Steve Harris recently chatted with the Sweden Rock Festival’s YouTube channel and revealed why Bruce Dickinson was behind Iron Maiden’s touring scale-down.
Harris is currently touring with both his solo band, British Lion, and Iron Maiden, so when the host asked how he found the time and energy to do so, the bassist revealed:
“I started [British Lion] 11 years ago; I’ve been playing with them [for] 11 years. But before that, I wouldn’t have been able to do it, ’cause Maiden was too busy. In the last 10 years, Maiden’s not been so busy; we’ve not been touring as long. So, basically, it enabled me to have a bit of time to do something else.”
Then, Steve discussed why Maiden had scaled down their touring dates when the host asked whether he wanted to play live more:
“Yeah, I still enjoy playing, so, yeah, I play as much as I can. I’ll be happy to play four or five nights a week, but you can’t do it — for singers, you can’t do it. It was tough for Bruce [Dickinson] back in the day, let alone now back in the day, let alone now. I think he’s singing better than ever, but it’s quality, not quantity, with Maiden now.”
Harris’ band, British Lion, just finished up a 15-date-tour all across Europe, and the bassist continues to hit the road with Iron Maiden as their ‘scaled down’ tour dates carry on with several dates in Canada starting on September 28.
You can watch the interview below.