Blaze Bayley: "Iron Maiden are culturally as important as Star Wars"

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This year marks a full thirty years since a controversial choice by Steve Harris and Rod Smallwood: the choice of the British Blaze Bayley as a replacement of the iconic Bruce Dickinson in the legendary Iron Maiden. Blaze was a completely different singer to Bruce and the two records he released with them brought changes to the band's sound. The future ultimately held the departure of Blaze and the reinstatement of Bruce and Adrian Smith. The rest is history, part of which we are going to relive in a few days at Gagarin and Eightball, where the honest Blaze will visit us to play (mostly) pieces from that period, but also from his own remarkable works.

On this occasion, we had a rather interesting conversation with him. Blaze had good words to say for everyone - except for the English press! He mentioned many times that he greatly appreciates the opportunity he was given then to become the singer of Iron Maiden and that because of this fact, many still give his music a chance today. He spoke respectfully of the recently deceased Paul Di'Anno, but also of current Maiden, with whom he maintains good relations and sees them live whenever he has the chance. Fortunately, it seems that he has put behind him the big adventure he went through a few months ago with his health - he just asks us to respect it and follow the simple rules he set for the meet & greet at the upcoming concerts. One photo with each, one item to sign for each. Pretty simple, please respect it!

Hello, Blaze. How you doing? Can you hear me?

I'm fine. I'm fine, and I'm very glad to have you on the screen of my computer.

I don't know which part of the globe you are right now. Should I say good morning? Should I say good afternoon?

I'm at home in Birmingham.

Good afternoon, then!

Good afternoon.

My name is Pantelis and I am calling you on behalf of rocking.gr and I'm very happy that we have the opportunity for this conversation. You are visiting us in about 10 days' time for a couple shows and I've got a couple of questions for you about these shows and about some other stuff. Should I go on?

Yeah.

A couple of months ago you had a new record out. I'm talking about "Circle of Stone". What was the response for this album? I have listened to it around the time it came out and it's another honest record by an honest musician that that we all love here in Greece.

Well, I'm very lucky that my fans really enjoyed this album. Some of the fans that I've had for a very long time are saying that it's the best album I've done, which is absolutely amazing. I'm very, very excited about coming to Greece and playing a couple of songs from the "Circle of Stone" album with my anniversary setlist. I followed a different approach to this album. I purposely wanted to keep the lyrics simple on it. Also, a few spooky things happened… On the day after I finished the "Circle of Stone" album, I had a heart attack. I didn't have heart failure, but I had a heart attack. I had to go to the hospital, where they said that if I hadn't got the treatment, if I'd been alone, I would probably be dead. And so, the album has a very special meaning for me because I thought I really want to see my fans and play these songs live for them. It feels there's something very, very special there, it's the passion and emotion that we were able to put into the "Circle of Stone" album. It feels like there's some degree of magic there, and I felt I've got to come back. I've got to get well so that I can see my fans and perform these songs live. I'm very, very lucky that I have a great team and wonderful support from my fans around the world and I've been able to come back. My voice hasn't been affected at all in a negative way, and I've been able to tour and slowly regain my strength. I've managed to build my strength back after this big operation. I had to have a quadruple bypass surgery and that takes a long time to come back from, and now I've got my strength back. I'm very excited about coming back to Greece and performing some of these songs, alongside some of my Iron Maiden songs, so it's a great feeling for me. My Greek fans have always been there for me when I was with Iron Maiden and the solo tours I've done after my departure.

On the day after I finished the "Circle of Stone" album, I had a heart attack. I had to have a quadruple bypass surgery

When we learned about your heart problem and the operation, we were very worried here. I'm very happy to hear that you are doing very well right now. You also look very well and we're glad to be able to see you in a couple of days. You have been working with Absolva for many years now, so you have a permanent group of musicians that you are working with. How is that compared to working with different musicians every time?

