abgetippt und übersetzt von Lars Wehmeyer
Vor dem Konzert mit der Deep Purple Tribute Band Demon's Eye stellte
sich Ian Paice am 23.02.2007 in Wilnsdorf den örtlichen Pressevertretern.
Natürlich hatte auch der Aviator-Fanclub einen Vertreter zu
diesem Medienereignis geschickt. Wie Andree Schneider bereits an anderer Stelle beschrieben hat, bestand meine Aufgabe
u.a. darin, Ian Paice nach seinem "One Handed Roll" zu fragen, damit
er ihn während der Pressekonferenz direkt vorführen kann.
Neben Ian Paice standen auch Wilnsdorfs Bürgermeister Werner
Büdenbender und Andree Rede und Antwort. Neben dieser leicht
gekürzten Original-Version gibt es, wie üblich, auch eine ins Deutsche übersetzte Version.
Werner Büdenbender: Meine Damen
und Herren, ich begrüße Sie herzlich hier in den heiligen
Hallen im Ratssaal der Gemeinde Wilnsdorf. Es ist ein sehr außergewöhnlicher
Anlass heute, ich glaube, so etwas hat in diesem Ratssaal noch nicht
stattgefunden. Gestatten Sie mir, dass ich zuerst unseren heutigen
Ehrengast begrüße. Ich habe mir ein paar Zeilen auf Englisch
zusammengeschrieben - ich hoffe, dass ich das so rüberbringen
kann, dass zumindest Mr. Paice das verstehen kann.
Dear Mr. Paice, I give you a warm welcome here in the townhall of
Wilnsdorf. We are very glad and proud to have a world star of rock
music in our town. Mr. Paice, it is said that Deep Purple have set
new standards for hard rock bands and much of the credit for that
achievement must be given to you, whose drum style became one of
the most influential in rock drumming. Countless drummers take you
as example. Dear Mr. Paice, my own first Deep Purple album was the
live album "Made In Japan" in 1972. That was the beginning of a
love relation in music which lasts until today. For this reason, I
am personally delighted to get the chance to meet one of the idols
of my youth. Mr. Paice, I have now the duty to mention that we,
you and me, are both born in the same year, namely in 1948 - it
was a good year.
(Ian Paice stöhnt und winkt ab - Gelächter)
In the last few days I read two things about you in a paper. The
first statement was "Without a doubt, Ian Paice has secured his
place in the drummers' hall of fame". And the second was "Ian
Paice is one of the icons of hard rock". I think that both
statements have hit the nail on the head. Mr. Paice, I hope that
you have a good time in Wilnsdorf. We are looking forward to a
great rock concert with the drum legend Ian Paice and the band
Demon's Eye, a band which has its roots in our town of Wilnsdorf,
and is called the best Deep Purple Tribute Band in Europe. Thank
you so much for your attention.
Ian Paice: Thank you very much.
Werner Büdenbender: May I now ask
you to be so kind as to sign the visitors' book of Wilnsdorf?
Ian Paice: Certainly.
(Unterschrift - Fotos - Blitzlichtgewitter)
Anschließend begann die eigentliche Pressekonferenz.
Andree Schneider: Schönen guten
Abend - wer möchte denn loslegen?
Dirk Manderbach von der Siegener
Zeitung: Herr Schneider, hätten Sie sich das jemals
träumen lassen, dass einmal Ian Paice hier in Wilnsdorf am
Schlagzeug sitzen würde?
