Glenn Hughes

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Feb

Glenn Hughes (2005)

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Glenn Hughes

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Interviews

Glenn Hughes: The Soul Mover Speaks.

Glenn Hughes talks at length about his soullyfully rocking new solo album, Iommi Hughes, that live DVD and a bunch of other great stuff!

This is a MP3 Interview in 5 Parts! I hope you enjoy the concept - it allows the lengthy interview to be placed online quicker than waiting for a transcript to be typed out.

Highlights of the interview include:

"The last 10 years ... it's been a nice little ride, now let's get serious.

What's missing for me is that I wanted to start focusing on what makes me tick. I want to make records now for the way I will be remembered in 10 years time.

I made a lot of records, what I did with From Now On…Feel…all different…that was a guy figuring out what I really want to do.

It's all me (style changes) – it takes me quite a while to feel comfortable in my own skin.

I'm really happy with the focus of what's going on right now….I'm allowing myself to have fun with my music now. Labels that want me to be one dimensional – no – I'm going to do what I want to do. I gotta be me.

This is the best record I've done – personally – in my mind…that's the way I feel. As an artist, I stand behind this record.

My life since I have been sober is not about music. I blew a million dollars up my nose and made it back. It's about making artist statements that will come through the music and the touring I'm about to do.

Although I am writing, I don't see myself recording anything this year. When Tony and I's record comes out, we want to tour behind that.

Deep Purple for me was pretty average – I'm writing better songs now and signing better.

I don't want to make too many u-turns, I've been blessed to be able to write in so many styles. I feel comfortable in all of it and that's kind of a curse in some regards.

I could do a 180 in 18 months time and do a ballad album…cause we all know I'm crazy!!

This new Iommi record…what we have here is one hell of a focused record. This is Iommi's best work. Riffs, songs…just blow your mind type stuff. I told Tony it was his best work since Black Sabbath.
It's one hell of a record….and when you here it you will know what I'm talking about.
The DEP Sessions was well received, we call that the appetizer for what's coming.
The whole rock industry took a shine to us working together again.
I'm going to do at least 80 shows solo this year and Tony and I will tour the world on this record.
It's an album for me that will compete with Velvet Revolver and Audioslave.
I couldn't sing live though…From 1976 to 1991 when I got sober, I did altogether no more than 40 shows….that's a crime for an artist like me who loves to play live.

(Regarding Deep Purple) - People talk about the Purple Mk3 getting back together. I would much rather do a thing with Tony than get together with 4 or 5 guys I don't even know! I don't know who Jon Lord is and Ian Paice and Richie Blackmore….I barely know who David Coverdale is.
I was in a band with these guys – we were all ego's and high or drunk or whatever, pretty much…I don't know who these guys are.
I saw Purple 4 or 5 months ago…I went backstage and I had no idea who these people were….no connection whatsoever….so I wouldn't look forward to that.

(Regarding the new Russian project with JLT) - The songs were written in the 80's, so they are more akin to a lighter Purple Mk3, meets Joe era Rainbow, in a Russian way! That kinda Russian vibe! Very melodic, kinda light…it will serve its purpose in that market. It was great to work with Joe again.

DOWNLOAD: Part 1 / Part 2 / Part 3 / Part 4 / Part 5.

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2005

Glenn Hughes

Wed

Feb

Glenn Hughes (2003)

Artist:

Glenn Hughes

Categories:

Interviews

Glenn Hughes: The voice of rock is finally comfortable with his with his role in the rock music world and is delivering some of the best work of his career.

Hi Glenn, now's okay to talk for a few minutes?
Oh, yeah. I just got home in time.

Fantastic mate, thank you for that. How is HTP II coming then?
Well, I'm really excited by it because I wanted to make another record that was similar to the first one. It's probably more melodic than the first one and I wanted to keep it in the box of what the first one was, but this one has probably more music in it.

Right.
When I say more music, it's got more harmonic thread. Obviously you'll have to hear it, you'll hear it soon. It's a good follow up, Andrew. It's a strong follow-up.

I love the first one.
Yeah, the first one is the blueprint and I didn't want to go too far out of the box on this one, so it's got moments from the first one and it's got the big musical harmonies and its got the classic sound. We're really, really happy with it.

You've got your own solo album, which I've been listening to - I can't tell you how much I love it. It's just fantastic.
Andrew, I've got to tell ya… we know each other pretty well and the thing is for me over the last 10 years of making solo albums again, I'm trying to find... You know the curse, should I do this, can I do all these things, and I finally realized, like a told you a couple of years ago, I come from Deep Purple, and I finally realized that I've been around the world a couple of times since we spoke and everywhere I go, every single… whether it's the Far East or South America or Europe, I've got this big name from Deep Purple and the long hair and the California Jam and I finally realized, I'm not going to fight it anymore, I finally realized… If I'm going to have Glenn Hughes on an album, the name Glenn Hughes, it's going to have to be a rock formula that people will identify.

Great.
I've been listening to a lot of my older work from the '70s and I've been going, okay, if I'm going to make music in this era, I've got to make music, let's just say, I left Deep Purple and I'm going to make music I should've made when I left. It's actually carrying on from there.
In a way, but you see, the trouble is with me Andrew, I've go so many musical things going on in my head…

Absolutely…
That's it's like I don't want to do inappropriate things in music that might confuse people, because the average listener is probably not going to hear where I'm going because I've probably advanced a lot as a songwriter. What I've been doing with HTP, and especially with Songs in the Key of Rock, is really making focused records, you know, for the listener who enjoys classic and melodic rock.

Well, you are an enormously talented singer as far as variation.
Thank you, bro.

I've always appreciated the fact that you can and do change style and are always quick to follow-up with something different again.
I've got to tell you something, I have been lately, the last 2 years, the most prolific as far as creativity goes with writing, I have a tap running in my musical vein that will not stop.

What do you attribute that to?
Opening myself to music in a way that I stopped… I've always been a fan of music, and all kinds of music, but I realized that I wanted to tap into something that was more melodic… I really wanted to go back into more harmony. It's all about the singing voice and what can I do with the voice and what can I produce with the voice. I've been trying since HTP, the first one, and with Songs in the Key of Rock to make a statement with the voice that I don't think many singers are doing anymore. I'm not saying good or bad, I'm just trying to use my voice in a way, and I've been trying to write songs in a way, that will enhance my voice rather than making the average rock track. I think I've been really pursuing songwriting more than ever. I've actually realized that that's what I do for a living and I really enjoy that process.

Now I don't have the credits for Songs in the Key, but you've obviously written all the tracks, but…
I wrote about like 80% of all of it. And that probably goes with HTP and HTP II. I'd say 70-80% and that's attributed to Joe, that he really entrusted me with the content. Like I say, all of a sudden I've started to write more. Because, I think, every artist goes through a period in their life of low self esteem, 'Am I good, am I this, am I that' and I finally broke through a barrier a couple of years ago and said, “I'm going to go for it, I'm going to write more songs.” I've always thought that I was a good singer, but I was always on the shelf, “Can I write songs, can I write great songs,” and I finally realized, you know something Glenn, you're a good songwriter, you should write more songs.

You're a damn good songwriter, and I must say…
I'm just saying… I can't really say, you can tell me that… I think what we're doing from Songs in the Key of Rock to HTP is not afraid of going into some harmonic things that we're doing that other people aren't doing in rock anymore. Remember in the late '70s we had the Queen thing going on, with all the big voices, and then Yes before that, and then of course, The Beatles before that. What I'm trying to do now is use the voices of me and Joe, or just me alone, that will bring listeners in and say, “This is good melody. We can actually listen to this.”

Fantastic. I've just been writing a review for the album actually and that is something that I've commented on, that your voice is… I mean, you've got hooks as far as songwriting, but your voice is an additional hook on every verse and every chorus, because you flow the melody through your voice.
I told Jeff Kollman, my co-producer, before we started on Songs in the Key of Rock, I said, “This album” … we've already written the songs and we're in pre-production, I said, “Listen, I'm really geared up to sing on this record,” and I said, “I really know what I want to do, so just let me go with it.” And just like I always do, it took a couple of days to sing it, that's all, it was really done quickly, he said, “How do you do that?” and I said, “I pretty much, I just let it go, it's all pretty much first take.”

Wow.
Most artists that I know, Paul Rodgers and people, these guys are all pretty much straight in there and doing it. And Joe's the same way. Andrew, I've got to tell you. These are good, exciting times.

Excellent. I'm really pleased to hear that because quite often I get, more so these days, I get artists that are not as excited.
I'm excited by… here's the deal with me, I'm excited about what the future holds for me as a songwriter. As you know, we live in a society where in classic rock and melodic rock it's all old artists or what have you, or even some of the younger artists, we're not like the Flavor of the Month, but what I'm trying to do in this genre, I want to stay true to it, I want to bring some, HOPEFULLY, bring some quality into what we're doing. It's not just your 4 or 5 piece band with a lead singer out there. It's basically trying to get the right arrangements, the right instrumentation, and it's all vintage by the way, vintage sounds, not so much digital, it's also sort of analog instruments from the past, and trying to go for something… it's almost like, gosh, I hate to say this, but I think I might've said this to you last year, I think, with HTP especially, I think we're making the record that Deep Purple aren't making.

Yeah, well Deep Purple are under a bit of pressure to come up with a record aren't they?
Right.

Songs in the Key of Rock sounds like it could've been recorded in 1978 or something.
Yeah, you know, Andrew, I'm glad… well, I've said that to people and I was very clear on what I wanted as far as tones, vintage tones, with the drums and the guitar.

Yeah, with the Hammond organ going…
There's some vocals… there's probably a little more vocals on the record than the one before and I wanted to add another voice, Alex Ligertwood is an incredible singer.

Yeah, I noticed it had some good harmony to it.
He's great; he was with Santana for a long time. He's one of my best friends. I was very excited about the song content of Songs in the Key of Rock. I think there seems to be a bit of an upward thing going right now. You never know what's going around the corner in this industry, you just never know. All I can say to you as a friend, I feel like I'm going through a creative surge right now, and I'm actually flowing with it.

No connection to Deep Purple, but there's a saying about falling into good form – a Purple Patch - I think you're right in the middle of your own Purple Patch, which is obviously a very relevant saying when referring to yourself!
Andrew, I've been sober for quite some time now and I've been working sort of crazy for the last 10 years, but for the last 6 months since Songs in the Key of Rock, I haven't stopped. I haven't stopped writing/producing for other people. It just seems to be for me right now my period where I'm going through this vacuum of moving really fast. I'm pretty focused and I'm prepared for the next step, whatever it is. I think we've all got a twist of fate in our lives where God deals you certain cards, whatever they are. All I know, is I've gone through some periods in my life where there were some dark times, you know that, and now I'm coming through this period where I've been doing a lot of good for myself in the last 10 or 11 years and I think I'm going through a period where I'm living through a few promises where I feel in a spiritual place, in a pretty good place actually.

Good.
So, I think that's probably what's coming through the music.

Yeah, it's a very positive album. It's a feel-good album, I think.
I think it's a great start to probably a turning point in my writing and producing of records.

Wow, okay.
Like I said to you before, if I'm going to have the name Glenn Hughes on the front cover of a record, it's got to be from this point Songs in the Key of Rock and even Building the Machine, it's got to be classic rock, melodic rock, it's got to be defined for the listener that they know what they're going to get.