One of the things about being independent and not having a mainstream record deal is that it's very difficult to keep a band together. Absolva are a great band in their own right and over the last 10 years, we've worked together more closely and we've developed a relationship, musically and personally. I mean, there's some kind of telepathic connection, almost. When we're on stage, it feels good. We've written a lot of the songs together, and that also feels good. It was fun before, working with different musicians and working with different local bands. I would just fly in, rehearse with the band and then do a few dates and that was a lot of fun, meeting different musicians from different countries. But really, you need a lot of rehearsals to get a really consistent performance. The more we worked together with Absolva, the more we found that the performance generally was higher and that's what I wanted to give to my fans. I sometimes miss the fun of turning up and meeting new people. But really, when we're together with Absolva, everybody is very hard working. Everybody puts the music first. When we rehearse together, it's at another level. I hope that when we come to Greece this time, fans will enjoy that and I'm hoping that we will connect the way that we have before with the Greek audience. There will be a free meet and greet at both of my Greek shows, but.in order to be able to make that free, it can only be one photo with each and one item to sign for each.

Fair enough!

That's how I can do it free, because there are hundreds of people that want it. Last time I was in Athens, I signed for 400 people after the show. With my health now, I can't do a meet and greet after the show. It's too much. Well, what I ask, what I say to my fans is: OK, I can do a free meet and greet, but it can only be one item to sign and one selfie each and that's going to be before the show. So, when the doors open, I will be there to meet my Greek fans to say "hello", have a selfie and sign. But please, only bring one item with you and be prepared just to have one selfie. Then I can do a meet and greet for free for everybody.

If you have a list of the top 20 Iron Maiden songs, for me "The Clansman" and "Futureal" should be there

I will make sure to inform our readers. I don't remember the last time, but the pre last time I remember that you were signing and taking pictures for a long, long, long time after the show. And yeah, it must be very tiring.

It was for hours.

It must be nice to be loved and to have people come and speak to you, but it also must be very tiring. I can understand totally. OK, so how do you manage to have such a full live sound?

We have two guitars now, we have Luke Appleton, he used to be Iced Earth and I've managed to get him for my live band. He's also with Absolva, so we have a full sound because we have two guitars. But when I do my songs from Iron Maiden, it's my own arrangement that I worked out with the guys in the band. We do it slightly differently to how we had it in Iron Maiden and so far my fans enjoy that difference. We've had no complaints and people don't think it's much different. We enjoy doing that, it's not exactly the same, we don't copy the records. I do that with my own albums, with my own songs, too. We're not trying to do what is identical to the record, we're 100% live. What we do is we say, OK, let's take the heart of this song and let's do the best for this song in a live situation. And so far that's what my fans enjoy. And I'm hoping that the Greek audience will enjoy that when we come next week.

From the three singers, I am the one that knew that if you are a part of Iron Maiden, you'll never be forgotten by the fans

We will enjoy it once more! The two records that you made with Iron Maiden have their own fans. Which one do you like better, "The X Factor" or "Virtual XI"? I belong to the minority that likes "Virtual XI" better!

I can't really decide. It's like trying to pick a favorite child. Both albums have so much meaning for me. They're both very dear to me. "The X Factor" was my first time working with Iron Maiden and we wrote a lot of songs together. And the impact of those songs when we played them live, especially in Greece, was incredible. Then for "Virtual XI", we've been together a little while and writing with a bit more familiarity. It was an incredible experience and on "Virtual XI" we have "The Clansman", which I think is one of the best Iron Maiden songs ever.

"Futureal" is also on that record.

Yes, they're two, I think, of the best Iron Maiden songs. If you have a list of the top 20 Iron Maiden songs for me, those two songs should be there. "The X Factor" has a darkness in it, it's a different sounding album from what came before. It marks a turning point in the musical direction of Iron Maiden. And when you look at my "Circle Of Stone" album, you can see a direct relationship between what I learned writing with Iron Maiden on "The X Factor" and how my songs are arranged now on this album.

From a cultural and a pop-culture point of view, Iron Maiden are as important as Star Wars

How does it feel that that you are an important part of the Iron Maiden history? I would feel proud about it. What are your feelings now that it's a long time since you have been with them?

