20 QUESTIONS WITH…

Iron Maiden Drummer Nicko McBrain

This week’s 20 Questions is with Iron Maiden’s Nicko McBrain.  Metal Masters hooked us up with Nicko, so we thank them for that.  Nicko was pretty honest and handled out questions pretty good.  Check it out.

1.  What are you currently up to?  This is your only chance to plug your shit.
NICKO:  The band are currently in a studio in Paris putting the finishing touches to our New album.  We should be able to announce a date of release soon. 

2.  Iron Maiden had Clive Burr playing drums before you. What did you

 

do before joining Iron Maiden?

 

I worked with various studios from 1973 to 75, then joined a band called Streetwalkers featuring Charlie Witney on rhythem/slide guitar and Roger Chapman vocals these two guys used to have a band called Family I played on
two albums with them called Downtown Flyers and Red Card.  After a couple of years I joined Pat Travers. I stayed with Pat also for two albums, Making Magic and Putting it Straight. 

 

After Pat I played with a chick singer named Jenny Darran. I played an album with her but I’m buggered if I can remember the name of it!!! Anyway after that I was with Jim Cappaldi for a bout six months. We didn’t do any records but had a blast on a couple of mini tours. Jim used to play the Tubs for a band called Traffic. That was real fun.

After that I joined a French band called Trust, man that was weird not speaking the lingo and all it was mad at times but great music. I got canned from them in 1982, shortly after that (about July) I got offered the gig with Maiden. The rest is as they say History. 

3.  After almost 2 decades of playing in Iron Maiden, what makes you eager to continue?

 

To play live for the boys and girls is the only way to go. Maiden are a band that truly love to play, that’s where we love to be, On Stage we rule.

4.  What hard rock/heavy metal band should give it up and call it a day?

 

No one should give up what they love to do the most, even if they are called Hanson.

5.  Rate the following drummers on a scale of 1 to 10.  1 being somebody who totally sucks and 10 being a drum god.   Alex Van Halen   = 10 Lars Ulrich = 7 Tommy Lee = 9 Vinnie Paul = 8 Rikki Rockett = 6 Neil Peart = 10   John Bonham = 10 Eric Singer = 7 Joey Kramer =   7 Bobby Blotzer =  7

6.  You played a gig a few years back with Sebastian Bach, along with Eddie Ojeda and Rudy Sarzo and it was called ?Doom.?  How big a pain in the ass was Sebastian?  Was he difficult to deal with?

 

Sebastian Bach is a Diamond Gezzer, and No he was not an awkward guy to deal with, quiet the opposite actually and we had a Blast doing the Thunderfest thing together. 

7.  Since you guys have gone through 3 different singers, somebody in the band has to be difficult to deal with?  So who?s the dick in the band to deal with? Is it Steve Harris? Why are these guys quitting or being fired?   If anyone’s the Dick in the band it’s probably Meeeeeeeeeeeee. So watch out. People come and People go and in some cases they come back, that’s the way it goes.  Not all marriages are made in heaven. 8.  Who in your mind is the best singer for Iron Maiden?   Bruce Dickinson is, The Man. The best singer for Maiden without a doubt.

9.  For $250,000:  Have someone?s spit from a spittoon (the result of tobacco dipping) inserted via an enema into your own ass.  Then release the contents of your butt into a glass.  Chug that son of a bitch and you?ve got the $250,000.  Would you do it?

 

Sick Sick Sick, I think that whatever sick M F thought up such a stupid question as that needs to see someone about their problem REAL SOON!!!!!!!!!!!!!  

10.  What do you remember about the following years?

 

1975 =

 

Gigs somewhere.
1979 = More gigs somewhere.
1983 =

 

My son Nicholas was born 2:55pm on 4th February. More gigs but this time with Maiden
1987 =

 

More gigs.
1991 = More gigs Janick joined the band.
1997 = More gigs (lovely).