Great stuff.
Don't get me wrong because I love the funky Glenn, I love the R&B Glenn. It cannot be confusing to the listener anymore. It's got to be… and this is kind of in a business way as well, I have to be very careful.

Yeah, someone actually posted on my message board today about 2 hours ago and said they were looking forward to the album, they always love buying a Glenn Hughes album because they never quite know what they're going to get.
You never know. And that's partly because I didn't quite understand why I wasn't allowed to participate in the writing of all these genres, but people have rammed it down my throat around the globe, you're Glenn Hughes from Deep Purple we love you for that, we idolize you for that, and I'm going, “You know something, it's very artistic of me to try and rebel against that, but I can't do that right now.” I'm in a point in my life where people really look up to me to deliver that classic rock element.
So I decided they want me to rock, they want me to look rock. When I was going through that period where I had short hair, I was wearing the loafers and stuff, they were going “You can't do that,” and I said, “Yes, I can,” but now I understand. It's almost like you've got to suit up and look and be that. You know what I'm saying?

Even the gear you've got on the front cover… good to see the hair back…
It's long, man. It's getting really long.

You look like it could've come off the back of Stormbringer or something.
Isn't it wild?!

It's great!
And you know, like I say, I'm in a good place spiritually, we're half way through HTP II, which is just going to be a monumental piece of work.

I can't wait to hear it.
We're half way through the vocals, and we'll be done on Saturday.

Really? Wow.
Yeah, that's going to come out the end of September, you probably know that.
Andrew, while I've got you on the blower…

Yes?
You're reviewing the one with “Secret Life” on aren't you?

No. I'll do the European review so…
Well “Secret Life” is on the digipack, it's the extra bonus track. It's got the song “Change”, like I wrote to you, “Change”. That's the Japanese bonus track.

So “Secret Life” will be on the European…
Have you heard that one yet?

Yes, I'm a big fan of that.
I love it. It's kind of funky and it's definitely got that blues… you know, I wrote “Lost in the Zone” for Paul to sing with me.
We were going to do a duet on this particular record but he went off to Mexico and split for a while.

As big a fan as I am of Paul Rodgers, I'm really glad it's only you on that song because I think that's my favorite track off the album.
Personally, I'm in love with that track.

I think it defines you as a singer. If I wanted to play someone a Glenn Hughes track, I think I'd be getting out “Lost in the Zone”.
You know something Andrew, for me, and coming from you, because I respect you…

Thank you Sir!
This means a lot to me because this personally is one of my favorites.

Great. Pleased to hear that. I can just tell… I like “Gasoline”, I like “In My Blood”, I like “Standing On The Rock”; it's just completely over the top.
You know, it could be that as the artist, I'm so close to these records I'm making, but when I was making Songs in the Key of Rock and working on the cover and the title, somebody said to me last week, “It's a great album title for this record”.

It is.
I could've told you a year ago what the album title was going to be because I always know the album title a good year before I make a record.
So I said, I want to make this record a statement and I better be on the money at least.

Yes. You nailed it, I think.
Let's look back; let's take, for instance, Ronnie Dio, another good friend of mine. When you look at Dio, like he's never really gone off course has he?

No.
He's always been never the Flavor of the Month, but he's always been that hardcore, down the middle, sort of metal thing, and for Glenn Hughes, I've always loved making the different styles of music in the early '90s.

Well I love Feel as an album…
I do too, but I said to you earlier in the interview, I now realize, years later, that I've got now a focus and I really do, of where I am now and where I was last year, and I'm going to continue in this style because if I stay in one format and don't try and go out of the box, and it really is important now, I think there's going to be more success, or whatever you want to call it, I think I'll probably get more people coming to see me.

Yeah, I think so, yeah.
And on the other side of it, the artist, rebellious, crazy guy always wants to stretch out and go a little out of the box, and I can do that in other things like I can have a side project or I can guest with somebody.

Yes.
But if I'm going to have Glenn Hughes or the Hughes Turner Project, it's got to be in a window where you and all the people that love me from the old period will dig it, you know?
And it's not saying that you don't dig Free, or you don't dig this or… it's all kind of cool.

Yeah. And From Now On… is still my favorite record. I think I tell you that every time I talk to you <laughs>!
For a while, I wasn't agreeing with you, but I started going back and listening to it 2 years ago, and my God, it's a good piece of work.

It's a great album. I still love it. I still play it regularly. I think Songs From the Key of Rock might slip in just behind that.
Well, for me I'm excited, I think every artist is excited with a new album; they're not going to tell you it sucks. I think you and like people that are in Burrn! magazine are going to give it a big, big review and all those at Frontiers are really freakin' out. I think a lot of people are expecting good things from this, Andrew.

Yes. I'm looking forward to seeing the rest of the press on it and stuff.
Oh, me too.
Man, I've got to tell you, I was speaking to Neal Schon about you last year.
You've been important for me… hey, man, there's a lot of people on the site, so when you're telling me that you dig my record, it's beautiful, and you'd tell me if you didn't dig it.

Thanks Glenn….very cool!
I think Andrew in this piece of work you can hear that I've gone to an extra length to get a focus and to get a songwriting and to produce it in a way… I went a little bit longer than I normally make a record. I was in the songwriting process a little longer and you can tell that I took more time on this.
And I think it's important for me now to… it's not really about a budget any more, although it is, I think it's important to get it better every time.
So the good news is, the songwriting hasn't stopped.

Fantastic.
There are some moments on HTP II that are just going to blow your mind.

I can't wait to hear it.
There are moments like “On The Ledge” last time, there are moments on the record this time that are just going to blow your mind.
You know what we've got to do bro? Once again, we tried this 5 years ago. I've got to get over there man.

That's something I wanted to talk about. I've got a couple of people that might actually be a bit more advanced than just all hot air and talk about doing some shows.
Andrew, what most artists do nowadays, you've probably heard about some people, most artists, like a singer like myself or some other person, would probably go to Australia and play with a great band that was already there. And they would rehearse my songs appropriately.
I understand how the cost of getting 10 guys over from the U.S. is just astronomical, especially with no record company support. I think for me to get an underground swell going in your country, would mean me coming over 2 or 3 times.
And in that format of getting shit up and over there, and just working it in a way that we can work it.

Let me work on that because I'm determined to make an effort.
In Trapeze, when I was very young, the only way I got to join Deep Purple and the only way we were playing 5000 seaters, was word-of-mouth. And even to this day, people keep coming back because they've heard it from a friend.
Because we don't get the best press. We don't get a lot of promotion, so when I play it's always a friend brings a friend from before. It's always been like that. Once again, I'm very happy where I'm at.

You should be. You should be. How's Shape 68 coming along?
You know, Shape 68 is on hold. We haven't heard anything about that, there's no music going out to people. What it is Andrew, I'm trying to… what am I trying to say? Shape 68 is a project where I can be really loose and free with, where it's not really featuring me, although it is vocally. I'm not using my name out front and I've written some songs that aren't, let's just say, classic rock. I'd say they're more modern American rock.
Big on vocal, big on melody. Not big on heavy guitars, no solos. It's all pretty much the format of more popular music, without me saying it's pop; it's not. When I say radio, I don't want to freak you out, I'm not trying to get on the radio by making 3-minute songs. I'm just trying to make some kind of music that isn't something that I need to do. It's something that I put out for more artistically. It's on hold right now because I decided that the first 5 or 6 songs that I wrote probably wouldn't get a deal because they're too… if you know anything about American radio right now, it's so not right.
You've either got the Sum 41, these college bands that all sound like Green Day and then you've got the… it's like there's no room for the music I'm making.

It's much the same down here. There doesn't appear to be room for much. There's no variety on the radio is there?
No, because the music… it's more male Sheryl Crow-ish than… it's not Glenn doing Stevie Wonder, it's more American songwriter stuff. If you can strip it down to acoustic guitar and voice, it's not really anything other than just the songs. And my God, there's nothing on the radio like that.

No. It seems to be really hard for a male to cut a song anywhere on the radio.
It's very difficult.
I've written a song for Aretha Franklin in the last month, and over here we have this show American Idol, you probably have it in Australia.

We don't, but I know of it.
So it's probably coming, but I'm writing for one of the gals, one of the winners last year.

Right!
So I'm actually writing for like 20 year old kids and I'm writing for Aretha Franklin, so…

There's got to be some money in that.
It could be worse!

It could be worse couldn't it? I got some news yesterday and I'm glad I got it in time because I would've been mad if I couldn't have covered it with you. I'm a huge Mr. Big fan, and I'm completely flipped that you're singing 2 songs on that album.
Well, I've done “Alive and Kickin'”.

I just love that. It's one of my favorite Mr. Big songs.
And they made me do “Price You Gotta Pay” because they thought it would be good for me to do that. And I don't know if you know, but Paul has requested for me to sing a Mr. Big duet with him.
I got a call from his manager like 2 months ago to say that Paul only wants to do it with me and I said I'd love to sing it, but I haven't done it yet. I don't know if that's actually going to happen or not. It might, but they wanted… Paul has requested me to sing that song with him.

I heard he was doing that song, so I hope…
I thought he was going to sing the whole thing, but he wants to do a duet with me. I think it's very cool. I'd love to sing with him anyway, but we'll see. For sure those 2 tracks are done.

You've used the same band a few times in a row now; you've got a pretty tight outfit.
You know, I want to give JJ Marsh a mention. He's been with me since Addiction, so he's been with me for like 7 years and it's like the guy… look if I've used the guy for 7 years, then obviously I've got a thing going with him. He's really, really, really understands my writing and singing and we have a great connection together.

Does he play the majority of the guitar on this album? I know you've got Jeff on there as well.
We can talk about that. “Stoned” featuring Chad Smith, that's Jeff, “Standing on the Rock” is Jeff, and… there's one more bloody song… “Higher Places”, that's Jeff. All the rest is JJ.

Wow. Please give my very big compliments to JJ because he sounds like he's really on fire.
It could've been Free. It's like he really went back… I made him listen to Free. I made him listen to more of my influences because he's a huge Blackmore fan, as you know, and I made him go back and listen to more Free stuff and Traffic and stuff I liked. So we've got this guy that really understands the Blackmore, MKIII vibe and when we play live we do “Seventh Star” the Sabbath song and he nails that as well. He's really good at copying that shit.

Yeah. I love the riff on “Lost in the Zone”.
Oh, he's amazing.

It's just some really nice melodic playing isn't it?
What about that solo on “Written All Over Your Face”?

Fantastic.
Isn't it great?

Yeah. The whole album is real quality and the playing…
When I think about that particular song; that's one helluva song.

It's a big song. What are we looking at, 8 minutes or something?
Yeah, 7 or 8 minutes. It's really hard for me to tell you this, but when I sang that song, the end of the song when I do that thing, I got so caught in the moment I was like almost bawling, I was like whoo. Sometimes when I'm singing I just totally lose control of my feelings, I get really lost in it and you can tell in that song, it was just a moment.

It comes through in that song, you can really….
Andrew, the best high in the world – is singing. I gotta tell ya.

I wish I could.
<Laughs!>
It's unbelievable, man.

