Up next in 10
This week, we welcome Blaze Bayley — the voice who stood at Iron Maiden’s mic in the late ’90s — to Denim and Leather. Blaze walks us through his long and uncompromising career: from fronting Wolfsbane to taking the helm of one of heavy metal’s biggest bands, and then carving out a powerful solo path. We talk about one of his best-known tracks and signature projects, his time with Iron Maiden, and what it really felt like behind the scenes.
In this episode:
- Blaze on the recent festival run in Spain with Saxon and the energy of live metal today.
- Honest memories of his Iron Maiden years — the highs, the pressures, and the songs fans still sing.
- Reflections on his solo work and enduring connection with metal audiences worldwide.
Listen now and stay tuned for stories you won’t hear anywhere else — told in Blaze’s own voice.
---
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0:04
Okay guys, in the next episode of the
0:06
Animal Under Podcast, we're welcoming
0:09
extraordinary singer,
0:11
to to me a legend, Blaze Bayley from
0:15
Wolfsbane, ex-Iron Maiden, and his solo
0:18
stuff for the last 26, 27 years now.
0:22
Thank you, Blaze, for for joining us.
0:25
>> Thank you. Thanks for having me.
0:28
>> Uh tell me what's what's new in your in
0:31
your world now?
0:33
>> Well,
0:34
I just got back from Spain.
0:38
We did Z Fest
0:40
uh with Saxon.
0:43
That just was absolutely amazing. I've
0:46
known the guys from Saxon for many
0:48
years.
0:49
Uh they're just so [snorts] good. They
0:51
did a great set, fantastic
0:54
sound that they had. Guitars so loud,
0:58
the drums so clear, powerful. Biff just
1:02
sounds like a god. Sounds like Odin. If
1:06
Odin was a heavy metal singer, it would
1:08
be Biff Byford. That's how good. So, it
1:11
was absolutely great weekend, just so
1:14
good. And the Spanish fans are
1:17
absolutely incredible. So, really really
1:20
good, and it was a short set. For me,
1:24
it's it was about an hour.
1:26
And I'm doing an Iron Maiden anniversary
1:30
set. I did two full albums with Maiden.
1:34
And there seems to be now a real
1:37
nostalgia for the '90s.
1:39
And
1:41
I did the X Factor anniversary.
1:46
It was the 10th studio album of Iron
1:48
Maiden. So, I did 10 cities in 10
1:51
countries, and played the X Factor and
1:54
The X Factor start to finish, and people
1:56
loved it.
1:58
And so they said, "Please come back and
2:00
do some more." So I've said, "All right.
2:02
I'll do my favorite songs from my X
2:07
Factor album with Maiden and my Virtual
2:09
XI
2:10
album with Iron Maiden.
2:13
And that's what I'm doing now and I just
2:15
keep getting booked up as a a big UK
2:18
tour in October and the tickets have
2:21
sold out in a couple of places. And I'm
2:24
booked to play different festivals all
2:26
over Europe. It's incredible, really.
2:29
And
2:30
it's a different way of doing the songs
2:34
because in Maiden they've got the
2:36
keyboards
2:37
and they do it very much like the
2:39
record. For me,
2:41
I take the song and go, "Well, what's my
2:43
style?"
2:45
And whereas those songs, it's old now
2:49
and the production is a bit different,
2:51
some of the guitar parts were octaves or
2:56
unison. And if I think, "You know what?
2:59
I would like to have a harmony there." I
3:01
change it to a harmony.
3:03
Uh so I have that and then
3:05
going through the phrasing on the
3:07
vocals, then my voice is very different
3:10
now. It's stronger
3:13
in a lot of different areas.
3:16
And there are a lot of little details
3:19
that I'd like to change just a little
3:21
bit like finishing the line and the
3:24
phrase at an exact point.
3:27
>> Uh-huh.
3:27
>> That and slightly differently.
3:31
And my voice has grown and developed.
3:34
Really, I learned
3:36
to sing again in Iron Maiden because
3:39
there was another third
3:41
of my voice that I'd never used before.
3:45
And when Steve Harris was producing the
3:49
album and when when writing together, he
3:51
would say, "Well, try to sing it
3:55
here, in this place." I'd be going,
3:57
"Ooh, it's a bit low." And anyway, we
3:59
did it and it worked. And
4:01
over those 30 years away from that,
4:03
that's become part of my style and the
4:07
strength of that part of my voice has
4:09
really improved. So, it's a bit like the
4:14
difference between a young man where
4:17
basically you're singing everything
4:19
loud, in tune, in time. And now I'm a
4:23
mature man where you go
4:26
I want to reach
4:28
in to my listener's heart. I want to
4:32
connect
4:33
with my listener. And it's a different
4:36
way of looking at things. And that's the
4:38
way I do it now.
4:41
What is the song about?
4:43
Where is the emotion of the song? How
4:46
can I
4:48
show you the emotion of the song? And
4:50
how can I connect with you to say, "We
4:53
all have the same emotions?"
4:55
So, that's what I do. So, that's a a
4:58
real pleasure
5:00
of going back and doing those old songs.
5:02
We just finished the Wolfsbane tour, 40
5:07
years of the same guys from the first
5:10
record. We never had anybody else in the
5:12
band from Live Fast Die Fast right up to
5:15
now. We we've been together longer now
5:19
than that break that I had with Maiden.
