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Not sure if all members here are imoc members so here are the 20 Questions as answered by rod from members of the imoc
Rod answers your 20 questions
Published: June 12, 2009
1. Hi Rod. What happens to all the old stage sets, clothes and Eddies when a tour has finished? Have you ever thought about putting them on display for a while somewhere? I'd love to see something done like that. - prowler666
At the end of a tour various things happen to the sets and staging. For the clothes the only person who really wears anything unusual is Bruce, and those are usually completely wrecked and falling apart by the end of the tour. He tends to time it quite well so they last until the end of the tour and then get jettisoned or dumped at home somewhere. There may be some in storage and there may not I don't think we want to get into the Michael Jackson thing of 'these are the trousers Bruce wore on stage at the so-and-so gig'... I think thats very naff. We are not a fashion statement - no doubt to the relief of the fashion industry!! That's why you dont see this stuff in places like the Hard Rocks.
As far as the props go - various things happen to those. Some are recycled, like the big Eddie - we may use parts of that to build the next one. The heads - a lot of the original ones are in the bands gardens or various other places. The cyborg Eddie we used on the last tour - I was actually thinking about that while on the road, that it would be a shame to put him in storage where no-one could see it. So we contacted the British Music Experience at the O2 and hes now situated outside the BME (I think they're about to put a plaque up next to him). So when you go to the BME you look up to the first level stairs near the entrance and see Eddie gazing down at you. But you've also got clear access to him if you go to the first level you can stand next to him and get a picture. So hes' on display for all to see.
Putting it all together as an event and sending it round the world... its enough trouble sending the band around the world at the moment let alone sending their old clothes so that's probably not going to happen.
2. Do you think that place (England) and time (late 70's) was relevant for making Iron Maiden famous? To rephrase, could Iron Maiden be famous if they started playing 10 years earlier or later than they did? - Harry
I don't think the time or place is relevant to Maiden or to any other what I would call special bands - I'm obviously biased but I do think Maiden have always had something special about them, I thought that the first time I saw them down the pub. But you could take Zeppelin, Queen, Purple, The Who, The Stones if they started off now... they're bands that can write, theyre bands that can play and theres something special about them, so I don't think the time makes a difference. They would all succeed in a different time zone I believe. So much talent. And all still sound largely contemporary now, or at least bloody good!
If we'd been ten years earlier or ten years later the influences would have slightly different, as you know Steve's influences, Bruce's influences and the other guys include things like Jethro Tull, Nektar, Golden Earring, Deep Purple, UFO... if they'd been born a bit earlier or a bit later they'd have been influenced by something else maybe but I'm sure it would have been in the same vein. So in answer to the question, no I dont think the time makes a lot of difference to whether a band are well received or not. Talent is talent.
As far a place goes, well some places are a lot easier to be found in. Compare London or New York to say Kuala Lumpar or Mombassa, as extremes. So yes place would always have a large effect.
3. Rod, which three words describe Nicko? - maiden_madness
Loyal, generous almost to a fault and of course totally insane - I think those are three words that pretty well sums up our Nick!!.
4. By now you'd have thought Iron Maiden would be something that run itself, but reading your tour diaries it appears that youre probably busier now than you've ever been! Do you have such a thing as a daily schedule or can a phone call/e-mail suddenly change everything in your plans for the day? Any examples would be good! - Monty No1
I wish Maiden could run itself at times, I can assure you! On these tours its extremely busy. I think on the last leg of the tour I got out of the hotel three times, though it was in Quito, Manaus and Brasilia which are great places to get out of the hotel so Im not complaining! But yes, its very busy as you know the band are getting more and more successful in so many places, and we try and get to as many fans as we can so its very busy.
Theres no daily schedule youre quite right that a phonecall or email can change everything, you think youre going to have a quiet day and then a call comes in and you spend the next three hours or more sorting it out. Quite a tragic example of that was when we were in Prague I was out sightseeing with my son but I got an email from the office saying theyd been trying to get hold of me cos there had been a train wreck near Ostrava and the Polish media wanted to speak to us (the train came from Poland) as there were a number of Maiden fans on the train. So that was a pretty awful thing to deal with and changed the day completely - I had to let the band know, deal with some related media and everything else. And going from great anticipation to sadness for those involved and their families.
That was a pretty extreme and fairly devastating example though, less important things to disrupt the day happen on a regular basis, you might find that somethings been screwed up, you might get a call to say its raining so hard that your flight cases are floating off into the Amazon jungle (as happened in Rio), or even drummers nearly breaking their wrists (!!!)...... you just deal with stuff as it comes. A lot of the time on tour is spent troubleshooting but thats one of the exciting things about it, two days are never the same.