That's great, Glenn. Anything else going on, if that's not enough?
I'm asked to do various projects from time to time and I'm having to pass on a few things because I'm just too busy and I'm trying to keep the reigns on my career. I'll do something sometime if it's appropriate. I've been told… it's really difficult for me because I love the… for the longest period I wasn't working much in the '80s, and all of the sudden I get all these calls to work and I'd like to play, you know. I like to play. It's like Neal Schon. We're the same. He's the same guy. We just love to play.

He's busy too isn't he?
I saw Paul about 9 months ago, and Neal got up and played with Paul and I'll tell you… Neal Schon, and you can tell him I told you this, he… it's like God walked Neal on stage and said play. I've heard every guitar player under the sun and I've known Neal for 20 years. He played one song with Paul, and he just freaked me out. When Neal Schon is on his game, there's nobody better.

What about you two guys doing an album then?
Well, I told him, “Hey, we should do something,” and he said, “You mean it”? And I said, “Yeah, just remind me about it,” and he said, “I will.”

I know he's trying to get something together with Sammy Hagar, which would be good.
Send him a copy of the record, because I can't do that, because I would just never do that, but send him a copy of the record.

Songs in the Key?
Yeah, I think he'd love it. You know, Steve Vai is playing on HTP tomorrow.

Oh, I was going to ask you if there were any guests on it.
He's playing… Chad played on a song I wrote called “Losing My Head”, which is another like Zeppelin meets The Beatles thing and Chad played drums and Steve plays guitar on the track. So I can have a promotional sticker saying “Featuring Chad Smith and Steve Vai on the track 'Losing My Head'”. The Japanese will love that.

Yeah, absolutely. Any other guests?
No. I'm going to keep it to those two.

The last time you had John Sykes on there, which was great.
I'm trying… the manager disagrees, but I'm trying to now make it more of a band than having all these guests.

I think the band idea is a good idea, actually.
Yeah, JJ's just totally blowing everybody away on this new record and I just asked Steve to come play one track for me.

It's a pleasure, Glenn. I've been a fan since the Blues album. I was actually a late comer, I wasn't around in the '70s, but I've gone backwards since and I've got every record you've done since and I think I've got every tribute album you've sung on.
You know what's important for me though? You really got on board with HTP. You really loved that record.

Yes I did.
And I think that Songs in the Key of Rock it probably gave me a lot of confidence with HTP to come out of the box a bit with a great record like Songs, and for you to get behind this record like you did with HTP is really good for us, you know?

Well, I don't say nice things about records that aren't good. I'm not just saying it. I really do think it's a great record and it's always a great pleasure to talk to you.
And you, Andrew.

So we'll hear another solo album early next year?
I'm going to do another one next year, sure.
You know me. I'm crazy!

Thanks for the chat and your time.
God bless you, mate. Say hey to your wife.

I will. I'll do that.
Okay, brother.

Thanks Glenn
Bye, Andrew

Tags:

2003

Glenn Hughes

Tue

Feb

Glenn Hughes (2002)

Artist:

Glenn Hughes

Categories:

Interviews

GLENN HUGHES - OCTOBER 2001
Building The Vocal Machine

xx

Hey Glenn….so how are things with you anyway?
So everything's good man, the reviews this week are strong so I'm just, I don't know, startled. All I can tell you know is, I just made another record and people are digging it.

Yeah, absolutely, Absolutely. And I'm one of them.
Oh yeah? You know, Andrew I've got to tell you, I guess being married and having no… I didn't want to listen to anybody's advice on what my album shouldn't be like. I get a lot of people, trust me, telling me what to do. Like for instance, you can't, you know, be funky. Or you can't have echo and you can't have background vocals. And you shouldn't have any chicks. And you can't have any horns. And whatever you do, don't have… I get people all the time suggesting. And I just locked myself in my studio and I wrote songs. Off the record I said, I wonder what Trapeze would sound like doing this or let's put an acoustic track here. Let's put some real Hammond on there. Let's, let's put some more vocal on the record, let's have more vocals. Let's um… I just had fun.

Yeah. It sounds like it.
It's a good album. It's mournful in places because there's two songs about people that died. But it's, it's a very… I mean look at Kip Winger's stuff, some of the stuff he's done has been mournful, but it's good, your know?

Oh absolutely, absolutely.
I just got off the phone with him.

Ok. So you guys are friends?
Yeah. Well, I'm going to give you an exclusive. You might be seeing something from the two of us in the next two years.

Really!?
Yeah, we're actually talking at the moment, but I mean, we're thinking about putting our heads together. The music obviously is going to be, what it's going to be, it's going to be Kip and Glenn doing… and it's going to be a mix. But we are actually talking about it and Rod Morgenstein and Andy Timmons are the other two geezers.

Oh wow! What a powerful line up.
Yeah, we haven't... Once again, we haven't written anything. Kip's writing now and I've got some ideas. But we're really, really into pursuing something special.

Yeah. Kip's got an interesting sound on his own, his solo sound these days. You two mixed would be very interesting.
Yeah well, you know, I like his lush arrangements and I like… see I dig…, you know he's had a lot of bad luck in the last few years, we know that. And I'm akin to the soul of him. Not the soulfulness of his voice, but the soul of who he is as a man. And I admire him as a man. I get asked so many times, write with this guy or write with… and all these prats out there you know. But you know, I don't have any time to work with anybody that's not loving and nurturing. And he's a lovely bloke. But it's been a heavy week. This is the last interview and it's been great because some of the interviews I get normally, some of the people are difficult, because of different languages they are really difficult. And they're like, rude.

Oh really? (laughs)
Oh, some of the Germans are rude, yeah. But, all in all, every interview and review have been very strong. And they want to know what I did differently. And I said well, I just wrote some more music. You know I just wrote and I sang. You know I have that gift where sometime… you see I'm living inside this body and people go, 'how do you…God, you're Glenn Hughes.' I say, what do you mean? I said like, I'm just a human being for Christ's sake. I just happen to sing because God chose me to sing.
And it really is that simple you know. I mean I have been blessed with this, with this beautiful gift that, let me tell you, I tried to abuse that for so long. In the eighties you know. I was so out of my head. And I had no idea what I was doing to my soul. I was in like an empty, you know, tank. And now I've got this life ex… and here's the deal, I have so much life experience to draw from in my music. And I don't, as you know sing about weasels and goblins, I sing about human conditions.

Yes you do.
And it all is coming from deep, deep down.

Whatever sort of part of your life you moved onto, I just think the songs on Building are really a strong collection of songs.
Yeah, and I'll tell you what. I hate to say this but the next one, I'm even going to get even more melodic.
Not because you've got melodicrock, I'm not saying that to appease you. I've got to tell you that I sometimes in the last 5 years have gotten lost in the performance of how great a singer I'm supposed to be or how many great licks can Glenn sing. I am trying to not derail myself on the ride by keeping to a great melody. I keep forgetting it's the tone of my voice that is strong. We all know that I can sing rips and all that stuff and I can do all that stuff with my voice. But I'm coming home now to a place of – this is a great tonal instrument. Just that one note can change people's lives. Just the one single note, you know, like Paul McCartney has that great tone. That's what I'm coming… in my older years, I'm coming to grips with the voice. Not just the rips and the ad-libs and all those screams and those long, winding notes. Which like the Mariah Carey syndrome. You know what I'm talking about?

Yes. Yes I do.
So, you know, some of the album smacks heavily of a young Glenn Hughes in like “Out on Me” and “Slip Away”. Those performances I could… an 18 year old kid. I was blown away when I sang out on me. I'm going, listen to this little bastard. I sounded like a child. I'll tell you, I have not felt so enthused singing on a record in since probably Play Me Out.

You know what? You really can hear it. When I put this on I could really feel a spirit in the record.
Even in ”Can't Stop”, the first track, when I go up-down the second verse It's like it's whoa! It's like, a guy that really means it. And let me tell you Andrew, I'm not kidding you, all of these songs, pretty much first takes.

Really!
Yeah.

Wow!
You know I don't really sit a home mapping out the structure of the melody, what I'm going to do. I just, well I sort of blues it out you know. It's a beautiful thing to have that thing.
Whatever tools we're given. I mean the tools I've been given, it's taken me almost half my life, more than half my life to realize that I sustain my soul by singing, either to one person, or one thousand, or ten thousand, or twenty thousand. I write music to sustain my soul, to make me a better person. A Glenn Hughes that isn't writing and producing is not a happy guy. And I've got nothing to give back to the human race. And I do change people's lives. It might not be millions anymore. But people do get affected by my music.

They do. You've got a very vocal fan base.
I do. And they are very sweet. And even the die hard, let's call them the die hard Purple fanatics that have grown over the years to love the funky, ballad Glenn too. Because if you like Glenn, you've got to know Glenn comes from Trapeze. You know, and that was 30 years ago. And I'm so proud of that man. When somebody says to me, I'm a Trapeze fan. That really tickles me.
When somebody says, I'm a huge Trapeze fan, whether I'm a Purple fan or a Sabbath fan. I go, Oh my God, you must know who I am. You know? Coverdale got his copy two days ago and he's very, brutally frank with me. We talk about all of my releases and he was blown away by it. And I was really happy 'cause he really criticizes. In a very good way, we talk about our records.

I like David a lot. Actually I did a really good interview with him.
He's a good interview. He gives great interviews.

Yeah he's very intense, but he's also got a…. he's aware of himself. Got a good sense of humor.
He's gearing up right now to doing a record. I think he's told you we're going to do a duet.

Oh, on the record. Are you really?
Yeah, well you can go to his …, he's talking about it on his web site, so it's not going to be a secret.

Yeah, great, great. I'd love to see you two do a record together.
Andrew, you know the deal is for me, and this is the beauty of it. You interview lots of artists. And you'll ask the question, 'Well what's up coming up for you?' And they'll probably tell you what's coming up. I know what's coming up for me.
You know JLT's coming in this week and we're going to do the album. But what's coming up for me in the next two or three years is I don't know, but it's going to be fun. 'Cause whatever it's going to be, I'm going to be there for it. I shall be present and correct, standing at attention, ready to go.
Whether it's with David or Kip or whether it's with another KLF type crazy venture or whether it's a bloody opera. I'm up for it. And, the deal is, I'm not chasing the double-platinum success I had in Deep Purple every year 'cause I'd kill myself. It's that Dorian Gray thing. I'm going to be fifty-years old, I feel fucking great. People say I look great. And the thing is, is that… Did I tell you that story of David Lee Roth, years ago. About five-years ago. We're having dinner and he said… I'd lost all this weight. And he said to me, 'Man,' he says. 'You can lose like another twenty pounds, you like, you can hit those notes you used to hit.' I said David, I can hit them and more. I said, well, what about Pavarotti, for Christ's sake? He was looking at me like, it's like a physical thing. Singing for me isn't about that. It's about, deep within. It comes from somewhere so deep. It comes from generations of life. There are certain singers, that obviously you know, in your feeling that sing from somewhere that is so deeper than most people. They draw it from somewhere, you go, 'Where are they finding that?'

Ah, absolutely. Absolutely.
Right? Like for me, where does Jeff Beck find those notes? A certain, whatever. A certain soccer player. How did he do that? It comes… It's just deep. And I don't mess around with that. So what I do is, I flow with it knowing, there's something coming here. And whatever it is, I'm present and correct. You know what I'm saying? I'm actually using it now as the tool that God gave me. Now I'm not talking religiously crazy Andrew. I'm telling you that the world now knows that the s????????? Glen uses is a little deeper than most peoples, singing wise. So it comes from a place were it's special. And I tell you, Andrew, I'm a humble, grateful man for that.