5:22
And we've made a few records, Wolfsbane
5:25
Save the World, Genius. Um it's just a
5:30
some great music. And we did a tour
5:34
which was a lot of um the White Album
5:36
Wolfsbane as well. And it just man, it
5:40
was incredible. That cuz a lot of our
5:43
fans are really old and they they knew
5:46
the words better than me. I didn't
5:49
everybody singing going crazy. And you
5:52
think what are these bunch of old brokes
5:55
doing here at the show? And you think
5:56
well, we're a bunch of old brokes as
5:58
well. And then you see new fans as well,
6:00
younger fans and people bringing their
6:03
sons and daughters and family. Oh man,
6:05
it's absolute riot. So, we managed to do
6:08
quite a few gigs together in May.
6:11
And now we're trying to fit find our
6:14
days together to do writing and and
6:16
bring out a new Wolfsbane album wow next
6:19
year, which is
6:21
very
6:23
very exciting. We have a few ideas.
6:26
Of course, the thing with Wolfsbane you
6:27
can't pin it down to a style. We're a
6:30
little bit like Queen in that way. In
6:33
that we we take all the elements that
6:35
are available to us in rock and metal
6:38
and we go, well, this song would feel
6:41
good in this vibe.
6:43
>> Yeah.
6:43
>> So, this is more of an AC/DC vibe. This
6:46
is more of a Van Halen vibe. This is
6:48
more Motörhead vibe and and all of this
6:50
and
6:51
that's how we do it. So, you never know
6:53
what you're going to get except it's
6:54
going to have a lot of energy on a
6:57
Wolfsbane album. So, it's good. It's
7:00
really busy, but I'm so lucky, man. I
7:02
got so many bookings coming in, so many
7:04
great festivals. Next weekend we're
7:07
doing the Death Surf Festival in
7:11
Germany. Oh man, it's so many great
7:13
things going on. I'm very very lucky.
7:16
>> I can I can I can see
7:18
>> I'm independent.
7:20
I'm an independent I don't have a big
7:22
record deal or anything.
7:25
I have a small team of people that work
7:28
with me that are incredibly hard working
7:31
and creative and talented and together
7:34
we do everything and we're small
7:38
but we do everything the way that we
7:40
want to do it. And I think that's the
7:42
difference between being independent on
7:46
a label and some of the compromises that
7:49
you have to make. We can choose which
7:51
ones we do and we can go, "Well, it's
7:54
not always about the money. It's about,
7:57
well, do we really want to go and play
7:59
that festival? Do we really want to go
8:01
and play that venue? We like it so
8:03
much." And different things. So, it's a
8:06
nice situation to be in and to be
8:08
honest,
8:09
>> Yeah.
8:10
>> you know, years ago when we started out
8:12
in Wolfsbane,
8:13
I thought I'd be dead when I was 40.
8:16
I thought I got to 40 and I'm not dead.
8:19
I'll have to carry on.
8:21
And that's what that's what I've done
8:23
and
8:24
you look back and
8:25
all of this nostalgia, you look back
8:28
some of the ups and the downs you go,
8:30
"Well, I've learned so much."
8:34
And now I'm able to use all of those
8:37
lessons from tough times and good times
8:41
to put into what we do now. And it I
8:44
feel incredibly lucky to be able to do
8:46
it. The The number one thing
8:49
I've had incredible support from my
8:51
fans.
8:52
>> Yeah.
8:52
>> You know, when I didn't have a band, I
8:55
remember being at work. I was working a
8:57
day job after Maiden. I had terrible
9:00
problems. And after Maiden, I was
9:02
working a day job.
9:04
Uh I'm working in a shop.
9:06
And fans used to come in the shop and
9:09
they never said,
9:10
"Why are you working in a shop?" They
9:13
said, "When's your next record?"
9:16
>> Yeah.
9:16
>> And it was incredible. "When's your next
9:18
gig?" They didn't say, it's like, "Okay,
9:21
it doesn't matter where you're working,
9:22
but when is your next record?" And that
9:24
really kept me going, you know, in a lot
9:26
of
9:27
a lot of man, that was a dark time. But
9:30
that that kept me going. So, I look back
9:32
at that
9:33
like
9:34
15 like 17 years ago maybe
9:37
and I think, wow, to get from there to
9:40
here, where we've got sold-out shows,
9:44
sometimes we play two nights in a row,
9:46
we're invited on to important festivals.
9:49
It's mate, it's a different uh
9:53
a different world. So, going back and
9:55
playing those Iron Maiden songs,
9:57
it's really, really cool. It's like
10:00
seeing old friends.
10:01
>> You know what? You know what? I like
10:04
that uh that that a few of your songs
10:06
from The X Factor and and Virtual XI
10:09
became classics that Iron Maiden also
10:12
plays, you know? You cannot see You
10:14
cannot see that in Judas Priest, for
10:16
example, with Ripper. You know, Ripper
10:17
had two great albums with Judas Priest,
10:19
but Halford doesn't sing some of them,
10:22
you know? So, you your your your few few
10:25
of your songs are classics, man. I I
10:26
love them, you know? From the from the
10:29
from the two albums. Great.
10:31
>> Thank you. Bruce and I have always got
10:34
along. We've always been friends. We've
10:36
always had the greatest respect for each
10:40
other, different things. He's always
10:42
helped me in my solo career and in
10:46
Maiden, I
10:48
I can't I know Tim very well, Tim
10:51
"Ripper" Owens. Incredible vocalist and
10:54
a wonderful, wonderful person. We've
10:57
worked together on many times and um
11:01
what I I can't say about his situation,
11:04
but what I can say about Maiden is
11:08
everything that we did, we did 100% with
11:12
passion
11:13
to be the best that it could be. And it
11:16
was important to all of us that were in
11:20
Maiden at that time. We all did our
11:22
absolute best and
11:26
there's some great
11:28
music
11:29
that we can all be very, very proud of.
