Forostar
Ancient Mariner
As long as we don't know anything recent, let's kill some time with old stuff (not that we're doing anything else here 
).
Shared by Maiden1977:
Steve Harris interview from 1983:
Way back when Michael Jackson was moonwalking for Motown and Kiss was ditching their makeup on MTV (yikes—more makeup, please!), Steve Harris took time out of Iron Maiden’s relentless touring schedule to speak to our predecessors at Guitar Player. Here are a few gems from that November 1983 cover story.
On punk and rock
Around ’77, the punk bands were getting all the work because the owners of the clubs and pubs were more concerned with how many drinks they’d sell across the bar. So if they thought punks were going to be pulling the crowd, they couldn’t give a shit whether it was sounding like a load of dross [rubbish]. They didn’t realize that there were still rock fans out there who wanted to see new young bands. We proved that when we started doing gigs. We got a great following. It was packed houses everywhere.
On his first bass
I picked up a copy of a Fender Telecaster Bass—a Shaftsbury, I believe— for £40. I just started messing around, trying to learn how to play songs by Free and Black Sabbath.
On his influences
Andy Fraser from Free. Marty Turner from Wishbone Ash, Mike Rutherford from Genesis, Chris Squire, and John Entwistle. The bass solo Andy Fraser played in “Mr. Big” was very influential.
On music theory
I know what “crotchet and a quaver” is [a quarter note and an 8th note], but that’s about it.
On scales
I don’t know what scales are.
On his current gear
[I play] a Fender Precision Bass from around ’72. It’s been five different colors; at the moment it’s blue. I use it on tour and in the studio. It has the original Fender pickup and pretty low action. I’ve also got three other Precisions. My 1959, which I bought recently, feels so good. It feels pretty much as good as my ’72. I also have three Ibanez basses, but I don’t really use them. I used one of them on the “Run To The Hills” single [The Number of the Beast, EMI, 1982]; it’s got sort of a grunting sound, and it’s good for playing really fast because the notes come out clean I use Rotosound flatwound strings, and have a Nady Wireless transmitter.
I use a DBX 164 Compressor, two Hiwatt Model 109 preamps, two Alectron preamps, six RSD power amps, and eight Marshall 4x12 cabinets with Electro-Voice speakers, which have the best sound. I like getting a lot of bullocks and a tight, driving bottom end without much rumpling. It’s got a lot of treble, as well.
On composition
The only two songs I didn’t write on bass guitar are “Strange World” from the first album and “Prodigal Son” on the second album; I wrote them on acoustic guitar.
On his proudest moments on tape
There’s a fair few things I’m proud of as far as the actual playing goes; “Phantom of the Opera” [Iron Maiden, EMI, 1980] and “To Tame a Land” [Piece of Mind, EMI 1983].
Preference for venue size
Smaller halls—about 3,000 or 3,500 seats. Most of the theaters in England are like that, which might sound really small to an American. But in England, if you can do a sellout tour of 3,500 seats, that’s big. I like the theaters. You get a better sound, the atmosphere is better, and the kids are nearer.
On playing style
A lot of people tell me I’ve got a strange style. I just play as I feel. I don’t know if it’s really different from others. I never sat down and tried to copy someone else’s style. I only learned their songs, and there’s a difference. It’s wrong to copy somebody. Evolve yourself. You’ll pick up different licks here and there and eventually get your own style. You can’t force it.
On doing a solo LP
I haven’t really thought about that. The time is really taken up by what we’re doing now. We haven’t got time to do a solo album even if we really wanted to do one. From my personal view, I’m still writing a lot of stuff. But if I did a solo album, I’d probably ask the rest of the guys to play on it, so it would be Iron Maiden anyway.
On doing nonMaiden studio work
No one has ever asked us, actually. I think they know we work every month of the year and haven’t got the time anyway.
Advice for younger players
Basically, you have to be dedicated. You have to really put your money where your mouth is, so to speak, even if you haven’t got much money. You have to stick at it. Don’t worry about stupid things like if your girlfriend doesn’t want you to go to rehearsal. Just follow your heart.
On self editing
If someone [in Iron Maiden] writes a song that’s not good, deep down they know it. Ego doesn’t come into it that much. I won’t even take a basic song to the band if I don’t think it’s good enough. There’s only been a couple that I haven’t bothered to take, but that’s because I spend a lot of time working them out so they are right. I know 90% of what I want, and I’ll work out the melody lines and riffs, build it up layer by layer. I’ve written most of my songs on my own, the melody lines and lyrics.
On being self conscious onstage
When you start really thinking about what you are doing, it screws you up.