I can tell. I can absolutely tell. I can tell the difference between what you're saying now and what you said the first interview I did with you about three years ago maybe now.
I remember that. The Way it is, right?

You were sort of searching a bit more then. You're sounding more comfortable now.
At that time, I think I'd just done The Way it is, or I was making it. I took a two and a half year hiatus from Addiction. The Addiction album damn near killed me. I was revisiting the period were I got sober and the album was so dark.

It is dark.
I'm telling you I got ill making that album. And I was hard pushed to promote it. I promoted it and I was sick, I had my band… at that time I wasn't playing bass I had this 5 or 6 piece band we were going out and playing it. And some of the songs were so exhausting. Drawing from that experience, I don't want to live that way again, that song was damn near frightening to sing. That's why Building the Machine, although some of it is mournful, I found it to be refreshing to sing, you know, refreshing.

Yeah. You sound revitalized. That's probably the best word.
Revitalized and comfortable in one's skin. Comfortable again…um, I'll tell you, I've come a long way these last ten years of sobriety that It's like…, the spin of the coin Andrew is, is I should be dead for Christ's sake. You've seen these Behind the Musics, these Motley Crues, 'Oh I was dead, I turned blue'. Well you know sort of the same thing with me, you know, I came back from the dead. And I'm not, you know, wearing like diamonds and dripping with gold and wanting you to think I am some sort of super god. I came back in a spiritual path. Which I don't really talk about that much, but I did. And low and behold I met a wonderful woman and I've got great friends. Rock and roll is not going to kill Glenn Hughes, like it's killed many of people. You know like the Phil Linnots and the John Bonhams and you know the drugs and the alcohol have just killed the '70s legends. All of those, Jim Morrisons and Janis Joplins and Jimmi Hendrixes you know.
You don't see so much Kurt Cobain, you don't see so much of that anymore do you? Hopefully I won't be one of those statistics, I won't be a statistic like that.

Yeah, never. You've got another 50 records left in you.
Well, you know, it's scary isn't it? Because I'm producing…I think since I've got sober, I've been on about twenty, twenty odd records. Eight of my own, well, nine of my own and then tribute records. You know I've done, in the…, since I've spoke to you last, I've done…Christ…in the last four months I've done an Aerosmith tribute, a Queen tribute and a Nazareth tribute. After I said I was never going to do any more tributes, I did three in like a week.

I've heard the Queen one.
How is that?

Fantastic!
I haven't got a copy of it.

Haven't you?
No. I'll call Bob Kulick.

Yeah, I had to buy one from Japan myself. I still enjoyed it a lot. And the Nazareth one, I have not got yet.
That's 'Piece of my Heart', the Janis Joplin song.

Oh, that'll be good.
And the Aerosmith song, I've got to tell you the truth, it's a song that wasn't a hit in the '70s. And I can't remember what it was called. Something about kings or something. Well they chose that track for me 'cause it was like an obviously not a Glenn Hughes…, I just turn it into something new. Steve Lukather to play guitar. It's great. It'll be coming out in the next year or something. Kind of cool.

Yeah, ok. Well they're good fun to do aren't they?
Ah, you know, Bob Kulick's the tribute king.

He's the best producer of them isn't he?
He is for that you know, and I get to play with like Steve Lukather and all those guys. I like those guys. People say to me 'what do you do that for man, you're taking away from your record sales.' Bullshit! In the big picture, it don't mean a diddly squat.

No, I agree, it doesn't.
'The mystique of Glenn Hughes…' Well I should be dead already. Let me sing. Let me sing for Christ's sake.

I tell you what. I did my own little compilation of a bunch of tunes that you'd covered. You know, from tribute albums or from whatever. And there are some really fantastic versions of some songs on there. I mean just to hear you sing 'Whiter Shade of Pale'.
Of that's a nice moment. Did you get the live version of that?

No.
Because you know, Keith Emerson, and Mark Benear and myself recorded it live in San Francisco two years ago. I thought you might have got a bootleg of it.

Oh ok. No.
There's not a bootleg going about but there's a live album coming out with that song on it and I sing 'The Talk is Sweet' and there's about…, there's 12 cuts that Keith and I are going to put out, I think in the spring. The live version is great too. It's a great live version of that song.

Yeah, fantastic song, it really suited you. And I also liked 'Video Killed the Radio Star'.
Oh that's wonderful. I was, I think, sick when I sang that at Jeff's studio. I love that. You know, it was his idea to strip away the… to just have the piano. It was just totally… 'cause that was a quirky song wasn't it?

Oh absolutely.
And then all of the sudden, here comes this melodic voice, like an angel singing it. I thought it was very cool.

Oh it was, it was. I enjoyed that one immensely. And I must say, I probably told you this before but still as much as I love all of your records, my favorite is still From Now On.
Well to tell you the truth, I didn't listen to From Now On for a number of years because I thought it was. Let me just say this honestly to you, I thought it was an unhip album. Probably because I did it with players that were very, very good, but very technical in their way, and not at all soulful. And here's the kicker…I didn't listen to Burning Japan Live for the same reason. Because everybody thought it's a great live album, and it is vocally, it's great. But then again, I, six months ago, started listening to those two albums and I was bowled off my feet. With the song content, number one. And the… it was a… From Now On is a great album. So I've actually gone on print and said, you know, I take it back. I was wrong. It's a great album. And I'm actually thinking about playing some of those songs live again.

Oh great, great.
'Cause, somebody sent me a video of some of the stuff from somewhere… some footage of me singing some of that and I went…this is a good record.

Yeah, it is, it is.
It did really well you know. It was a big one. Some have said that if I'd have kept on that path, probably would have done more with my career. But you know, because I don't have an A & R guy like a John ????? nor a huge Columbia records or you know, ten producers on my album. I'm not Aersomith. I get to conceive an album, produce it, arrange it, write it, sing it, play it. Because that's who I am. It becomes a little bit much sometimes.

Yes, I can imagine that.
I would love. I would love to have the money and label that would afford me to have a top-notch producer. Somebody to come in and produce me. 'Cause man, you know, it would be wonderful. I would love to be produced by someone. You know, I'm telling you, a lot of artists wouldn't say that. But I would love it. To have a label, a big label and a producer come in. Lilly, that is not very cool. My dog is eating shit, again. Come on outside, outside, outside Lilly.

(Laughing) What kind of dog have you got?
She is a long-haired Chihuahua. Now when I say that, she probably would freak if she heard me saying that she eats shit but she is the cutest, physically, the cutest looking dog. It's not like a Chihuahua in the aspects of bulging eyes and small. She's got long legs, beautiful blue eyes and she's white with fawn markings. She's like a little princess, with her little diamond collar. But she eats her shit. And it drives me and my wife fucking crazy! I mean, she'll do it and we'll go and get some toilet paper to wipe it up. And before we can get it, she's eaten it. Now I'll tell you, it's horrible. And it happens all the time, and we have people over.

But all I'm doing is keeping busy, and keeping busy means that, I believe… see now one thing, I really want to you remember this… I'm not chiseling away to get double platinum. It would be nice to have platinum records you know. And a guy at Columbia, this big cheese at Columbia said to me a month ago, he said, “You possibly Glenn, in the rock genre of your peer group, you're probably one of the only guys at your age that could actually come back and have huge radio and TV success doing rock if you really, really, really found the right label, producer, manager, etc.” And you know something? He's probably right. So I say this to the universe: I'm welcoming a label and a manager and producer to come in and put the ship together. David Coverdale my dear friend, will tell you the same thing. He's a very wealthy man. But I'm sure David…, I don't know where he's going to go, I think he might produce himself again. But you know, we're all in the same boat, the guys from this generation. The Limp Bizkits of today are ruling because twenty-year-old kids don't want to be me and David, they want to be Fred Durst and all those other geezers.

It's a shame thought, isn't it? But if you look at it, it's just near the top and it's about the MTV music awards that were on the other night.
Listen, that was absolute… I waited to the last second saying, OK, somebody blow me away.

Yep. And they didn't did they?
You know Andrew, it was absolutely…it was a bloody… Here's what I'm predicting. I might be wrong. I'm predicting and this is, as you know, the Led Zeppelin catalogue is mammothly successful. I'm predicting because people, young kids now are being told by their parents go listen to Led Zeppelin or Pink Floyd or Deep Purple or something like that. I'm predicting the age of the rock gods, guitar players and singers is coming aback.

I hope so.
It's got to man. Because rap is huge, is never going to go away. It's going to be huge for the next fifty years. But rock music as we like is teetering. It's on the brink of sort-of doing something. But this Limp Bizkit stuff it's like bubble gum, for me.

Yep!
I predict that the song-writing, singer guy with the guitar player foil, you know good looking. Doesn't have to be eighteen, could be thirty, thirty five, is going to come back.

I hope so.
Stripped down, bass, drums, guitar, vocals, a little bit of Hammond organ.

Oh yeah, good ol' Hammond.
You know why? Because it's everything. Be it clothes, be it whatever, it comes full circle. It comes full circle. So you never know where we're going to be. I mean, all I know is I'm plugging away. I'm singing, I'm writing, I'm producing. I've never been so creative. I don't hardly get any sleep. People say, 'How do you sleep'? I say I don't get a lot of sleep.

(Laughing). And next week you're back into it again.
Joe arrives on Tuesday, we rehearse on the 15^th, 16^th, 17^th and we start cutting the 18^th. And we're done the 12^th of October. The album will be released world wide, February.

Great!
Called 'HTP' and the album will be called HTP. The songs I can tell you now are pretty much, 90% of it…, there's always going to be one song on the record that's a bit of a twist for Glenn, but it's not that much of a twist. There's one epic song but the rest of it is… you could actually find… For me I wrote in a way that it would definitely fit on a Deep Purple or Rainbow record in mid '70s to mid '80s.

Wow, you know that sounds pretty cool to me.
Yeah, and it's going to be authentically produced in a Fender Stratocaster, Hammond again, acoustic drums with Glenn and Joe trading vocals. Two songs, one song sung by Joe, ballad, alone. One song sung by Glenn alone, ballad and then the rest is Glen and Joe at toe-to-toe going at it.

That's what we want to hear!
It's just the two lead singers, you know there ain't really anybody done it since me and Coverdale. So you're going to get it with me and Joe, and let me tell you, Joe's no slouch.

Oh I know that. I just got his new record.
How is it?

Ah, great, really.
Is it good?

Yeah, good, rocking album.
I was in New York when he was cutting it. It's called Slam, right?
I heard a couple of cuts while I was in the studio and it sounded great. That guy Akira is coming to town, he's playing a couple of songs on our record too. That guy Akira is a Blackmore influenced.

Yeah, he's quite a swift player.
He's good.

Yeah, absolutely. Absolutely. Look Glenn, that's about… anything else you want to throw in? I think that just about covers it.
You know, I'm… this is personal to you. I just…it's really good since you started your company that you've got a lot of people go there and it's very influential. I want to leave this on a personal level, to say, the first time we spoke you were very nice to me and I'm a huma…I'm just you know…rather than... I want you to know me as a friend. I just happen to be a singer. I think it's very cool we have this relationship where you can call me anytime, that you know that.