11:34
And it's important if you've got a
11:36
catalog
11:38
and for me as a fan
11:41
I'm looking back at my favorite band I'm
11:44
looking back at AC/DC, let's say.
11:47
And I'm going
11:48
okay
11:50
well you've got this but they still play
11:53
something from the early years.
11:55
And for me, well
11:58
it's not it it it's a part of the band
12:01
that I love.
12:02
So, if you suddenly go
12:05
oh, well, we we don't play anything from
12:07
these two
12:09
albums
12:11
if if suddenly The X Factor and Virtual
12:14
XI disappeared
12:17
then oh, does that mean they didn't mean
12:20
it?
12:21
Does that mean they're not genuine? Does
12:23
that mean they'll they only did it for
12:25
the money or because they had to do it?
12:27
No, what happened was for us, we were
12:31
fighting for our lives, man, the life of
12:33
Iron Maiden. We were fighting all the
12:35
journalists in the UK, the rock
12:38
journalists were saying Maiden is dead.
12:40
Nirvana is forever, Pearl Jam is
12:43
forever, Soundgarden, this is it, grunge
12:45
is now, heavy metal is dead, and we were
12:50
in Spain playing to 10,000
12:55
people every night. There were nearly 30
12:58
shows where all the big cities and big
13:00
towns and all of that, playing to all of
13:03
those things. And I would think well,
13:06
who are these journalists? Who do they
13:08
think they are?
13:09
Because not one of them is more
13:11
important than any fan.
13:14
If the fan bought the ticket and bought
13:17
the CD, then
13:19
then
13:20
their opinion matters to me, not the not
13:22
the journalist who says, oh, Iron
13:24
Maiden's not fashionable, they're over.
13:27
They don't [ __ ] why Iron Maiden is in
13:29
a heart. They don't know that that is I
13:32
did. I knew why I loved Iron Maiden
13:34
before I joined when I saw them uh you
13:37
know, three times in Birmingham Odeon in
13:39
a theater, 1,800 people. Finally,
13:42
they'll never do that again. And I saw
13:45
Metallica there, Journey there, Ronnie
13:48
James Dio. So,
13:50
those people that wrote off Iron Maiden
13:53
back then
13:54
did not understand
13:56
that Iron Maiden it's not the people in
13:59
the band, it's the fans that keep the
14:03
band alive through their love. And the
14:06
reason
14:07
that they love that we loved Iron Maiden
14:11
at that time is because they do what the
14:13
[ __ ] they want to do
14:15
and nobody tells them. When I joined the
14:18
band, then um
14:20
I I said to Steve, we were in the studio
14:23
and I I said uh
14:25
well,
14:26
what about the record company? I said do
14:29
do the record company
14:31
uh have anything to say? And he goes,
14:33
"Nah."
14:34
He said, "The record company
14:36
is banned
14:38
from the studio.
14:40
THE RECORD COMPANY AREN'T ALLOWED TO
14:42
VISIT THE STUDIO. They're not allowed to
14:45
listen to anything. NOT A ROUGH MIX, NOT
14:48
[ __ ] ALL, MAN. NO ONE'S ALLOWED IN.
14:51
JUST THE BAND. NOT EVEN THE MANAGER
14:53
COULD COME TO THE STUDIO. HOW'S THE
14:55
RECORD GOING? NO. IT'S NOT NO.
14:58
THEY HAD A BAD EXPERIENCE AND Steve
15:00
said, "Right, [ __ ] it. Record company's
15:02
banned. No one listens to the album be
15:05
until it's finished."
15:06
>> Yeah.
15:07
>> Because one time, record company went to
15:10
the studio, and this is Iron Maiden,
15:13
went to the studio
15:14
uh
15:15
listened to something and then went back
15:17
and said, "Album's terrible. It's all
15:19
drums."
15:20
Because they were LISTENING TO THE DRUMS
15:22
IN THE
15:23
TRYING TO SORT MY LEVELS IN THE MIX.
15:25
AND THE STUPID PEOPLE AT THE RECORD
15:27
COMPANY THOUGHT THAT WAS THE ALBUM.
15:30
>> [laughter]
15:30
>> I WAS LIKE, "NO, THE BAND AND I'M
15:31
SORRY."
15:32
OH, GREAT. SO,
15:36
everything
15:38
that you do in Iron Maiden, not
15:39
everything turns out wonderful, but a
15:42
lot of it
15:43
turns out wonderful.
15:45
Everything is done with 100% passion.
15:48
>> Yeah.
15:49
>> That's the difference.
15:50
>> Yeah.
15:51
>> And fans,
15:53
we know they don't compromise.
15:57
And that's what we love. We're listening
15:59
to them. We're not listening to them
16:01
chasing an idea of what might be popular
16:03
in the future. We're listening to
16:06
these men and the heart of what this
16:11
band is. Well, that's what we're
16:13
listening to and we've listened to that
16:15
over many years. Some better records,
16:17
some
16:18
more exciting. Always some classic song,
16:22
always some songs you thought, "Oh, I'm
16:24
not quite." But always done with the
16:27
most 100% passion.
16:29
>> Did
16:30
Did that Iron Maiden uh uh you joining
16:34
Maiden and afterwards
16:36
Wolfsbane again. Did Did the Maiden
16:38
thing brought you fans to to Wolfsbane
16:41
afterwards?
16:42
>> Uh I don't know. Maybe a few, but we had
16:44
a lot of fans in Wolfsbane anyway.
16:46
>> Yeah.
