MARK of UltimateMetal.com!
This week's 20 Questions is a bit more serious than previous editions - we're talking with royalty here, people! Mark was very prompt with his reply, sending them in less than an hour after he received them, and offers some interesting information on a variety of subjects. And he put a bit of effort into them, which is all we ask for.
He's the only Maiden Downunder BB-er to be thanked on a Maiden album (even if it *was* Rock In Rio!), and I think that speaks volumes for how successful he was at weaseling his way into the Maiden camp.
So here is the fourth UM 20 Questions!
==============================================
1. What are you currently up to? This is your only chance to plug whatever it is you want to plug.
Working on Ultimate Metal, as ever! Apart from that, waiting for a work visa since I moved to the UK in May. Could take 3 weeks, could take a year, I just dont know so, meanwhile, Im keeping myself busy!
2. In your time as the webmaster of the official Iron Maiden website, what surprised you the most about the behind-the-scenes workings of the band and management?
Thats a tough one probably just how unexciting it was compared to what I thought it would be. Its a business after all, so it has lots of general business goings-on. And I was just a web monkey, so I didnt get to see much of the juicy stuff and they didnt trust me enough to tell me anything really juicy anyway. Seeing how Johnny B left (and what went on prior to that) was certainly interesting.
And its very cool walking around the offices seeing all the gold and platinum discs on the wall (even a Poison one!).
3. Which rock star deserves a smack in the mouth and why?
Probably Marilyn Manson, for milking the same concept album after album and plus those fuckin eyes of his give me the shits!!
4. You were once one of the premier drummers in the Ipswich grunge/metal scene. Rate the following drummers on a scale of 1 to 10, 1 being awful and 10 being the best in the business.
Nicko McBrain 8, great right foot, but he doesnt do as much great work as he can. Also a diamond geezer, who shook my hand 5 times within a 3 minute meeting!
Rikki Rockett 7, a great drummer overlooked just cos hes in a glam band. Ive seen close-up live footage of him (as well as seeing them live), and he does very clean, cool rawk fills. Rikki Rocks it! HA HA!
Ian Paice 9 the mans a frikkin legend! Cool, solid, and is full of groove
Eric Carr ? - honestly not that familiar with his stuff, but Ive never heard anything dud (even tho it was KISS!
)
Mike Portnoy 9 - the stonerman himself! Amazing, and just sits back and grins while he beats the shit out of the kit in some weird time sig!
Alex Van Halen 4, if only because of the kit he had in the 80s with 6 bass drums plus he looks like hes had a lobotomy
Clive Burr 9, in his day he gave Maiden such supreme groove and style. Hes not as technical as Nicko, but he has more soul. My favourite of the Maiden drummer boys
Tommy Lee 6, good drummer, but nothing fantastically special
Neil Peart 10. God. Even though Im not a RUSH fan per se. You cannot deny his skill
Rick Allen 8, great drummer, 1 armed and 2!
Mark Bridgeman 4. I was ok, but nothing more. My true skill was as a vocalist! Come on come on come on come on!!
5. What's your best and worst memory of working in the Maiden/Sanctuary camp?
Best meeting Nicko and Rod, two very friendly, eager guys. I also met Bruce, but never actually got to speak to him, just listened to him talk about the bunker he wanted to build under his back garden (!).
Worst realizing that, even though it was my dream job, I just didnt enjoy it anymore. Not a pleasant thing to realise! Its not glamorous, but perhaps it would have been different if I wasnt on the other side of the world to the rest of the web team.
6. What hard rock/metal band should give it up and call it a day?
Sadly, I think Iron Maiden should quit before they turn into a complete joke. BNW was a cool album, but nothing like it was pushed as being. When I was at the listening party at EMI in London (when Sanctuary flew me over to see if I was too big a wanker to work for them!), one of the Management team asked me what i thought. I said 'Its ok Ok?? Its amazing!!, which I thought was a bit of a got the blinkers on comment just an anecdote for ya, kids! Rock In Rio is a disgrace, IMO the live album AND DVD, the delay everything. And reissuing your back catalogue AGAIN and selling each gatefold CD for almost £20?! Thats $50!!
7. Did Rod Smallwood ever ask you for any money-making ideas, or try to sell you Amway?
No. I gave my ideas on how to do cool things, but generally they were overlooked. But then, I never gave them directly to Rod (who I was told by my boss not to have direct contact with).
As for AMWAY wtf? lol
8. Finish this sentence: "The biggest misconception about Ultimate Metal is "
That I make money from it. I dont. I barely make enough to pay the server bill. (can you hear the violins playing?!
