Technically, you're not a sideman working for Deep Purple; you're a full-fledged member. But there must have been something session-like about coming in to replace Ritchie Blackmore.

Actually, I had no problem at all with that. The ice was really broken before I got there, by the fact that they had already toured with Joe Satriani on guitar.

Still, this seems like a strange gig for you.

Not at all. The one reason I ended up with them is that we just fit together. I mean, I loved the sound of that heavy distorted organ playing those triplet lines with the guitar, like at the end of "Child in Time." But when my manager told me they were looking for a guitarist, the first thing I said was, "Are they going to try to make me look a certain way?" [laughs]

Many of Purple's songs bear the strong imprint of a Blackmore solo. How do you approach those songs - do you follow his lines or do something completely fresh?

A little of both. The "Highway Star" solo is one of my favorites: I play the fast parts exactly like Ritchie recorded them, although we play it a bit faster than the record. There's enough thrown in there so people know that someone else is playing, but out of respect for the solo I'll try to get the main themes across before messing with them. The very end of my solo in "Smoke on the Water" is exactly the same as Ritchie's, with that little pentatonic minor thing at the end, but before that there's quite a long section where we're jamming over [drummer] Ian Paice's Bayou march.

How long did it take to get into their style?

Everything was pretty quick. Some of the things on the album [Purpendicular] are even demo takes. For the first song we did, "Sometimes I Feel Like Screaming," we actually came in to record a different tune. But Ian Paice and I were jamming as the other guys came in. We started working on this idea I had, and by the end of the day we had recorded the version of the song you hear on the record. You can hear on the guitar parts where I went for some harmonics and didn't quite get them, but it was still a cool vibe, and anyway I'm very much into using first takes ‘cause they have some kind of magical good luck.

Did you change your usual rig for the Purple gigs?

Actually, I did. The fact that I'm playing with an organ with a Leslie in a non-instrumental context made me think that a more traditional electric guitar sound would be best. Normally I use a little more midrange than most people, but the band had a Peavey 5150 head, which has an abundance of low end, midrange, and high end. Having more low and high end in the sound gave me more of a typical ‘90s sound and saved me from just having a honky midrange sound with Jon Lord's midrange organ.

What's it like playing within Jon's rock-oriented open voicings, as opposed to the jazzier changes you've dealt with in the Dixie Dregs and the Steve Morse Band?

I love those open voicings; that's just how I love to hear the keyboard. That's one of the best things about playing in this band. Not only is it easy to play with the guys backing me up-there's plenty of guitar solos [laughs]. There's really no excuses for not liking the gig.