Thank you.
Remember this. I should be dead. So every day of my life is a fucking gravy. So I have been given this tremendous gift of life which every day I wake up going, Yeah man, I'm fucking still here!! So just remember me for being like that. And I'm glad you like the record and there's way more to come.

All right, Glenn, thank you.
Thank you brother.

Great talking to you again.
And you bro'.

c. 2002 melodicrock.com

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2002

Glenn Hughes

Tue

Feb

Glenn Hughes (1998(

Artist:

Glenn Hughes

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Interviews

Glenn hughes is one of those legendary vocalists that others measure themselves by. I have been a fan since several years ago, I was introduced to him by my bud Peter, who joins me in this fairly open conversation with the man himself. I had zero questions written out, instead opting for an open chat which hopefully you will find equally as open and honest. Glenn Hughes it seems...is on a mission!

Now what's going on man?

Well have you got some time to chat?
Yeah

Great that'd be awesome.
My best buddy here, like I said is a 20 year fan, he's just popped out and hopefully he'll be here before I get off the phone because if he doesn't get a chance to talk to you he's gonna absolutely bloody kill me!
So how's things?
Man they're never better for me. Things right now in my life are possibly…well I guess you've heard people say this before 'oh man things are going great', but you know it's like when everything is good, it's not just like the music's good, or your relationship with this person is good, for me right now it's a most spiritual time for me and that's very important.
I'm not about religion. It's the inner peaceful feeling we get when we come to grips with life I guess.
You know philosophically speaking, some of us in life don't get to benefit from the rewards in life of crossing over that big hurdle. You know a lot of rock and rollers live that excessive lifestyle.
You see we are given this fucking gift in life and the gift is to actually live a design to life, you know a special way of living, which we all have to figure out as we get older. Some of us never get it, some of us live in fear all our fucking lives and what I am trying to tell you is you asked me a question yes I feel great.

Well I was going to say you have had one of the most colourful, not only careers but lifestyles in over 20 years.
Yeah I have. I've lived life to the excesses. Some of us don't get to make it but you know I'm writing right now, probably the most amazing music I've ever written, so it's…. I'm just really really grateful to be alive.

Obviously in the last half a dozen years you're health has been great, but is there points in darker days, were there times when you thought you may not get out alive?
Well I always said you know, there was a cut off point for me when I said I would stop partying…you know I'll stop this year or I'll stop next year.
You know I never could stop and I never could quit because you know what, you're taking about that part of the lifestyle that is a disease. You know alcoholism and drug addiction is a disease. We don't grow up saying 'Hey mom I wanna be a fucking drug addict when I get older'.
You know we are born with the addiction…you now whether it be fucking chocolate or fucking pussy or whatever, I don't know.
But for me I had to go down that road…take a fucking beating…you know, a good fucking beating until I had enough of it. I'm talking about a real surrender.
You know poor old Michael Hutchence. Bless him, he was crying out for fucking help that poor guy. Now I understand why, how Michael died…he was untreated addict and alcoholic…untreated. I really feel for him and his family, and anybody that dies in the guise of that addiction you know or whatever it was.

Was there a single event that made you think shit this is it, this is my last chance?
Yeah well many events, but I think for me, it was the humiliation of not being able to go to England to visit my family. I was living in America, like I do and I was too fucked up and I couldn't tour either, because Number 1- I was incapable of doing a show, a concert because I couldn't leave LA, and 2 - I wasn't in shape. I was 50 pounds heavier and you know I was just not in shape. And you fucking gotta be in shape to do what you do. A lot of great creative people that live on the edge you know, but I didn't want to be a statistic and die. I'm gonna be doing this forever - like fucking Frank Sinatra. I'm doing this when I'm 80 years old. You know so it's like I'm writing music right now that is so cool.

Tell us about what you're writing.....
What I'm doing now is like an addiction. I've been writing for two years what I consider to be like a quest for my next record. It's not gonna be just another record, it's a big part of my history. So I didn't wanna make just another rock album. I wanted to make an album, which says something from my heart. Some of the albums I've done in the last 5 or 6 years have been for record companies that wanted that specific record. You know pigeon holed in to say doing a blues album, then we'll do like a variety of stuff then we'll do a rock album then we'll do an AOR album and you know, the real Glenn Hughes has now been transformed. Now everybody that knows me has been trying to tell me to make an album that I really really wanna make myself.

Sorry Glenn to interrupt you, but my buddy Peter has just picked up the line and is going to listen in if that's alright.
OK

G'day Glenn, how are you?
Fine man

So you were saying?
So yeah, I'm writing, I'm making music now that will be on my next record which I consider to be closer to the real Glenn that we've had in a long time. You know I just can't compromise anymore. I gotta live in my own skin.
I don't wanna have to please some suit anymore. I've been lucky to have made enough money or money coming in to take care of the bills, so it's not like I'm saying it with an egocentric attitude. I've come to a point in my life where I gotta please myself first musically. So that's where I'm at today. I'm gonna start actually going in to the studio next Tuesday.
Oh I've been in the studio the last two years doing this shit.

Oh OK. Who's it for, are you recording it for a label?
Nope, I am doing it on my own money and I'm gonna…well of course I'll eventually shop it. But I'm not gonna start shopping it till I know what I have is the right thing. I mean a lot of people go in and do a 3 song demo and they start shopping it You know for me I've wrote maybe 30 or 40 songs so I'm going through the songs going this is good, maybe this one's not so good.
You know I'm using my touring band rather that using like a producer coming in. I'm using my own band now to make my records, rather like I normally use a producer.

And who's in the band at the moment?
Well the drummer is Gary Ferguson, he played with me in Gary Moore and he also played with John Hiatt for like 3 years and he's very very very good...very funky. And my guitar player played with me on an album called 'Feel' and his name is George Nastos, he's from New York. Extremly funky which is a big word with me. The keyboard players' name is Hans Zum…um…whatever. A German American guy! (Glenn can't spell it and I can't pronounce it!)
I could describe it as…if you could imagine…before I joined it you'd probably heard a band called 'Trapeze' from a long time ago.
This music I'm making now is what 'Trapeze' probably would've been doing in 1998. It's totally uncompromised - all the stuff that's from my soul… and my gut.

So you're not going to rush it Do you know when it might be out…next year?
I would imagine next year. I told people it would be out this year but, you know I did some work at Stevie Salas' house and I've catalogued that…and that's very very interesting.

What's happening with that project?
Here's the deal…you gotta understand this…when I make my albums I find it difficult to reproduce some of it on stage unless I have the same cats playing with me. And Matt and Stevie don't wanna tour the world doing this project with me. They wanna do a few one off shows.
And most of the promoters who wanna book me next year, want me to do them with the band I play on the record with so…I took a look at that and I said you know, the guys I have in my band right now are the most fluent players I have ever worked with and they understand the big picture of Glenn Hughes. They understand funk, they understand pop rock and jazz, and those are the four elements that make the music. So when I say jazz don't let it frighten you, it's just my voice that goes into jazz territory, but its not like there's a lot of jazz going on…it's just that's some of the stuff I like. You can't really describe it, it's music that, it's extremely funky but its not white man trying to be black funky. We don't like that…it's not really appropriate.

Was 'Feel' an indication of it?
'Feel ' definitely is on the right road to it.

And the future of the Matt Sorum and Stevie Salas project?
It's on ice. that album will be made. It could be made in the same month I make my other record, but right now the priority is to make the album with my band and go out and play live behind that album.

So this other album won't come out in the meantime?
No. Stevie, Matt and me have just recorded 3 songs. The rest of the album has been written and I've got it all at my house on demo form.

What's your address we'll be around to steal it!
No no (laughs). I'm also doing another project in Switzerland, which is another thing I'm doing with another guy which is very good. It's more of a dance album.

Who's that?
A man called Manfred Ehlert.

Oh you've done stuff with him before right?
Yeah…but it's not like anything you've heard before. We've got some really hip programmers and its more club orientated music. It's more for the disco thing. Not like disco disco, it's for the club thing.

Does it touch back on the KLF thing you did?
Yeah it's sorta like that but it's very trip hop, hip-hop, jazzy, pop music.
But you know for the real Glenn Hughes fan. What I get from people that write to me is that they like what I do vocally, and I'm never gonna do anything like the Partridge Family you know, or something.

Hey Glenn, it's Peter here. You don't sorta have to justify to us what you're doing and what you've done you know, we've sort of been following your career...you know what, I've got a 'Medusa' still in a plastic cover.
Oh lovely. Some people that haven't met me before I get a little bit defensive cause I have only a few really heavy hard rock fans that don't get the real Glenn. And I'm losing those fans because you know, I noticed on my last tour in Europe in April that a lot of guys that would come and they'd bring their girlfriends and their girlfriend's were a lot younger and they were, saying to themselves 'Oh my God I'm gonna have to listen to this heavy metal shit…and half way through the show the guy's shaking his head going what is this and the girls were dancing. They just can't believe it. My band is so funky. Even the songs like 'Stormbringer' and 'Muscle And Blood'…they've turned into extreme funky songs.

I was over there with a label called MTM in Germany and I just missed your tour by 2 weeks. I was really disappointed. I wish I could've seen it.
Some guys that saw it said it was pretty amazing vocally.
Well it wasn't heavily promoted, which is a bit of a bummer, but you know it was ok because I was just trying out new stuff and old songs but new arrangements. And the guy that promoted the tour was so blown away that he's going to book a whole European tour by the end of the year. You know I really would love to come play over there.

We were both thinking earlier actually that are there any plans for Australia?
Well there's always been talk but here's the deal…the last 5 or 6 years in sobriety, my recovery, I've actually just been taking care of my health. And I've been making these albums that you've probably heard and you know I've been quite comfortable, but now - and I've never said this before now - this year 1998 I decided, not just overnight, I decided that I am now taking this shit serious.
You know this is not just make an album, put it out and see what happens.
Let's find the right label, let's find the right manager, the right agent, and the right everything to go with the package.

That was something you said a couple of years ago after the release of 'Addiction'.

Yeah but that's been a 2 year absence cause I have been really toying with the idea of shall I make another rock album for the money, or should I take a couple of years to write the real record. Yeah so that's what I've been doing, I haven't, I didn't want to rush out and make an 'Addiction' album again. Now you see those albums might sound good to you guys but for me 'Addiction' was an album that was very very square and dark and it was ok.
But its not really breaking any new ground. I've gotta break new ground, I gotta keep my old audience, most of the audience I wanna keep but I wanna have 80% new audience of people that are into different things.

Well I can tell you something, I used to work in a hi-fi store and when 'Feel' came out the song we used to demo speakers and what have you off was 'Coffee and Vanilla'. We sold 10 discs on that alone. I mean obviously not huge numbers but there were people who had never heard of Glenn Hughes. We demoed the sax intro on 'Coffee and Vanilla' and they brought!

Well that's great. the next record that I'm doing, actually the album ready right now has got a song like 'Coffee and Vanilla'. That kind of vibe.
It's very very funky. I mean I'm writing it as we speak. Actually it was in the car 20 minutes ago, I was just fucking with it. It's my lifes work. I think if you guys have read anything I've done, I always sorta say, because my publisicst says I have to say this is the best stuff I've ever done, but 'Feel' was a fucking great album. The one I'm making now really is the follow up to 'Feel'. I mean I had to get away from my record company because they just couldn't fucking stand 'Feel'!

