Steve and Blaze

A very big thank you to Anders Bromander
(anders.bromander@mailbox.swipnet.se) for transcribing this interview
for me [Örjan Friberg d94of@efd.lth.se].

DO YOU AGREE WITH THE VIEW THAT THE LAST TWO MAIDEN STUDIO ALBUMS
WEREN'T THE BAND AT THEIR BEST, PERHAPS BRUCE WASN'T 100% INTO THE
BAND, AND THAT YOU SHOULD HAVE PARTED WAYS AFTER THE SUCCESS OF
"SEVENTH SON..." AND FOUND A NEW SINGER THEN?

BLAZE: "No because I wouldnīt have got the gig. So everythingīs worked
out just fine."

STEVE: "At the time of No Prayer... I felt it was more weird than Fear
of..., because thatīs when he had his first solo album out. I thought
if he was going to jump ship it would have been then. And I actually
asked him then if he didnīt want to be in the band anymore, and he
said he really did. But I felt on No Prayer... and the live
performances that maybe he wasnīt as into it as he had been. On Fear
Of..., funnily enough, I felt like he was back into it a lot more. But
than again itīs all opinions. Get 10 punters, and half will say one
thing and half another. No Prayer..., I wouldnīt say is our strongest
album, but then again I wouldnīt say itīs our weakest album either.

WHAT WAS YOUR INITIAL REACTION TO BRUCE WANTING TO LEAVE? 

STEVE: "I was shocked at the timing. I wasnīt shocked that he was
going, because I suppose for a couple of years I thought he might jump
ship anyway. The fact that he seemd to be back into it at Fear Of...,
it was only when we had a six week break that something happened. I
was mixing the live stuff, and we always knew that weīd go back out
and release the live stuff at the end of the tour. Three weeks before
the second part of the tour, he decided to go, so we changed our plans
and brought out the live albums a lot earlier.

HOW DIFFICULT WAS IT PLAYING THAT FINAL TOUR WITH A SINGER WHO WAS
GOING TO QUIT?

STEVE: "Being honest, it was very difficult, because none of us really
wanted to go and play on a tour with someone who didnīt want to be
there. But then the ticket sales were great and we didnīt want to let
the fans down, and we thought it was the best thing to do. Heīd
already said heīd go out whith a bang. We knew it was going to be
hard, we knew it wouldnīt be easy, but we said "Fuck it", weīll just
go out and try and enjoy it as best we can.

THERE HAVE ALWAYS BEEN A LOT OF RUMOURS THAT YOU AND BRUCE REALLY
DIDNīT GET ON AT ALL. WOULD YOU LIKE TO CLARIFY THE SITUATION?

STEVE: "No itīs not true. Both of us would admit that we werenīt soul
mates, but we always got on really well. The first years was the
hardest with him, because I think he was trying to prove himself in
the band, almost like some sort of power thing with what I did. I told
him I think the singer should be the frontman and the mouthpiece on
and off the stage, and I didnīt have a problem with that. After heīd
settled down with the writing on ...The Beast there wasnīt a problem.
Professionaly we got on great, and as people we didnīt really have any
arguments either. The arguments have always been between me and Nicko.
But then maybe thatīs healthier, I dunno. I would rather have a big
argument with somebody, get it all out in the open and have done with
it and thatīs it. Obviously thereīs a lot of stuff Bruce has said
since, that he was really unhappy with this or that, and he never told
us. How can you do anything about anything if you donīt know about it?
You canīt compromise with each other if you donīt know what those
compromises are supposed to be."

IS IT TRUE THAT BLAZE WAS ALWAYS YOUR IMMEDIATE CHOICE AS VOCALIST? 

STEVE: "In my eyes I felt he would be the right man, but obviously we
wanted to go through and have all the auditions and everything else
because we had to get the right person. If Blaze was gonna get the job
he was gonna get it on merit; he couldnīt just come in on the olds
pals act. Thatīs worked before - when Nicko and Janick joined, we knew
īem and they came down and jammed and it was great. We could have done
the same thing with Blaze, but we wanted to make sure we had the right
person for the job. Not that we had any doubts about Blaze, but we had
plenty of time and we had to make sure everyone was happy. And he got
the job on merit."

BLAZE: "I doubted myself at first, because it seemed like such a
momentous thing. And if you think about what Bruce did - fantastic
voice, incredible range, the songs that he sung - and about what Paul
(DiīAnno) did when he was in the band, trying to follow those two
geezers... So I was glad I jumped through all the hoops, because I was
then sure of myself and it made me feel better."

HOW WEIRD WAS IT HAVING BLAZE IN THE BAND INSTEAD OF BRUCE FOR THOSE
FIRST COUPLE OF MONTHS?

STEVE: "I wasnīt odd at all. The worst time was when we didnīt have a
singer, when we were auditioning. It was weird, very strange. It
wasn't a unit anymore. Then when Blaze joined it was like we were a
band agin. Whenever weīve had a changeover in the band itīs been very
quick and non to painful. This was different and weird. It took me
back to when it was just me and Dave and Doug Sampson, and we had no
singer and we were rehearsing."

