Smoke on the Water, the emblematic title of the Band Deep Purple will be, you will have understood it, at the base of the name chosen by this cover band passionate about rock! Five seasoned musicians united around the same passion, Hard Rock embodying, truly on stage, this legendary British band.
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“I first met Sterpi (guitarist). We played a Deep Purple song together a bit by chance”, says Oli (singer), “It wasn’t planned. Afterwards, he contacted me to see if I was up for starting a band. »
The end of one group gives rise to a second one.
At the same time, Eric (bassist) and Nico (drummer) were part of another cover band dedicated to ACDC. Sterpi met the other two musicians when the guitarist of this band was replaced at a moment’s notice, “while talking during the evening, we realised that the feeling was going well between us. So we decided to play Deep Purple together” explains Sterpi. “The end of a first adventure gave birth to this second one, Purple Smoke”. The band was then missing a pianist-keyboard player and Sterpi immediately thought of Z’zo to join this new band: “he was a Deep Purple fan and I had already had the opportunity to play with him. It was obvious that he had to join us! »
The mix of these five musicians gives concerts of a rare intensity where the audience discovers a drummer with explosive ardour, an organist with crazy playing, a bassist with a crazy pick, a guitarist with exceptional fingering and a singer with a masterful voice! Quite a programme!
It is important to keep the spirit and the touch of Deep Purple.
If this cover band has its own specificities and personal touches, the members still try to respect the spirit of the British hard-rock band: “The hardest part of the job is to stay authentic enough to please the different fans”, explains Nico. The hardest part of the job is to keep it authentic enough to appeal to the different fans,” says Nico, “so that they can find the playing style of the different Deep Purple musicians. You can be as good as you want, you’re never the musician himself, you try to get as close to him as possible. »
In addition to the musicians as such, the Purple Smoke group makes it a point of honour to respect the sound and state of mind of the original group, notably through the various improvisations on stage. “It’s really important that we keep the spirit of Deep Purple and the touch they brought to their performances,” explains Z’Zo.
Smoke Purple has recently returned to the stage at the Entrepôt in Arlon after a forced shutdown of almost six months in the cultural sector. A timid revival, certainly, but which sounds like a real victory for the group, which was really lacking the adrenalin provoked during the performances but also in lack of contact with its audience.
Even though this group has only been around for a year (a year that has been greatly reduced by the health crisis), they intend to stay on the stage for a while. To make themselves known, to travel, to meet the public, but also other groups, to export themselves and it is all that brings the human dimension to their project, they tell us.