What happened to the Zero label?
Look those guys are really super guys but they're absolute idiots. They can see the Japanese market's falling in heavy metal. I mean heavy metal pur se is dying now and you know, the thing is the market was pretty big in Japan and now it's losing that ground. And I said to them 2 years ago, this heavy metal thing is really dying here and…don't get me wrong…you know for me I'm a rock singer and I can't keep making those albums. If you can understand it doesn't allow me to grow as a human being.
You know I am actually a real soulful person who sings and loves just to fucking sing. you know I do this because I love it…but when I made 'Feel ' I said this is the closest I've been since ' play me out' to where I want to be. So when the record company heard it they went 'Oh my God there's not enough rock'. I said well fuck you. I mean, what about my feelings. The last 2 years I had to take a cut financially. It's not been the best couple of years for me but I am so happy cause I'm making the music I wanna put out.

On the production side of things, I mean all your albums especially, probably the one I like the most from a production point of view would be 'From Now On'.
Yep.

I reckon that's just awesome. With this new project and I don't know if this has been suggested to you before or not, I'm sure it has but have you ever thought of approaching or hopping on the greyhound to Minneapolis and camp out on Prince's doorstep?
Where Im going right now musically is somewhere he would be really familiar with.

Maybe as a producer or engineer?
I'm producing the demos right now. I'm sure when I get them signed to a label they will come up with a producer for me. I need a co-producer in the dance pop format.

He is in my opinion someone who would understand your crossover.
The crossover between funk and rock. I mean you listen to Prince and you could do that sitting on your head.
I heard that last record a while ago. my band the one I'm touring with at the moment and in the studio is so fucking awesome and we can play funk and that kind of groove all night and I said when I got home off the German tour we gotta get together and start rehearsing and jamming. And that's what we've doing the last couple of weeks. You know I've come up with some fucking incredible stuff. It's just beginning right now.

Andrew spoke to Ian Gillan recently and he was saying that the way the current Purple works, when it comes to recording, they go into the studio with absolutley nothing and just jam until something comes up, is that how you work?
The answer to that is no. With this particular project, this new Glenn record I said to the guys in the band it would be really nice for us to get together every afternoon or every other day and I'd give them an idea of the type of song I want to write and then we actually start talking about it and we start making it. Rather than me come in with an idea on the bass and that we'd get a groove and I'd put the bass down and then we start layering it. It's pretty much like how Purple do it but the there's more pre production.
I'm not relying on record company funds anymore that's the old-fashioned way. If you've got the money for what you want to do I think you should just do it.

The internet offers a way for people to view their opinions and it seems there is always a comment "Glenn Hughes should do this...." Do you think it's time for you to do just what you want?
When I was cutting 'Addiction' I had a pretty bad flu so I gave Mark the ball
and the album smacks very heavily of Mark and hIs writing and playing, as I gave him the ball after writing the music and lyrics. It was a dark album.
On this particular album I'm writing right now and even with Stevie Salas,
it's stuff I really want to do. It's stuff I can't slip through the cracks. You know I'm going over each persons part, like the drums and the guitars and
I'm deciding is that appropriate for Glenn Hughes right now.
Like when Trapeze on 'You're The Music' all the stuff that Mel played is stuff I wrote for him to play. And with Pat you know we had a team so on this particular project this is the most, this album will be produced either by me or someone who understands me.

That's where the Prince question came from.
Yeah and that would be great. Yeah there's a possibility of me getting something to him. I'm actually going to play something to his old manager and so we'll have to wait and see.

That would be huge Glenn. Something pretty different.
Well you know I am getting real adventurous with my career now. I'm not going to sit on the fence anymore. There's just no point in cutting a record and giving it to a Japanese label who sit on it and then license it through the rest of the world and nobody gets to hear it except the die-hard fans.

Yeah it is so hard to find some of them.
Yeah I know and to be honest with you, can I tell you it's a little bit embarrasing and insulting. You say that I have the greatest voice…
All I can tell you guys is that I love to sing and I know God sings through me. I don' t say that I have the greatest voice in the world I just have a gift that God has given me. And I tell you something when I go in the studio I just open my mouth and shit comes out that I have no idea whats happening.

I was going to talk to you about that. I'm a Christian and I know you had a pretty amazing conversion here 6 or 7 years ago. I just want to encourage you with it that's all.
You know for me I get up in the morning and I ask God's will, you know whatever your will is for me to do I will do. I don't ask for money prestige
or all that other stuff. I am happy in my own skin. Now don't get me wrong
I'm living in a lovely house, I'm just so fucking happy.
You know if I can't be at one with my creator and that would offend a lot of people and I don't care. I know where I am and if someone says oh Glenn Hughes is religious. It's not religious I'm just really into my higher power.
There's someone bigger than me and someone who creates and controls my life.

The only people that would say that would be people that don't understand.
All I do is get up in the morning, take a shower and let God do the rest.
You gotta get out the way and let him run the show. I don't run the show anymore. I do is go play with my band, do the best work that I can, I'm nice to the people around me, good to my fans, I'm accessible and you know there are good guys that finnish first. I've got a 5-year plan now. I'm looking at the next 5 years being the fruitful ones.

It sounds like you're going around things the right way Glenn.
A lot of fans are saying 'God we won't to see Glenn play, we want a new record'. I'm going you gotta be patient here cause I won't you people to understand the next record I put out is something really special from me. They are all special but you know the last one from me 'Addiction' was made under the gun a little bit, because the company wanted an AOR record and I was not happy about that.

Well what happened with that? I know Magnus who signed you and I know it was an AOR label.
Magnus is a big AOR fan. But Magnus would tell you there is so much more to Glenn Hughes than AOR.

Yeah Magnus said that was the kind of record they wanted you to make at that time. I certaintly love the record.
Well, hey if somebody plays it and I'm in the car I'll go along with it and say that sounds good. Eeverything I do I'm really in to, I never do a bad performance, it's just I have to be really selective where I go directional wise.

You've made plenty of guest spots over the last few years?
What's the go there Glenn?
Oh i'm not too happy about that (laughs).
Simply because I do favours for people and I get caught up in the session mill and the thing is if I'm gonna do sessions it should be with more higher profile people. Don't get me wrong I love Stuart Smith, he's a good friend of mine, the track with him I did is ok, but it's nothing groundbreaking for me. It's not things that are going to bring me into your household.

Do you think prospective record companies look upon that as maybe not good?
No, don't give a shit.
Most of the labels my friends don't even know its out. The deal is the stuff I do for my friends, you know I charge them or do favours for it. It's basically
something tongue in cheek. None of the major labels even know that shit is out. It's not fucking with my career. It just upsets my die-hard fans saying why is Glenn doing that? Between you and I don't dig doing em. It's not like there's a lot of dough doing it, I get coerced in to doing it cause I'm such a bloody idiot.

What's it like Glenn then for yourself when people are saying we need you on a record to sell it? For your pride?
I get great reviews, everyone picks up one of those tribute albums and goes the best thing on there was Glenn Hughes. It's really nice to read that. And I say to these mother fuckers that hire me why don't you give me the best song you got on the record instead of giving me the last song. Why don't you start of giving me the top song, it makes sense. Like the fucking Alice Cooper tribute they wanted Meatloaf to sing the lead song which is 'Only Women Bleed' right. I said why don't you give me lead cut and they said no - we want Meatloaf to sing it. They've been waiting 2 fucking years for him to sing it. I don't need to sing that fucking song. Don't get me wrong I love everybody, I'm one of these guys that aint got a bad word to say about anybody even that band 'Men At Work'.

Ah come on...! Now you've got on to Australia again. Remember Sunbury Pop Festival, 1974? I wasn't there but my brother was.
Just recently there was an article in a local newspaper down here that area, the actual paddock you guys played in, they are going to turn it in to like a national monument for Australian rock n roll.
You know I don't remember much of that show cause it was raining.

AC/DC were on it I believe?
That's right but I don't remember too much about it…I don't get in to fracases you know but I was in a nice hotel in Sunbury somewhere. I was playing pool with this Western Australian guy and I was beating him and he took a pool cue to me.

He hit you on the head with it?
He fucking did, and it really upset me. My bodyguards weren't happy about that.

Please don't take offence with Australians!
I was sick to my stomach, cause I retaliated and I must have punched the guy or something and I got so sick to my stomach that I'd actually hurt another human being, one of God's children that it affected my performance and I was very bitterly dissapointed with that trip. You know because if you give English, American, anyone too much to drink and we're gonna get stupid. A few of us anyway. We're all God's children for God's sake. I think Australia is a fabulous country.
You know something my friend I'm gonna make a commitment to myself that I'm gonna get there. I did South America last year, so now Australia and Africa are the only 2 continents I haven't been. So I think I should get over there Here's the deal - it's going to be difficult. So you know if I come do maybe 5 or 6 shows in Australia and do maybe 2 big markets and maybe 2 or 3 small markets I know the people will get excited if I keep coming back.
I'm gonna leave this up to you guys I need more guys like you turning on people's doors to say why don't you get Glenn Hughes.

You know it must be horrendus for you, it's frustrating enough for us, for people who want to hear your stuff.
I have to swallow my pride and realise that you know whatever you guys think and my fans I know I'm blessed with talent. I've got to be very very selective of who I go with now. you know I actually do have a record company that is taking care of me at the moment but between you and me I am actually gonna go and find a new one. I'm gonna take a while, it may take six months to find that. I've had a few offers coming in. one american and one european who are a lot better than what I have had but you know the old Glenn last year would have said let's take the first one that comes along. I really want to make it right. there are artists that you know that don't come out with records between 3 and 4 years you know. I've been making a record every year for the last 5 or 6 years. I'm due for a little break. I want to make a record that is totally glenn. or as near as I can.

We want you out here, but obviously there's no sense coming out here unless you've got a deal and you've got records in the shop, because you'll know what they'll do, the same thing they did with Gillan when he tours with his projects. It's like the 'voice of Deep Purple' or the 'voice of Black Sabbath'.
To come out to Australia and I'm understanding more of what's going on out there, the hard rock thing is dead anyway, I wanna come out to Australia with a brand new thing. Yeah I don't want to sound like anybody, but my record sounds more like Jamiroquai than anything. But its not got any horns yet…it's more the psychedelic trippy thing.

Just before we finnish what about the Tony Iommi record?
Your gonna trip when you hear it cause I cut 6 or 7 songs with Tony and we're not done yet. Tony wanted me to write music with him and play bass so what you get here is you get the Iommi guitar and you get like Tony's music with my music combined in to it and yes folks it is kind of funky.

Dave Holland's playing drums so you've got that understanding…it' s as heavy as 'Seventh Star' but it's as melodic…dramatic…and sorta soulful. People must understand this isn't Black Sabbath it's Tony Iommi So he gave me the keys to the car so I basically produced it, he let me produce it. And its very fucking cool man. And there's a very trippy type Beatles song on there…like a Sgt Pepper type thing that we did. There's a couple of really cool ballads, a mid tempo one, an intense rocker. It's a variety. More variety than 'Seventh Star'. Tony wanted to stretch himself so there's a snatch of jazz on it, because Tony is a jazz player whether you know it or not. so when I say jazz it frightens people, but its just different.