BLAZE: "It was weird for me, certainly the first couple of months..." 

STEVE: "Was it, you never told us (laughs)" 

BLAZE: "No, I mean we were getting on and that, but Iīd been in a band
for so long Iīd kind of lost my identity. Because you had Bruce,
ex-singer of Iron Maiden, Blaze ex-singer of Wolfsbane, but not the
new singer of Iron Maiden because I hadnīt been in the band long
enough to be accepted by the fans."

STEVE: "It didnīt feel like that for me." 

BLAZE: "Well you were still in the same band." 

WERE YOU AWARE OF THE PERCEIVED SIMILARITIES BETWEEN BLAZE AND BRUCE? 

STEVE: "Oh yeah. I mean even when he jammed on one song on the No
Prayer... tour - all the joking about them looking a bit alike and
stuff. It was all good fun and banter. Yeah, we were aware of it but
we weren't going to let that put us off, because I donīt think heīs
that much like Bruce. But second-wise and voice wise, theyīre
different."

WHAT DO YOU THINK OF THE STATE OF HEAVY METAL TODAY? 

STEVE: "Umm, well I think itīs obviously changing. Thereīs a lot of
alternative stuff and this and the other, grunge and everything
else... But the more different things there are happening is, I think,
healthy. The only thing I found is that some of it is more
vogue-based, in a sense that itīs become more of a fashion statement
for bands, which I think is worrying. Rock music is about the music,
and not a fashion statement. Iīm not going to go out and wearing what
people are wearing now, because it wouldnīt feel right. Itīd feel
stupid."

WHAT DO YOU TO THE ACCUSATION THAT MAIDEN ARE NO LONGER RELEVANT? 

STEVE: "Bollocks!" 

BLAZE: "Itīs the same thing as when they started. Then it was punk and
disco, and now itīs Green Day and techno!"

STEVE: Apart from a two year-period around 83/84, when maybe we were
deemed as being cool, weīve never been a cool, hip band, before or
after that. We do what we do and you can take us or leave us."

DESPITE THE SNEERING REACTION OF SOME OF TODAYīS YOUNGER BANDS TO THE
MORE ESTABLISHED ACTS, J MASCIS OF DINOSAUR JR RECENTLY REVEALED THAT
HEīS A MAIDEN FAN, AND WHEN OVER HERE RECENTLY HE WANTED TO GO AND SEE
THE BAND BUT NO-ONE AT HIS RECORD COMPANY BELIEVED HE WANTED TO. IS
YOUR INFLUENCE ON BANDS ACKNOWLEDGED ENOUGH?

STEVE: "I think a lot of people are into the band or have been into
the band, but because the way things are with fasion and that, theyīre
probably afraid to say so. Whatever, I donīt really know if thatīs the
case. What I find weird is that we never had an attitude to older
bands when we were young. It was never " Weīre not gonna get on tour
with them because theyīre not cool" or any of that bullshit, and yet
itīs a lot of that, and not just with us. And itīs fucking bullshit.
In the early we played with bands like 38special, whoīre nothing like
us, but we had a real laugh. And I think some bands now are gonna
disappear up their own arse if theyīre not careful by turning down
tours because itīs not cool."

HOW NERVOUS ARE YOU OF THE RECEPTION "THE X-FACTOR" WILL GET, OR DONīT
YOU WORRY ABOUT THINGS LIKE THAT ANYMORE?

STEVE: "I always worry about how people are going to react to our
albums. Probably more so with this one than any of the others because
itīs so important. But I always worry, always will do. The time that
you get that big-headed that you think "Oh weīre gonna sell so many
albums" well thatīs the time to give up, I suppose. Youīve always got
to be worried. If someone writes some bullshit about you in the paper,
slags your album off, which to be honest has never happened to us,
weīve always been pretty lucky with the press but nobody likes to be
slagged off. You can say you donīt care, but you do really. Obviously
you want to be liked, and you spend a long time putting your heart and
soul into an album and you want it to be appreciated. But then again
you canīt expect everyone out there to like Iron Maiden. If everybody
liked the same thing itīd be boring, wouldnīt it?"

YOUīVE OBVIOUSLY HAD A GOOD RUN UP TO NOW WITH PLENTY OF CRITICAL AND
COMMERCIAL SOURCIAL SUCCES, BUT HOW LONG CAN MAIDEN GO ON?

BLAZE: "Itīs a new start" 

STEVE: "Iīve said this time and time again: as long as weīre still
enjoying it as long as the people are still there. Bruce once said he
didnīt want to play a gig at Guildford Civic Hall. Fuck it, Iīll play
in Guildford Civic Hall. Iīll even play a pub in Guildford, it doesnīt
bother me at all. As long as weīre playing to people, then Iīll olay.
Obviously the more people the better, but thatīs not what really
matters. Itīs whether youīre enjoying yourself. I mean, how bad?
Touring around the world, having a great time, playing to loads of
people. Itīs terrible, innit! Well someoneīs gotta do it!

[This text was nicked from the homepage of Örjan Friberg
]

    Source: geocities.com/~tkause/ftp-directory-maiden/interviews

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