16:47
>> And it was only that at that time,
16:51
you know, internet was just starting
16:54
and smartphones weren't around at that
16:58
time. So, we had quite a few fans, but
17:02
we didn't get in magazines. It was
17:03
difficult to do promotion back then. We
17:06
had a tiny little label, Bronze Records.
17:09
Um we weren't on Phonogram. When we were
17:11
on Phonogram, same label as Metallica in
17:13
the UK,
17:15
but then we were dropped from that,
17:17
dropped by Def American and it's a man
17:19
it was horrible. So all because our
17:22
style of music where we're celebrating
17:25
life and looking for the good times and
17:28
looking for the positive things in life
17:30
and you know saying well things might be
17:33
tough might feel [ __ ] but it might turn
17:36
out okay was much more positive and that
17:40
didn't really go with the fashion of
17:42
music at the time which was kind of
17:46
looking at the floor and being certain
17:48
of our [ __ ]
17:49
>> Yeah.
17:49
>> And that didn't fit
17:51
for us so getting back together
17:55
with Wolfsbane and doing Wolfsbane saves
17:58
the world and the genius album then
18:03
it fits now. Now it it it fits that
18:06
attitude. So we don't do much but we
18:09
really enjoy what we do do. I'm really
18:12
busy with
18:14
my Blaze Bayley solo career
18:17
and what I'm doing and I I think what's
18:21
really cool is to be able to
18:24
my Blaze Bayley goes in a very much more
18:28
metal direction
18:31
kind of in that Maiden Metallica vibe
18:36
and Wolfsbane is
18:39
insanity and chaos in a bottle.
18:43
>> Yeah.
18:45
But but you you know
18:47
you mentioned the the grunge of the of
18:49
the 90s you know the the all the
18:53
naysayers and the journalists and the
18:56
grunge
18:57
movement now grunge where is it you know
19:00
metal is back is alive the 80s the 90s
19:03
metal is you know heard more than ever
19:06
now on the festivals and
19:08
the 90s music that was not that
19:12
you know, that important that they made
19:14
it important
19:16
is nowhere to be found, you know.
19:17
>> Exactly. Exactly. It's a It's a It's a
19:20
cliche. You know this. It's in your
19:24
heart.
19:25
Metal never dies.
19:27
>> Yeah.
19:28
>> Yeah, so well, we it may be but there's
19:31
something about this art form and that's
19:34
what it is because it's the way I choose
19:37
to express myself. It is an art form.
19:40
I'm showing you. I'm crafting these
19:42
songs
19:44
about emotion. Sometimes things are
19:47
really dumb.
19:49
And they have to be because THAT'S ALL
19:50
WE WANT. Sometimes you you want
19:53
Sometimes metal, rock is really dumb.
19:56
Yeah, okay. It's just a feel good. It's
19:58
nothing It's not And sometimes it it's
20:00
intense.
20:02
And it rips your brain apart. But that's
20:04
all that's great
20:06
too. You choose your bands. You choose
20:08
the songs you want to listen to. You
20:10
Whatever reflects your mood or the mood
20:12
that you want to be in.
20:13
That's it. And
20:15
the thing is I
20:17
What I think is
20:19
because
20:21
metal
20:23
and the heavy rock
20:25
was in the hands of the fans.
20:28
That's why journalists didn't like it
20:30
because they had so little power and a
20:33
lot of those old journalists
20:36
they they they felt they had a sense of
20:39
power that they could make a band by
20:42
writing a few good reviews and a good
20:44
article and break a band by writing a
20:46
few bad reviews. So they had to be
20:49
respected and their opinion was
20:51
important. No, it's absolutely wrong.
20:54
The only opinion that matters is the
20:56
fans. They actually paid for their CD.
20:59
They paid for their ticket. They paid
21:01
for their train to get there. They paid
21:04
for their own hotel. The journalists
21:06
back then,
21:07
everything was free.
21:09
So, what did their opinion doesn't
21:12
count? But they thought it counted and
21:14
they told people that it counted. Um,
21:17
that was wrong back then. Now things are
21:19
more balanced because now we have
21:21
internet, we have podcasts like yours
21:24
which do things honestly. And if I'm
21:26
interested in something, I'll go, "Okay,
21:28
what's he got on his podcast? Diamond
21:30
Head, what's on? Oh, that's I'll go I
21:32
see the people."
21:33
>> Yeah.
21:34
>> And it's Nobody can get in the way. It's
21:36
just you and me.
21:39
>> Yep. Yep. Yep.
21:41
You know what I I wanted to tell you
21:42
since I since you came to the podcast,
21:45
you look great, man. You had that health
21:47
scare a few years ago, but
21:50
but but you look and you sound in in the
21:52
same key as you ever were. Uh
21:55
>> Thank you.
21:56
>> Yeah. I I heard some I saw some videos
21:59
of Wolfsbane and some of your of your
22:02
solo band.
22:03
It's the same key, right? You're singing
22:05
in the same key.
22:06
>> Well, what I've done is
22:10
I changed
22:12
the key
22:13
because
22:15
in
22:16
nature of singing
22:19
then the older you get
22:22
the less strong
22:25
the high part of your voice is. But the
22:28
lower part of your voice is still
22:30
strong. I've developed that low baritone
22:34
part of my voice since Maiden and over
22:37
my solo career.
22:39
And so, I
22:40
James Hetfield did this like 30
22:43
something years ago
22:45
when he was struggling with some of the
22:47
things. It's nice to have the recording
22:49
concept pitch, but live
22:52
you don't really need that. But it it's
22:55
a lot to get to that part. And what it
22:58
means is your voice, which is so
23:01
vulnerable anyway, you cannot restring
23:05
your voice. You can't go to the shop and
23:08
go, "Oh, another set of 13 gauge
23:12
strings, please, for the voi- You can't
23:14
do that, man. When when it's gone, you
23:16
need rest.
