Interview by Kris Peters
Even the biggest metal bands in the world can divide their fans when it comes to different eras of music.
Even Iron Maiden.
The band has had two main frontmen throughout their career - as in two that fans identify with the most -, Paul Di'Anno - who sung on the band's debut self-titled album and the follow-up Killers, and current vocalist Bruce Dickinson who has sung on thirteen studio albums.
They are two different and unique lead singers and debate can and will rage on forever about who sounds the best, but the good news for Australian lovers of metal is that in the space of eight months we get the opportunity to hear both performing in their own right.
Iron Maiden and Dickinson hit our shores in September for a run of shows, but, before that, the man who started it all, Paul Di'Anno plans to reacquaint audiences with those first two albums on a tour which is underway as we speak!
Performing classics such as Running Free, Sanctuary, Wrathchild, Remember Tomorrow, Murders in the Rue Morgue and plenty more, Di'Anno - who has fronted a number of bands since leaving Maiden in 1981 but is only unleashing songs from those first two Maiden albums on this tour - has vowed to take us back to where it all began and reignite the flames of early heavy metal, Iron Maiden style.
Despite health problems that nearly curtailed his career over the last couple of years, Di'Anno has fulfilled his promise to bring Australian fans the music that shaped a generation and has cast aside any lingering issues to deliver in style.
HEAVY caught up with Di'Anno not long after he arrived in Australia ahead of his first show in Perth. We asked the great man what fans can expect from the shows.
"This is my first time back in 8 or 9 years now," he began, "because basically, I have been able to do fuck all. What we are doing is saying a big thank you and a farewell - not from touring - but from doing Iron Maiden stuff. This is a whole Maiden heavy show featuring songs from the first two albums, and it's been quite successful. I'm surprised. Because Iron Maiden can't play the fucken songs (laughs). Then next year we come out… coming out very soon is a Greatest Hits of mine with tracks from Battlezone and Killers and other bands I have been in. It's an album called The Book Of The Beast, and we have the movie coming out in a couple of months as well - it's like a Rockumentary we've been doing - once we've got all that stuff out I will go back into rehearsals to learn all the stuff of mine."
In the full interview, Paul talks more about the show and what to expect, preparing mentally and physically for a run of shows so far from home, how his injuries have changed his approach to playing live, his early years singing with Iron Maiden, who he based his vocal style on, his reaction to leaving the band, how he has changed and grown musically over the years, what's next after this tour, his top three Commandments Of Metal and more.