During a recent chat with That Pedal Show on YouTube, Simon McBride labeled Deep Purple as old-fashioned while discussing the band’s approach to their live sound setup.
The guitarist explained how quite traditional Deep Purple is when it comes to their equipment, saying:
“With [Deep Purple], they’re so old school; they don’t use Kempers or digital whatsoever – it’s a bad word in that band, so the only way we can do it is to have two rigs running. I think they actually have three rigs, but I drew the line at two. I said I’m not getting another C rig. Don’t need it!”
McBride has been an official band member since September 2022, and this wasn’t the first thing he confessed about his experience working with the Purple members. In an August interview with Guitar Player, the musician admitted that he felt nervous in the presence of Ian Gillan in their early shows. He said the following when asked if he felt pressure during his gigs with the band:
“At the moment, no. But the first time I did it, I was very nervous, because that was with Ian Gillan in front of about 10,000 people. But it’s such a simple riff. The main secret is just giving it the right tempo. Then Don [Airey] kicks in with the Hammond playing the same thing, Roger [Glover] kicks in with the bass, and it’s just a wall of power.”
In March 2022, the band’s former guitarist Steve Morse took a break from the band because his wife had cancer. The band kept performing with McBride filling in for him. In July 2022, it was announced that Morse would leave the band to care for his wife during her cancer treatment. Then, Simon officially joined the band as the new guitarist.
You can watch the rest of his interview below.
