I respect religion and all people's ideas of it. I think everyone should be able to do whatever they want to do with their own life. I just don't particularly like it when people try and force their ideas on others.
I've tried lots of different guitars, including some Lados, and they felt great and were really well made, but the sound just seemed to lack richness in the bottom end. My main Precision is a '71, and I also have a '59 that I don't use very often.
So when I started writing my own stuff, it was with a lot of combinations and time changes and power.
I feel like I've had a fantastic life and career with music, and I've worked very hard, but maybe I've had a bit of luck along the way.
When you're trying to create imagery, you're trying to create a feeling or a mood.
I tend not to look too much back; I tend to look forward. So, I suppose, I know, I've had probably most of my life, and there's less going forwards than there is going back, but I prefer to look in the future.
Sure, some tracks are not as good as others, but we've written some really strong, classic stuff, like 'The Number of the Beast,' 'Hallowed Be Thy Name,' and 'Rime of the Ancient Mariner.'
Whenever we play new material, eventually some of the songs become classics themselves. They can't become that unless you play them. Any new song is not going to go down as well as some of the old stuff, because obviously the old stuff the fans know inside out.
Recording at Compass Point was really fantastic. When you're in the studio, you could be anywhere: It could be snowing outside or whatever. But it's great fun when you come out of the studio and are greeted by nice weather and good bars.
Maybe that's what makes my stuff different, 'cause I write it all on the bass. I can't play but a few chords on the guitar, so the bass works just fine for me.
The negative reactions to 'The Number of the Beast' were strange. When we wrote it, we never expected anything like that.
I still do get a little bit nervous at the beginning of Maiden tours but that's mainly because of the new material.
I mean, it took me a long while to realize that I wasn't gonna play football on a regular basis anymore. I still play once in a while, but that took me a long while to adjust.
I mean, the first two tours that we toured around the world, we were hitting every single bar there was, as you do when you're young and you've got to find out all these things. But it got boring really quick.
You know, we never really know what we're going to write next. Which is part of the excitement when we go in and do a new album. No battle plan, we just go in and do it and what comes out, comes out.
The Fender Precision is my instrument, my beloved Precisions.
As you get older it gets doubly hard to keep yourself fit and in shape.
I have respect for anybody that has to go and do whatever they have to do to protect their country.
I grew up loving history.
It's about the music for us. Always has been. The bottom line is the music.
