Spiritech: Your last solo album The Living Dead was quite well received worldwide. Is there anything about that album you would change now?
Paul Di'anno: I think I would keep it the same really. I am going to start to put some songs from this album into my set list later this year sometime, which I'm looking forward to.
Spiritech: I understand you have a new album in the works - what is the latest on that? Paul Di'anno: We started to record it last year in Germany, but have since had some business problems associated with the production company involved with this project, so I may start another new album quite soon now. At the moment I am just concentrating on touring, as this is taking up 100% of my time right now.
Spiritech: You were at the forefront of the creation of heavy metal as we know it today. What was it like in England playing metal when punk was the big thing and what was it like to see the music grow?
Paul Di'anno: It was in fact great for me as I was a fan of both metal and punk and very much into the punk attitude... somehow or other that seemed to shine through in the early Maiden days. We survived well throughout the punk period.
Spiritech: Great stuff. You also released a biography entitled The Beast several years ago. Many such books claim to be brutally honest, but yours was certainly more so than just about any other rock biography in recent years. Did you have any reservations about being as open and honest as you were in that book?
Paul Di'anno: Well, I thought if I am gonna write an autobiography, then I had better go for it with nothing held back. I didn't want it to be just another one of those poncy, pampering my ego autobiography rock books, where I would spend the whole time trying to fucking congratulate myself like so many others, so I just told it like it was. Also I was fucking sick and tired of every other fucker writing whatever they felt like writing about me, so this was a way of shutting them all up and telling them all to fuck off. After it was released I got some mixed reactions, but generally it has worked for me as putting my life out there as it was.
Spiritech: Interesting. The boost in popularity afforded Iron Maiden in recent years seems to have rubbed off on you as well, with many younger metal fans checking out the first two Maiden albums. Is it exciting for you to have a whole generation of fans to reach now?
Paul Di'anno: Yeah, of course, and I do tend to notice that about half of my audiences are now pretty young compared to ten years ago! (laughs)
Spiritech: You're heading to Australia for your first-ever solo tour in June. What can local fans expect from a Paul Di'anno show in terms of energy and overall vibe?
Paul Di'anno: Something old, something new, with plenty of bollocks. For the Australian tour I shall make it 50/50 Maiden and solo material. I will be sure to include a lot of the Maiden classics in the set.
Spiritech: Great stuff! Are there times where you tire of playing the Maiden songs live, or is it still a rush to play them all these years later?
Paul Di'anno: Well it depends on my mood, but generally those songs were the ones that got both me and Maiden there in the first place, so it is kind of my duty to give the crowd what they want.
Spiritech: What is your favourite song, Maiden or otherwise, to play live and why?
Paul Di'anno: My favourite is a song called 'A Song For You'. I shall play this while I'm in Australia, as this was a strong song from my second Killers album entitled Menace To Society.
Spiritech: Your backing band on the Australian tour will be Sydney metallers Killrazer. Will you be spending with them before the tour to make sure everyone is ready to play the songs live?
Paul Di'anno: Yeah, of course I am very familiar with these guys as they are a great band and we are gonna spend the best part of a week together before we start the tour.
Spiritech: Other than the shows, what are you looking forward to doing while you're in Australia?
Paul Di'anno: Sleeping, because I can never get enough of it, as well as barbecues, JD and beer.
Spiritech: You've been a part of the heavy metal/hard rock scene for three decades. How strong do you feel the metal scene is worldwide at the moment?
Paul Di'anno: To be honest, I have no idea, as I am not really myself in any sort of scene, as I just do what I do now, as I have always done. I try not to be part of any kinda movement or whatever. I listen to lots of different types of music- not just metal music- so I like so many different things nowadays. I tend to listen to stuff like Sepultura or System of a Down and some punk stuff generally.
Spiritech: Okay, to finish things off do you have any last words for our readers?
Paul Di'anno: Yeah, come along to my tour...be there or beware! (laughs)
- Spiritech
