If you take care of the music first, and then add elements of a good show, then it makes for a good combination.
I find it natural to write on the bass, and a lot of people find that really odd.
When we started off, we weren't even thinking of being a global band. We just ended up becoming that.
People get into metal and they don't drift away from it. They might have families and move away a little, but they certainly don't forget about it.
Some of the newer bands I like include Queensryche and Marillion, and I was glad when Yes reformed. Also, Kingdom Come; I was laughing when I first heard it and going 'This is outrageous,' but it's a really album. I went to see them play and enjoyed it.
We built up a hardcore following, but we were really still semipro, gigging over long weekends and the like. So after EMI signed us, we packed in the day jobs because we had to make an album.
I think you just have to look after yourself, you know, when you're doing long tours; you just have to. I think bands learn that pretty soon, really. And if they don't, I think they tend to fall by the wayside.
Once you start out, you are kind of finding out who you are, and then by the time you get to the second album or you've been touring a lot, doing live shows or whatever, the sound starts to shift slightly to something that is more the true essence of what the band really is.
Obviously, Iron Maiden is on a way bigger scale to British Lion, but as a musician playing live, it's just the adrenaline rush of playing in front of an audience that gives you that rush.
Personally, I've got too many ideas to use in my lifetime, probably. But that's a nice problem to have, I think.
I may not expect every single show to sell out and I never take everything for granted, but you still know you're going to get a certain amount of people.
I think everyone knows that I'm always the one that's the busiest in Maiden. When we're not touring or recording, I'm still doing loads of Maiden stuff - video editing and god knows what else - so I get a lot less downtime than the others.
If you see a credit with just my name on it, that means I write absolutely everything: rhythm guitar parts, guitar melodies, vocal melodies... absolutely everything, really.
The only thing I don't write is the guitar solos, but even then I might suggest one or two things.
The thing that annoys me is that I hate it when people charge bands to play with them. I hate that.
Anybody who's in a position Maiden is, or whatever, or any band that can potentially take another band on tour, I think you can help other people, and it doesn't take much effort to do that.