Little bit sort of Kings X-ish?
Yes, it's just adventurous. I sat with Tony in his house for about 2 months
and…and I gotta tell you Tony, I gotta tell you I love him like a brother, he is a super guy.

When's that coming out?
After Sabbath has died down. When I say died down, there will be a live record coming out, I've heard that it's pretty good. I say by the end of 1999.
Tony and I are very close, we talk all the time. It will happen and Tony is trying to twist my arm to going on the road with him and I'm sure I probably will. But you remember this - I have said goodbye to rock in my solo thing, but it doesn't mean I have to say goodbye totally to it. Unless I have some mega mega mega hits from it in 1999. If I do work with Tony it's gotta be more than for friendship cause Tony and I are so tight. I would like to go on the record to say that I owe…it's an unfinished business project…because in the Sabbath thing when I fell ill on the road and I couldn't fulfil my comittment and people never got to see me sing wth Tony and I think I owe him. It's unfinised business for me to go out and show how great it could be.

I had tickets for the Dallas show.
Oh dear.
Sorry…

And you didn't make it.
I was a bit…really under the influence and God said to me in a dream on one of the shows 'You don't need to do this anymore'. I lost it and all the life had gone out of me and I just couldn't sing. Now I can sing anything.
I couldn't sing a note. My throat just went off. Like someone had just turned the motor off.

You've got to believe what you're singing too don't you?
I can't sing devil music…I can't sing it. I can sing rap, soul and stuff but I can't sing white peoples music unless its my own.

Well Gillan had the same problem on the road, he just couldn't get in to the stuff. you gotta be a da you know, let's face it.
I'm a chameleon in my own world… but I don't do this for money guys. My primary purpose is to do this and be sober and healthy. If I start doing shit for money or singing Devil stuff I'll be drinking again. And that aint a pretty sight.

No so I've heard.
7 years without a drink and a drug is a good foundation for the rest of my life…to stay in this program.

That's tremendous.
That's fantastic.
I don't ever have to think about doing that again. You know I'm now a very healthy, fit guy that prides himself on maintaining a life of sobriety. You know that's the way it is for me. And I'm crazy about soccer…I get up at 5 am.

And what about your crazy mates over there, the English supporters?
Hey I have nothing to do with those guys. We have a thug element they're not a bunch of soccer fans…they're thugs…and they should be fucking hung, drawn and quartered. They are idiots.

Well Glenn thank you for your time, it's been a great chat.
Once again guys there will be a time when you know I would like to come out there, but its got to be financially feasible. Like ten years ago maybe longer there was a chance of an all star band coming to play there, I was going to be involved with it, but I didn't do it. I think I just want to come to Australia and just be on the cabaret circuit.

Ah, you'll know what they'll do. they'll promote you as the voice of Deep Purple, they will. They've done it for the 3 last solo Gillan tours.
Yeah, but when I come to play in towns the hardcore fans come and their jaws drop. Cause I've changed the arrangements, changed a lot of the stuff around. they are coming to hear the heavy stuff, what they get is a funky super charged group. And even the hard core fans of Glenn Hughes, the metal freaks still dig it. You can't knock it.

We come for the voice Glenn.
Yeah well thank you bro. Well its in good shape.
All right chaps.

Tags:

1998

Glenn Hughes

Thu

May

GLENN HUGHES Re-Schedules May Dates To November 2019 UK Due To Illness

Artist:

Glenn Hughes

Glenn Hughes re-schedules four dates of his ‘Performs Classic Deep Purple Live' May 2019 UK tour dates. The re-scheduled dates are:

Salisbury City Hall Sunday 17 November

Norwich Waterfront (venue change from Norwich UEA) Wednesday 20th November

Holmfirth Picturedrome Saturday 23rd November

Birmingham O2 Institute Friday 29th November

Tickets can be booked from www.thegigcartel.com or by calling the 24hour box office 8444 780 898

Refunds for customers who've purchased tickets for the above can be made available until Monday 27th May should they no longer wish to or are unable to attend the rescheduled November dates.

The re-scheduled concerts follow the news of Glenn Hughes needing to cancel his May 2019 UK tour dates due to illness. He needs to be treated for an illness that while not life threatening, must be dealt with immediately so that does not become a serious problem. He is expected to make a full recovery.

The shows for Edinburgh, St Albans, Liverpool and Nottingham had to be cancelled. Customers for the cancelled shows have been asked to return to their original point of purchase to request refunds

The former bassist and singer of Deep Purple, known to millions as the ‘Voice of Rock’, Rock and Roll Hall of Fame inductee, and the current front man for rock super group Black Country Communion, was scheduled to kick off the second leg of his ‘Glenn Hughes Performs Classic Deep Purple’ UK Tour at the Holmfirth Picturedrome on Tuesday 14th May. The first leg of his UK received rave reviews.

Mon

Sep

Focus On Metal - DEEN CASTRONOVO & GLENN HUGHES

Artist:

Glenn Hughes

Friday, March 6, 2015

Categories:

Podcasts & Radio

This weeks episode of my radio show Focus On Metal (www.focusonmetal.net) features new interviews with Deen Castronovo and Glenn Hughes.

"We have not one but two returning guests this week. Deen Castronovo pays us a visit to talk about his new Gioeli-Castonovo release Set The World on Fire as well as updates on Revolution Saints and The Dead Daisies. If that wasn't enough we also touch base once again with Glenn Hughes. Glenn is of course out on tour playing all his classic Deep Purple tracks so he fills us in on that as well as answering some deeper questions about his past career."

Tags:

Glenn Hughes

Deen Castronovo

Thu

Aug

GLENN HUGHES Announces Live Show Downloads For Upcoming U.S. Tour

Artist:

Glenn Hughes

Categories:

News Feed

GLENN HUGHES, Rock Hall of Fame Inductee as member of DEEP PURPLE, bassist/ vocalist with super group BLACK COUNTRY COMMUNION, announces the first time ever availability of concert recording downloads for the first leg of his upcoming U.S Tour of GLENN HUGHES performs “Classic Deep Purple Live.”

Not one to rest on his laurels, upon a classic rock history the equal of very few – GLENN is in the midst of a 130 date, 23 country tour – debuting a project that is both an homage to his Deep Purple Mark 3 & 4 legacy and a nod to his millions of fans … 250K following him on Facebook alone.

9 of the 18 U.S shows will be made available for download – as individual purchases of $11.95 … regional packages of 3 each for $29.95 … and for completists – all 9 shows for $74.95, which will include a bonus show not for sale anywhere, plus additional treasures from GLENN’s archive. Available now to pre-order, the downloads can be purchased via: https://bit.ly/GHDIGITAL

Tags:

Glenn Hughes

Deep Purple

Thu

May

GLENN HUGHES Talks Millennials & California Breed

Artist:

Glenn Hughes

Wednesday, November 26, 2014

Categories:

Podcasts & Radio

LEGENDARY singer/bassist Glenn Hughes says working with guitarist Andrew Watt showed him “millennials want all the power and all the money of people who’ve already got it without working for it”.

California Breed, a project in which now-65-year-old Hughes worked with 27-year-old Watt along with drummer Jason Bonham, broke up after one album in 2015.

“It was a very stressful band for me to be in,” Hughes told the White Line Fever podcast (please use this link https://itunes.apple.com/gb/podcast/white-line-fever/id494213902?mt=2). “I was, you know, bamboozled into forming this band with a young man, Andrew Watt - a very talented young man - but it was the wrong move for me.

“The guy is a millennial. The guy is 25 years old and it was difficult to play with somebody with a different head space to me and Jason not wanting to tour was a difficult thing.

“Looking back at California Breed, I should never have toured behind that. I should have just released the album and moved back onto my solo work.

“A great record by the way but I don’t have very fond memories of that period. I’d was just recovering from open heart surgery, it was a difficult period for me but I look back on it and I learned so many different things.”

Asked for this thoughts on millennials, the former Deep Purple and Black Sabbath man answered: “The way I see it is this, and this is a generalisation: millennials want all the power and all the money of people who’ve already got it without working for it. I’m sorry, that’s the way I see it.

“People of my age group have worked their asses off to get this and a lot of youngsters - some youngsters don’t feel that way - they want it all and they want it now. They want what you got and they’re not willing to work their asses off for three of four decades to get it.

“And it just doesn’t work that way.”

When asked if he was linking these thoughts to Watt specifically, Hughes said: “He comes from a group of people from that generation. You’re born in the early nineties and you have a different angle and a different viewpoint of the world. You have the whole internet thing. You grew up with the internet in front of your fingers. It’s a different demographic. It was difficult for me to work with people who had a different angle on life.

“I’m old school. I’ve had a heart attack. I’ve been shot at, pistol-whipped, run over in a car. I’ve been, you know, stabbed and all of a sudden I’m working with people who have no idea what I’ve been through and they just want success. And success, you just don’t get it overnight.”

Hughes returned to another high profile collaboration, Black Country Communion, which currently has a album in circulation entitled BCCIV. Hughes is also touring a show of Deep Purple classics with his solo band.

Tags:

Glenn Hughes

california breed

Deep Purple

Black Country Communion

Tue

Jul

GLENN HUGHES Performs Classic Deep Purple Live in Australia

Artist:

Glenn Hughes

Categories:

Tour News

For The First Time In 40 Years…Performing A Full Concert Of Classic Deep Purple Live!

Glenn Hughes, the Voice Of Rock, played his last concert with Deep Purple on March 15, 1976, at Liverpool's Empire Theatre.

On that night, the UK bassist and vocalist walked away from one of history's truly game-changing rock phenomena and never looked back — until now.

This September, Australia will witness one of the finest hard rock singer/musicians of his generation fronting a mighty handpicked band live in concert,

as he revisits some of Deep Purple's all-time greatest songs for the first time in more than 40 years, with epic stadium rock production.

"Most Purple fans rank Burn and Stormbringer among the greatest albums the band ever made, in any incarnation," Glenn says.

"Over that Mk III period, we were also performing Mk II classics like Smoke On The Water and Highway Star every night on massive world tours.

'My lasting memories with Deep Purple in Australia, was of course the Sunbury Music Festival in '75. After so much sunshine, came the rain – a little prophetic with us performing Stormbringer.

My God, the mud! What mayhem, but the crowds seemed to have a great time, we sure did.'

'I'm incredibly excited to get out there and play tracks like Burn, Mistreated, Stormbringer and Getting Tighter, as well as some of those older songs that helped define the genre.

With this band, I can assure you of a concert that'll blow your mind."

Glenn was inducted into the Rock'N Roll Hall of Fame last year along with his other Deep Purple bandmates.

With one of the heaviest repertoires known to rock, and sound and lighting production values befitting the legend,

Glenn Hughes' Classic Deep Purple shows are destined to write a new page in rock history – GET READY!

TOUR DATES

Wednesday, September 20: State Theatre, Sydney - Pre-Sale

Sunday, September 24: Concert Hall, Perth - Pre-Sale

Friday, September 29: Hamer Hall, Melbourne - Pre-Sale

Sunday, October 1: Qpac, Brisbane - Pre Sale

On Sale Monday, July 10 @ 9.00am

www.classicdeeppurplelive.com

Watch the Promo Video here: www.youtube.com/watch?v=AF_XhizDxN4&feature=youtu.be

THE BAND

JEFF KOLLMAN - Guitar

The hallowed name of guitar god Jeff Kollman has graced too many greatest player polls to count these last 30 years.

