John Ruskin, an English writer, philosopher and art critic of the Victorian era, has once said: “I believe the first test of a truly great man is in his humility”. Our contact and discussion with the mighty Blaze Bayley, even though it was something we had already experienced through live shows and suspected, has validated once more his values and the real joy of a discussion, with such significant and simple people. Thus, it made our editor Stavros Vlahos, not want to interrupt at all, in a special interview ahead of Bayley’s upcoming mini tour in Greece.
Blaze! Welcome to our online magazine, Soundcheck.Network! It’s a real pleasure and honour to have you here!
Thank you!
So, I would like to start with your news. How were these past years for you, with the pandemic and all this stuff? I believe it was a “Pull Yourself Up”, as it’s one of your favourite songs, period, for everyone but maybe for you as well.
Well yeah, I think it’s been difficult for everybody. I was supposed to be writing and recording and then, as normal, during the process, take a bit of time out to do a few gigs and then come back to the writing. And what happened was, gigs started to be postponed and then canceled and so we didn’t actually break from the writing. We just stopped within the guidelines of the government and fifteen days together, then fifteen days apart, quarantine and fifteen days together, in the same place.
And it gave us a lot more time, much more than normal, to live with the ideas and the songs, so we come back and go, “Wow, that sounds really good” and to other things, “that sounds really bad”. So, it was good in that way, it was absolutely tragic in the way that we missed all these concerts, but I think, yes it was difficult for everybody.
The scariest part was the second lockdown, here, when I thought, well “Will there ever be live music?”. It was a little bit scary then, before all the vaccine was taken hold and everything. That felt very odd, like we might not be able to do live shows again. That was a challenge!
And my fans have been so loyal to me over so many years, they’ve really supported me, that when we thought about the kind of album that we’d like to end up with, it had to be a positive album. Because my fans had stuck with me and picked me up when, sometimes things were very, very challenging and I wanted to stop music altogether. And I thought they’ve done so much for me…. I wanted to have an album, as my fans had been waiting two years for the album and then when they put it on, they go “Wow, it’s my Blaze album and it’s good and it’s positive”.
So, that’s what we tried to do, have something very positive and all the way through the process we would go in, “This chord…..Could that be built in and making a positive message?” and trying to keep the lyrics positive, as well.
And one of my favourite songs is about the scientists, there. We got three scientists in the album, each with incredible achievements of their own. But Stephen Hawking, for me, he was the most important, because of the message of him, as a human being, living with a disability that probably would have broken me. He is trapped in his body, with his brain still functioning 100%.
He had to learn to communicate all over again and I think “The unstoppable Stephen Hawking”, has been one of my favourite songs on the album. And that and “Pull Yourself Up”, which is a true story about when I had a motorcycle accident. They said I’d never walk properly again and I thought, “Well, you’re done here, mate”. I did all the rehab and everything and I learned to walk again.
And another time in my life, a big challenge, was the top magazine in the UK for heavy metal, they’ve reviewed my record and they said, “You can’t sing, Blaze can’t sing”! Which was horrible. So, both of those things are in the song, the lyrics of the song and the things that I said to myself and did to get myself going and get myself out of that situation. That’s what’s in there. That song is called “Pull Yourself Up” and I wanted a lot of things like that.
And also, there’s an anti-suicide message, an important anti-suicide message, cause we lose a lot of good people, just because they think they’re alone and life has no meaning. And they get trapped in a circle of bad thoughts and become depressed and suicidal. So I got a song just about my own feelings about the things I sometimes try to do, to get out of that kind of anxiety and depression and that’s called “Witches Night”.
So, we were able to make a good album….And then, also, it’s been the anniversary of me joining Iron Maiden 25 years ago and this being in the “Legacy of the Beast Tour” for Maiden, there’s been a couple of the songs from my albums, “Sign of the Cross” and “The Clansman” and what’s been interesting is people have got us to do festivals and ask for that anniversary setlist, which is just by Maiden songs and it’s gone really, really well. And then people have seen this for the first time there and then come to my headline shows, where I do mostly my own stuff, from my 11 studio albums that I’ve done, and it’s gone really well and we’ve seen a few more people at each show, just a few.
I’m a very small artist, I am underground. Not many people know about me or even like me, but I really don’t care about that, because I’m not trying to be big, I’m just trying to play the same venues I always play, but full. That’s it! That’s my dream! And so far, it’s going really, really well!
Very excited to come back to Greece. We had that big tour there with, I think it was 10 shows in 10 days, last time we went there, all over Greece. That’s a great memory, a lot of fun, some really crazy things happened to us on that tour. So, very excited about coming back.
When I was with Maiden, then Greece was my first European date. I never played Greece before and I don’t think Maiden had played so many shows in Greece. And it was a fantastic time and the gigs went really well and the Greek fans were very open to listening to me as the new singer for Iron Maiden. And that went really, really well….
I had a holiday in Greece, on the island of Poros before I was in Iron Maiden, that was still back in Wolfsbane days, and so to be there, headlining in front of thousands of people with Iron Maiden….! And I had a holiday where I learned a couple of Greek words from the ice cream and on the beach and then saying them on stage is really crazy. Really!
