Before we get things back on track, I just want to chip in as I'm wondering if my post was one of the ones you felt was hostile
@Luisma , so I want to make myself a bit clearer.
First off, absolutely no hostility was meant at all, I'm sorry if it came off that way.
I have no doubt that you have/had connections to the band, nor do I want to discredit your work, nor do I think you're wrong to not want to reveal everything you've written, and I understand that you may not be allowed to say everything you want to due to confidentiality agreements. I simply find it difficult to take the word of someone on the Internet that I know nothing about, especially in this day and age of AI bullshit and fake news. It's all too easy for someone to come along and post vague hints that they might know something but are "unable to share it", and if the only way to find out whether your word is true is by parting with my money, then yeah, I am going to be more sceptical.
This is why I asked others what they've seen you post to make them sure of your word. I didn't mean it as "this guy is blatantly lying, how could you believe him?!", but more genuine curiosity... and maybe a little bit of the aforementioned scepticism. I have seen a few comments from you responding to others' speculations that are along the lines of "Well, just you wait and see...!", which doesn't really confirm or deny anything. I'm not saying this is
all your posts, but I don't follow this board particularly closely and I'm not going to go back and comb through every thread. I do have other things to do.
Thank you for your reply
@Edington. I didn't feel any hostility in your part and I do get your sceptism. In any case let me just clarify to you and all other here my story.
My name is Luis Mariano, a 51 years old lawyer from Venezuela. I first discovered Iron Maiden on a Sunday afternoon in 1981. My dad had taken my brother and me to a record store and told us we could each pick an album. Back then, my musical taste was still unformed, so I gravitated towards the metal section—those covers just looked cooler. That’s when I found myself face to face with a yellow zombie. I didn’t know his name then, but I later learned he was Eddie.
My mum wasn’t too thrilled about the choice, so I left the store with a Smurfs album instead. Still, Eddie’s image stuck with me.
I had a few more encounters with Maiden throughout my childhood, but it wasn’t until 1990 that I bought my first record:
No Prayer for the Dying. Honestly, it didn’t do much for me. But I gave them another shot and picked up
Somewhere in Time. The moment I heard “Wasted Years,” I was Maidenised.
From then on, I became obsessed—collecting records, CDs, EPs, pins, stickers, and press clippings. Being a collector wasn’t easy in those pre-internet days, but I soaked up every bit of Maiden I could find.
Then came the web. I started archiving everything: interviews, articles, fan pages. At one point, I dreamt of creating a site even bigger than Baeleron’s Iron Maiden Commentary. But with zero web design skills, that plan was shelved. Still, I had all this organised information… and nowhere to share it.
That’s when the idea for a book was born.
The first was an eBook—
Detailed Discography of the Beast, 1158 pages packed with Maiden lore (now partially available in print on Lulu.com). Next came
Eddie Made Me Do It (The Rise of the Beast 1975–1987), a shorter 249-page eBook that laid the groundwork for this project—with the key difference being new comments and rare interviews.
When I first released
Eddie Made Me Do It, I knew it was only the beginning—a rough draft in a larger quest to uncover the hidden history of Iron Maiden. At the time, some stories were still missing, and key interviews were only aspirations. But I was determined to create something that would resonate with fans—something fresh, filled with untold tales and newly confirmed details. As I had been lucky to meet and share time and beers with a good part of the Killer Krew two times in 2008, and had kept in touch with some of them, I started picking their brains and collecting stories. They also helped me gain the trust of more people related to the band.
Anyway, the interviews I did conduct, in person or via the internet cover all eras of the band and the life of Steve Harris. The interviewees are:
Dave Smith, Paul Sears, Dennis Wilcock, Keith Wilfort, Dave "Lights" Beasley, Barry "Thunderstick" Purkis, Doug Sampson, Bob Hooker, and Paul Lewis. I also had some small chats with Bob Sawyer over FB.
Pippa Lang, Neal Kay, Dennis Stratton, Derek Riggs, Manu Da Silva, Ian Morton (the dancer in
The Number of the Beast video), Jim Yukich (Director of 'Flight Of Icarus', 'Wasted Years' and of course,
Live After Death), Andy Curran, Sue Gornall (Steve's first girlfriend), Steve Lazarus, Terry Rance, Paul Di’Anno, Masa Itoh, Adrian Smith, Bruce Dickinson, Kenny Feuerman (director of
’Ello Texas and
Behind the Iron Curtain), Andy Curran (close frien of Steve Harris) and Marc Fairburn (tattoo artist responsible for the iconic ink on Steve, Dave, and Nicko).
Jeffrey Hammer, better known as Doo Dah or Mr. Spuds Daily – a former record shop owner who ran Texas Tapes & Records, and very close friend of Nicko.
Andrzej Marzec – a former Pagart employee who organised Maiden’s concerts behind the Iron Curtain.
Roman Rogowiecki – a Polish rock journalist who served as Maiden’s translator during those shows.
Zdzisław Smektała – a seasoned journalist from Wrocław.
László Hegedűs – organiser of the 1984 concert in Budapest.
Neil Smith – member of the Artful Dodgers.
Roberto Medina – creator of the Rock in Rio festival.
Julian Doyle – director of the
Can I Play with Madness promo video.
Lorrainian Roach-Hills – who met Paul Fowler, the man behind the giant walking-hanging Eddies.
Gino Micallef – bassist of the German band High 'N' Dry, close friend of Steve.
Andrew Chapman – an American journalist who collaborated with Nicko McBrain on the book
Iron Maiden and Nicko McBrain's Rhythms of the Beast and spent ten days with the band in Cologne in 1988.
Darren Broughton – vocalist of The Nod, the band who supported Maiden in New Zealand in 1992.
Denis Sedov – a Russian Iron Maiden fan.
Phil Hilborne.
I also want to address something
@Perun mentioned. Believe it or not, self-publishing a book isn't that profitable—I make less than 30% of the price of each copy sold.
And just to clarify: when I mention my book, it's not to sell it (though that's a nice bonus), but to give people context—which is also the reason I wrote this post in the first place. I think that if I mention my book, people can just look up who I am, and then read my answer with a bit more knowledge of from where my answer comes.
I do love to give Maiden fans answers, because, after all that's how all my own work begun, wanting to know more about the band... And that's still what I want to do... As I said, we all share a common love and that's the band... All eras in my case.
And to get back to the thread... I know for a fact that some of the people I mentioned above were interviewed for the documentary so I expect the documentary be very interesting...
In any case, if I am able to answer any question about the band, I'll gladly do it with the knowledge I have. Thank you all for reading and sorry if I have bothered some