)
9. Someone offers you $50,000 to run onto Old Trafford naked during a Manchester United game with "UltimateMetal.com" written on your chest. If you do it, you get $50,000 and more publicity than you could ever dream of. What do you do?
Nothing no money would make me get my dick out in public. Moneys one thing, embarrassment is another!
10. How did you land the gig with Maiden's webteam?
They liked Maiden Central, knew me from the official Maiden BB (where I became a moderator), and basically after me dropping many a hint to Addie I got the job!
11. You've done countless things, website-wise, since you got on the net in 1995. Apart from Ultimate Metal, which one meant the most to you?
Probably my penfriends site, World Wide Friends/Netfriends two people actually met on there and got married (to each other, natch!), which was really cool. Unfortunately, I knew nothing about database-driven sites at the time, so updated it by hand which is why I eventually got the arse and closed it!
12. Which do you prefer:
Adrian Smith or Dave Murray - Adrian, his playing is technical AND emotional.
Metallica or Megadeth Metallica, one of the best rock bands of the 80s and 90s.
Playing guitar or drumming I cant really do either, but I miss drumming so drumming.
One-armed Rick Allen or two-armed Rick Allen One armed, just because I prefer Hysteria!
Smells Like Teen Spirit or Alive Smells great pop-punk.
Bruce solo or Blaze solo Bruce solo, because of Skunkworks. Blaze solo is good, too, but he needs to break out of the mould and do something amazing, not just great.
Backstreet Boys or Nsync have no idea what either of them sound like, except I think the Backstreet Boys once did a pretty cool filmclip I saw one morning. So them.
Kurt Angle or The Rock The Rock, especially since Kurt shaved his head! Cueball!!
13. Would you be willing to halve the number of people who visited UM each day if it meant that the site wouldn't cost as much to run?
Yes
14. What were the first and last records you bought, and what do you think of them now?
First I think it was Cyndi Laupers True Colours. Fantastic album that I havent heard for ages. Definitive grown up Cyndi
Last Counting Crows Hard Candy its growing on me slowly
15. What are your top 3 best and worst metal albums of all time?
(these are limited to ones Ive actually heard, of course, and my tastes are not generically metal fan!)
Top:
Master Of Puppets (how can anyone top that?!)
The Number Of The Beast
Heaven And Hell Da Sabs at their best!
Worst:
A Real Live/Dead One worst sounding live album Ive heard
Some band whose cd I got a year or so ago, sounded like midgets playing with mittens on their hands!
This weeks gore/satan metal offering please, leave the fucking Nuns alone!
16. Ultimate Metal has been going for a couple of years now. What have been the best and worst moments so far?
Best getting the Opeth forum (gave it a huge boost), and finally having our own t-shirts!
Worst being closed down by our old host because the site was too popular. They were nice enough to reopen it until we could get our own dedicated box tho - Site5.com rock!
17. You were in a band for a while back in the early 90s. Where would the band be now if you hadn't quit?
Probably still rehearsing for our first serious gig! We talked of recording a demo, but seriously we would never have made it that far. It was just a weekend band.
18. If you could stop one Maiden Downunder BB-er from posting for a month, who would it be?
Spawny, so hed have nothing better to do than pick up chicks!
19. Of all the bands or musicians that you've come in contact with, in person or online, who gave you the least amount of respect?
To be honest, everyones been pretty cool. Some have a bad attitude in some respects, but in others are very nice people. Ask me again in a year, and I might have met a few pricks!
20. Time of UM Sludge's Word Association. We mention a name and you give us your thoughts.
Rod Smallwood businessman and genius. Out of touch with the current metal scene.
Stratovarius nice little pop band. Webmaster is a wanker.
Axl Rose give it up, Axl! Nobody gives a shit!
David Coverdale blues man, but past it.
Ian Gillan I bow down before thee.
Poison My rock gods supreme. Last album was crap tho, except for CCs song.
Zakk Wylde I want to be him when I grow up.
Queensryche Great band wrote Jet City Woman, so I forgive them their twiddlyness.
Blaze Bayley nice guy, good singer. If he took some vocal lessons hed be even better (as would most singers!).
Ben Beaver I wonder if hes grown his pony tail yet?
Pretty Boy Floyd one reason I was happy to see glam die.
==============================================
So there you go! He hasn't had his way with as many rock stars as Xena, and he isn't the metal icon that Lord Tim is, and he doesn't live in WA like Coops does, but he has some stories to tell anyway! And for a guy who rates himself on the same level as Alex Van Halen as a drummer, he's pretty humble!
Back to Axl Lee Rockett for the next bunch of 20 Questions.
(couldn't think of a cool name - sorry Troops!)
