgotten songs' by Ian and Tony, along with two
newbies: Out of My Mind and Holy Water, recorded with an all-star
line-up including Nicko McBrain from Iron Maiden and ex-Metallica
bassist Jason Newsted.
"In a way it turned out to be serendipitous," Ian says of the rarities within.
"I moved from a house in Cublington to a small house by the seaside
and had to rent this huge place to put all my stuff in - my studio was
jammed from floor to ceiling with stuff.
"Fortunately, I'd hired someone to come in, log everything and box it
all up, and in the process of that I got a load of old CDs and
cassette players and demos that I'd forgotten about which did make it
easier... it was fun pulling all that stuff out.
"The material is probably a bit weighted on my side - I'm not sure
Tony had as much junk hanging around as I did!
"I think the cupboard is pretty much bare now," he says in respect of
any unused tracks sitting around, "...but you never know what might be
stuck under the floorboards!"
The album features contributions from Ronnie James Dio and Jon Lord,
who have both been mourned by the music industry in recent times.
Ronnie lost his battle with cancer in 2010, and Ian's former Deep
Purple bandmate Jon sadly passed away the day the album was released.
"One of my favourite, and the most poignant bits on the album, is a
thing called Dick Pimple, which was a jam session we did a long time
ago, because it has Deep Purple messing about in the studio.
"Jon Lord is doing all the anagrams, and his life was full of tortured
anagrams and tortured puns...to hear him so full of joy and so much a
part of things is a keepsake for me.
"It made me smile listening to it the other day..."
The head of the Armenian committee has decided on the perfect tribute
to Jon Lord, and will name the piano room in the new school after the
influential player.
Gillan is at home in Portugal when we touch base, on a break from
recording the new Deep Purple album, their first in seven years.
At the tail end of September, the band will reconvene in Nashville and
turn attentions back to the job in hand.
"A lot of the stuff is organic and evolves out of jam sessions, which
is how we've always written, and this time we've got a producer who
lets us stretch a little bit...I am very pleased with the progress,
and I know one thing for sure, it is going to be the best sounding
Deep Purple album ever," he promises.
But for the moment, it's full steam ahead for Armenia - work begins on
the new school later this month: "We've done our bit and now someone
has got to bring out the shovel and spade and build the damn thing,"
he says with a laugh.
And what Ian, Tony, Phil and all those involved in the project really
want is for the album to get some prominence.
"It's about making people aware it's there, because the sale of every
copy is important," Ian explains.
"It's not mainstream - nothing that fits in, it's all the stuff we
personally have an attachment to.
"I wouldn't try to sell it under false pretences - it's a quirky album
for sure. But, if you want to have an insight into the kind of things
we do outside of the mainstream I think it will be an intriguing thing
to listen to.
"It's not something you want to put on in the background, because it
is diverse and has different moods throughout. It's something you
would probably sit down late at night with, as a blues album.
"I should think you'll need a chiropractor if you listen to it standing up!"
WhoCares is in stores now.
Visit www.gillan.com for more details.
August 24, 2012 Friday
Aid for Armenia...and a truckload of rock
IN 1988, nature showed its most ferocious side, unleashing a
devastating earthquake on Armenia, writes Sammy Jones.
When it was over, 25,000 people had lost their lives, and a quarter of
a million more were left homeless.
Ian Gillan, the voice behind a swell of Deep Purple rock classics,
visited the region a year later.
Not as part of a humanitarian mission, but as part of a solo tour,
which took him to Yerevan.
"I barely knew about the earthquake," he recalls, "It was still the
Soviet Union then, and news didn't travel very well.
"I went out to Spitak and it made an indelible impression -I don't
know if it was my mind, my heart or my soul, it was just unbelievable,
people were walking around in a daze."
Accompanied by the Mayor of Spitak, Ian took in a tour' of the area:
"The church clock was stopped at 20 to 12 which is when the earthquake
took place, and the Italians had set up this refugee camp of very
nice, well designed little modules, but it looked so incongruous in
all of the devastation," he remembers.
Among all the carnage, one vision more than any other left a deep
impression on Ian: "There was one old lady holding up a picture of a
family group, probably 23 or 24 people...and she was the only one
still alive.
"I noticed the deathly quiet and the Mayor said there had been no
music in the last year - none in the church, none on the radio, the
children weren't singing, even the birds weren't singing..."
When the time was right Ian roped in a swell of his famous muso pals
and set about releasing a benefit single to boost the coffers for the
damaged region.