5. Being the "Boss", what are the most stressful aspects of touring for you? - IronAaron
I think if you find touring too stressful, you shouldnt do it. Its supposed to be fun and I think everyone in the extended Maiden team has a great time on tour. I suppose all the travel and time changes can be tiring which can make you a bit short tempered, but that to me isnt stress, just being tired.
Stress you would find in any job if that's what you want to call it things potentially going wrong, things that are out of your control (like the weather), or if the band are going to be up on time to do an important interview!!.... you can take anything from the smallest thing to the biggest thing. If you call that stress then yes, everyone gets stressed.
I think were privileged to go round the world dong what were doing and you just deal with the issues - we just don't accept the existence of stress, we just get on with it. I don't think they invented it in Yorkshire yet anyway. Or if they have perhaps that is why they invented Tetleys...
6. In this day and age of technology and information at our fingertips it seems that details on anything Maiden are guarded more so than ever. Is it possible to let the cat out of the bag earlier or do you think you're a man of the old ways? Which may or may not be a bad thing... - pac33
I think youre quite right that the smallest thing gets out on the web now and gets everywhere, and the fact that many news organisations and rock press look to our site for information... a great example is when Adrian had his guitar stolen in Greece. We put a little thing on the web about it, saying if anyone found it wed send them a little reward... and that ended up being literally international news both on the web and in the papers. And I know this for a fact because my parents in Vancouver Island in Canada called to say it was in their local paper !! Now that is ridiculous!
But no, to my mind generally its not possible to "let the cat out of the bag any earlier".
We always make announcements first on ironmaiden.com, and at a time when we think its proper to announce them and when its definite. We dont think our fans should be misled, the news is always first on our site and you can be sure that anything we publish there is accurate and it will be timely. And were not going to tell you what were doing a week on Sunday three years hence, even if we know ourselves cos what the hell, lets keep some surprises! Information flow is something you need to manage very carefully as you can bore people to death - too much information can be as bad as none at all. As can too early release of info.
7. Hi Rod, a lot of fans in the FC including myself are dying to see some of the promised DVD like Maiden England and Donington. Is there a chance these will appear before the next album? - katatoniq
I'm sure all the fans have seen the pattern emerging recently we do a new album, then we do some history (like The Early Days, Live After Death) then another new album... working on a 4/5 year touring cycle to cover the present (which excites us a lot) and the past which is also exciting. So if you read on from there you should be able to answer your own question.
But there certainly wont be anything before the new album were going to concentrate on that to the exclusion of everything else, to make sure its the best we can make it because it may be the last one, or it may not who knows, but if we were to make another one it would be in five years time and who knows what will happen in the next five years. So all of us will be concentrating on the new album to make sure the music from the band and the artwork and everythings the very best it can be.
8. If you were to manage another band than Iron Maiden (if Maiden didn't exist, hypothetically), what band would you love to manage - past and present? - Thommy
Well, I think its got to be Frank Zappa. Ive always loved Zappas music, the music itself is remarkable in terms of the talent involved and the complete eccentricity, and the lyrics are completely insane or inane... check out tracks like The Slime, "Stinkfoot" or Nanook the Eskimo which is my favourite... who else writes songs about frozen husky piss? The husky wee wee and the doggy wee wee has blinded me, so I cant see... temporarilee , you put that with an unbelievable guitar solo... or Stinkfoot which has got the most searing guitar solo from Zappa that youre ever going to hear, with lyrics about sweaty feet. Maybe its just my twisted mind...
But I think anything youre going to manage has got to be something that musically you love, otherwise how can you do it for, in my case, thirty years? I never get tired of hearing the songs that Maiden do and I would never have got tired of hearing the songs that Zappa does particularly those in his guitar period. Over-Nite Sensation, Apostrophe, Joes Garage, Live at the Filmore... that sort of period when he was playing unbelievable guitar. So yes, I think Zappa would have been the one, otherwise... Zeppelin would have been great at the time, I love Purple, of course Hendrix....... things that I really like, I guess
9. Any there plans in the future to do a Guitar Hero type game strictly based on Iron Maiden tunes? - BenDover
We talked to Rock Band about putting out some stuff, but we wanted it to co-incide with Flight 666 so there wasnt time to do an actual game. So weve put 12 tracks in there (as youre probably aware by now) to download and play with Rock Band, which are a selection from Flight 666 4 tracks from the soundtrack album and a further 8 from the setlist (check out the details on the website). So well see how that goes and maybe do more, maybe not its not something weve given a great deal of thought to as Ive said before, were really looking to concentrate on the new album at the moment. However my kids love playing those types of games so no doubt we will have to address it more in the future!!
