How to stay sane: some unexpected advice from the band members of Deep Purple, delivered privately one evening in Vienna
The lights go down.
Heavy metal chords ring out.
Deep Purple in Kyiv, 2011
It is clear that Deep Purple have lost none of their ability to rock.
I’ve seen the loudest band of all time (Guinness Book of Records) twice: in Kyiv in 2011 and in Vienna in 2017. I was fortunate enough to share a beer with Roger Glover and other band members after both shows.
With Roger Glover and Steve Morse, 2017
How to stay sane: life lessons from Deep Purple
To meet legendary rockers was a massive privilege. Most impressive was to discover that all of those I met were extraordinarily, well, normal.
This struck me as remarkable, considering that Deep Purple have been famous since time began and at least one of them has been in the band since 1968.
So I asked one of them: “What’s the secret? How do you stay sane, and grounded, under the pressure of being a global megastar?”
“Well,” he replied. “You should never take yourself too seriously.”
Roger Glover not taking himself too seriously
Don Airey and Steve Morse not taking themselves too seriously
This struck me as excellent advice for a rock star, a writer or anyone else in today’s often pressurised world. I shall endeavour to follow it.
Do share if you agree!
How to enjoy life
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5 Responses
I wonder if they found you impressively “normal” too? Diplomats also tend to get treated as if they were different from “ordinary” individuals, with otherwise sensible people behaving strangely around them.
Well, you do look like a rock star yourself, I have to say!
Great post, I really enjoyed it. Nothing closer to the truth either. I’ve learned to laugh at myself too late in life for my own good. This is one of the best pieces of advice I give my own children!!
Hope all well in sunny Vienna.
Keep writing
OG&Bs
Thanks! Hard at work now on “Palladium”
Wait, you hung out with members of Purple? I am insanely jealous. The nearest I came was gazing across the bar at the late, great Jon Lord when he was having a pint at the Baskerville Arms in Shiplake.
Yes, I have been privileged to meet them in Kyiv and in Vienna – especially Roger Glover, who I feel I know a bit. Great bunch of blokes.