Here's the other question: From '68 through the '70s, Led Zeppelin was really at the tip of the rocket. What bands did you see on your level or as your competition? Deep Purple?

Oh no, they didn't count. There were so many bands that were nowhere near. It was about energy, really. Energy and creativity, and there really was nobody around. Well, the Stones used to get a lot of publicity and there was a bit of a rivalry I guess. Yeah, there was. But we all knew where we fit in the game and it was a game and it is a game.

We just kept moving in the grooves that we were in and watched everybody around us discussing it all.

Knowing what you know today, would you have done anything differently?

Absolutely not. Because it's just what it is when it is and my limitations were so obvious and vast. I couldn't hope to put anything right that's already gone.

Let's return to the present -- these days, what holds more appeal for you: the road or the studio?

Oh, the studio, because that's where your whole justification for everything comes from: to be on the road, to actually have the audacity to get a record company. You can't promote rubbish -- although maybe you can.

I mean the whole deal is to write with conviction, to perform with integrity and zeal, and then to put it all in the hands of people who can do the job in promoting it, which is becoming more and more difficult now. But if you want to be on the road and play, then get on the road and play!

We were playing in Europe six weeks ago and got into Paris at about 3 in the morning. There was (Pink Floyd guitarist) David Gilmour at the hotel reception trying to get a drink. I said, "Hey, how are you doing?" And he said, "Oh Percy! I knew you were on the road, but I thought you were somewhere in China or something." I said don't be facetious -- how long are you out for? He said, "Three weeks, and you?" I said, "Well, it's 128 shows in and I can't see it ending."

For us it depends on what you want to do. Whether you actually just want to do a few gigs to please the record company and go back to the fortress. Or you find that your home is everywhere and with everyone.

So I guess you don't get home often.

Well, I haven't been to Wiltshire very often because it's in Saxon country, and I get quite twitchy when I'm there. I prefer to visit all those places that I have in the air that I told you about. So I'm quite proactive. My band operates out of Bristol and Bath, in the southwest of England. So I travel a lot there and, believe it or not, where my guys are today is in the Misty Mountains, creating. And when I'm home, I play quite a bit of tennis if I can.

And how does your family deal with that?

My two older kids have got kids of their own now and they're all musical. Two of my grandchildren play. Yeah, in the family we have people teaching Arabic, North African dance at WOMAD festivals and stuff like that. I think they heard so much maksoum (modern Egyptian music) in their childhood, it's really had a great effect on them. Subliminally I've saved them from the land of the discotheque!

They get to see me. But now and then, I think they quite expect me to disappear into the desert for years and then come out with a beard down to the floor going, 'Hey, you'll never guess: I found a new scale!'

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