IRON MAIDEN Heading To Paris To Write New Material

Guitarist Janick Gers of British heavy metal legends IRON MAIDEN revealed to BBC News that the band has already started writing songs for its 15th studio album. "We're going to Paris for three weeks to work on some new stuff," Gers said at the Classic Rock Roll Of Honour Awards 2009 on November 2 at the Park Lane Hotel in London, England. "The most important thing for a band is to create new music, otherwise you're not valid — you become a parody."

MAIDEN became the first outfit in history to travel round the world in a customized jet during their "Somewhere Back in Time" tour, as detailed in award-winning movie "Flight 666".

The Boeing 757 carried musicians, crew, gear and guests with singer Bruce Dickinson, a qualified airline pilot, at the controls.

Speaking in the Iron Maiden Fan Club magazine, IRON MAIDEN manager Rod Smallwood recently said, "It took a long time to set up the last tour because of the plane. It had never been done before and we didn't know what we were letting ourselves in for. The idea came a couple of years before that and we got into it a year ahead of the game.

"I'm starting to get my head round what we're going to do next summer. It hasn't been decided yet but we'll do something, so I've got to speak to promoters and agents.

"Now we know the plane works, by Christmas we'll have the pattern set. We'll probably be going for the plane and getting that held for us.

"But at the moment, the album's the key thing on the agenda. The guys will be getting together shortly and they're probably starting to get their heads round new ideas for songs individually. Some of them may meet up before we formally get together.

"We'll spend a period writing, we'll take Christmas off and then we'll get into recording. We'll finish the album in time for it to be out next year and I'm just getting my head round what we want to do touring-wise.

"We'll be doing some new places on the next tour. I won't tell you where they are - they're not finalized yet, but some work has been done. One place we can't play that we'd like to is Bolivia — the altitude is just too high for the type of physical performance the guys do. It's a shame."

(Thanks: iron_maiden_fan)