And the Greek fans…. You’d never know, if you haven’t experienced, how loud the Greek fans are, what great singers the Greeks are….Incredible singers! I think all fans react differently in different parts, but you get a sense of what the personality is. A little tiny bit. And with Greece….I always think of Greece as magnificent singers, the Greek fans. I’m very excited to come back! I think the top singers for fans, in the world, is Greece, France, Brazil and Wales.
Thank you very much!! Thank you very much indeed! That means a lot from a person that has sung in Latin America, which are also famous for being great singers, as you say. And that almost answers another question I had, how did this mini tour come up, as an idea, but you answered that as well. And please let me say so, that there were some great messages in your words, that have to be heard in the world, after what we’ve experienced the last years. Some great messages related to your personal experience, as well.
Let me ask you something else…. You’ve come up with the trilogy the “Infinite Entanglement”, you gave us “War Within Me”, that you’ve talked about it a little while ago. Was there any new music, coming up during these years, or not yet?
Yeah! Well, I’m always trying to catch things up my dictaphone, you know. Now, it’s all in one thing. It’s the phone, it’s the messages and the recording device, whereas before, you had to have a little recorder and a notebook. I’m always trying to catch things and I’m starting work now, on piecing some ideas together, that should be a new studio album next year and we hope that it would be good.
The problem that I have is, if I make a good album that my fans really like, that’s a lot of pressure for the next album. “Oh, you got to try and beat it!”. I don’t want to try and beat the “War Within Me” album. For me, it’s one of the best things I’ve ever done. If I could get close to be in, as good as that, I’d be very, very happy.
Because a lot of my fans, going back to my early records after Maiden, say that the “War Within Me” album is the best album I’ve ever done. So, that’s a lot of pressure when it comes to doing the new album. And I try not to think about it, I try to use my heart and my guts and go: “Does this feel good?”, “Is it coming from the right place?”, “Does it feel good” and then just gently start to piece things together.
And my songwriting now is more of “Put something together, leave it, listen to it then, with fresh thoughts, have some distance….”. And I think that, that works for me, right now, at this point in my career….But I am very lucky to have so much dedicated, loyal support.
I am tiny, underground artist in the world. People think I’m really famous because of that time with Iron Maiden, but it’s a very small part of Iron Maiden. And those albums, at the time, they did well in certain countries. My albums did well in Greece and in Sweden and Brazil, but in other places they didn’t do very well, the ones with me. Fans didn’t really like the change. A lot of people from that era still hate Blaze Bayley, they hate what I did, they hate those two albums I was on. That’s fine by me. I liked the fact that I’ve done something that is strong enough, for someone to have such a big, forceful, emotional reaction to it.
Well, I do think, some of the people that hate me have actually never listened to what I do. So, I think now it’s time to come back to Greece, enjoy myself, enjoy the wonderful Greek fans. At every show that I do, there will be a free “meet & greet”. That’s just included in the ticket. You buy a Blaze Bayley ticket, its normal price, you get the free “meet & greet” in, with it.
But I would say, only bring if you got items to sign, get there early before the show and nothing for E-bay. I hate these people who get things on and put it on E-bay, I want to kill them….! But apart from that, if you want a photo, a selfie, then please only bring five things to sign and then we can do it and I can sign for everybody. Every show, that I did on the last Greek tour, no matter how many people (I think we played in 300 people in Athens), I signed for every person. So, my Greek fans are very important for me and I’m very, very excited about the Greek tour.
I cannot believe there’s someone that hates you, as you said. If there was, if he heard these words already, that you “passed” to me, would be, anyway….More or less you answered one question that I wasn’t intending to ask you, about which is your favourite personal album, from your personal career. But I want to ask, from the other two with Iron Maiden, which one would you pick?
I don’t think I can pick a whole album. There’s so much wonderful music between the two albums. Then, you know for me, personally, my absolute, biggest song for me, is “Como Estais Amigos”. It’s a huge song! I didn’t do well with writing slower-tempo songs before, and I had a lot of help there from Janick Gers and Steve Harris with the arrangement. So even, “The Sign of the Cross” and “The Clansman”, big songs that am famous for, the one that’s really big for me personally, is “Como Estais Amigos”. It’s a very important song. And that’s from the second album, from “Virtual XI”.
And “Look for the Truth” is a big song for me as well, “Futureal” is a big song, “Lord of the Flies” is something I really enjoyed doing. It’s very, very powerful, so it’s difficult to choose, you know. I like so much music from both albums.
Ok. If I asked you for the rest of the Maiden career, from the albums you weren’t there?
Well, I think “Seventh Son….”. I like all of the stuff that they’ve done. “Brave New World” was good, “Matter of Life and Death” really stands out to me and I think “Senjutsu” is a good album, as well, but for me personally, when I listen through and if I’m picking a song to listen to, then ‘Seventh Son…..”, I’m always leaving it on. I think it’s something about “Seventh Son….”, at the way that it was done, the sound of it, it just appeals to me. So, I suppose, even though I love “Piece of Mind”, and “Number of the Beast” is the album that I first got into as a fan, I think “Seventh Son….”, really, if I could only have one Iron Maiden album to keep, it would be “Seventh Son….”.
