HEAVY HITTERS
Metal, hard rock pioneers Deep Purple touring behind 20th album
BY ADRIAN GOMEZ JOURNAL ARTS EDITOR
The different phases of making music seem to never get easier. Just ask Steve Morse.
For more than 20 years, the guitar player and composer has been a member of the English rock band Deep Purple.
While there have been various iterations of the band over the course of 49 years, Morse says the band is stronger than ever before.
In April, Deep Purple released its 20th album, “Infinite.”
The 10-track album was produced by Bob Ezrin, who hopped on another project with the legendary band.
“Bob is like a military drill sergeant,” he says of recording with the producer. “He’s very quick-witted and pays attention to all the amazing little details. Even though he doesn’t practice instruments, he can recall things with amazing memory. He was the judge and jury, with all the decisions on this album.”
Morse is joined in the current lineup by Ian Paice, Roger Glover, Ian Gillan and Don Airey.
Deep Purple is considered to be among the pioneers of heavy metal and modern hard rock, along with Led Zeppelin and Black Sabbath. Over the course of almost five decades, the band has sold more than 100 million albums worldwide.
The band’s hits include “Smoke on the Water,” “Hush,” “Child in Time” and “Speed King.”.
With “Infinite,” Morse says, the new songs only add to Deep Purple’s strong catalog.
This summer, Deep Purple has teamed up for a tour with another rock legend — Alice Cooper.
He says it’s been amazing to be on tour with Cooper, who has been around for nearly the same amount of time.
“For our set, we’ve cut it down because the show would be way too long,” he says. “Alice has a full set, and we’re trying to put in the strongest set we can get in.”
While Morse is on tour, he’s also taking some time to do some master guitar classes to help inspire a new generation of musicians.
“I’m in the position and feel a responsibility to do guitar clinics whenever possible,” he says. “I didn’t have the opportunity to learn from a professional guitarist. Life is different for kids now. They have more stress. There’s content on the internet, and that brings anxiety. The way they approach life in general will determine what kind of player they are. It takes a while for a musician to find their path. I want to be there to show them that making it can happen. It’s a lot of hard work.”