23:17
>> Yeah.
23:18
>> Horrible medication and stuff like this.
23:21
So, you must not go there.
23:24
What happens is you go, "Okay,
23:27
one full step down.
23:31
You can't tell the difference. Most
23:33
You can't tell the difference.
23:34
>> Yeah.
23:34
>> But but on your voice, it's suddenly
23:37
like taking your car. You If you drive a
23:40
car or a motorcycle, it's suddenly like
23:42
going, "Okay, from 200 km/h
23:47
how long that petrol, that diesel, how
23:50
long it will last, you've got to go to
23:52
It's
23:52
taking down to 150.
23:54
>> Yeah. Yeah.
23:55
>> It's going to last a lot like It's just
23:56
as simple as that. So, basically, you
23:59
you TAKE ALL THIS PRESSURE
24:01
and you go,
24:02
"Oh, oh, actually, yeah. Oh, I can
24:05
Oh, and here's the other benefit.
24:09
Slightly lower,
24:11
you get closer to the talking area
24:14
of
24:16
my voice, and that's the bit with the
24:19
real emotion. And so, I'm able to use
24:22
that now. I I think about it when I'm
24:24
doing my recording live, I'm always at
24:27
one step down, and the pressure's off
24:31
my voice, and I'm able to put more of
24:35
the emotion into the song. And it Well,
24:38
that works for me, works for James Het-
24:42
for James Hetfield, and quite a few
24:44
other singers. Some people take it down
24:46
half a step for live.
24:48
>> Yeah.
24:49
>> Some full step. Tim Owens, he does a
24:52
full step. Udo, he does a full step as
24:55
well. And we did a tour together, Udo,
24:58
Tim, me, Mike Viscera from L.A. Guns.
25:03
And we all had a full step down, man. I
25:05
just thought after that, oh, I've got to
25:08
keep this. Feels so good. And some of
25:11
the some of the notes where you'd be,
25:13
oh, it it it's quite thin sounding.
25:16
Suddenly, they're much bigger and
25:18
stronger. So, So, that's it. And And
25:21
it's age, man. You just got You have to
25:23
go, all right, I'm getting older.
25:26
That's it. And that's
25:28
normal. Any singer that's that's past 50
25:32
is finding this. And if you're lucky
25:34
enough to get to 60,
25:36
>> Yeah.
25:37
>> then
25:38
>> [laughter]
25:39
>> it's then this is what you should be
25:41
doing.
25:41
>> To me, it To me, it sounded
25:44
as as you said,
25:46
uh I I am a musician, I am a drummer,
25:48
but to me, it sounded uh
25:49
uh legit, you know, it was it was like
25:51
it was not a step down, you know. It was
25:55
what I heard was
25:56
actually
25:58
almost same as as as the original, you
26:00
know.
26:01
>> Yeah, for me,
26:02
I I would be If I'd have known, I'd have
26:05
done it
26:06
years before.
26:08
>> Yeah.
26:10
Yeah, yeah, yeah.
26:11
Uh tell me tell me about
26:13
the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame
26:14
induction. Uh
26:17
I know Iron Maiden won't be there
26:20
uh for the induction. They're on a big
26:22
tour. I just saw them uh a month ago. Uh
26:25
but uh but will you be there physically
26:28
or or will you be only like them uh only
26:32
in spirit there?
26:33
>> uh
26:34
they had tour booked.
26:36
>> Yeah, yeah.
26:36
>> At the moment, my I have some free days.
26:40
Yeah. So, I'm trying to work it out that
26:44
I get there for the ceremony. I don't
26:47
know yet. But I never got into a band
26:52
because I wanted to get awards, probably
26:54
the same as you. Get into a band because
26:57
you want to play in front of people, you
26:59
want to
27:01
be on stage with people singing your
27:03
songs with you, and go go to different
27:07
places and play music at different
27:09
venues, and meet new people, and that's
27:13
why I got into it. And I love to sing. I
27:17
You know, that's been my life. I love to
27:19
sing.
27:20
So, I'm very lucky that even though I've
27:24
I've had ups and downs, here I am.
27:27
I'm a full-time
27:29
professional heavy metal singer.
27:31
>> Yeah.
27:31
>> Um
27:33
I own
27:35
my own record label. It's tiny. It's
27:37
just me. Um but I'm independent.
27:40
>> Yeah.
27:40
>> And I do what I want. I play the music
27:42
that I want. So, I'm very very lucky to
27:45
be
27:46
in that situation. There's so many bands
27:49
that do what we do that still have to
27:54
work a day job and have to fit their
27:56
touring around work and family. I'm very
27:59
lucky
28:00
>> Yeah.
28:00
>> that I'm not in that situation. And And
28:02
I'm very grateful to my fans because
28:04
they've made it possible. They've
28:06
supported me. And when I had a heart
28:08
attack
28:10
and I couldn't work for 6 months
28:13
and I had to postpone the tour
28:17
not one
28:19
ticket not one fan asked for a refund on
28:24
their ticket. Not one promoter said,
28:28
"Oh, we'll cancel then." They said,
28:30
"We'll wait."
28:31
>> Yeah.
28:32
>> And then 6 months later, I could start
28:34
back
28:35
and start doing those tour dates again.
28:38
And that's because my fans
28:40
>> Yeah.
28:41
>> supported me. And I I'm so lucky. I was
28:43
10 minutes from dead.
