BRUCE DICKINSON: 'There Is Quite A Lot Of Material Left Over' From 'The Mandrake Project' Sessions

In a new interview with Brazil's A Rádio Rock, IRON MAIDEN singer Bruce Dickinson spoke about the success of his latest solo album, "The Mandrake Project", and whether fans can expect a follow-up in the not-too-distant future. He said (as transcribed by BLABBERMOUTH.NET): "There is quite a lot of material left over that we didn't develop [for 'The Mandrake Project']. We had no time to develop it, and we looked at what we had and we went, 'You know what? This is good. Let's just work with what we've got right now because the other stuff, we can develop it later, we can talk about it later.'

"But the album has done amazingly well," he continued. "The tour is doing incredible in Europe. I mean, most of the shows are sold out in Europe, which is fantastic. And the album chart positions are incredible as well. We were Number One in Germany, Number One in Sweden, and [Number] Two in most other places, and Number Three in the U.K. I mean, all this stuff is great.

"JUDAS PRIEST, for example, had a load of success with their new record, which is great," Bruce added. "But they've been around for how long? And they've got like how many followers on Instagram? I mean, I only started my Instagram page, like, six months ago. So, for me to get those kind of results really means a lot, and it means that the record has really connected with people, that they really feel that connection. So it's great."

After playing two warm-up shows at the Whisky A Go Go in West Hollywood, California, Dickinson officially kicked off his first solo tour in more than 20 years on April 15 at The Observatory in Santa Ana, California.

Joining the IRON MAIDEN singer on the trek is his current backing band, featuring Dave Moreno (drums),Mistheria (keyboards) and Tanya O'Callaghan (bass),alongside the group's latest additions, Swedish guitarist, songwriter and multi-platinum-credited producer Philip Näslund and Swiss session and touring guitarist Chris Declercq (who played on Dickinson's "Rain On The Graves" single). Bruce's longtime guitarist and collaborator Roy "Z" Ramirez is not part of the touring lineup.

Prior to the April 12 Whisky A Go Go show, Bruce last performed with his solo band on in August 2002 at the legendary Wacken Open Air festival in Germany.

During an appearance on the April 16 episode of SiriusXM's "Trunk Nation With Eddie Trunk", Bruce was asked if there are plans for him to stage a full U.S. tour in support of "The Mandrake Project". He responded: "I brought the [booking] agents and the promoters, and everybody came down and saw the Whisky show [in West Hollywood, California over the weekend], and now they know what they've got to deal with in terms of doing a U.S. tour. So, we're looking at it, we're planning it.

"I absolutely wanna do a full U.S. tour with 'The Mandrake Project'," he added. "I obviously can't do one for the rest of this year [due to commitments in other parts of the world and MAIDEN's upcoming touring activities], but there's '25 and there's numerous opportunities that will crop up. So the answer to that is yes, of course, we wanna come and do the U.S."

Roy played guitar on Dickinson's 1994 album "Balls To Picasso" and went on to produce, co-write and perform multiple instruments on Bruce's subsequent three solo albums, "Accident At Birth" (1997),"The Chemical Wedding" (1998) and "Tyranny Of Souls" (2005).

O'Callaghan is an Irish musician who joined WHITESNAKE in 2021 and toured with the David Coverdale-fronted outfit the following year. She also hit the road with Dickinson last year as part of a performance of Jon Lord's "Concerto For Group And Orchestra" on nearly a dozen dates in Europe and South America.

Californian drummer Moreno previously played on "Tyranny Of Souls" and has worked with BODY COUNT, Jizzy Pearl, Dizzy Reed and Steve Stevens, among others.

Italian keyboard wizard Mistheria has collaborated with an array of artists live and in the studio, including Rob Rock, Mike Portnoy, Jeff Scott Soto and Joel Hoekstra.

"The Mandrake Project" arrived on March 1 via BMG.

Bruce and Roy recorded "The Mandrake Project" largely at Los Angeles's Doom Room, with Roy doubling up as both guitarist and bassist. The recording lineup for "The Mandrake Project" was rounded out by Mistheria and Moreno, both of whom also featured on Bruce's last solo studio album, "Tyranny Of Souls", in 2005.

Dickinson made his recording debut with IRON MAIDEN on the "Number Of The Beast" album in 1982. He quit the band in 1993 in order to pursue his solo career and was replaced by Blaze Bayley, who had previously been the lead singer of the metal band WOLFSBANE. After releasing two traditional metal albums with former MAIDEN guitarist Adrian Smith, Dickinson rejoined the band in 1999 along with Smith.