Deep Purple keyboardist explains why guitarists are “very insecure” people: “They don’t really know how they do what they do”
Despite their often larger-than-life presence on stage, guitarists are very “strange” and “insecure” people deep down – according to Deep Purple keyboardist Don Airey.
Speaking in a new interview with Rock ‘N’ Roll Grad School, Airey, whose storied career also includes work with rock giants like Black Sabbath, Judas Priest, Ozzy Osbourne, and Whitesnake, discusses the role of a keyboardist in a rock band, particularly when collaborating with legendary guitarists like Ritchie Blackmore, Gary Moore, and Randy Rhoads.
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“Part of the job of being a keyboard player is you provide the backing, especially in rock, to the guitar player,” Airey explains [via Blabbermouth]. “Now guitar players are very strange people; they’re very insecure. The more talented they are, the more eccentric and unsure of themselves [they are], ‘cause they don’t really know how they do what they do.”
He illustrates this with a story about Randy California, who played alongside Jimi Hendrix in his early years.
“I remember a story about Randy California, who was in a band with Hendrix early on, and he said, ‘Jimi, how are you getting those sounds?’ And Jimi went, ‘I don’t know, man.’ He just didn’t know.”
“When you’re a keyboard player, you do know how you do it,” says Airey. “So you’ve just gotta take charge of the situation, to a certain extent, without letting the guitar player know and just make him feel comfortable. And that’s part of the thing.”
When one of the interviewers points out that being a keyboardist often means learning how to be a band leader, Airey – who is currently promoting his new solo album, Pushed to The Edge – expands on the two distinct approaches to leadership in a band.
“There’s two arts of leading,” he says. “You can lead from behind, which is what I do, say, in a group situation like Rainbow or something, or even with Purple; you’ve just got to be at the back, but trying to push things forward. But with this situation, with Pushed To The Edge, I really was leading the charge and just trying to get the best out of people. That’s what you hope for.”
At its core, Airey explains, leadership isn’t about giving orders – it’s about creating an environment where creativity thrives.
“You can’t tell people what to do; you just have to provide the milieu which sparks something in them – and in yourself as well, you hope. [Laughs] Most of all.”
Airey has served as the keyboardist of Deep Purple since 2002 after the retirement of original member Jon Lord.
Watch his full interview below.
Don Airey’s new solo album Pushed to the Edge arrives 11 April. Listen to its lead single, Tell Me, below:
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Source: www.guitar-bass.net
