Brazilian Bruce Interview
From the brazilian magazine Roadiecrew Roadiecrew.com.br:Roadiecrew: The new live album from Iron Maiden, Death on the road, has off course the classic songs and also some new ones, like Paschendale and No More Lies, besides Lord Of The Flies, from Blaze´s time. Don´t you think the DOD songs sounded a lot better live than on studio?
BD: Yes, this ends up happening lots of times, because the rehearsal that we do for the tour helps a lot for the new songs to sound even better live. When we are going to record an album, we rehearsal, but with the time you get better and better and when we get to the middle of a tour, a song like paschendale is sounding just the way we wanted to. The new songs grow during the tour and even the old ones get better.
RC: What did you think of your own performance on the live album Death On the Road?
BD: I don´t think it was one of my best performancess, not only in the album, but in the wholle tour. I got a cold in many occasions and also in the day we recorded the CD, but even than I think it´s allright. We decided we would record that night the live album , because the DVD would also come from there. But we didn´t have overdubs and I can assure that everything in there is exactally what happened that night.
RC: Everyone knows that on each tour, it gets harder for Maiden to pick up the Set list, and more specifically for the recording of a new live album. In the case of Death On The Road it was really nice to see Can I Play WIth Madness once again. How is the process of selecting the songs today?
BD: The songs that end up in a live album are the ones we choose for the tour. There is no change in the set for the gig we are going to record. We don´t think specifically about these, but the whole tour that our fans around the world are gonna atend. The album is simply a consequence, something like a memory from the tour. There are songs that will always be there and some others we can go changing. It´s not easy to pick, cause each member of the band will have a favorite and others that would like to play. But we gotta be very flexible in this matter and know there will always be some songs that stayed out, but we as a band wanted to play, besides others the fans wants us to execute.
RC: A lot of people in the press comented that this last gig in London was also nice to show how the recent fights between you and Sharon added some extra devotion from the fans to the band. Do you agree with that?
BD: I find this really nice comments, but I really don´t think that what happened in USA affects the Iron Maiden fans in all the world, like it happened in London on the last gig. Everybody read and knows what happened! There were in the place a lot of people from the media and the metal field that saw everything closely. I don´t have any other interest in going on with this, as it´s all very boring. Sharon osbourne hates me because I hate reality shows.
RC: How was the reaction of the fans that were on that Ozzfest gig?
BD: The fans paid to see a lot of gigs, including Iron Maiden, and got pissed when they realised that they weren´t letting us do our presentation propperlly. Most of them got disapointed with a coward attack like that one executed by the Ozzfest crew. A festival that must be fun for everyone that paid to see, for people working there, and the organizers and bands. but that is not what ocurred there. But the fans were not mad at us but with people from event´s organization. We finnished our gig no matter they would throw eggs on us, turn down the PA´s and everything else. After that we went straight to the airport.
RC: And how is the situation today?
BD: As always. Iron Maiden continues with it´s carrer and that she continues with "ozzfest". I have no more interest in commenting any of this things.
RC: In this year´s tour through Europe and USA you played only songs from the first four albuns. How was that experience?
BD: It was really good to be able to play so many songs that were kind of forgotten, like Where Eagles Dare, one of my favorites ever. It´s not new for anybody that one of my favorite albuns is Piece Of Mind. This tour had a connection with the release of the DVD part 1:Early Days and soon we will come with part 2 of this DVD. For this second part we will do a tour playing songs from the next four albuns released from 1984 to 1988, songs from Powerslave, Live After Death, Somewhere In Time and Seventh Son Of A Seventh Son. For us and the fans it´s really nice to do these gigs with songs from certain times. We have many plans for the future!
RC: When do you believe you are gonna be abble to do a tour like this in Brazil, playing only classics and not promoting a specific album?
BD: In march of 2006 we will start recording the new studio album and it might be released in october, we will start a tour in this same month through Europe and in the beggining og 2007 we may return to Brazil and south america. That I know is expected to happen. About the tour with only classics, we have nothing planned for Brazil. It could be nice to do something like this if we play in another edition of Rock In Rio, really I don´t know in with moment it can possibly ocurr.
RC: Which song not on the first albuns did you really miss on the set?
BD: Tough question, but I would say Powerslave, I really like to sing this song.
RC: A lot would say Fear of the dark...
BD: Yes, FOTD, but that we play all the tours. But, without doubt, one of the best maiden songs to interact with the audience.
RC: It seems like you returned to thew stage on the encore from the Hammersmith gig playing Football. Is that right?
