Simon McBride

Folheando revista q trouxe de viagem, Rock Candy, me deparei com a matéria q me chamou atenção de cara, até mais q a matéria de 24 páginas sobre o Rush: entrevista com Roger Glover (Deep Purple), tvz o cara menos lembrado da banda (da estirpe dos baixistas discretos?), mas q já viu e viveu um monte.

E não estou falando só de idade.

Fui direto na pergunta sobre Ritchie Blackmore e a resposta me “ganhou”. Ler o restante foi tranquilo, copio aqui (à moda antiga) uns trechos:

WOULD YOU SAY BLACKMORE’S THE BEST GUITARIST YOU’VE EVER WORKED WITH, THOUGH?

There’s no such thing as a best guitarist. All the guitar players I’ve worked with are different, and they’ve all brought something to the band that wasn’t there before. The focus with Purple is often on Ritchie, and he was certainly instrumental in altering the way I thought about music. But change happens. You can’t rewind and do it all over again. You have to embrace change and the new challenges that come with it. Steve Morse brought an awful lot to the band, as has [new Purple guitarist] Simon McBride. The recipe changes when you change members, and it’s always a revelation to hear what comes out. I can’t say who’s best. Ritchie Blackmore was the original, Joe Satriani and Steve Morse were both brilliant, and Simon McBride is adding something too.

DO YOU THINK YOUR BASS PLAYING INFLUENCED A LOT OF ROCK MUSICIANS?

Well, I can definitely hear what I was doing in the 70’s in the work of lots of other bands who came afterwards, but I don’t think about it too much. If I did, then I guess I’d end up copying the people who originally copied me! The key to being in a band is not to be too aware of your audience, and not to spend time trying to please them. You have to please yourself. I never pre-judge anything. I just play what I like, and if that’s made me a leader rather than a follower, then that’s great. Maybe that’s why I’m still around.

WHAT IS YOUR ABSOLUTE FAVOURITE DEEP PURPLE RECORD?

The one I keep returning to is “Purpendicular” from ’96. When [guitarist] Steve Morse joined the band we’d spent 10 years in slow decline and people didn’t seem that interested in us anymore. When Steve joined, he wanted to know what we wanted from him, and I said, “you’ve got to be yourself, nobody else”. Steve really ran with that. He respected the band’s past, while carving out his own space. “Purpendicular” felt like a rebirth and was a grand example of us respecting the 70’s, but at the same time moving past the Ritchie Blackmore thing.

DO YOU HAVE A FAVOURITE PURPLE DECADE?

The one we’re in right now. When we started in the 60’s, I expected it to last maybe two or three years, five tops. This band was never designed to be long-running, but that’s how it turned out. We’re very thankful for that, and it’s all down to the fans. We were apart for years before we reunited in 1984 for “Perfect Strangers“, and that era was great because it felt so good to be together again. We’ve kept it going from there, have been through some changes and melodramas, but somehow we’ve survived… probably just by being ourselves.