Remembering The Classics With PAUL DI'ANNO

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.