Ex-IRON MAIDEN Singer PAUL DI'ANNO Comes Clean

David Schmeichel of Canada's Sun Media recently conducted an interview with former IRON MAIDEN frontman Paul Di'Anno. The question-and-answer session follows:

Sun: You fronted IRON MAIDEN between 1976 and 1982, but after leaving the band, you compared founder Steve Harris and manager Rod Smallwood to Hitler and Mussolini. Care to elaborate?

Di'Anno (laughing): Obviously, IRON MAIDEN is Steve's band — he started it. I just got a bit pissed off because I was writing good songs, but only a few of mine would ever get in there. But I kind of got the last laugh, because I wrote on all the singles.

Sun: Do you still speak to those guys?

Di'Anno: Yeah, yeah! It's all good. I haven't seen Steve in a few years ... we met a few times in the airport in London, which is weird, but he sends me e-mails and stuff, and I got a nice one from Rod a couple weeks back.

Sun: So no bad blood?

Di'Anno: Nah, and God help anyone who says anything bad about IRON MAIDEN in front of me.

Sun: You had some highs and lows with bands like BATTLEZONE and KILLERS, and in your book, you go into some pretty shocking detail about your exploits with booze, drugs, and sex — even your brushes with the law. Do you regret that period of your life?

Di'Anno: Well, obviously it led me to where I am today. I don't condone drugs, because it's not cool to do them ... I was hoping (the book) might be more of a learning curve for my kids than anything else. In fact, I did my best to keep my kids out of the book, they're not mentioned much, but then they got pissed off about that, too!

Sun: Any advice for similarly drug-addled rockers like Pete Doherty or Courtney Love?

Di'Anno: These people, they should know what they're doing, but the majority of them make it seem like it's cool to take drugs. If you're doing it, keep it to yourself. If it's affecting your playing or what you're doing, then you need to get some help ... Do it at home, don't do it on the road, and for God's sake, don't do it in front of the kids.

Sun: You've got a number of different backing bands on the go right now, and you're always on the lookout for more. What are your criteria?

Di'Anno: They're young, they've got the enthusiasm, got the fire, they're more punk influenced, and they're heavy as hell.

Sun: Being in a band sounds a bit like being a relationship — there's a honeymoon period at the beginning, but lot's of bitterness at the end.

Di'Anno: Ah, I better not say anything about that — I just got engaged.