RUSH Guitarist: 'There's Definitely A Strong Relationship Between Us And Our Audience'

Guitarist Alex Lifeson of Canadian rock legends RUSH spoke to The Dallas Morning News about the band's fanbase, which is is passionate to the point of fetishistic, knowledgeable to the point of scary and also kinda sweet and awkward.

"There's definitely a strong relationship between us and our audience," Lifeson said. "And I think it's partly because we've never been the cool thing. We've never been the trendy thing. We've just been hardworking and done what we believed in. We wrote the music we wanted to write. We didn't try to write pop hits. … Maybe there's a cultish quality about who we are. We're kind of unknown to the majority of people, so you feel a little more connected to that as a fan. They feel like, 'They're my little discovery.' And that has changed a bit in the last four, five years — since [the 2009 movie] 'I Love You, Man' and the ['Beyond The Lighted Stage'] documentary. We have a new audience. We're getting more press than we used to. The [Rock And Roll] Hall Of Fame thing. It's one thing after another."

He continued: "We've been around for so long, people who grew up listening to us are adults with jobs and families, and they've always been along for the ride — like the GRATEFUL DEAD, I suppose. They were connected to their fans without airplay.

"There is something about us that's just not the norm in rock music. I don't know what it is. We've been a little outside, maybe. We've been grounded. We don't live the big rock lifestyle. I've got a 43-year-old son. I was a father when I was 17. I had that responsibility when I was young. You took the kids to school and got groceries. It's what everyone else does — except, maybe, Axl Rose. That lifestyle wasn't for us. And maybe that's what connects us to the fans. They feel like they can sit down with the guys in RUSH and have a beer and it'd be no big thing."