BD: Yes. but it was someone on the crowd that throwed a ballon the stage and then we started playing a little, not much. Just a little joke, as we really enjoy the sport(Laughs).
RC: After the serie of gigs on ozzfest you did a presentation on Reading Festival, in England. Why is reading festival so important to you?
BD: It was there that I was invited to join up Maiden in 1981. I was doing a gig with Samson and Steve and Rod went there to check out my performance on stage, besides being the first festival in wich I presented myself as a singer. We did a really good concert this year there and we left once again a really good impression.
RC: How was the event in the rockwalk of fame in wich you left your hand for the eternity on Sunset Boulevard, Los Angeles?
BD: It was cool, a very american thing, but besides that, there are the fans that put us there to leave our mark. We are very proud of this one more happening and Eddie rightly had his hans registered on the walk too.(Laughs)
RC: How does Iron Maiden fits in your personal life?
BD: Well, I have to travel like a lunatic and do a lot of gigs, and my children can come if they want and watch(Laughs). My children of 13 and 15 years old were in a NEW York gig in the Photgrapher´s place. Suddenly I saw 4 security guys grabbing some people and throwing them out. I thought they were throwing out my children,
but suddenly I looked and they were singing and sweting like crazy with a big smile on the face! But I was read to do a mosh!(Laughs)
RC: About your solo carrer, what are your future plans? Do you intend to do a tour next year?
BD: I would like very much to do a tour next year, but for the fans and the press it can cause a little confusion.
Iron Maiden returns to the stages on october of next year and we still can do some festivals before. My solo albuns are going well, we re-released all of them with new bonus material and in May 2006 I´ll release my double solo DVD. The material is already ready for the release! We put all the videos and it will be very interesting, with about 4 hours of length. But about the solo gigs, as I said it will be really hard to happen in 2006.
RC: But in case you were going to do some gigs, would you have in mind the band thar would be with you on stage?
BD: I have No idea, but I believe Roy Z will be with me, he enjoys playing on my solo band and is a long time partner. I think Chris Dale too, a great friend of mine. I have no news, the people who already play with me and that want to come will remain.
RC: So what are you gonna do until the recording of the new album starts?
BD: I´m gonna go back to my programa on radio 6 Music on BBC and my regular work as pilot of which I´m very proud. Not that I stop flying when I´m on tour with Maiden, but in this time of a break, it gets easier conciliate the stuff.
RC: How was the process of singing in Tribuzy´s album and to come to Brazil and do this gig?
BD: The bassist Chris Dale showed me the sound of the band and than we came to Brasil for the Dance Of Death tour when I met Renato Tribuzy in Rio de Janeiro. So we discussed the details for me to take part on the CD and then he invited me to do these gigs. Very easy and I´m really enjoying being a part of this project.
RC: How did you take the death of two great names that made part of the New Wave Of Britsh HeavyMetal - your partner from Samson, Paul Samson in 2002 and more recently the DJ Tommy Vance?
BD: It always said when people leave us. Paul was with a cancer and he fought bravely against it. I talked to him some time before he passed out and he was very confident that he could heal and that´s really good. Tommy Vance was worst because he died of heart atack and dying this way just makes things worst than they already are. But the important thing is to know that today, both left their mark and will be remembered by many for ever.
RC: You sang in a band called Shots beforing finishing College and than you joined Samson. What was the style of the band Shots? Why did you have the nickname Bruce Bruce instead of Paul Bruce Dickinson?
BD: Shots used to play some own songs and covers from Montrose. We used to sound like Deep Purple with Ian Gillan on vocals, a 70´s hard rock, but the band was interesting and had it´s good moments. That happened more or less around 1978 and 1979. After that I went to sing in Samson and than Iron Maiden. When I joined Samson their manager came to me with idea of using
Bruce Bruce because of a part from Mont Python called Flying Circus, in wich there was a bit about the australians Philosophers and there were many Bruces. An idea from their own.
RC: What have you been listening to these days? Some cool bands you would like to mention that you are currently be playing on your BBC show?
BD: There are lots of good bands showing up and I think lots of them doing something new which is not something easy. But from time to time something that calls my attention shows up. Not that that really makes me a fan, but at least interests me. I think System Of A Down is a band that´s been doing something diferent, doesn´t sound like anything else out there. They have almost the same thing as Rage Against The Magine when it showed up, just without much groove. There´s an American band called Trivium that´s also very nice. They are influenced by Iron Maiden, Pantera and do a very heavy and interesting sound.
1 Comment
it was translated by a iron maiden forum member, not the magazine actually