That from the three singers, I am the one that knew that if you are a part of Iron Maiden, you'll never be forgotten by the fans and they will always think of you as a part of Iron Maiden metal music family. I think it was different both for Bruce and for Paul. They weren't really fans of the band before. I was always an Iron Maiden fan. I started listening to Iron Maiden when I first started getting into heavy music. I knew that if you were in Kiss or Iron Maiden, every fan knew every member of the band, past and present. So I was ready for that. For me, it's been a great honor and a privilege to be part of a legend that still continues. I think Iron Maiden are one of the most important bands in music. Not just heavy metal, but in music. As Taylor Swift is important in pop music, so Iron Maiden are one of the most important ones in rock music. They're as important as Led Zeppelin, I believe, and I'm proud to have been a part of that. I'm still friends with the guys in the band. I go and see them whenever they're local live and I'm not on tour myself. I think that from a cultural and a pop-culture point of view, Iron Maiden are as important as Star Wars.

The only thing I would change from my time with Iron Maiden it that I would have more rehearsals. Just as simple as that

I agree that Iron Maiden are one of the most important bands in the history of music, not just metal. In metal, some say that they are maybe the greatest. Would you change anything from your period with them?

Yeah, I would have more rehearsals. Just as simple as that. Really, because, you know, on the first couple of gigs of the tour I always felt a bit uncertain. And then by about 5 or 6 gigs I was fine. That's the only thing I would change really. Just have a few rehearsals. They were so experienced and professional in what they did they didn't really need it. I would have felt more confident if I just had a few more rehearsals before each tour.

Back then, did you feel that you had a burden in your back, being the lead singer of Iron Maiden?

Oh, absolutely not. I only felt joy, my dream was coming true. I always dreamed of being a singer in a band, like Ronnie James Dio. I dreamed of touring the world on a big, long tour. I never cared about going home. I had no children. I was a single man, not married. I just wanted to live in the tour bus and tour the world. So no, there was no downside of it. I just felt like, "yeah, I have a chance here, this is a wonderful band". And the songs that I was singing, classic songs like "The Trooper" and "Hallowed Be Thy Name" and "Fear Of The Dark" and "Iron Maiden" and "Running Free", all of those incredible, wonderful songs. For me it was an absolute joy to be able to sing those songs. So really, I just felt I had a great opportunity. In most places I had incredible support from fans as the new singer. The fans said "right. OK, let's give him a chance, let's see what he can do". And it's great to meet a lot of fans today who say I'm their first Iron Maiden singer and how much they love that era and they're still into Iron Maiden and my records are their favorites. I just felt like it was a dream come true and a massive opportunity for me to be the lead singer. Since that time, I've had my ups and downs, but I'm totally independent. I am the record label. It's just me and I'm supported just by my fans, nobody else. When my fans buy the ticket for the concert, when my fans buy the album, when my fans play me on Spotify and promote me, it's that that keeps me going and makes it possible for me to make my next album and as an artist to express myself. So really I just feel very lucky that I had that opportunity. I think it's very important that Iron Maiden continue. I think they're doing great work and that little thing of "I was in Iron Maiden", just that little bit of notoriety gets people interested. They say "oh well, maybe I'll listen to him because if he did that, maybe could be worth listening to". Some people don't like what I do, and some people love what I'm doing now, so I'm very lucky to have had the opportunity to be in Iron Maiden.

If the government knew how good the feeling of hearing fans singing the songs that you've written is, they would tax that

I'm very happy to listen that you only see the positive side, it's very nice. What is the situation with Wolfsbane today? You had a new record about two years ago. Are there any plans?

That album is called "Genius" and it's on Spotify. If you want to find out more about Wolfsbane, then go to www.wolfsbaneband.com and you can find out about us. We're all very old and in different states of health. So, when we are all in reasonable health and we're free, we get together and we do a little tour. At the moment we're working on "Live Fast Die Fast", which was the first Wolfsbane album. We're remaking that album because the original tapes are lost and we're doing that so we can have it on Spotify and put it out on vinyl and everything. Then, we're hoping to do a few dates next year. All the original members of Wolfsbane are still together, and that's who makes the album, and that's who comes on tour. So yeah, Wolfsbane is still going. Whenever we have time to get together, then we get together and we try and tour. The last tour we did was just so much fun and we think that the latest album, "Genius", as a complete album, is our best one.

It's very impressive that so many years later, you are still the original members. You have been putting out new records all the time and all of them are at least of very good quality. What is your motivation, your inspiration and your driving force behind this creativity?