For me as well….So, we agree. Next question comes from a friend and colleague in our magazine, Pelopidas, a huge fan. He wanted me to ask that….There was the trilogy, “Infinite Entanglement”. Was there any idea of transferring it to something like a comic or a different kind of art, a scenario….?
Absolutely! Absolutely. There’s a book…. I’m working on a book. I’ve never written a book before and it’s a challenge to finish the book. But there is a lot….The trilogy itself, the songs on there are a snapshot really, cause there are back stories to each character. Why are they there, in that situation, why are they doing that thing? Their own individual stories and songs. Well, they are stories that exist, which I want to tell people and there is an idea about doing a comic to go with it, but I have to finish the whole idea from start, to turn it into a book, I think. So, that’s just ongoing, want to get bits of free time. I’ve got to work on that.
That’s great news, that’s great news! We’re waiting for that work of yours as well. If I asked you about new music, that you are listening to?
Sabaton’s new album is absolutely wonderful. That’s fantastic piece of work! That’s what I’m listening to, but it’s difficult in this stage. I can’t listen to a lot, because now I’m starting to think about the new album and the problem is, if you listen to something, then it will go in, and sometimes it will come out and you’ll think it’s yours, from the creative part of your mind, but actually it’s a memory that you forgot it belongs to someone else. It comes out and you find yourself, I mean, whistling a melody, “Oh I’ll get that melody” and then you go, “Oh no! That’s a Sabaton song” or “That’s a Maiden song!” or whoever else. That’s a challenge really, so around this time, I don’t listen to a lot of new music. When I finish a project, it’s a big relief, I just listen to everything. And I’ve always got my same tracks, the same playlist that I take to the gym with me, which is a lot of Manowar!
I believe it’s not a problem, because as I understood from what you initially told me, what you write is from your heart, so it’s difficult to be regarded something like a copy or anything, even if music may seem alike. That happens with all bands and all musicians, but when it comes from your heart….
It’s a narrow path that we tread in Heavy Metal. You know, we are using basically a lot of the same things. A drum kit, two guitars, a bass. And a vocal, maybe three, four, five vocals. There’s a lot that’s the same, that we just, kind of…. “Oh, if I do it this way, that’s a bit more like me, people will see it’s my own”. So, lyrically I think I’m Ok, it’s just a case that I wonder, if melodies are reminding somebody else’s melody by accident. So a couple of very trusted friends, if I’m curious, I say to them, “Listen to this fully”. “Tell me if this new idea of mine, reminds you of anything else”. And one guy was: “Exactly like something….”. “Oh, no!”….So, I should change it, change all the music. But it worked out great because the song worked out great.
So, that’s why Maiden probably put in a third guitar, to be differentiated from the rest that you were describing. No, I’m kidding!
Yeah, it’s a nice thing. It’s a nice option to have that third guitar and do different things. Creatively, you can do a lot with that.
Yes, or three singers, as Halloween did recently.
Yeah, that’s a really cool vibe.
So, back to the mini tour you’re heading in about a week. It’s an Iron Maiden anniversary. Could you tell us a little more? Will there be any surprises?
I don’t think so, because I think one thing about the Greek fans, they don’t keep secrets very well, they’re able to find out everything, so I don’t think there will be many surprises. But I will be playing a couple of my own songs too, from the “War….” Album. Because I know there are a lot of fans in Greece that already have that album and be looking forward to hear it, because of how things were. We missed the main tour that we were gonna do. So, it’s mostly from “X Factor”, “Virtual XI” and a couple of songs from “War Within Me” album. And we played a set like this in a couple of festivals and it’s gone out very well, so we hope for the best.
I’m sure, because you know already, you’ve experienced that, the respect and esteem that comes from the Greek fans towards your career and what you give them every time.
Thank you! I love coming to Greece. I absolutely love coming there and I love the cheese pies. I really love coming to Greece and, of course, I love the weather, as well, it’s really grey, and cold, rain and everything here in the UK, so I’m hoping temperature in Greece will be a lot nicer.
So, I believe we are nearing the end of this interview. The last words to your fans and our readers….Any message you want to send them, ahead of these shows. You’ll be heading in five different cities in Greece. I don’t know if you’ve been in every one of them. For sure, Athens and Thessaloniki, but have you been before in Larisa or Patras or Xanthi?
I think so! I don’t remember to be honest. It was ten shows. So, we had some great nights, so absolutely wonderful nights there. Some of them were crazy! We played the tiniest place and the biggest place. So, anywhere that we could really, to get to see fans. So, a huge thank you to all my Greek fans. I’m really, really excited about coming to see you and the amazing Greek singers and also the wonderful Greek food. I’m looking forward to, as well. So, thank you for all of your support, until now, and I really hope that you’ll enjoy my Iron Maiden anniversary setlist and until next time, “Efkaristo!”.
Thank you! And as a new magazine, online magazine, Soundcheck.Network, it was a real honour and privilege to have you with us! Thank you very much indeed Blaze!!
Thanks very much! Good luck with your magazine, man. Wish you all the best!
Thank you!
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