Andree
Schneider: Ganz klares Nein. Wir haben gestern unseren ersten
Auftritt in Holland gehabt. Ich manage ja auch die Band Demon's
Eye und habe dadurch viel zu tun gehabt in den letzten drei, vier
Wochen, und ich habe das noch gar nicht richtig realisiert. Und
gestern abend, da steht man dann plötzlich auf der Bühne,
neben einem der besten Schagzeuger der Welt, meinem Drummer-Idol,
wegen dem ich angefangen habe Schlagzeug zu spielen - das war ein
Gefühl, das sich nicht in Worte fassen lässt. Und als
wir dann heute von Holland nach Wilnsdorf gefahren sind - ich bin
gefahren, direkt neben mir saß Ians Agent, und einen Platz
weiter saß Ian Paice. So unterwegs ist mir dann der Gedanke
gekommen: "Was machst Du hier eigentlich? Du fährst jetzt
hier den Bus und neben Dir sitzt Ian Paice." Das war auch wieder
ein ganz merkwürdiges Gefühl. Ich hätte mir das nie
erträumt.
Georg Mark von der Westfälischen
Rundschau in Siegen: Wie war der erste Auftritt in Holland?
Ian Paice: When I get the chance to
play with other musicians and I don't know them, I take a
chance. If they're good, it makes my job very easy. If they're not
so good, it makes my job very difficult. With Demon's Eye, it's
incredibly easy.
Last night in Holland was the first time we played together. Not
many shows go that well the first time around. We had a few little
minor mistakes, but they were all my mistakes, not their
mistakes. The mistakes you'll hear tonight will probably be my
mistakes too.
Tim Plachner vom Siegerlandkurier: Mich
würde interessieren, ob Mr. Paice auch schon mit anderen Deep
Purple Coverbands oder Tribute Bands gespielt hat.
Ian
Paice: Yes, I've played with other Purple coverbands, for
two reasons. It started in Italy. They have many music schools in
Italy, and they don't have much money. And to allow me to do the
seminar, we would have in the evening a small show with a local
band, for which we could charge a little entrance fee which would
pay the expenses for the school for my airticket, for my hotel,
to allow them to get me there. It was a little thing that grew,
and over the course of the last five years I found two or three
italian cover bands were very good. And it allows me to do the drum
clinics without having to break the bank for the school. So that's
the way it started.
Nobody's asked the question yet, but somebody will ask it, so I'll
give you the answer before you ask the question. The question is
"Why do I do this?". One of the reasons is a very selfish reason:
It's because I need to play in the period when Deep Purple do not
work. The last show I did with Deep Purple was before christmas,
the next show I will play will be at the beginning of next month.
That's nine to ten weeks with no playing. That's not good for any
artist. So these four shows give me the chance to get the muscles
strong, to make the brain remember what it's meant to do, and so
when I go on stage with Deep Purple I'm as good as I can be for
the first show. I don't have to play the first three shows getting
stronger. Playing with Deep Purple is very very aerobic, you use
a lot of energy, and so you have to be in tip-top condition. I like
playing drums, that's what I do, I don't do anything else. I enjoy
the show, and that gives me another chance to enjoy myself. I always
love to come to Germany anyway, you have such great beer. I get
the chance to get myself physically right.
Helmut Blecher, Westfalenpost: Ian, was
ist der Unterschied zwischen großen Hallen und einem kleinen
Auftrittsort wie heute abend?
Ian Paice: Playing a small hall is
actually easier. When you're playing 10, 15, 20.000 seat venues,
everything is controlled by electronics. You hear very very little
acoustically. The sound just disappears, so you're relying on
monitor systems and microphones to hear everything, and the nature
of that is that it's all artificial. In a smaller room like today,
you use the electronics to help, but you still hear the organic,
acoustic instrument, which is always a much more pleasant sound,
it's the way nature meant it to be. So it is easier because you're
not in the hands of people off-stage, the monitor man, the sound
guy, you have a little bit more control yourself. You always take
the chance, some rooms have a good sound, some rooms have no
sound. When the room has a good sound, you'll find the musicians
play well. When the room has no sound, it's really a hard job. I
think this room will sound very good with the people in. It sounds
ok empty, so with the people in it should get better.
Lars Wehmeyer vom deutschen Deep
Purple Fanclub "The Aviator": Ian, what does it feel
like to be playing the Deep Purple songs with a different band?