Rod answers your 20 questions
Published: June 12, 2009
1. Hi Rod. What happens to all the old stage sets, clothes and Eddies when a tour has finished? Have you ever thought about putting them on display for a while somewhere? I'd love to see something done like that. - prowler666
At the end of a tour various things happen to the sets and staging. For the clothes the only person who really wears anything unusual is Bruce, and those are usually completely wrecked and falling apart by the end of the tour. He tends to time it quite well so they last until the end of the tour and then get jettisoned or dumped at home somewhere. There may be some in storage and there may not I don't think we want to get into the Michael Jackson thing of 'these are the trousers Bruce wore on stage at the so-and-so gig'... I think thats very naff. We are not a fashion statement - no doubt to the relief of the fashion industry!! That's why you dont see this stuff in places like the Hard Rocks.
As far as the props go - various things happen to those. Some are recycled, like the big Eddie - we may use parts of that to build the next one. The heads - a lot of the original ones are in the bands gardens or various other places. The cyborg Eddie we used on the last tour - I was actually thinking about that while on the road, that it would be a shame to put him in storage where no-one could see it. So we contacted the British Music Experience at the O2 and hes now situated outside the BME (I think they're about to put a plaque up next to him). So when you go to the BME you look up to the first level stairs near the entrance and see Eddie gazing down at you. But you've also got clear access to him if you go to the first level you can stand next to him and get a picture. So hes' on display for all to see.
Putting it all together as an event and sending it round the world... its enough trouble sending the band around the world at the moment let alone sending their old clothes so that's probably not going to happen.
2. Do you think that place (England) and time (late 70's) was relevant for making Iron Maiden famous? To rephrase, could Iron Maiden be famous if they started playing 10 years earlier or later than they did? - Harry
I don't think the time or place is relevant to Maiden or to any other what I would call special bands - I'm obviously biased but I do think Maiden have always had something special about them, I thought that the first time I saw them down the pub. But you could take Zeppelin, Queen, Purple, The Who, The Stones if they started off now... they're bands that can write, theyre bands that can play and theres something special about them, so I don't think the time makes a difference. They would all succeed in a different time zone I believe. So much talent. And all still sound largely contemporary now, or at least bloody good!
If we'd been ten years earlier or ten years later the influences would have slightly different, as you know Steve's influences, Bruce's influences and the other guys include things like Jethro Tull, Nektar, Golden Earring, Deep Purple, UFO... if they'd been born a bit earlier or a bit later they'd have been influenced by something else maybe but I'm sure it would have been in the same vein. So in answer to the question, no I dont think the time makes a lot of difference to whether a band are well received or not. Talent is talent.
As far a place goes, well some places are a lot easier to be found in. Compare London or New York to say Kuala Lumpar or Mombassa, as extremes. So yes place would always have a large effect.
3. Rod, which three words describe Nicko? - maiden_madness
Loyal, generous almost to a fault and of course totally insane - I think those are three words that pretty well sums up our Nick!!.
4. By now you'd have thought Iron Maiden would be something that run itself, but reading your tour diaries it appears that youre probably busier now than you've ever been! Do you have such a thing as a daily schedule or can a phone call/e-mail suddenly change everything in your plans for the day? Any examples would be good! - Monty No1
I wish Maiden could run itself at times, I can assure you! On these tours its extremely busy. I think on the last leg of the tour I got out of the hotel three times, though it was in Quito, Manaus and Brasilia which are great places to get out of the hotel so Im not complaining! But yes, its very busy as you know the band are getting more and more successful in so many places, and we try and get to as many fans as we can so its very busy.
Theres no daily schedule youre quite right that a phonecall or email can change everything, you think youre going to have a quiet day and then a call comes in and you spend the next three hours or more sorting it out. Quite a tragic example of that was when we were in Prague I was out sightseeing with my son but I got an email from the office saying theyd been trying to get hold of me cos there had been a train wreck near Ostrava and the Polish media wanted to speak to us (the train came from Poland) as there were a number of Maiden fans on the train. So that was a pretty awful thing to deal with and changed the day completely - I had to let the band know, deal with some related media and everything else. And going from great anticipation to sadness for those involved and their families.
That was a pretty extreme and fairly devastating example though, less important things to disrupt the day happen on a regular basis, you might find that somethings been screwed up, you might get a call to say its raining so hard that your flight cases are floating off into the Amazon jungle (as happened in Rio), or even drummers nearly breaking their wrists (!!!)...... you just deal with stuff as it comes. A lot of the time on tour is spent troubleshooting but thats one of the exciting things about it, two days are never the same.
