Eric - Let me start off by saying thank you for putting out such a wonderful album. I was really surprise, I didn’t know what to expect. Usually when bands say that is going to be heavy its either inaudible or it stinks, but you have defied the odds, I must say, so thank you as a music fan I appreciate it.
Bruce – It’s ok, we aim to please.
E – When did you decided the direction of The Chemical Wedding. Is this something you decide at the end of the tour or during the off period.
B – Toward the end of the last tour, when we were touring through South America, I actually did an interview with Jeff Wagner. I was already talking about doing The Chemical Wedding and Alchemy and doing a concept album about Alchemy back then, that was in last December. I was talking to Roy about it as well and we just already made this decision, that we were going to go really really heavy on it. The album was going to be really heavy and we that’s as far as we got. We didn’t take it any further than that, until we started writing and just discovered how heavy it was really gonna be.
E – Is this something that you normally do, like at the end of the tour are you already looking to the future or do you usually save that for when you are done with the tour and you have a chance to get some rest.
B - Well, At the end of the tour we had a pretty good idea that we had a possibility of really going in there with, like a, kind of, how can I put it, a first strike capability, an expression in the military. Basically, if you go in and hit them really hard they are really going to remember it. So, we set out selves a deadline, the end of June, to have the whole album completely written, finished, recorded, mixed and mastered. So we did the whole thing in pretty much five months.
E – When you talk about that, it brings up what I have read about the pressure on you for this CD. How great was it and how did you handle it?
B – It was internal pressure, so it’s the sound of your brain exploding. I think the biggest worry was that as I was coming out with ideas and Roy was coming out with ideas we were laying them down and going straight to the next thing. There wasn’t any safety net there. So, when I listen to it at the end, when it was mixed, it was the first time that I had any clue of what we’d done and it was pretty good. I was pleased.
E – Is this pressure that you prepare for or is it something that gradually happens and then you are just in the middle of it?
B – No, it was something initially when it was suggested to me that we have an album out by September, my first comment was well how the f**k are we going to do that. They were like you just have to get it done by the end of June. I was like, this means we have two months to write it. I mean just on Accident of Birth, which was one of the most successful records, like really put me back on the musical map, and now you wanted me to write a record in two months that’s gonna be better than that record. It’s a big f**king chance we are taking here.
E – Is that coming from CMC or from Management?
B – That’s coming from management. And that’s me sort of going, This is a big f**king chance. I’ll do it, but I reserve the right to change my mind, if on July 1st, I listen to the record and go, this ain’t good enough. Then, you’re just going to have to swallow it and we are going to put the whole thing off. The mark of absolute failure would be to do an average record.
E – It also seems like, and this may be my American viewpoint, but usually when a band comes out, like Hootie and the Blowfish, not that I am a big fan, but I predicted their failure on their second album, because it came out so soon after the first one. The first one sold eighty zillion copies and their next one was a complete failure. I am sure that had to be going through your mind, the fact that if this fails it could really damage you career.
B – Absolutely. This was, how can you put it, a bold move (laughs). It will now be seen as a bold move, if it didn’t work it would seem as a dumb thing to do (laughs).
E – About the songs, I know they are basically about Alchemy, but the meanings behind these songs, like "Jerusalem," which seems to be, from everything that I have read, just about everyone’s favorite song for the most part. Can you tell me the meaning of "Jerusalem." I know the meaning is different for everyone, but from your standpoint.
B – Well, You have to go back to a poem called "Jerusalem," by a guy called William Blake. Jerusalem is about building a place of inspiration spiritual, divine, whatever you want to call it, inspiration inside of every single person. That’s what "Jerusalem" is. "Jerusalem" is also a personal vision that Blake had, of England as a spiritual pagan sanctuary. A place in which poetry was sacred and greed and things like that, as it were, banished by the force of divine inspiration, which just illuminated everybody. Aand everybody was working towards that end of just understanding creation, that was he vision and that was what he tried to put into his poetry and so that is what I tried to put into the song "Jerusalem," because that is what the poem is about.
E – That’s pretty amazing that you could take that complex of an idea and put that into lyrics like that, that’s pretty amazing.
B – Well, half of the lyrics on "Jerusalem" are actually William Blake’s. That is the poem. The quiet verses, "Bring my bow of burning gold…" those are William Blake’s lyrics. The other half of it is my lyrics. You go and read the poem and you can see what pieces I’ve used and what pieces I haven’t.
E – On "Machine Men" there are some low voices in the first part. Can you tell me what is being said there? And sounds like you.
B – It is me. Do you really want to know what it is?
E – Sure.
B – I am reading the yellow pages.
(laughter)
E - That’s funny.
B – I am reading very bizarre extracts from the yellow pages.
E – That’s funny. You just randomly picked some yellow pages and put them in there, I guess?