28:45
>> Oh, man.
28:46
>> Yeah. I If if I'd been on my own,
28:50
I think I may have been dead because my
28:53
partner Kate was with me and I was oh, I
28:56
should have found the ambulance or it's
28:58
feels like indigestion. It was a heart
29:01
attack.
29:02
I thought heart attack your heart went
29:03
dead. No, man. A heart attack for me,
29:06
symptoms I had and now I find it's very
29:09
common. It's like an elephant sitting on
29:10
your chest.
29:12
You know, what the what is this? How can
29:14
this feel heavy? IT'S NOTHING LIKE OH,
29:17
MAN. THAT'S A heart attack. And um
29:21
I live 2 minutes from the ambulance
29:23
station.
29:25
And they came on their way. They were
29:27
going on their break, but instead they
29:28
came to my house.
29:30
2 minutes had the wires on me. Then we
29:32
took me to hospital. 15 minutes I was
29:34
having treatment in hospital. I'm alive.
29:36
And they said,
29:39
"We got to you in 2 minutes. If that had
29:41
been 10 minutes, we don't think you
29:43
would have made it."
29:45
>> Wow, man.
29:45
>> So lucky, man. But here's the weirdest
29:48
thing about that
29:50
is
29:52
I rested and everything very very
29:55
careful about my recovery. I was very
29:58
lucky that Kate, my partner, could look
30:01
after me and everything very very
30:03
gentle. But when I got back to those
30:05
first rehearsals,
30:07
my voice felt like it had gone back 10
30:11
years. And it was that much stronger.
30:14
How did that happen?
30:16
I don't know what it was, but when I
30:17
came back and started singing again, my
30:20
voice was much clearer, stronger. I had
30:23
a So, I don't know how that happened.
30:26
Maybe it's because I had to have 6
30:28
months away from singing properly.
30:31
>> Yeah.
30:31
>> And just gentle, you know. Well, man, I
30:34
came back my voice was stronger. I still
30:37
all your strength is gone
30:39
because I have to cut you in half.
30:42
And you that's got to heal cuz if you
30:44
don't let that heal
30:46
it won't it will never heal. It takes 12
30:49
weeks, man. You've got to be just like a
30:51
still as you possibly can. And those
30:53
first few weeks you're in agony when you
30:56
breathe. So, it's a challenge, but
30:58
people get through it. I'm very very
30:59
lucky to have the support my fans, my
31:02
partner Kate, and my family, my the team
31:06
that work with me on Blaze, all the guys
31:08
in Wolfsbane, everybody
31:10
stuck with me and helped me through it
31:13
and I'm very very lucky to be here
31:15
talking to you.
31:17
>> Yeah, yeah, yeah.
31:18
>> Still be heavy metal singer in a band.
31:20
>> Yeah, yeah, yeah. You and you look
31:22
healthy, man.
31:23
>> Thanks, man.
31:24
>> Um tell me tell me about EdFest. What's
31:28
going on with that? Are you going to
31:29
play you're going to play a Maiden set,
31:31
right?
31:31
>> Yeah, they asked me to come and play a
31:34
Maiden set cuz they heard that I was
31:36
doing this um
31:39
anniversary tour. I've done my X Fat
31:42
I've done my X Factor tour.
31:43
>> Yeah.
31:45
>> I said
31:47
Well, they said Steve phoned me.
31:50
>> Yeah.
31:50
>> Uh and he said we're doing EdFest.
31:53
He said you fancy coming and doing on
31:55
the Friday night.
31:58
I said, "Yeah. All right, then. Yeah,
31:59
sounds like a lot a lot of fun. I never
32:01
expected it at all. I saw that he was
32:04
putting a few
32:05
bands that friends from the old days uh
32:09
and things. So, um I thought oh well,
32:13
okay. And uh yeah, I'm doing it. It's
32:16
going to be
32:18
it's a very short set, though.
32:20
>> But you're But you're you're headlining
32:22
you're headlining.
32:23
>> On the Friday.
32:25
>> Yeah, okay.
32:26
>> Friday night headlining that stage and
32:31
it's about an hour, which is nothing in
32:34
Iron Maiden terms.
32:35
>> Yeah, okay.
32:36
>> My normal headline set is about 3 hours
32:39
to fit all the songs I want to do in
32:42
and uh we've got about an hour, I think.
32:45
Very excited about it. I never played
32:48
Knebworth and if you think Knebworth
32:52
Led Zeppelin
32:53
>> Yeah.
32:54
>> So, you got to think whoa, it's a
32:56
hallowed ground, man. So
32:58
>> [laughter]
32:58
>> many artists played Knebworth. You think
33:01
whoa and uh going to be there where Led
33:06
Zeppelin were in 78, I think or
33:09
something.
33:09
>> 77, maybe, yeah.
33:11
>> Yeah, maybe, yeah.
33:12
>> Yeah, yeah.
33:12
>> that. So, got thinking about that and
33:15
all the great artists that have been
33:17
there.
33:18
And I said
33:20
I mean, it's a big deal in the UK to say
33:23
Knebworth and it became Sonisphere with
33:25
Metallica and uh
33:29
Diamond Head and that and
33:31
I said to my manager as soon as it was
33:33
confirmed, I said
33:35
have we had our tour t-shirts printed
33:37
yet?
33:38
I said, can we still fit Knebworth as
33:41
part of our tour? SO, ON THE BACK OF THE
33:44
BLAZE BAYLEY T-SHIRT
33:45
for my
33:47
it it's got all clubs that I normally
33:49
play in theaters and everything and it's
33:51
got Knebworth
33:53
>> Uh-huh.
