“To the general public in America, the lifespan of Deep Purple probably finished with our 1984 album, Perfect Strangers,” frontman Ian Gillan says. “America’s been a world of its own since the beginning. I think people have gotten locked in the past.”

Although the hard rockers have put out eight LPs since Perfect Strangers – the most recent of which, Now What?!, came out last year – the singer says that when the band does radio interviews, all anyone wants to ask about is “Smoke on the Water.” “I think things have just developed at a different pace internationally,” he says. “It’s like starting over every time we go to the U.S.” Nevertheless, Stateside interest appears to be growing: Now What?!, a prog-leaning collection of 11 songs that the group recorded with producer Bob Ezrin (Pink Floyd‘s The Wall, Alice Cooper‘s School’s Out), was the group’s first album to crack the Top 200 since 1993’s The Battle Rages On, and this week, the group is kicking off its most extensive U.S. tour since 2007.

Shortly before opening night, Rolling Stone talked to Gillan about the current state of the band and its complex relationship with the past.

You worked with Bob Ezrin on last year’s Now What?! Did he present any new ideas to the band?
He came to one of our shows in Canada and said, “Look, I saw you last night. What I want you to do is what you do onstage, because that’s what you did back in the Sixties and Seventies.” Our music had become somewhat formulaic over the years. We’d been dragged into that thing where you’ve got to do a song that you can play on the radio, and we’d forgotten the fact that “Smoke on the Water” was originally seven minutes long and that the label made a three-minute version for radio later.

So what happened in the studio for this record?
Bob told the rest of the guys, “Look, just sit down and play something. Improvise like you do onstage.” I came in the next morning, and he played me the first take. It was a beautiful piece of music that ended up being “Uncommon Man” on the album.

Between Now What?! and your last album, Deep Purple‘s founding keyboardist Jon Lord died. Did you pay tribute to him here?
“Above and Beyond” was definitely about Jon. I remember when we heard the news. We’d been expecting it because he’d not been well for quite some time, but it was still a terrible shock. [Drummer] Ian Paice and Jon were married to twin sisters, so it’s pretty much in the family. Before his funeral, I wrote down some notes and one of the lines was “souls having touched are forever entwined.” And that became a line in the song “Above and Beyond,” so it was as if Jon was still a part of the band.

While we’re on the subject of your past, Deep Purple have been eligible for induction into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame since 1993. Are you upset you’re not in yet?
Whatever you say to a question like that, you sound supercilious or dismissive or disgruntled or sour grapes. I spent all my younger life trying to avoid institutionalization as much as I could and then I realized that these sorts of things are for your family and fans. So I don’t mind what happens. We’re grateful for anything that comes along our way.