B – yep.(laughter)
E – Is Alchemy something that interested you since you were a teenager?
B - Yeah, I mean it was just part of a general thing I had for investigating the occult, from when I was about 14 or 15 years old. An Alchemy is part of that. You wiggle your way through strange books called Grimoires and things like that and all that sort of mediaeval stuff and that’s when you get familiar with Alchemy and the kabbalah and all that sort of stuff. It all kind of blends into what Alchemy tries to tie the whole thing together in some sort of coherent system.
E – With "Jerusalem," being labeled the jewel of the CD and with the highly acclaimed "Arc of Space," from Accident of Birth, have you ever entertained the idea of doing an acoustic album?
B – I would love too and I know Roy would love to as well. However, I think at the moment that would confuse more people then it would astound.
E – Sure, I don’t mean like this is the next acoustic works of Bruce Dickinson, but more of b-sides.
B – At some point I may actually put together an acoustic album, because there is so much acoustic songs that I have done and some vibey trippy stuff that I’ve done on the quiet, from various places. It might be nice to collate it all together on CD. As for fact there is a bootleg, of an acoustic album, that someone has put together of various acoustic songs that I’ve done for radio, which is me and Alex Dickson, among other people, doing a lot of acoustic songs. Doing "Tears of the Dragon," it sounds f**king great, in fact it sounds so good I might bootleg it myself.
E – With every release, including Tattooed Millionaire, every effort you have done has been different. Is it difficult for you to release something that different every time.
B – A lot of time I’ve been playing with different musicians on each occasion, so it’s pretty easy to come up with different stuff, because you are playing with a different bunch of people. In actual fact, Accident of Birth and this one probably sound a bit more related, because I used the same band and I think the next album, obviously we are going to keep the same band together as well. I’ve gotten a couple of directions in mind for the next album and which direction we go in depends on what it feels like when we start writing the songs. It’s something that you can’t predict. You just have to go with what grabs you by the seat of the pants, when you are writing the songs.
E – Does the success of this album, at all, influence the direction you go next time. If for some reason, this stops selling, does that influence where you’re gonna go next?
B – The success of this album, which is already incredibly successful, is food for thought. It makes me weary. There’s a trap. Most people would see this as a blessing, but I see it as a trap waiting to happen. In which you are lured into doing another Chemical Wedding, which satisfies people, but which in maybe three years time they’ll turn around and say, "You know what, that record, maybe that wasn’t as good of a record as I thought it was when I first bought it. And that I would find a bummer. So, I am always going to be looking for something that’s going to push the envelope a little bit more or make people see what I do from a different angle. I think there are a lot of opportunities to do that. I think Chemical Wedding is a fantastic way of opening doors. In actual fact, there are a lot of directions on the album, which can be explored. There’s like a whole "King in Crimson," and "Trumpets of Jericho" direction. There’s the whole "Jersualem" direction. And there’s another couple of things that me and Roy have been cooking up that people have never really heard, which we think might be really cool as well. So, there’s a lot of different directions.
E – Is it harder in England to re-establish your self or is it harder in America.
B – That’s a difficult question. It’s really two different animals America and England. America is so orientated, at a certain level America is very orientated about the radio. In America, you come to a brick wall and you can’t get past that wall without something happening on the radio. But, I think we can get to 200,000 to 300,000 albums, in North America, without having to go begging to anybody and without having to change what we do, at all. I think at some point, radio sometimes changes it self. I think if metal starts coming back then I think radio will start embracing it some more.
E – I was really pumped up about your MTV appearance, but it sucked. They didn’t give you enough airtime.
B – To be honest with you, just getting into the building was achievement.
E – You had some difficulties, I assume?
B – No, no no. I mean just getting into the building as a metal artist. Cos’ you know Korn refused to have me on the show.
E – Why?
B – Because, I was too metal. Korn was going to do a show with me. We were suppose to tape two shows and I went in and said hi to them and either them or their label, they are now claiming it was their label made them do it, said that I was too metal. And that Korn shouldn’t be appearing on MTV, because I was too metal.
E - That’s ridiculous!
B – I’m actually kind of proud. I was like to metal, huh, I’ll take that.
(At this point in the interview the music in background, which was "Powerslave," was getting a touch loud and Bruce had to pause the interview to shut the door)
E – During the time of Balls to Picasso, through Skunkworks, did you ever doubt yourself?
B – Oh, every single album.
E – Even with this one, as well?
B –No, not with this one. It only been the last couple of records that I haven’t had this real uncertainty. I’ve had to have a bit of a discussion with my self, before I start each album, going do you really want to do this? Yep! Then lets go do it then. Accident of Birth was a record, which I had so much fun doing that record, cause I had absolutely nothing to lose. I mean I didn’t give a s**t, I was just like I’m making a metal record at a time when it’s so uncool to make metal records. Oh, what a relief.