33:54
>> It's really cool.
33:55
>> Yeah, yeah, yeah.
33:56
That's that's
33:58
that's going in history, you know.
34:00
Uh
34:00
>> Yeah, but you get to put that on the
34:02
back of your t-shirt.
34:03
>> Yeah, yeah, yeah. Uh now, tell me you
34:05
fini- you you did a tour 25th 5th
34:08
anniversary tour of your first solo
34:10
record, Silicon Messiah, right?
34:12
>> Oh, man, it's unbelievable.
34:15
Unbelievable. It's
34:17
absolutely crazy that we we did a 15th
34:20
anniversary, went all across Europe.
34:22
Yeah, it did okay, but you know, I I was
34:25
just coming back then
34:27
and we were excited.
34:31
If we had 30
34:33
tickets pre-sale, we were like, "Oh,
34:36
okay." If we had 60, we were jumping up
34:39
and down, dancing, man. Yeah. And uh
34:42
on the 15th anniversary, we come back
34:44
the 25th anniversary, we're selling out
34:47
100, 200,
34:49
300 people playing to. It's incredible.
34:51
Yeah. And people, of course, they knew
34:54
the songs very, very well. A lot of
34:55
people that weren't aware of that that
34:58
15th anniversary, 10 years later,
35:01
they were there. It was incredible. And
35:03
and people so loud as well, singing the
35:06
songs. It was just fan-fantastic. And to
35:09
be able to play
35:11
the whole album start to finish, more or
35:14
less in the order. Had to change once
35:16
once tuning.
35:17
Uh just the
35:18
guitars need to tune in wise. But all
35:22
start to finish, oh man, it felt And
35:24
then, you know, we played uh
35:26
uh some other songs songs from Messiah.
35:29
Uh but it was such a
35:31
incredible experience. I couldn't
35:33
believe the level of support. And people
35:36
>> Awesome.
35:37
>> t-shirts
35:39
as well. We we sell
35:41
Oh, yeah.
35:42
>> Awesome, man.
35:44
>> Absolutely
35:46
unreal and
35:49
affected us in the band and team cuz you
35:53
go, "You know what?
35:55
That silly come Messiah album
35:59
There's a a couple of songs that are
36:02
that are more about the group.
36:20
Yeah. It just went absolutely great.
36:23
Can't believe the react.
36:25
So many fans from way back.
36:27
Uh
36:29
Yeah. He He missed it.
36:32
The first time or only got into the
36:35
Silica album Messiah album first after
36:39
because the problem was when the Silica
36:41
Messiah album came out
36:44
and we had the Brave New World and the
36:46
new album that I made with Bruce.
36:48
>> Oh, yeah.
36:50
>> It just didn't do very and it didn't do
36:52
anything
36:53
at all.
36:54
>> Uh-huh.
36:55
>> And
36:55
same with the next album. Cuz I
36:58
mentioned so it was horrible, really.
37:00
And I felt that it didn't get a fair
37:02
fair chance.
37:04
It didn't have a tour tour book or
37:06
anything. Oh, man, it was it was
37:09
horrible. And I felt felt so much regret
37:12
for that.
37:13
That didn't
37:15
I felt it reached its natural audience.
37:19
That would have enjoyed it post-Maiden.
37:21
>> Yeah.
37:23
>> It worked. We
37:24
This is our anniversary. We had plenty
37:26
of promotion. Our profile was a lot
37:28
bigger.
37:29
People knew about me.
37:32
And so
37:34
it really felt like a tour.
37:36
That's Silica Messiah should have had
37:39
when it came out.
37:40
>> Yeah.
37:43
Great Great that you Great that you had
37:46
the
37:47
Great that you had the
37:49
too many visitors and sold out shows,
37:51
man.
37:52
>> Oh, no.
37:53
It's incredible.
37:55
Absolutely incredible. Where um
37:59
after Maiden, I was playing to just
38:02
nobody, really really. Hardly anybody.
38:05
Like less than 60 people, 30 people,
38:08
people. Some sometimes one horrible show
38:12
where seven people came. Seven people
38:15
came.
38:15
Just really really really tough.
38:20
Nobody knew who I was on. And And if
38:23
they did know, they didn't want to see
38:24
it.
38:25
So
38:26
>> Yeah, but
38:27
>> Yeah, but
38:28
very
38:29
And there was no
38:31
there was social media like we have now.
38:33
>> Yeah.
38:34
>> I could be
38:35
people about things
38:37
and then they could just go click and
38:39
find out Blaze Bayley donny.net. See,
38:41
they find out all that stuff out me.
38:43
Yeah,
38:44
we didn't have that back then.
38:45
>> Yeah.
38:46
>> I think it was was the internet. We you
38:49
and I didn't I didn't have access to it
38:51
like we have now. It it it's different.
38:54
And we didn't have smart phones. You
38:56
could look up your favorite band on your
38:58
phone. That that was like if somebody
39:01
told us that 35 years ago, you'll be
39:04
able to look up your favorite band on
39:06
your from your phone. No way.
39:08
>> [laughter]
39:10
>> THAT YOU CAN'T EVEN TAKE A you're just
39:12
in SOME PHONE HAD A CAMERA INCLUDED.
39:15
WOO!
39:17
I don't know WHAT CRAP.
39:18
>> YEAH.
39:19
>> SOME SOME
39:20
>> [laughter]
39:21
>> TODAY YOU'LL BE ABLE TO LOOK UP AND HEAR
39:22
YOUR BAND.
39:23
OH, wait a minute. And there he is now.