Deep Purple smash hit Smoke on the Water was re-recorded with artists
including Queen's Brian May and Roger Taylor, Bryan Adams, Iron
Maiden's Bruce Dickinson, Black Sabbath ace Tony Iommi and Paul
Rodgers lending talents.
Former Woburn Sands resident Ian and his new city based manager Phil
Banfield were instrumental in piecing together a compilation album to
raise more cash to the much needed pile.
Fast forward to 2009, and the president of Armenia invites supporters
including Ian, Phil and Black Sabbath legend Tony Iommi back to say
thank you' in the 20th anniversary year of the tragedy.
Phil takes up the story: "We were taken on a tour which included a
visit to a brandy factory and a children's music school where the
children played Armenian folk songs and Smoke on the Water and
Paranoid on authentic Armenian instruments...it touched all of us,
especially when taking into account the terrible facilities."
"Later in the evening, after dinner, everyone had to do a speech and
with the brandy flowing the musicians said they wanted to donate
instruments...I wasn't aware I had to say anything and having had one
glass too many, decided to say that we should knock down the existing
school and build a new one!"
"The next day, it dawned on us what I had done, and Ian and Tony came
up with the name, WhoCares..."
"On the plane home we came up with the idea of starting the music
again," Ian continues.
"People are getting on with their lives again, but the school is
pretty much derelict, although they still teach there.
"It gets cold in the winter and you can see through the walls to the
outside, so we thought we'd get roped in..."
The result is the aforementioned WhoCares, a new to the shelves double
album of classics, rarities, unreleased recordings, collaborations,
new mixes and forgotten songs' by Ian and Tony, along with two
newbies: Out of My Mind and Holy Water, recorded with an all-star
line-up including Nicko McBrain from Iron Maiden and ex-Metallica
bassist Jason Newsted.
"In a way it turned out to be serendipitous," Ian says of the rarities within.
"I moved from a house in Cublington to a small house by the seaside
and had to rent this huge place to put all my stuff in - my studio was
jammed from floor to ceiling with stuff.
"Fortunately, I'd hired someone to come in, log everything and box it
all up, and in the process of that I got a load of old CDs and
cassette players and demos that I'd forgotten about which did make it
easier... it was fun pulling all that stuff out.
"The material is probably a bit weighted on my side - I'm not sure
Tony had as much junk hanging around as I did!
"I think the cupboard is pretty much bare now," he says in respect of
any unused tracks sitting around, "...but you never know what might be
stuck under the floorboards!"
The album features contributions from Ronnie James Dio and Jon Lord,
who have both been mourned by the music industry in recent times.
Ronnie lost his battle with cancer in 2010, and Ian's former Deep
Purple bandmate Jon sadly passed away the day the album was released.
"One of my favourite, and the most poignant bits on the album, is a
thing called Dick Pimple, which was a jam session we did a long time
ago, because it has Deep Purple messing about in the studio.
"Jon Lord is doing all the anagrams, and his life was full of tortured
anagrams and tortured puns...to hear him so full of joy and so much a
part of things is a keepsake for me.
"It made me smile listening to it the other day..."
The head of the Armenian committee has decided on the perfect tribute
to Jon Lord, and will name the piano room in the new school after the
influential player.
Gillan is at home in Portugal when we touch base, on a break from
recording the new Deep Purple album, their first in seven years.
At the tail end of September, the band will reconvene in Nashville and
turn attentions back to the job in hand.
"A lot of the stuff is organic and evolves out of jam sessions, which
is how we've always written, and this time we've got a producer who
lets us stretch a little bit...I am very pleased with the progress,
and I know one thing for sure, it is going to be the best sounding
Deep Purple album ever," he promises.
But for the moment, it's full steam ahead for Armenia - work begins on
the new school later this month: "We've done our bit and now someone
has got to bring out the shovel and spade and build the damn thing,"
he says with a laugh.
And what Ian, Tony, Phil and all those involved in the project really
want is for the album to get some prominence.
"It's about making people aware it's there, because the sale of every
copy is important," Ian explains.
"It's not mainstream - nothing that fits in, it's all the stuff we
personally have an attachment to.
"I wouldn't try to sell it under false pretences - it's a quirky album
for sure. But, if you want to have an insight into the kind of things
we do outside of the mainstream I think it will be an intriguing thing
to listen to.
"It's not something you want to put on in the background, because it
is diverse and has different moods throughout. It's something you
would probably sit down late at night with, as a blues album.
"I should think you'll need a chiropractor if you listen to it standing up!"
WhoCares is in stores now.
Visit www.gillan.com for more details.