Ian Paice 1966 Paice joined The MI5, which soon changed its name to The Maze. Primarily a club band, The Maze produced a number of singles, recorded mainly in Italy and France. The Maze featured vocalist Rod Evans, who alongside Paice was to form the original line-up of Deep Purple in March 1968. Evans had responded to an ad for a lead singer published by Deep Purple management, and showed up for his audition with Ian Paice in tow. Given that Deep Purple's first choice for a drummer, Bobby Woodman, had expressed dislike for the band's musical direction, the group hastily arranged
Ian Paice played a low key club tour of Germany, playing two drums on one stage, supported by Colin Hodgkinson (bass) and Miller Anderson (guitar, vocals). Apart from the regular setlist consisting of songs from York's and Paice's back catalogue, the shows featured impromptu drumming demonstrations and Q's & A's sessions. Paice often joins on stage Italian guitarist Tolo Marton, with whom he has performed on many occasions over the last decade. Marton's live album "Dal Vero" features Paice on Jimi Hendrix songs "Stone Free" and "Hey Joe". Since 2005 he has also been involved in Moonstone Project led by Italian guitarist