Well, I'm very lucky that I have incredible fans and I know that whatever I do then they are going to listen to it and I hope that they will enjoy it. As an artist I express myself whenever we do an album. Then afterwards there's always a feeling that I want to do something a bit different to the album I've just done. I think that's common with a lot of artists. So, the "Circle Of Stone" album is a little bit different to the previous album "War Within Me", which is quite a tough album talking about getting through the worst circumstances, whereas the "Circle Of Stone" album is a bit more positive. There's a story on there. Half of the album is a concept about your connection to your ancestors. Then the feeling is, well, "what will I do next"? Well, I have a feeling I want to do something a little bit different to that, but not very different. I'm still walking down the narrow path of metal with the things that we use, but slightly different. So I think it's the satisfaction of being able to express myself as an artist and to have the incredible support of my fans that make it worthwhile for me. I know I have an audience, I know I have my fans and I'm thinking of them. I'm thinking of those last shows that we did in Greece at Gagarin and in Thessaloniki. These shows had an incredible reaction to my music. Wow. Well, what can I do that's new? When I go back and tour, to hear fans singing the songs that you've written is an incredible feeling. And if the government knew how good that feeling was, they would tax that. opportunity to be in Iron Maiden.

In the first two Iron Maiden albums the music is different, innovative, breaks rules and does things that you are not supposed to do musically. Paul was a part of that and will never be forgotten

Maybe that's the title of the interview! Could you tell us some words about Paul Di' Anno? You mentioned him before and I think that you did not just know each other, but you also toured together in the past.

I was talking to him a couple of months ago, in my local gig, which is KK Steel Mill in Wolverhampton. He was talking about getting out of the wheelchair by Christmas, saying that things were going well. And then, last weekend I was talking to a couple of people in Waterloo venue in Blackpool saying that they were with Paul two weeks ago and he was very positive about things. So, it's a real shock that he's gone. We did a lot of work together. We went to Australia, New Zealand. Russia, Ukraine, Scandinavia, we did a lot of gigs together a few years ago. It was "Paul and Blaze doing Iron Maiden sets" and it was a great time. You know, we got on well and he was such a funny guy with a great sense of humor and we had a lot of banter. What I find very offensive is that the English newspapers say "the forgotten singer of Iron Maiden". Paul will never be forgotten by any Iron Maiden fan, ever. That is it. So, for them to say that is an absolute lie. Paul is a legend. Those first two Iron Maiden albums are just as important as the last two Iron Maiden albums and my two Iron Maiden albums and they are incredible work of their time. The music is different, it's innovative, it breaks rules and does things that you are not supposed to do musically. Paul was a part of that. As for his voice, even in recent years, when he'd had a couple of days off and his voice was rested, you could be at that gig and close your eyes and it was better than anything he'd ever recorded. Of course he did great work after Iron Maiden with his band Killers. What he did and what he was able to achieve is really incredible and I'll miss him. You know, I always think "ohh, I'll bump into Paul". We were supposed to be going to see him in a couple of weeks. It feels bizarre that he's gone. He's a part of something. He will never be forgotten, never ever be forgotten. He's a legend and I think that everyone who saw him after Maiden will now feel very lucky that they had a chance to see him. And the few people remaining that did see him with Maiden, they will feel very, very honored to have seen that. I had a dream that perhaps Paul, Bruce and me would be on stage one day singing a song together. But that dream is dead now. It died with Paul. We'll all miss him. It's a great shame. He's in Valhalla with Lemmy now.

It was nice to listen to these nice and kind words about Paul. You have played here in Greece many times. Which is your favorite show? Was there a show that you still remember?

You know, I can't forget my times there with Iron Maiden and the big shows. Every good tour that I've done has had something magical about it. The last Greek tour was incredible. The biggest headline show that I'd done in my own right was there in Greece at Gagarin, and it was just incredible. So, every time I come to Greece, we make memories and we enjoy ourselves so much. I want to say a huge "thank you" to all of my fans in Greece for their support, for remembering me and for making it possible for me to return to Greece, It's something that's so exciting for me and the band. We just can't wait to come back.

Blaze, I will tire you no more. I would like to thank you very much for this talk. I'm coming to the show with my brother. He called me the other day and he asked me, "are we going to see Blaze"? "Of course", I told him. I don't know if our eyes are going to meet, but please know that we're going to be there screaming for you.

Thank you, efcharisto. Thank you so much to Greece that has supported me for so long. Thank you Bye bye, my friend.