This week's 20 Questions is a bit more serious than previous editions - we're talking with royalty here, people! Mark was very prompt with his reply, sending them in less than an hour after he received them, and offers some interesting information on a variety of subjects. And he put a bit of effort into them, which is all we ask for.
He's the only Maiden Downunder BB-er to be thanked on a Maiden album (even if it *was* Rock In Rio!), and I think that speaks volumes for how successful he was at weaseling his way into the Maiden camp.
So here is the fourth UM 20 Questions!
==============================================
1. What are you currently up to? This is your only chance to plug whatever it is you want to plug.
Working on Ultimate Metal, as ever! Apart from that, waiting for a work visa since I moved to the UK in May. Could take 3 weeks, could take a year, I just dont know so, meanwhile, Im keeping myself busy!
2. In your time as the webmaster of the official Iron Maiden website, what surprised you the most about the behind-the-scenes workings of the band and management?
Thats a tough one probably just how unexciting it was compared to what I thought it would be. Its a business after all, so it has lots of general business goings-on. And I was just a web monkey, so I didnt get to see much of the juicy stuff and they didnt trust me enough to tell me anything really juicy anyway. Seeing how Johnny B left (and what went on prior to that) was certainly interesting.
And its very cool walking around the offices seeing all the gold and platinum discs on the wall (even a Poison one!).
3. Which rock star deserves a smack in the mouth and why?
Probably Marilyn Manson, for milking the same concept album after album and plus those fuckin eyes of his give me the shits!!
4. You were once one of the premier drummers in the Ipswich grunge/metal scene. Rate the following drummers on a scale of 1 to 10, 1 being awful and 10 being the best in the business.
Nicko McBrain 8, great right foot, but he doesnt do as much great work as he can. Also a diamond geezer, who shook my hand 5 times within a 3 minute meeting!
Rikki Rockett 7, a great drummer overlooked just cos hes in a glam band. Ive seen close-up live footage of him (as well as seeing them live), and he does very clean, cool rawk fills. Rikki Rocks it! HA HA!
Ian Paice 9 the mans a frikkin legend! Cool, solid, and is full of groove
Eric Carr ? - honestly not that familiar with his stuff, but Ive never heard anything dud (even tho it was KISS!
)Mike Portnoy 9 - the stonerman himself! Amazing, and just sits back and grins while he beats the shit out of the kit in some weird time sig!
Alex Van Halen 4, if only because of the kit he had in the 80s with 6 bass drums plus he looks like hes had a lobotomy
Clive Burr 9, in his day he gave Maiden such supreme groove and style. Hes not as technical as Nicko, but he has more soul. My favourite of the Maiden drummer boys
Tommy Lee 6, good drummer, but nothing fantastically special
Neil Peart 10. God. Even though Im not a RUSH fan per se. You cannot deny his skill
Rick Allen 8, great drummer, 1 armed and 2!
Mark Bridgeman 4. I was ok, but nothing more. My true skill was as a vocalist! Come on come on come on come on!!
5. What's your best and worst memory of working in the Maiden/Sanctuary camp?
Best meeting Nicko and Rod, two very friendly, eager guys. I also met Bruce, but never actually got to speak to him, just listened to him talk about the bunker he wanted to build under his back garden (!).
Worst realizing that, even though it was my dream job, I just didnt enjoy it anymore. Not a pleasant thing to realise! Its not glamorous, but perhaps it would have been different if I wasnt on the other side of the world to the rest of the web team.
6. What hard rock/metal band should give it up and call it a day?
Sadly, I think Iron Maiden should quit before they turn into a complete joke. BNW was a cool album, but nothing like it was pushed as being. When I was at the listening party at EMI in London (when Sanctuary flew me over to see if I was too big a wanker to work for them!), one of the Management team asked me what i thought. I said 'Its ok Ok?? Its amazing!!, which I thought was a bit of a got the blinkers on comment just an anecdote for ya, kids! Rock In Rio is a disgrace, IMO the live album AND DVD, the delay everything. And reissuing your back catalogue AGAIN and selling each gatefold CD for almost £20?! Thats $50!!
7. Did Rod Smallwood ever ask you for any money-making ideas, or try to sell you Amway?
No. I gave my ideas on how to do cool things, but generally they were overlooked. But then, I never gave them directly to Rod (who I was told by my boss not to have direct contact with).
As for AMWAY wtf? lol
8. Finish this sentence: "The biggest misconception about Ultimate Metal is "
That I make money from it. I dont. I barely make enough to pay the server bill. (can you hear the violins playing?!
