BRUCE DICKINSON Recalls 'Weird' Experience Of Seeing All-Female Tribute Band THE IRON MAIDENS

In issue 218 of U.K.'s Classic Rock magazine, IRON MAIDEN singer Bruce Dickinson recalled the "weird" experience of seeing THE IRON MAIDENS, the world's first female tribute to IRON MAIDEN, performing live.

Dickinson told Classic Rock: "I've seen THE IRON MAIDENS in Mexico. We all went. We were watching them and I said to Steve [Harris, IRON MAIDEN bassist], 'This is a really weird question, but looking at them, would you fuck yourself?' And he went, 'I don’t know, but we've all been thinking it.' It was very, very weird."

Formed in 2001, the Los Angeles-based THE IRON MAIDENS is fronted by Kirsten Rosenberg, who goes by the stage name Bruce Chickinson.

Nita Strauss, who made a name for herself recently as Alice Cooper's guitarist, had established her credentials as a member of THE IRON MAIDENS, working alongside guitarist Courtney Cox.

Dickinson also reiterated the importance of making new music for a band like MAIDEN. He said: "The only difference between us and and IRON MAIDEN cover bands is that we do new IRON MAIDEN albums. Funnily enough, while that's a joke, it's also a good point."

He continued: "Without doing new albums, you just become a karaoke band of yourself. And that's not a good enough reason for me to give up a big chunk of my life to go on tour. Hey, the money's great. It's not enough. There needs to be more than that, because this band is so important to so many people."

IRON MAIDEN's new album, "The Book Of Souls", was released on September 4 through BMG in the U.S.A. (Parlophone Records in the rest of world).

The band announced in May that touring plans to support the album wouldn't happen until 2016 to allow Dickinson time to fully recuperate after his successful cancer treatment.