www.glennhughes.com
The Voice of Rock
Apr 22nd, 2009
By Kate Hutchinson
Penthouse Australia
While on his recent solo international tour, Australian Penthouse caught up with former Deep Purple bass player Glenn Hughes to discuss touring, his solo career and his former obsession with the colour green
Describe yourself in two sentences?
I‚m called the Voice of Rock and the Soul Mover, who lives for spiritual progression. See you soon Australia!
Tell us about the worst show you ever played?
It was in Memphis. My drink was spiked with LSD when I was playing with Deep Purple. It was a circus of horrors. Also on one tour I wore only green; even green eye shadow. I just loved that colour. I also had green lights, and this meant that you could hardly see me onstage with all the green. It seems funny to me now, but back then I was trying to make an artistic statement.
What have you been up to recently?
I‚ve been continuing on my world tour, ŒThe Voice of Rock Tour 2009‚. Over the past month I‚ve played in Norway, Sweden, New York and L.A. I‚m travelling a lot this year.
So you‚ll be away from home a lot?
I think I‚ll only be at home in L.A a handful of days. But this is what I do, and so I deal with it.
What songs can fans look forward to hearing you play in Oz?
The set list will cover the classic rock songs everyone knows. They‚ll also be few surprises from my “Hughes/Thrall” and the “Fused” recordings, where I worked with Tony Iommi, Black Sabbath‚s guitarist. Basically it will cover my recordings and my journey through 40 years of rock history. It‚ll be great. Deep Purple fans, classic rock lovers, and those who follow my solo exploits will love it. I‚m really looking forward to playing in Australia.
Tell us your favourite place to play on this tour so far?
Everywhere has been fun. To be honest I can‚t wait to play on the Manchester Apollo stage again. it‚s huge, and many of my best performances have been on that stage.
When Deep Purple split, why did you decide to start a solo career?
I wanted to run a band. I wanted to write, produce, and see my vision become a reality. I enjoy that – I‚ve now recorded over 15 solo albums.
