IAN GILLAN’S AND TONY IOMMI’S AD HOC BAND "WHO CARES" TO RAISE FUNDS FOR ARMENIAN SCHOOL

Times.am
16 April, 2010, 11:18 pm

Lead singer of Deep Purple Ian Gillan stated that he would set up an
ad-hoc rock band with Tony Iommi named "Who Cares" for raising funds
for reestablishment of music school in Armenia.

Mediamax reports that Ian Gillan said this, answering the question
of his website’s visitors on the possibility to record the remix of
"Smoke on the Water" song to help Haiti, which has suffered from
the earthquake.

Deep Purple lead singer noted that the new re-mix version of "Smoke
on the Water", recorded in 1989 with the participation of world rock
stars in order to help Armenia, will be re-released soon.

"Twenty years later, we are still working on rebuilding the school and
concert hall in Gyumri, which – like Spitak – suffered devastation
with at least 25,000 killed and God knows how many injured and left
homeless. Things are moving on quite well with a lot of support from
politicians and businesses. I was able to raise a decent amount for
the cause with two benefit shows in Yerevan recently", Ian Gillan said.

"Also, I’m working on an idea with Tony Iommi. On the flight home from
Armenia we decided to write a song or two and form an ad hoc band –
specifically for use on fund raising occasions – called ‘Who Cares’.

Any live performances would be with a nebulous line-up and those plans
are still on the drawing board, but we have made a move in the right
direction by getting started with the writing. I visited Tony recently
and we came up with a couple of songs that aren’t too horrible.

Hopefully we can knock them into shape in the near future and
raise even more money to help the program [on reestablishing the
school in Gyumri]. I think your idea to help Haitians is admirable
and of course we are all shocked by the tragic aftermath of their
cataclysm. However I think it’s best to direct all my efforts where
they are most effective. I see plenty of fantastic energy and awareness
being put into Haiti, but after twenty years there is still work to
be done in Armenia", Ian Gillan stated.

Mediamax organized Ian Gillan’s charitable concerts with the State
Philharmonic Orchestra of Armenia on March 26 and 27 in Yerevan. All
proceeds from the concerts (18mln 327 thousand AMD) will be spent
for construction of the building of music school N6 in Gyumri.

VivaCell-MTS mobile operator was the general sponsor of the concerts,
and bmi Airline was the partner.