You've been a founding member of Deep Purple, and you've been with
Deep Purple for most of your life, since '68, so I wonder what it
feels like. You've created all these songs with the different
incarnations of Deep Purple, and now you're on stage playing them
with a completely different band. What does that feel like?
Ian Paice: The nice thing about
Demon's Eye is they don't play all the obvious Deep Purple
tunes. We play things from the Mark III lineup which is with
Coverdale and Hughes, which are songs which I haven't played since
1976, and we play a couple of songs from the Mark I lineup, which
I haven't played since 1969. That's why I said any mistakes you
hear will be my mistakes because these guys learn from the record,
and that's their piece of reality for the music. I probably haven't
listened to those records in 25, 30 years. What is their reality,
for me is maybe ten minutes in the studio. If you try to remember
10 minutes of your life from 25 years ago, I think you'll find it
very difficult. They're playing different pieces of Deep Purple
which, yes, I was instrumental in creating. That's great, because
I would never get a chance to play those pieces of music ever
again because they're not part of the Deep Purple that exists
now. Just two or three songs we'll put in that are the classic big
ones, but it's not just that. So it is different - it's not a
matter of being on stage with a different band, I'm actually
playing different music. It's not even in my consciousness that
it's a different band, the whole thing is different, you know.
Jörg Schulz, Heavy Magazine,
Deutschland: I'd like to ask you: I know that Demon's Eye did
write a song in the style of Deep Purple. Could you imagine
playing a song of them together with them?
Ian Paice: If they have a song they
want to play, I'm quite happy to play anything. As I said, this is
their show, I'm the guest. Ok, I have the big name, but I'm the
guest of their show. Whatever they want to play is ok by me. They
choose the songs, not me. They're the boss. I'm the blue collar
guy. I'm happy just to be here and to be a part of it, and if they
find something different for me to play, then that's great. It
gives me something else to think about, it gives me another thing
to try and create something. Drumming isn't just about keeping
time. That's the difference between being a drummer and being a
musician. If you're just going to keep time, you'd be a drummer,
that's ok. But if you're going to create a piece of music within
the music, then that's being a musician, that's being complete. So
when I get something new to play, I have to start thinking first
to make it better, if I can.
Dirk Manderbach von der Siegener
Zeitung nochmal: Eine Frage an Herrn Paice: Hatten Sie heute
vielleicht Gelegenheit neben den Vorbereitungen für das
Konzert etwas von der Gemeinde, etwas von dem Ort zu sehen?
Die Landschaft zum Beispiel? Oder ist Ihnen irgendwas aufgefallen?
Hat Ihnen irgendwas besonders gut gefallen?
Ian Paice: I've already been here a
few hours, we got in at about three o'clock. We went straight to
the venue and found this incredible museum there. I was in there
about half an hour, it's all the time I had, I was just so
impressed. If you have a brain between your ears, your interest
ist immediate. From fantastic pieces of prehistoric man-made
weapons and roman coins, just so many wonderful things, you go
from one room and you find somethings else fantastic in another
room. And a little town like this, you think this is just
incredibe. If you saw this collection in London you'd still think
it was a fantastic collection. I was really really impressed with
it. And the mammoth, I never thought they were that big. That's a
big animal! (schaut an die Decke -
Gelächter)
There is one thing I want
to say. There are very very few bands from my generation that
still exist. Purple is obviously one, The Rolling Stones is
another, The Who, to a certain extent, still exist, Pink Floyd
when they want to, but that's about it from the generation from
the 60s which created all this fabulous new music which people
still enjoy today. And it's really important for a kid who has
never been to a rock'n'roll show for somebody to take them
along. Either the mother or father, or the big brother, say to
this fifteen year old kid: "You're gonna see this!". Because when
it's gone, when we finish, it's gone forever, and the music will
never be so good again. Not to make too fine a point, but we are
very precious, because we represent the last possibility to see
the classic rock'n'roll that came out of the 60s. So if you do
have young brothers, sisters, kids, and all they want to do is watch
MTV, just tie them up and take them to a classic rock show, and
they will never be the same kids again.