E – During the Balls to Picasso tour, the Tribe of Gypsies did not tour with you because they were with Mercury. Do you think if you guys would have stayed together, do you think you would be at this point where you are there.
B – I don’t know.
E – And not to take away from the Tribe of Gypsies, as their own band.
B – I honestly don’t know. I think it was good that I spent a bit of time wondering around in the wilderness. Because, for starters, it makes all the more fun for me and secondly, I think it has allowed a decent period of time to go by between me leaving Maiden and people realizing that hey, it’s not just a flash in the pan and I do make interesting records. Some of the work and some of them don’t. I think I probably under estimated the period of mourning that people go through. At the same time, my output has been relatively prolific and people have had a chance to examine the records. They’ve realized I‘m not fooling around and I’m not putting out bulls**t records. I am not just turning out cheesy records. I think that’s created a certain amount of respect. Even the records that have been less than successful commercially have still garnered a level of respect, for people that don’t like them, just for the fact that I am trying to do something original.
E – With this pace you have set yourself with album tour, album tour for the past four years, how much longer can we expect this? As a fan I love it, but is this something that is gonna have to slow down with the next album?
B – Well, I think with the next album there’s going to be a natural pause, because of the year 2000. As far as I can ascertain, the world is going to go completely stupid as from about the end of October, next year and is not emerge from it hangover until, sometime in early February. So, there is no point in trying to release a record or promote it or do anything for that period.
E – So there wouldn’t be another Bruce Dickinson album until 2000?
B - Yea, I can’t see how. I going to be touring America in February next year, South America then Japan. There will probably be some festivals, so I can’t possible see how I could possibly have another record done, until.
E – Summer of 2000?
B – No, I think I might have a record possibly finished the end of next year, but we wouldn’t release it until maybe the spring of 2000. So that’s the way I’m thinking and it would be certainly be a studio album. I suppose I could bang out a live album or something next year, but I don’t want to do that, because everybody does that. There’s a rash of live albums going at the moment, everybody’s doing the live album. I’m like, well, I’d rather do a studio alum. It also gives me a bit more time to sit and write the songs and hone the things a bit more. I have a couple of other little projects next year, which might be quite fun, which I do not want to talk about at the moment, but interesting stuff.
E – I was a little critical of Roy’s production job on some of the work on Accident of Birth, but with this album I saw it as pretty much flawless and I thought he has improved as producer. Is this something you have noticed as well?
B – I think he’s really grown in confidence an awful lot, I think. And certainly with Accident, we were sort of restricting our selves a bit. Neither of us were quite sure how far to go in terms of modernizing the sound. We though people might find in hard to take, just like a modern metal sound straight away, so we deliberately back peddled on some of it.
E – Not that he was a bad producer, I just thought something’s should have sounded different.
B – To be fair some of that possibly me. I said look, if we are going to err on the side of something, let’s be a weenie bit conservative, on certain aspects of this record. Because, in a sense Accident of Birth was a record to re assure people. The success of Accident of Birth really gave me the confidence to say, okay let’s unleash the voltures.
E – You just started Air Raid Records. Tell me how this came about. Are you going to have other bands on the label?
B – Basically, Air Raid has a fairly clear mission and the mission is to do my stuff, my catalog, and to do things that are fairly closely associated with me or with members of the band I’m in. Perhaps there might be room for maybe one other act or two other acts. It’s not going to be a label like a RoadRunner, that tries to be like a major label or brake people from scratch. We don’t have the resources to do that, but what we do have, is the resources to do a really f**ing good job of doing what should be done. Let’s say, when you are signed to an independent label, as I have been in the past, and the promises are made that independent labels give you special undivided attention that majors can’t give you. And then often you find this is not necessarily the case, because they do not have the resources. And of course when you do your own label and you are in fact the only artist on it, of course you get the resources. So, this is what were doing and actually be are being unbelievably successful in Europe, at the moment. Now, were selling 90,000 records in Europe, so far. A lot of other bands with other labels are looking at saying "Hello," we’re not selling this many records.
E – I’ve noticed that you are on some soundtracks, compilations and tribute albums. How does this come about? Is this something that they bring to you or is something that you kind of go after yourself?
B – No, no, no. I never go after stuff like that. I don’t even know who to go after it. People just pick up the phone and say will Bruce be interested in doing this and nine time out of ten I’ll say yes.
E – Of course with a nominal fee?
B – Yeah. It just depends on what the project is. If it’s a big major label phoning up and says we want you to go do this with so and so, I’m like ok. The fee goes up accordingly. When it was the Alice Cooper tribute, they did not have a whole bunch of money, but it was something I thought was gonna really fun. So, I said, well look I’ll go do it and that’s that.