11.  Who were some of the biggest asshole bands you’ve ever encountered while touring the U.S.?

 

No one that we have met on the road have been pratts. We have always worked with Diamond people. 

12.  Steve writes the majority of Iron Maiden?s songs. It’s not very often that a bass player is and continues to be the lead writer of a band but yet has such a quite stage and public personality.  What?s Steve all about?   Steve is really cool. He loves to play soccer and be with his family, but when he gets into Maiden mode he’s like totally possessed and driven to that end. He’ got a real active mind which in turn gives him the majority of the ideas that he comes up with, like for instance back in 81 he went to see the movie The Omen, that night when he’d gone to bed he had a nightmare, it frightened the life out of him so he wrote a song about it. It’s called Number of the Beast. Steve takes inspiration for songs from all kinds of situations and turns them into great songs he really amazes me sometimes especially when they have weird time signatures in them. I love him he’s cool.

Nicko & Steve Harris

13.  Bruce has always been very out spoken. Is he a dick to the band members like he appears to be when ranting on stage about MTV, Top pop selling bands and other issues?

 

Bruce is a very sensitive guy, especially when it comes to voicing an opinion about something like the crap that’s played on TV or what’s going on in the charts.  He only gets excited like that on stage. He isn’t at all like it off stage. 

14.  What rock star deserves a smack in the mouth and why?

 

No one that I can think of right now, but there are a few no brain journos that I know that deserve a F—ing good slap. 

15.  Iron Maiden must have groupies, all bands do. However it’s safe to say that Motley Crue, Poison and Kiss pulled in more chicks than you guys did. Did you bang alot of broads in Iron Maiden’s heyday?   How would you know weather or not that the Crue or come to that any other band pulled more Tarts than the mighty Maiden?  And I’m not going to tell you anyway see, cause I’m a Dick remember (see Q 7) TEE HEE!!!

16.  You guys have always had a large European following. However, your U.S. concerts had dropped off from 8 & 12 thousand seat arenas to 1500 to 2500 seat theaters. Has Europe stayed the same as it was in the mid-late 80s?

 

Where have you been for the last year, you must have had ya head stuck up question #9 mate?  Last year the mighty Maiden played 18 shows across America ALL Arena’s ALL sold out. strange that!!!!!!!

17.  What are you top 3 Best and Worst metal albums of all time?

 

Best three,
Joe Satriani / Joe Satriani.
Led Zep#2.
Eric Clapton / Ocean boulevard.
       
Worst three,
Havn’t got any. 

18.  Iron Maiden has never really been to much of a looks and image kind of band. Do you ever feel slighted by the public and slow sales? Example: Poison sold nearly 20 million records off a lot of sugar coated videos and pictures.  Does that bum you out at all?   No, I don’t feel slighted in the least about any of that bull. Maiden have sold over 46 million albums which aint bad either and the most important thing to us is what we give to our Fans, they are the best, they deserve the best we can give, and that’s by the music and doing hard in your face shows. We don’t need anything else than that, anyway I’m still the best looking one in the band what more do you want.

19.  You have an extremely flat face and nose. Kind of like one of those Pug dogs.  Has anyone ever mentioned this to you and does it bother you? 

No, it doesn’t bother me mate.
But you to can have a Roman nose,
=
=
It’ll be Roman all over your face.(TEE HEE). 

20.  Time for Metal Sludge’s Word Association.  We mention a name, and you give us your thoughts.

 

Bruce Dickinson

/

The bollox
Rob Halford

 

/ Tart
Lars Ulrich

 

/ How tall?
Sebastian Bach

/

Cool
Vince Neil

 

/ What happened to my car man?
Kid Rock

/

Getting older.
Pamela Anderson

/

Who’s Tommy?
Blayze Bayley

/

Elvis has left the building
Def Leppard

/

How long to make an album Mutt?
Ozzy Osbourne

/

Don Ardon’s me Father in law so watch out All right.

For the latest news on Iron Maiden, check out their official website at www.ironmaiden.com.