Guitar International's Robert Cavuoto has issued a new interview conducted with DEEP PURPLE bassist Roger Glover, in which he talks about the band’s decision to make NOW What?!, the follow-up CD to their 2005 release, Rapture Of The Deep, his feelings about not being inducted to the Rock ‘n’ Roll Hall Of Fame, working with RONNIE JAMES DIO in RAINBOW and not working with RITCHIE BLACKMORE. An excerpt follows:

Q: I’m really glad to hear that Deep Purple is putting out a new CD. I think there was a period of time when a lot of great bands were just touring and not putting out new music. Why was now the right time for Deep Purple to put out the CD?

A: "Albums aren’t what they used to be. You put an album out and you almost don’t recoup. It’s not a great proposition except for the fact that you write. We work so much that private time becomes kind of precious. You’re enticing people away from their family time to work on something that’s not going to mean that much to them, and that’s difficult to sell. About two years ago, we actually started coming to our senses and said, 'Come on, this is ridiculous. We’ve got to do an album'. We couldn’t figure out who, where, when, what or why for a while, but we did have a writing session. Then about a year later, Bob Ezrin got interested. He came to see us play in Toronto and loved the show. He came to talk the next day, and we were very impressed with him. It was all go from there."

Q: I have to say the band sounds really energized. Was it exciting to start writing with the band again?

A: "It was. Bob really injected a great stimulus into us. He was blown away by the musicianship of the band. He said some very astute things. He said 'Trying to get ahead with a big riff on the radio ain’t gonna happen. Times have changed'. He said, 'What I saw last night in the concert, that’s what people want to hear. You should stretch out'. And those words, “stretch out,” hung with us. Then the next writing session we had, we took him at his word. And just having him on board and eager to produce us was a stimulus in itself, because he’s a man with a huge track record. Those writing sessions were very productive and I think we came up with some very original stuff. Original when you’ve been around as long as we have."

Read the full interview at this location.

Audio samples from Deep Purple's anxiously-awaited new studio album, NOW What?!, are currently streaming online at this location.

NOW What?! is due out via earMUSIC on the following dates:

Germany, Austria, Switzerland, Finland, Spain - April 26th

UK, France, Benelux, Poland, Czech, Norway, Denmark - April 29th

North America, Italy - April 30th

Sweden - May 1st

NOW What?! will include the following 11 songs:

'A Simple Song'

'Weirdistan'

'Out Of Hand'

'Hell To Pay'

'Body Line'

'Above And Beyond'

'Blood From A Stone'

'Uncommon Man'

'Après Vous'

'All The Time In The World'

'Vincent Price'

The official lyric videos for their new single 'Hell To Pay' and 'All The Time In The World' can be heard below:

NOW What?! will also be released in a limited quantity with a bonus track and a bonus DVD featuring Deep Purple in conversation plus additional audio material. This edition will be available in a Digipak with a cut out front cover. NOW What ?! will on top be released as double vinyl LP containing 11 tracks plus bonus track, as in the limited edition CD. Ordering info at this location.

An interview with the band talking about the album tracks can be viewed below:

After various songwriting sessions in Europe, the band recorded and mixed NOW What?! in Nashville with producer Bob Ezrin (PINK FLOYD, ALICE COOPER, KISS, etc).

For more details visit Deeppurple2013.com.