5. Being the "Boss", what are the most stressful aspects of touring for you? - IronAaron
I think if you find touring too stressful, you shouldnt do it. Its supposed to be fun and I think everyone in the extended Maiden team has a great time on tour. I suppose all the travel and time changes can be tiring which can make you a bit short tempered, but that to me isnt stress, just being tired.
Stress you would find in any job if that's what you want to call it things potentially going wrong, things that are out of your control (like the weather), or if the band are going to be up on time to do an important interview!!.... you can take anything from the smallest thing to the biggest thing. If you call that stress then yes, everyone gets stressed.
I think were privileged to go round the world dong what were doing and you just deal with the issues - we just don't accept the existence of stress, we just get on with it. I don't think they invented it in Yorkshire yet anyway. Or if they have perhaps that is why they invented Tetleys...
6. In this day and age of technology and information at our fingertips it seems that details on anything Maiden are guarded more so than ever. Is it possible to let the cat out of the bag earlier or do you think you're a man of the old ways? Which may or may not be a bad thing... - pac33
I think youre quite right that the smallest thing gets out on the web now and gets everywhere, and the fact that many news organisations and rock press look to our site for information... a great example is when Adrian had his guitar stolen in Greece. We put a little thing on the web about it, saying if anyone found it wed send them a little reward... and that ended up being literally international news both on the web and in the papers. And I know this for a fact because my parents in Vancouver Island in Canada called to say it was in their local paper !! Now that is ridiculous!
But no, to my mind generally its not possible to "let the cat out of the bag any earlier".
We always make announcements first on ironmaiden.com, and at a time when we think its proper to announce them and when its definite. We dont think our fans should be misled, the news is always first on our site and you can be sure that anything we publish there is accurate and it will be timely. And were not going to tell you what were doing a week on Sunday three years hence, even if we know ourselves cos what the hell, lets keep some surprises! Information flow is something you need to manage very carefully as you can bore people to death - too much information can be as bad as none at all. As can too early release of info.
7. Hi Rod, a lot of fans in the FC including myself are dying to see some of the promised DVD like Maiden England and Donington. Is there a chance these will appear before the next album? - katatoniq
I'm sure all the fans have seen the pattern emerging recently we do a new album, then we do some history (like The Early Days, Live After Death) then another new album... working on a 4/5 year touring cycle to cover the present (which excites us a lot) and the past which is also exciting. So if you read on from there you should be able to answer your own question.
But there certainly wont be anything before the new album were going to concentrate on that to the exclusion of everything else, to make sure its the best we can make it because it may be the last one, or it may not who knows, but if we were to make another one it would be in five years time and who knows what will happen in the next five years. So all of us will be concentrating on the new album to make sure the music from the band and the artwork and everythings the very best it can be.
8. If you were to manage another band than Iron Maiden (if Maiden didn't exist, hypothetically), what band would you love to manage - past and present? - Thommy
Well, I think its got to be Frank Zappa. Ive always loved Zappas music, the music itself is remarkable in terms of the talent involved and the complete eccentricity, and the lyrics are completely insane or inane... check out tracks like The Slime, "Stinkfoot" or Nanook the Eskimo which is my favourite... who else writes songs about frozen husky piss? The husky wee wee and the doggy wee wee has blinded me, so I cant see... temporarilee , you put that with an unbelievable guitar solo... or Stinkfoot which has got the most searing guitar solo from Zappa that youre ever going to hear, with lyrics about sweaty feet. Maybe its just my twisted mind...
But I think anything youre going to manage has got to be something that musically you love, otherwise how can you do it for, in my case, thirty years? I never get tired of hearing the songs that Maiden do and I would never have got tired of hearing the songs that Zappa does particularly those in his guitar period. Over-Nite Sensation, Apostrophe, Joes Garage, Live at the Filmore... that sort of period when he was playing unbelievable guitar. So yes, I think Zappa would have been the one, otherwise... Zeppelin would have been great at the time, I love Purple, of course Hendrix....... things that I really like, I guess
9. Any there plans in the future to do a Guitar Hero type game strictly based on Iron Maiden tunes? - BenDover
We talked to Rock Band about putting out some stuff, but we wanted it to co-incide with Flight 666 so there wasnt time to do an actual game. So weve put 12 tracks in there (as youre probably aware by now) to download and play with Rock Band, which are a selection from Flight 666 4 tracks from the soundtrack album and a further 8 from the setlist (check out the details on the website). So well see how that goes and maybe do more, maybe not its not something weve given a great deal of thought to as Ive said before, were really looking to concentrate on the new album at the moment. However my kids love playing those types of games so no doubt we will have to address it more in the future!!