)9. Someone offers you $50,000 to run onto Old Trafford naked during a Manchester United game with "UltimateMetal.com" written on your chest. If you do it, you get $50,000 and more publicity than you could ever dream of. What do you do?
Nothing no money would make me get my dick out in public. Moneys one thing, embarrassment is another!
10. How did you land the gig with Maiden's webteam?
They liked Maiden Central, knew me from the official Maiden BB (where I became a moderator), and basically after me dropping many a hint to Addie I got the job!
11. You've done countless things, website-wise, since you got on the net in 1995. Apart from Ultimate Metal, which one meant the most to you?
Probably my penfriends site, World Wide Friends/Netfriends two people actually met on there and got married (to each other, natch!), which was really cool. Unfortunately, I knew nothing about database-driven sites at the time, so updated it by hand which is why I eventually got the arse and closed it!
12. Which do you prefer:
Adrian Smith or Dave Murray - Adrian, his playing is technical AND emotional.
Metallica or Megadeth Metallica, one of the best rock bands of the 80s and 90s.
Playing guitar or drumming I cant really do either, but I miss drumming so drumming.
One-armed Rick Allen or two-armed Rick Allen One armed, just because I prefer Hysteria!
Smells Like Teen Spirit or Alive Smells great pop-punk.
Bruce solo or Blaze solo Bruce solo, because of Skunkworks. Blaze solo is good, too, but he needs to break out of the mould and do something amazing, not just great.
Backstreet Boys or Nsync have no idea what either of them sound like, except I think the Backstreet Boys once did a pretty cool filmclip I saw one morning. So them.
Kurt Angle or The Rock The Rock, especially since Kurt shaved his head! Cueball!!
13. Would you be willing to halve the number of people who visited UM each day if it meant that the site wouldn't cost as much to run?
Yes
14. What were the first and last records you bought, and what do you think of them now?
First I think it was Cyndi Laupers True Colours. Fantastic album that I havent heard for ages. Definitive grown up Cyndi
Last Counting Crows Hard Candy its growing on me slowly
15. What are your top 3 best and worst metal albums of all time?
(these are limited to ones Ive actually heard, of course, and my tastes are not generically metal fan!)
Top:
Master Of Puppets (how can anyone top that?!)
The Number Of The Beast
Heaven And Hell Da Sabs at their best!
Worst:
A Real Live/Dead One worst sounding live album Ive heard
Some band whose cd I got a year or so ago, sounded like midgets playing with mittens on their hands!
This weeks gore/satan metal offering please, leave the fucking Nuns alone!
16. Ultimate Metal has been going for a couple of years now. What have been the best and worst moments so far?
Best getting the Opeth forum (gave it a huge boost), and finally having our own t-shirts!
Worst being closed down by our old host because the site was too popular. They were nice enough to reopen it until we could get our own dedicated box tho - Site5.com rock!
17. You were in a band for a while back in the early 90s. Where would the band be now if you hadn't quit?
Probably still rehearsing for our first serious gig! We talked of recording a demo, but seriously we would never have made it that far. It was just a weekend band.
18. If you could stop one Maiden Downunder BB-er from posting for a month, who would it be?
Spawny, so hed have nothing better to do than pick up chicks!
19. Of all the bands or musicians that you've come in contact with, in person or online, who gave you the least amount of respect?
To be honest, everyones been pretty cool. Some have a bad attitude in some respects, but in others are very nice people. Ask me again in a year, and I might have met a few pricks!
20. Time of UM Sludge's Word Association. We mention a name and you give us your thoughts.
Rod Smallwood businessman and genius. Out of touch with the current metal scene.
Stratovarius nice little pop band. Webmaster is a wanker.
Axl Rose give it up, Axl! Nobody gives a shit!
David Coverdale blues man, but past it.
Ian Gillan I bow down before thee.
Poison My rock gods supreme. Last album was crap tho, except for CCs song.
Zakk Wylde I want to be him when I grow up.
Queensryche Great band wrote Jet City Woman, so I forgive them their twiddlyness.
Blaze Bayley nice guy, good singer. If he took some vocal lessons hed be even better (as would most singers!).
Ben Beaver I wonder if hes grown his pony tail yet?
Pretty Boy Floyd one reason I was happy to see glam die.
==============================================
So there you go! He hasn't had his way with as many rock stars as Xena, and he isn't the metal icon that Lord Tim is, and he doesn't live in WA like Coops does, but he has some stories to tell anyway! And for a guy who rates himself on the same level as Alex Van Halen as a drummer, he's pretty humble!
Back to Axl Lee Rockett for the next bunch of 20 Questions.
(couldn't think of a cool name - sorry Troops!)