On slap bass
I can’t stand slap funk. I can appreciate the guys who play it, but it’s not for me. I don’t like the sound of it.
).Shared by Maiden1977:
Steve Harris interview from 1983:
Way back when Michael Jackson was moonwalking for Motown and Kiss was ditching their makeup on MTV (yikes—more makeup, please!), Steve Harris took time out of Iron Maiden’s relentless touring schedule to speak to our predecessors at Guitar Player. Here are a few gems from that November 1983 cover story.
On punk and rock
Around ’77, the punk bands were getting all the work because the owners of the clubs and pubs were more concerned with how many drinks they’d sell across the bar. So if they thought punks were going to be pulling the crowd, they couldn’t give a shit whether it was sounding like a load of dross [rubbish]. They didn’t realize that there were still rock fans out there who wanted to see new young bands. We proved that when we started doing gigs. We got a great following. It was packed houses everywhere.
On his first bass
I picked up a copy of a Fender Telecaster Bass—a Shaftsbury, I believe— for £40. I just started messing around, trying to learn how to play songs by Free and Black Sabbath.
On his influences
Andy Fraser from Free. Marty Turner from Wishbone Ash, Mike Rutherford from Genesis, Chris Squire, and John Entwistle. The bass solo Andy Fraser played in “Mr. Big” was very influential.
On music theory
I know what “crotchet and a quaver” is [a quarter note and an 8th note], but that’s about it.
On scales
I don’t know what scales are.
On his current gear
[I play] a Fender Precision Bass from around ’72. It’s been five different colors; at the moment it’s blue. I use it on tour and in the studio. It has the original Fender pickup and pretty low action. I’ve also got three other Precisions. My 1959, which I bought recently, feels so good. It feels pretty much as good as my ’72. I also have three Ibanez basses, but I don’t really use them. I used one of them on the “Run To The Hills” single [The Number of the Beast, EMI, 1982]; it’s got sort of a grunting sound, and it’s good for playing really fast because the notes come out clean I use Rotosound flatwound strings, and have a Nady Wireless transmitter.
I use a DBX 164 Compressor, two Hiwatt Model 109 preamps, two Alectron preamps, six RSD power amps, and eight Marshall 4x12 cabinets with Electro-Voice speakers, which have the best sound. I like getting a lot of bullocks and a tight, driving bottom end without much rumpling. It’s got a lot of treble, as well.
On composition
The only two songs I didn’t write on bass guitar are “Strange World” from the first album and “Prodigal Son” on the second album; I wrote them on acoustic guitar.
On his proudest moments on tape
There’s a fair few things I’m proud of as far as the actual playing goes; “Phantom of the Opera” [Iron Maiden, EMI, 1980] and “To Tame a Land” [Piece of Mind, EMI 1983].
Preference for venue size
Smaller halls—about 3,000 or 3,500 seats. Most of the theaters in England are like that, which might sound really small to an American. But in England, if you can do a sellout tour of 3,500 seats, that’s big. I like the theaters. You get a better sound, the atmosphere is better, and the kids are nearer.
On playing style
A lot of people tell me I’ve got a strange style. I just play as I feel. I don’t know if it’s really different from others. I never sat down and tried to copy someone else’s style. I only learned their songs, and there’s a difference. It’s wrong to copy somebody. Evolve yourself. You’ll pick up different licks here and there and eventually get your own style. You can’t force it.
On doing a solo LP
I haven’t really thought about that. The time is really taken up by what we’re doing now. We haven’t got time to do a solo album even if we really wanted to do one. From my personal view, I’m still writing a lot of stuff. But if I did a solo album, I’d probably ask the rest of the guys to play on it, so it would be Iron Maiden anyway.
On doing nonMaiden studio work
No one has ever asked us, actually. I think they know we work every month of the year and haven’t got the time anyway.
Advice for younger players
Basically, you have to be dedicated. You have to really put your money where your mouth is, so to speak, even if you haven’t got much money. You have to stick at it. Don’t worry about stupid things like if your girlfriend doesn’t want you to go to rehearsal. Just follow your heart.
On self editing
If someone [in Iron Maiden] writes a song that’s not good, deep down they know it. Ego doesn’t come into it that much. I won’t even take a basic song to the band if I don’t think it’s good enough. There’s only been a couple that I haven’t bothered to take, but that’s because I spend a lot of time working them out so they are right. I know 90% of what I want, and I’ll work out the melody lines and riffs, build it up layer by layer. I’ve written most of my songs on my own, the melody lines and lyrics.
On being self conscious onstage
When you start really thinking about what you are doing, it screws you up.
On slap bass
I can’t stand slap funk. I can appreciate the guys who play it, but it’s not for me. I don’t like the sound of it.