The Ohio punk turned jazz-prog virtuoso has run rings around the world since his '90s metal band Edwin Dare gave way to prog heroes Cosmosquad and a gun-slinging resume that spans

Sebastian Bach to Alan Parsons; Chad Smith's Bombastic Meatballs to UFO spin-off Mogg/Way. A classic guitarist's guitarists, Jeff takes high praise from the likes of Steve Lukather and John Payne in his estimable stride.

On stage and record, he's been a recurring foil for Glenn Hughes since the Songs In the Key of Rock LP of 2003.

LACHY DOLEY - Keys

Some call him the Jimi Hendrix of the Hammond organ. Glenn Hughes calls him "the greatest living keyboard player in the world.'

Australian soul monster Lachy Doley is a killer showman too, pumping and pounding the most astonishing sounds from the classic B3 Hammond and his uber-rare Hohner D6 Whammy Clavinet.

Lachy's version of Bill Withers' Use Me has clocked millions of YouTube hits and his latest album, Lovelight, has torched blues charts from Australia to the UK. Sideman to Powderfinger, Steve Vai, Jimmy Barnes and Joe Bonamassa, the world-touring keys prodigy cemented his place in Glenn's band during sessions in Copenhagen for the Resonate LP.

PONTUS ENGBORG - Drums

Hard-hitting funk-rock drummer Pontus Engborg barrelled out of Sweden to hit the LA session scene barely out of his teens in 2000.

A fast and furious apprenticeship from the Viper Room to the Whiskey and the Knitting Factory would lead to stints with Joe Lynn Turner, Graham Bonnet, Toto's Bobby Kimball and Journey's Steve Augeri.

Back in Sweden, he's been the man behind the supremely versatile Confusion since 2007. It was there that he came to the attention of Glenn Hughes in 2010, and made his debut behind the Voice of Rock in Serbia that July, sans rehearsal or soundcheck, in front of 21,000 people. Seven years later, it's fair to say he passed the audition.

Tags:

Glenn Hughes

Deep Purple

Australian Tour

Mon

Mar

GLENN HUGHES Part Of 'The Music Of CREAM' Tour

Artist:

Glenn Hughes

Categories:

Tour News

The Music of Cream - 50th Anniversary Tour - Touring Australia May 2017

The Music Of Cream lives again through this special tour featuring the bloodline of those incredible musicians.
Celebrating the 50^th anniversary of Cream is Malcolm BRUCE (son of Jack), Kofi BAKER (son of Ginger), Will Johns (nephew of Eric Clapton and son of Zeppelin/ Stones engineer Andy)
Robben Ford and special guest 'The Voice of Rock', and stunning bassist Glenn Hughes (Deep Purple).

Ginger Baker. Jack Bruce. Eric Clapton. Cream was a chemical explosion like no other, the blueprint for every supergroup to follow and the heavy blues precursor to Hendrix, Zeppelin and so much more.

The fiery union of blues guitar god Eric Clapton and the jazz skewed rhythm section of Ginger Baker and Jack Bruce caused a psychedelic sensation that rang loud from their '66 debut to their fourth album of '69, "Goodbye".
The sad passing of Jack Bruce in October 2014 marked an official end to a legend that gave us Strange Brew, Sunshine of Your Love, White Room, Badge
and definitive, powerhouse versions of trad blues staples such as Spoonful and Crossroads.

Now, fifty years since their earth-shaking debut album, the bloodlines of that hallowed trilogy come together to pay tribute to Cream's legendary four-album reign over the psychedelic frontier of the late 1960s.

Spoonful, Strange Brew, Sunshine of Your Love, White Room, Crossroads, Badge and more will be performed by master musicians whose lives have been steeped in the Cream spirit and legacy.

This is a very special concert tour that celebrates the most innovative and explosive supergroup of all time, in the hands of those that knew them best.

Watch video trailer here: www.youtube.com/watch?v=3Et5fpSiycM

Tuesday, May 23: Hamer Hall, Melbourne - Ticketmaster
Thursday, May 25: State Theatre, Sydney - Ticketmaster
Friday, May 26: Concert Hall, Perth - Perth Concert Hall & Ticketmaster
Monday, May 29: QPAC Concert Hall, Brisbane - QPAC

TICKETS ON SALE NOW
www.musicofcream.com

ABOUT THE PLAYERS

Malcolm Bruce
The son of Cream singer-bassist Jack Bruce, Malcolm grew up in the thick of rock royalty and, via the Guildhall School of Music, began performing professionally at 16. As pianist, bassist, guitarist or engineer he has shared studios with Little Richard, Elton John, Eric Clapton and Dr John, and recorded and performed often with his father in the UK, US and Europe. Recent tours have included 60 dates with Joe Satriani and revisiting the music of Cream with Kofi Baker and Will Johns. Malcolm will launch his debut solo album, Salvation, as opening act on the Music Of Cream NZ tour.

Kofi Baker
Kofi's first performance was with his father, jazz-rock legend Ginger Baker, on live TV at the age of six. He's since played drums behind Tom Jones, Jack Bruce, Steve Marriott, and as half of a polyrhythmic powerhouse with his father across Europe in the 1980s. More recently, Kofi has played the Extreme Guitar Tour with Uli Jon Roth, Vinny Appice and Vinnie Moore, and joined with Malcolm Bruce to rekindle the spirit of Cream to critical acclaim on stage in US and UK. His own albums include Lost City and Abstract Logic, with Jonas Hellborg and Shawn Lane.

Will Johns
Encouragement from his uncle Eric Clapton was an auspicious start for teenaged singer-guitarist Will Johns. The son of legendary recording engineer Andy Johns (the Rolling Stones, Led Zeppelin), he has since performed with Joe Strummer, Ronnie Wood, Jack Bruce and Bill Wyman, and most recently the music of Cream with Malcolm Bruce and Kofi Baker. By several curious twists of the family tree, Will also counts George Harrison, Mick Fleetwood and the great rock producer Glyn Johns as uncles. The Will Johns Band has released three albums — Count On Me, Hooks and Lines and Something Old, Something New — since 2009.

Robben Ford
is also joining the line-up - Robben is a virtuoso blues guitarist, one of the worlds best. Joe Bonamassa's all time favourite. Robben was last in Australia for Byron Bay Bluesfest in 2014.

Glenn Hughes

The distinction of historic stints with seminal hard rock acts Deep Purple AND Black Sabbath only begins to describe Glenn Hughesâ€™ six decades in the blues-rock maelstrom.

With a voice that is legendary and a bass guitarist of rare invention, the UK rock legend has recorded with artists as diverse as Gary Moore and the KLF, and held his corner of virtuosic supergroup Black Country Communion with Joe Bonamassa and Jason Bonham since 2009.
Glenn was hugely inspired the music of CREAM and Jack Bruce, with whom he collaborated on a number of occasions
Last year saw the release of his 14th solo album, "Resonate". His autobiography, "Scenes From the Life of a Rock'n'Roll Star", contains a foreword by Metallica's Lars Ulrich. Say no more.

Tags:

Glenn Hughes

Cream

Robben Ford

Mon

Feb

GLENN HUGHES Brings Storytellers Gig To UK

Artist:

Glenn Hughes

Categories:

News Feed

Glenn Hughes is the real deal
A true vocal and musical icon of our times

Glenn Hughes is a true original whose music blends hard rock, soul, and funk.

This special "Storytellers" event, held at London's historic Café de Paris from 12 noon to 4pm on Saturday 25th February 2017, is a must do for all Glenn Hughes fans. Tickets are strictly limited to 200.

Tickets are priced as follows – VIP tickets (£55), reserved seating (£30), and balcony tickets (£20). Tickets can be booked online from www.eventbrite.com or www.glennhughes.com

An exciting highlight to the up-close-and-personal event will include the airing of a new 60 minute documentary, featuring never-before-seen classic archival vision of Glenn from the 70’s. This will the world premiere of the film ... not to be missed!

The exclusive film screening will be followed by a 2 hour story telling session hosted by Vintage Television's Friday Night Rock Show host, Nicky Horne where Glenn will delve into some of the great and even infamous events in his life to date.

For VIP ticket holders, the evening will conclude with a private audience with Glenn who will be signing an exclusive CD and answering questions about his colourful career in music.

Café de Paris is located at 3 Coventry Street, London, W1D 6BL.

Check out Glenn's Facebook for additional information.

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Glenn Hughes

Thu

Nov

GLENN HUGHES Announces January & February 2017 UK Tour

Artist:

Glenn Hughes

Categories:

Tour News

GLENN HUGHES ANNOUNCES JANUARY & FEBRUARY 2017 UK TOUR
WITH SPECIAL GUESTS 'STONE BROKEN'

Tickets on sale from Friday 25th November at 10am from myticket.co.uk, www.seetickets.com

UK tour follows the release of Glenn's critically acclaimed new album 'Resonate'

Glenn Hughes is pleased to announce his UK tour dates for January and February 2017. Tickets for go on sale to the general public from 10am Friday 25th November and can be booked online from myticket.co.uk and www.seetickets.com. Special guests on all UK shows is Stone Broken.
Says Glenn, 'I am happy to announce my UK and European tour. My team have been hard at work to make this happen, so my band and I can perform on this tour to promote my new album Resonate. All love and see you down the front.'
For those of you who cannot wait until Friday to book your tickets online, Planet Rock is running a 48-hour ticket pre-sale from today from - http://bit.ly/2gf96p3.

GLENN HUGHES ' JANUARY / FEBRUARY 2017 UK TOUR
Tickets on sale to the general public from Friday 25th November from myticket.co.uk, www.seetickets.com

Friday 20 January                             The Riverside, Newcastle
Saturday 21 January                        Islington Assembly Hall, London
Monday 23 January                         The Robin 2, Bilston
Tuesday 24 January                         The Garage, Glasgow
Thursday 26 January                       Rescue Rooms, Nottingham
Friday 27 January                             O2 Academy 2, Manchester
Sunday 29 January                           Sub 89, Reading
Monday 30 January                         The Junction, Cambridge
Wednesdy 1 February                   The Church, Leeds
Thusday 2 February                        The Fleece, Bristol

The tour follows the 4^th November release of Glenn's 12^th studio album 'Resonate' which has received across-the-board rave reviews and reached #6 in the Official UK Rock Album Chart. The album includes the single 'Heavy' featuring Chad Smith (Red Hot Chili Peppers) on drums. The album also features Soren Anderson (guitar), Pontus Engborg (drums) and Lachy Doley (keyboards). From album opener, "Heavy", to the very last chords of the closer, "Long Time Gone", 'Resonate' is proving to be the contender for 'Album of the Year'. Visit the official web release page here - http://bit.ly/2cnUhCp.

A true vocal and musical icon of our times, in the past couple of years Glenn has concentrated on his solo career. Sold out crowds were the order of the day, while touring non-stop throughout 2015, with shows in South America, Europe, UK, Japan and Singapore. In 2015 the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame announced that Deep Purple including MKIII, were to be inducted after several previous nominations over the years - a culmination of a 40+ years career which saw Glenn leave his indelible mark in several musical endeavours and bands, including Trapeze, Deep Purple, Hughes/Thrall, his collaborations with Gary Moore, Black Sabbath's Tony Iommi and most recently with Black Country Communion and California Breed.