(Applaus)
When we're gone, we're gone forever.
Lars Wehmeyer: Since you will be the
special guest of Demon's Eye tonight, and you play the drums, I
guess there will be some time for a nice little drum solo. I would
like to know whether you will be showing your famous "one handed
roll" on the snare drum tonight.
Ian Paice: Yes, there will be a drum
solo, of course. I get more chance to play a drum solo outside of
Deep Purple than I do in Deep Purple, the reason being there is
only so much time at the venue when you are with two other
acts. When Deep Purple play, the idea is to play as many songs as
we can in the one hour fifty, two hours that we have. And
sometimes a drum solo just isn't that important on the order of
playing music. So yes, there will be a drum solo tonight, and yes,
I will probably be showing you the one-handed roll. If you're
very good and you pay me five Euros.
(Gelächter)
I'm cheap, I'm really cheap.
Andree Schneider: Dazu möchte ich
noch etwas sagen: Ich habe mir ja schon fast gedacht, dass die Frage
nach dem "One Handed Roll" kommt, und für mich ist
das eigentlich unbegreiflich, wie man einen Wirbel mit nur einer
Hand hinkriegen kann. Und weil ich schon geahnt habe, dass die Frage
kommt, habe ich eine Snaredrum mitgebracht, und ich würde auch
5 Euro bezahlen, wenn Du uns den Wirbel mal zeigen würdest.
(aufmunternder Applaus)
Ian Paice: It just so
happens.... (zieht Drumsticks aus der Tasche) I always
carry a pair of those.
(Gelächter)
(Ian zeigt
den One Handed Roll)
Ein Journalist: Ist das ein Trick?
Ian Paice: Trick is not the right
word. But it's about knowledge. It's about knowing how your
instrument works. It's about having the technique to keep the
stick in exactly the right place with no movement, and you have to
understand the laws of physics to make it work. And you need to
have really really strong finger muscles. If you do all those
three things, then you can do this thing.
Jörg Schulz: Could you imagine next year, with 40
years Deep Purple, for example to invite younger people who are
playing Purple songs or even inviting the former members of the
band? What will happen next year in Deep Purple?
Ian Paice: You know, when you're at
this stage of your career as Deep Purple are - if a rock'n'roll
band still exists five years after the beginning, that's a
miracle. Ten years, it's a double miracle. But forty years is
something you can't rationalize, you can't give a logical reason
why we're still here. So I can't tell you in one year what will be
happening at all. If everyhing is the way we want it, then Deep
Purple will still be here, and the audiences will still be having
a great time, but you can never tell. One year is a long time. I
don't see any changes, I believe we will still be here for the
next few years, doing what we do. Anniversaries are something
other people talk about. We don't think about the 40th
anniversary, we didn't think about the 30th anniversary. There's
so many rumours of old members coming back into the band, but
it's nothing to do with us. We have a situation where the Deep
Purple that exists now is very happy. We are doing what we do with
great joy and there's no reason we would stop that to change or
try and put other members of the band back into a situation which
would only be temporary. It's a lot of hard work for something,
there is nothing in it for us, there's no plus side for us. Maybe
when we decide that it's absolutely finished, this is the last
tour, then somebody may say, why don't you all get together and
play one big goodbye gig. Who knows, maybe that could happen. In
my mind I don't think it will.
(Als keine weiteren Fragen kommen)
Ian Paice: Everybody happy? Should we
go to the bar? It's just a suggestion.
(Zum
Abschluss der Pressekonferenz bekommt Ian vom Bürgermeister
noch den sogenannten "Wilnsdorfer Willkomm`" geschenkt,
ein reichlich verziertes Bierglas der Gemeinde Wilnsdorf.)
Übersetzung: Lars Wehmeyer
Fotos: Manfred Stoffer, Moni Kircher, Horst Schaumann, Helmut Eich
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