RockPages.gr has issued an interview with keyboardist DON AIREY (DEEP PURPLE). The following is an excerpt:

Q: What keeps a band going all those years?

A: "Money, and music...

Q: What comes first?

A: "Music, of course! You got to be good at what you do. To be good, you have got to enjoy it as well. That’s what people will pay you for. That’s one tricky thing, to get people to pay you to watch you play. You can keep doing so, and if it seems to be successful, you don’t let it stop."

Q: Is it a difficult thing to do? Earning a living playing music?

A: I wouldn’t recommend it to anyone! There’s an old English musical song, which says “Don’t put you daughter on the stage Mrs. Whorthington” (he sings a little!). Because, it’s a tough life. It has a lot of ups, but many more downs. That’s what you’ve got to be careful. When you’re down there, and you come back up, and that’s quite hard to manage. It is physically very tough, and mentally very tough. Say, a five piece rock band there’s a big problem with the politics...the relationships, and the fact that you are together all the time. In most jobs, you go home at the end of the day, but when you are a rock’n’roll band, and you’re on the road, then you are thrown together, and that’s tricky. You’ve got to negotiate... people used to behave very badly in the old days. I used to work at the theatre, when I had time off, playing, or writing music. People on the stage, actors, had to get along with each other, and that’s more or less how it is with the music business now. People have learned to be professional, and getting on, and that’s very much easier...Mind you, it was tremendous fun in the old days...the madness, and the craziness...I do miss that side of it."

Read the full interview at RockPages.gr.