39:25
So so in one one way the what what full
39:28
thing
39:29
There's a lot of [ __ ] things
39:31
but wonderful things about the world
39:34
world that we have now. You and I is
39:36
that
39:37
access
39:38
to
39:40
every day and they can access us.
39:42
Right, you're interested in some country
39:44
music, you can find find out about it.
39:47
>> Yeah.
39:48
>> In a few seconds maybe. Find out oh, I
39:50
heard of this band. Let's let's have a
39:52
listen. I like the oh, this no. Okay,
39:55
like this and you can find new
39:58
you can find out about about artists
40:00
that have been going for years you never
40:02
knew about. I found
40:05
I I found some and I was like
40:07
How have these guys been been going he
40:08
started when I was a kid. I never heard
40:10
of them. They're my favorite favorite
40:11
band. You know, and that's what
40:14
about what we can have
40:17
with today. I think for me me
40:19
it's a massive benefit as an independent
40:22
artist.
40:24
But people people are able to go,
40:27
"Oh, I heard that Delirium Messiah
40:28
album. I heard about it, but I never I
40:30
never actually heard it."
40:33
You should go and listen to to it.
40:34
>> Yeah.
40:35
Uh
40:36
who knows who knows what the future
40:38
holds now in in you know the the next 10
40:41
20 years. So we don't know, you know.
40:44
Uh but I'm worried about
40:47
I'm worried about
40:48
that AI thing. I'm worried about that,
40:50
you know, AI in music, but uh we'll see
40:52
about it.
40:55
>> I'm going to make a prediction now.
40:58
Going to be
41:00
I I and the people that are making AI
41:03
and training it on my art and Iron
41:07
Maiden and Metallica and and and all
41:09
famous writers and stuff like that that
41:12
they use all that and put them in it in
41:14
without paying any royalties at all at
41:17
all. That's completely wrong.
41:19
>> Yeah.
41:20
>> Okay.
41:21
What we know
41:23
is
41:24
that that
41:25
AI
41:26
is putting stuff into itself.
41:29
And the re- the results that that that
41:31
are coming back are getting worse worse
41:33
and worse. So
41:36
I I think this this what is happening is
41:39
this massive threat that we thought,
41:42
"Oh, it's going to change everything."
41:43
Think, "Yeah, things will change."
41:45
Phones Well, phones have changed things.
41:47
You know, internet us being able to talk
41:49
things have
41:50
But but
41:51
AI is starting to eat itself.
41:56
It's start- starting to feed itself and
41:58
eat itself. And it's
42:01
poisoning itself. So I think there's a
42:05
possibility
42:06
that in 10 years
42:09
most AI will be very unreliable.
42:13
And you'll have to
42:14
just just have your own AI. And the
42:17
other the other thing that if it hasn't
42:19
happened already
42:21
is
42:23
you're going to have or some people will
42:25
have
42:26
a favorite
42:28
AI artist.
42:32
It's going to be normal to go, "Well, I
42:34
like like Bailey. I like I like
42:36
Metallica. I like like Saxon. I like
42:38
Maiden." But and my favorite AI artist
42:42
is Robot John
42:44
or whatever his name's going to be. And
42:47
and it's and it's it's on
42:49
and something you like like it alongside
42:53
this this this and and this these human
42:56
human artists and that I like that AI
42:58
artist and wanted. I think that is going
43:01
to happen. But generally the the threat
43:04
from AI
43:05
I think it's going to take a take longer
43:07
than people think think cuz it's it's
43:09
actually poisoning itself by feeding
43:12
itself with itself.
43:13
>> Yeah. Yeah. Yeah.
43:15
>> That's just my just my prediction.
43:16
That's talking 10 years.
43:18
>> Yeah.
43:20
>> I might try and stop us talking.
43:23
>> Yeah.
43:23
>> Or we'll JUST BE GOING, "HAHA, WE BEAT
43:26
AI."
43:27
>> [laughter]
43:29
>> OKAY.
43:30
OKAY, BLAZE. What are your near future
43:33
plans?
43:35
>> Well, I'm going to Germany this weekend.
43:38
And and I'm I'm playing a date so
43:41
I've got a couple of other really cool
43:42
things in Germany called gig there. And
43:45
then
43:46
WHAT WHAT AND FAST
43:49
WHAT
43:50
I'M AWAY
43:51
TO
43:53
KNEBWORTH.
43:54
I'M SO excited about it and uh we're
43:57
working on the set. We're going
43:58
Yeah, probably the set set. And then we
44:00
go, "Oh, but should we we do this one?
44:02
It's only a very very short."
44:05
So yeah, I'm very excited. So
44:07
things and I'm I'm I'm going to
44:10
trying to get
44:12
for writing
44:13
last interviews today. I normally do do
44:16
my interview just on Monday Mondays.
44:18
It's just
44:20
okay.
44:21
And most people just try to cuz then
44:24
that rest of the week to be able to go
44:27
I've got
44:29
to do
44:30
that
44:32
so I don't if
44:35
have to do interviews every every day
44:36
just was out a lot better better for me.
44:39
>> Okay, then we should finish up this
44:42
interview. You probably have some some
44:44
other interviews doing.
44:46
Thank you Blaze very much for this great
44:49
great podcast episode.
44:51
And
44:53
thank you. Thank you from the bottom of
44:55
my heart as a as a fan.
44:57
>> Hopefully
44:59
I'll see you out somewhere.
45:01
>> See see you man. See I I will come
45:03
backstage whenever you whenever you can.
45:05
Thanks.
45:06
>> Good good luck with your gig.
45:08
>> Bye.
45:09
>> Bye.
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