Rockers Status Quo on their new Piledriver beer
Francis Rossi is sitting by an open fire covered in dogs — Westies and Jack Russell cross-breeds. One he’s particularly keen on, Nancy, is named after his mother.
Within 10 minutes he has divulged his life story, from what he’s had for lunch down to the first time the girl next door showed him what was inside her knickers. He’s mentioned capitalism, cocaine and the changes within the music industry.
Today, though, he and his bandmate, Rick Parfitt, want to talk mainly about beer — their beer, named Piledriver (after their fifth album) and brewed at Wychwood Brewery in Oxfordshire. After half an hour they get back on topic.
Parfitt is, let’s say, not as much of a chatterbox as Rossi. He’s hazy about entire decades, but has a clear recollection of trotting around the brewery and describes the whole brewing process as a truly “fascinating experience”.
“The whole process of making beer is quite amazing,” says Parfitt. “I don’t think many people realise what goes into making that lovely beer with a nice head on it. I’ve met a really nice crowd of people as well.”
Rossi echoes this and talks wistfully of how the brewery reminded him of his family. His grandfather used to have an ice-cream factory that was similar, he says. “It really took me back — all those wet floors. It’s a serious project and very interesting too.”
"The hops in it smell like skunk"
So what’s the beer like?
Parfitt pauses. “What’s Piledriver like? Well, it is what it says. It’s great and it’s powerful. It’s got a bit of a kick to it.”
“Have you ever been to Amsterdam?” Rossi asks. “Well, the hops in it smell like skunk [potent form of cannabis]. I mean, when I smelled them, I thought, this is skunk!”
“I guess you could say it has a little sparkle and an extra little tweet in it,” hints Parfitt. “After the testing, we were asked to do some photos and I think we looked completely pissed.”
"After a few Piledrivers I'd be anybody's"
“Interestingly enough, while sipping it, suddenly my knees went,” says Rossi. “It knocked my knees out, I tell you. I’d be a really cheap date. After a few Piledrivers I’d be anybody’s. It was most enjoyable. We got back on the bus and both of us fell asleep. By the time we woke up we were in Liverpool.”
One thing that the duo are adamant about is that it will draw in drinkers, fans and beer enthusiasts, as well as people who have never tried a pint before.
“If I didn’t know what it was I would look at it and think I’ve got to try a pint of that, it just looks great. I’m more than happy for it to be out there,” says Parfitt, adding: “It’s being released in England, Ireland, Scotland and Wales, and we’ll see how it goes from there.”
Rossi is a little more emphatic and says that it also makes good business sense for publicans to make some money.
“It’s all about success. I’m afraid we do live in a capitalist world, though we might like to say that money and profit doesn’t count as much. However, I was brought up in a capitalist world and I remember the hippies when I was young and they were moaning about capitalists and I was thinking: ‘Oh, sod off, I’ve got things to do!’
“If you’re thinking about stocking it, well, it’s a damn fine idea. Go on, try it. You’ll want to get some,” he says.
Rossi, on the back of his visits to the brewery, has met a lot of people who know an awful lot about beer.
"We have an expression. It's inspired by the movie Airplane..."
“We have an expression. It’s [inspired by] the movie Airplane — there’s a guy in the film, on the plane, telling people his life story and nobody wants to listen to him because he’s being a pain in the arse.
“The guy in the next seat, who doesn’t want to listen anymore, pours a gallon of petrol on himself and is about to set himself alight rather than listen to him. Well, we call people like the guy in Airplane ‘gallons’. I could be a gallon because I talk so much.
“The people at the brewery — they’re gallons. They know so much about beer. You become a gallon when you get really enthusiastic,” says Rossi, admit-ting: “I often see people around me pouring petrol on themselves. I leave just in time before there’s combustion of any sort.”
"Life is a journey"
Both Rossi and Parfitt are non-stop talkers and doers — compulsively addicted to never doing things by halves.
“We’re going out in March with the original band — with Alan Lancaster [bass] and John Coghlan [drums] and doing about 11 or 12 dates with them,” says Parfitt.
“Then we start rehearsing again with the main Quo for the summer festivals and trundle across Europe. We’ll probably do in the region of 85 to 100 gigs this year. It doesn’t get any easier. I’m 65 now and in the dressing room I am thinking, ‘how am I going to do this tonight? I’m knackered’. But it’s that old showbiz thing of when the lights go down and you hear the roar of the crowd, something happens — you go from zero to 100mph, and off you go. I still love being on stage. I still get a big kick out of it,” he laughs.
“I retired once when I was 35 — I got that wrong, didn’t I?” says Rossi, who turns 65 at the end of May.
“I just never thought we’d be in our 60s, did you? You know it’s happening, but you can’t ever imagine it,” he says, pointing out that there are hardworking people everywhere and they are the ones living full lives, not the lazy ones.
“It’s very strange that most of the world wants to win the lottery and apparently sit there drinking on the beach all day. I think that would be suicidal. Why would anyone want to be so stinking rich that they didn’t ever do anything?” Rossi asks.
“Keep going, keep doing. That’s what counts. Life is a journey.”
