IRON MAIDEN Bassist Talks About His Technique And Influences

September 24, 2004

IRON MAIDEN founding member Steve Harris is featured in the "Legends of Rock Bass" issue of Bass Player magazine. The focus of the interview is mainly on Steve's technique and influences. A couple of excerpts follow:

Bass Player: Is there any particular reason why you’ve never done bass solos onstage?

Steve Harris: "Because they're bloody boring, that’s why. In all they years I've been seing bands, there have been only three bassists who played interesting solos: Billy Sheehan, Rinus Gerritsen of GOLDEN EARRING, and Hellmut Hattler of the German cult band KRAAN. Billy Sheehan's playing is outrageously different."

Bass Player: There are quite a lot of changes and different sections in some of MAIDEN's songs.

Steve Harris: "Oh yeah — that's the influence coming in from YES, GENESIS, PINK FLOYD, JETHRO TULL, that sort of stuff. We wanted to incorporate those time changes, plus the heaviness of BLACK SABBATH and DEEP PURPLE with a bit of ZEPPELIN thrown in, and the harmony guitars of WISHBONE ASH as well. But when you're playing, you get to the point where you don’t even have to think about it. When you start thinking about what you're doing, that's when you make mistakes. If you start thinking, 'Oh blimey – what's that bit coming up next?' Then it's already gone and you've buggered it. It's all very well saying you'd like things perfect, but everyone makes mistakes."

Read the rest of the article at MaidenFans.com.

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