Ian Paice: “I don’t play the same way I did when I was 20”

Ian Paice of the Deep Purple, Rat Scabies of the Damned and Paul Cook of the Sex Pistols they talked about how drummers deal with the (for them greater) physical demands of live performance as they age.

Interviewed in the Guardian by Michael Hann, journalist for Classic Rock, the three drummers say they have changed their approach to drums in order to continue playing.

“Many of the things I found easy when I was much younger are now difficult,” says the 76-year-old Peacealways present in every lineup (“Mark”) of the band and who played 64 concerts with Deep Purple in the second half of 2024. “But now I know a lot more than when I was younger. This is how – he continues – you replace things: this will be difficult, but I can do this instead.”

“Anyone who thinks they can do exactly the same thing as they did 50 years ago is crazy,” he says Peace – There aren’t many kids left of my generation who play what I call ‘power drums’.”

In 2016, Paice suffered a mini-stroke while on tour with Purple, but was able to recover after two shows were cancelled.

“Some songs even benefit from being slowed down a few beats per minute,” he says Scabieswhose current setlist with the Damned packs 22 songs into 90 minutes. “At the time we were raising hell: whoever got to the end of the song first won.”

In the meantime, Paul Cook reveals that he now works with a nutritionist and prepares for each tour by doing cardio and upper arm exercises. “But I’m not a health nut,” he says. “I didn’t become a lentil-eating hippie”

Late last year, Iron Maiden drummer Nicko McBrain announced his retirement from live activity. McBrain, who suffers from rheumatoid arthritis in his hands, also suffered a mini-stroke in January 2023 and has struggled to fully recover. “I don’t play “The Trooper” anymore because I can’t catch it,” he told The Washington Tattoo podcast last August. “The speed is missing. I can do anything slow, so I can keep the groove of the song.”

The previous month, McBrain told an audience at Piper’s Pub in Pompano Beach, Florida, that Maiden’s leader, Steve Harrishad worked out a compromise that allowed McBrain to play a section of “Caught Somewhere In Time” that he had been struggling with.